* * * *
Everyone has secrets.
Some are buried so deep, their existence is forgotten.
But a secret never told can turn into a lie.
And in love, a lie is one thing:
Poison.
Reid's in love with Dori, though she hasn't told her parents that she's fallen hard for the guy they'd forbidden her to see. Now she's leaving for college, and Reid's promise not to push her to go public is wearing thin, especially when she can't - or won't - return those three important words he wants to hear.
Five years ago, Brooke and Reid were a Thing. That relationship is long gone, detonated amid allegations of cheating - but they still share a secret that would stun everyone they know and alter public perception of them both if it ever comes out. And it's about to do just that.
Here Without You is the fourth, final installment in the Between the Lines series, which includes: Between the Lines, Where You Are, and Good ForYou.
Review:
Spoiler Alert: The books in this series are so entwined that it’s impossible to review them without spoilers.
This story belongs to four people – Reid, Dori, Brooke and River.
Dori is struggling to make a new place in the world. Her faith is lost and she doesn’t know how to live without it. Her once strong relationship with her parents is on edge. And now that Reid has convinced her to make their relationship public she is not sure she can handle the spotlight. Add to all of that the fact that Reid and his ex-girlfriend, Brooke, have been photographed together recently and Dori is drowning in all her new and old insecurities.
When Brooke asked a private investigator to search and check up on the son she gave up for adoption she never expected to learn that he is now in foster care. She sees an opportunity that someone in her position rarely, if ever, has. She starts taking the steps to gain custody of the child she gave up for adoption four years ago. She never expected the process to be so invasive or so difficult. But she is determined to give her son a new life and in turn maybe give herself one too.
When Reid told Brooke he wanted to be kept in the loop in regards to their son he never in a million years thought that would end up in Brooke trying to gain custody. He’s not ready to be a parent. Brooke is more than willing to let him relinquish any rights to his child but he’s not sure if that’s the right decision to make. On top of that, this is the one thing he hasn’t shared with Dori. Because he is afraid of what she will think of him when she finds out. Afraid that Dori will realize how similar this thing he is keeping from her is to her situation when she was fifteen. And because he has kept this one truth from her and he knows that his lie of omission is still a lie, he’s terrified of how Dori will react. Reid has to take a hard look at his options and make the difficult decisions he never expected to make at the age of nineteen.
River, Reid and Brooke’s son, also has a voice in this story. His quiet and frightened voice gives the reader a chance to see how maybe, if they can come together, River, Reid and Brooke can help each other become better people.
If you’ve read this series, you know what a terrible person Brooke is. But yet again, Tammara Webber has taken a character that I found despicable and has completely humanized her. As she works through her desire and fears of becoming a mother you can’t help but love her just a little.
Unlike Brooke, Dori is not facing her fears head on. She is so overwhelmed that her instinct is to run. And this segues into the number one reason I love Reid. He is so confidently tenacious. He sees Dori drifting and even with this other huge thing hanging in the balance he fights for her without hesitation.
This was a beautiful end to the Between the Lines series. Even though the first installment was a little rocky for me, this has easily become one of my favorite contemporary series of all time.
Nat
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