Review: Always

Title: Always
Author: Sarah Jio
288 pages, Release Date: February 7, 2017

Note: I received this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are my own.

From Goodreads: 

While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiance, Ryan, at one of Seattle's chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can't believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister.

When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense everything connected and felt "right." But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what and whom she wants.

Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she's willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.

 I'm a big Sarah Jio fan, and this book was no exception. But first, can we take a minute to swoon over this GORGEOUS cover?! I LOVE a beautiful cover! This book was beautiful, heartbreaking, and emotional. My heart broke for Kailey and Cade throughout the book.

If you're familiar with Jio's work, you know that she loves to add a historical or past element to her books. This book followed the same format--as Kailey tries to help Cade in 2008, the chapters alternate to their relationship back in the late 1990's, ten years earlier. I'll admit at times this made me frustrated because I really wanted to know what happened in 2008--but it definitely kept me reading the book! I did enjoy the 1990's story, I was just eager to know what happened in general. This book sucked me in and kept me up late reading!

This was definitely one of my favorites of Jio's--if you haven't read her books, I highly recommend them!

Overall rating: 4.5 stars

About Sarah Jio

Sarah Jio is the New York Times bestselling author of THE VIOLETS OF MARCH, THE BUNGALOW, BLACKBERRY WINTER, THE LAST CAMELLIA, MORNING GLORY, GOODNIGHT JUNE, THE LOOK OF LOVE--all from Penguin (Plume), and ALWAYS, forthcoming on February 7, 2017 from Random House (Ballantine). Sarah is also a journalist who has contributed to The New York Times, Glamour, O, The Oprah Magazine, Glamour, SELF, Real Simple, Fitness, Marie Claire, and many others. She has appeared as a commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition. Her novels are translated into more than 25 languages. Sarah lives in Seattle with her three young boys. 

Happy Reading!