A fantastic second chance at love romance
The Ones Who Got Away was a fantastic second chance at love romance with wonderful characters, amazing friendships and a couple I couldn’t help but root for.
In the twelve years since the shooting at Long Acre High School during her senior year, Liv Arias has avoided returning to Long Acre. When a documentary benefitting the victims’ families brings Liv and the other survivors back together, Liv sees her old boyfriend Finn Dorsey for the first time in twelve years. Liv and Finn soon find themselves falling back into old habits and a passionate kiss proves their attraction is still there after all these years.
After the shooting, Liv had grand ideas of how her life would turn out but after reading a letter written by her younger self, Liv realizes she hasn’t accomplished any of her goals. Instead of the photographer she thought she would be, Liv works as a web designer and hasn’t touched her camera in years. She is the definition of a workaholic and has basically no life outside of her job. Throughout the book, Liv begins to reconnect with who she used to be and starts to make changes to bring her life more in line with how she envisioned it would be. Over time she becomes a much more confident person and I enjoyed watching her come into her own throughout the book.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Finn felt everything in his life was out of his control and that he was letting his fear over what happened rule his life. As a result, he turned to law enforcement as a way to deal with the shooting and has made it his mission to try and stop the organizations that supply guns used in the types of shootings such as the one in Long Acre. He recently finished a dangerous two year undercover job in such an organization and plans to use to summer to re-adjust to normal life so he can get back to work as soon as possible. Finn has poured everything he has into his job and can’t imagine doing anything else with his life.
Liv and Finn’s relationship was built on a solid friendship, both when they dated in high school and in present day. While their friendship is full of some of my favorite things, playful banter, double entendre and flirty text messages, that solid foundation is what makes their relationship so enjoyable. One of my favorite aspects of their relationship is how Finn doesn’t take advantage of Liv and tells her she always has a choice in what happens between them and then actually holds to that. When their relationship turns physical, Liv is the initiator and I loved that. They have amazing chemistry and their scenes together are incredibly hot. Both Liv and Finn have lingering issues when they think of the shooting in the context of each other, her blaming him for her PTSD and him feeling guilt for leaving her to save his date, but after getting to know each other again they’re able to work through those issues.
While The Ones Who Got Away focuses on survivors of a school shooting, the author never put the school shooting front and center which was a choice I appreciated. Instead, we learn about what happened that night through the characters’ interviews for the documentary and conversations between the survivors. I’m interested to find out more about what happened when future books in the series come out and we get different perspectives as it looks like each of the four girls in the group of survivors will be getting their own book.
The Ones Who Got Away ticked all of my boxes with its amazing banter, fantastic relationships, and realistic characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new contemporary romance to read.
In the twelve years since the shooting at Long Acre High School during her senior year, Liv Arias has avoided returning to Long Acre. When a documentary benefitting the victims’ families brings Liv and the other survivors back together, Liv sees her old boyfriend Finn Dorsey for the first time in twelve years. Liv and Finn soon find themselves falling back into old habits and a passionate kiss proves their attraction is still there after all these years.
After the shooting, Liv had grand ideas of how her life would turn out but after reading a letter written by her younger self, Liv realizes she hasn’t accomplished any of her goals. Instead of the photographer she thought she would be, Liv works as a web designer and hasn’t touched her camera in years. She is the definition of a workaholic and has basically no life outside of her job. Throughout the book, Liv begins to reconnect with who she used to be and starts to make changes to bring her life more in line with how she envisioned it would be. Over time she becomes a much more confident person and I enjoyed watching her come into her own throughout the book.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Finn felt everything in his life was out of his control and that he was letting his fear over what happened rule his life. As a result, he turned to law enforcement as a way to deal with the shooting and has made it his mission to try and stop the organizations that supply guns used in the types of shootings such as the one in Long Acre. He recently finished a dangerous two year undercover job in such an organization and plans to use to summer to re-adjust to normal life so he can get back to work as soon as possible. Finn has poured everything he has into his job and can’t imagine doing anything else with his life.
Liv and Finn’s relationship was built on a solid friendship, both when they dated in high school and in present day. While their friendship is full of some of my favorite things, playful banter, double entendre and flirty text messages, that solid foundation is what makes their relationship so enjoyable. One of my favorite aspects of their relationship is how Finn doesn’t take advantage of Liv and tells her she always has a choice in what happens between them and then actually holds to that. When their relationship turns physical, Liv is the initiator and I loved that. They have amazing chemistry and their scenes together are incredibly hot. Both Liv and Finn have lingering issues when they think of the shooting in the context of each other, her blaming him for her PTSD and him feeling guilt for leaving her to save his date, but after getting to know each other again they’re able to work through those issues.
While The Ones Who Got Away focuses on survivors of a school shooting, the author never put the school shooting front and center which was a choice I appreciated. Instead, we learn about what happened that night through the characters’ interviews for the documentary and conversations between the survivors. I’m interested to find out more about what happened when future books in the series come out and we get different perspectives as it looks like each of the four girls in the group of survivors will be getting their own book.
The Ones Who Got Away ticked all of my boxes with its amazing banter, fantastic relationships, and realistic characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new contemporary romance to read.