Forever and Almost Always

I did not finish this book. There a few reasons I abandoned this book:<br />1. Poor editing. I have a low tolerance and I can be a bit of a book snob on this matter. With the number of errors in the first few chapters, I knew that I would be crazy by the end. Example..."hot cool deck" should have been "hot pool deck"<br />2. Time continuity issues...the characters just meet and then the female is talking like several months have gone by...in my opinion, another editing issue.<br />3. There was something about this story that felt forced. I feel that the story line may have been more successful as a YA romance. Remove the profanity and overt sexuality-the maturity of the main characters will play better to the YA crowd.

<br />I am a huge fan of Amanda Bennett's writing and for me Forever and Almost Always did not disappoint, it was the type of book I needed right now. There are twists and turns and some angst along the way but not enough to make me want to pull my hair out, ok who am I kidding yes I wanted to pull my hair out. I loved both these characters Dax and Charlee go through the ups and downs of two young people deeply in love.<br /><br />Charlee's days are all the same hanging with her best friend Taylor, sunbaking and swimming, her life is pretty cruisey. That is all about to change with not one but two good looking neighbours moving in next door, make that one every good looking man that she is smitten for yet hasn't met. Heading out the back to cool off for a swim a head pops up over the fence, there he is the gorgeous new neighbour Dax.<br /><br />Dax oh my Dax the way he is described yep he's my ideal man in the looks department (I love Paul Walker) he is just as smitten with Charlee too. I'm still swooning over Dax.<br /><br />When Charlee and Dax finally get together sparks fly, these two have some hot chemistry. They have the perfect relationship, everything has just clicked into place. Their relationship is moving forward and with Dax having to move out of his place they decide to move in together. A twist throws their relationship through a hoop, from here it was like waiting for a car accident to happen, knowing its going to happen but not sure when. Dax and Charlee's relationship seems to be moving slow but also fast at the same time.<br /><br />With all the highs in their relationship the lows hit them and hit them hard, is their love for one another strong enough to get them through life's highs and lows? Is there relationship and love a forever kind of love or will life's challenges tear them apart? Do Charlee and Dax have a Forever kind of love or will they love each other almost always...?<br /><br />Once I started this book I didn't want to put it down, I was hooked. Dax and Charlee have the kind of love that is rare and not something everybody experiences.<br /><br />Another amazing book by Amanda Bennett!

Review Originally Posted at: <a href="http://bit.ly/1eWUu7a" rel="nofollow noopener">Book Freak</a><br /><br />That was a one long WILD, SEXY, EXCRUCIATING, and REWARDING ride.<br /><br />I came to a point that I have questioned if this book would have a happy ending. The journey was exciting, terrifying, and confusing. I was basically chewing on my nails wondering what will happen to these two characters. They had started out young, found a love that was beyond their imagination, and when things got tough and pride gets the best of them – everything that they have worked for to build their relationship on just crumbled into pieces. It have taken them a decade - both of them have grown up, had already separate lives and had broken for over a decade, would fate be kind enough to give them another chance?<br /><br />The decisions were hard, and some of them weren’t even wise. But what I love most about this novel is the fact that you can feel how the characters evolved. Dax and Charlee had matured through the pages, and I was glad to see them facing most of their problems rather than running away from them. It may have taken a couple of heartaches, walk-outs, and an accident – but in the end, everything was exactly where they should be.<br /><br />Forever and Almost Always is a love story filled with youthful passion, intensity and drama. This story shows of how powerful love can grow over time, how pride can ruin even the strongest of all emotions, and how fate works wonders. This story proves that everybody and everything deserves all the chances that they can get. Indeed, if you were meant to be, no matter how long it may take, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter where you are, fate will always lead you back to him. <br /><br />★ARC Copy was given in exchange for an honest review.★<br />

I loved this story – boy moves next door to girl, they’re instantly attracted to one another but kind of shy at first but once it’s started, it ignites! Love is in the air! It should be a happily ever after from the age of 20 right?<br /> <br />Charlee and Dax’s relationship started off soooo romantical and swoonworthy! Loved it! But after some time, things kind of got complacent and Charlee’s mom wanted to relocate closer to Charlee’s brother, so Charlee had to make a decision, but was it the right one?<br /> <br />Years later, Charlee finds herself back in town, wanting to reconnect with Dax but he thinks it would be too hard on his current situation and passes on a physical meeting, talking over the phone will have to do.<br /> <br />Still strung out that Dax didn’t want to meet the last time she was in town, needing to relax before an upcoming event, Charlee heads to California for a little R&amp;R but what will happen when Dax shows up knocking at her door?<br /> <br />Forever and Almost Always had a great storyline, again meeting when they were fairly younger, life happens but if true love is meant to be, it will come back right? There were times you just loved Dax but times you really wondered what he was thinking with some of the decisions he made! I’m glad the way Charlee’s life turned out – at the beginning, she wasn’t working, not in school, she was just lounging around her pool for the summer before she met Dax but at the end she was super successful! She was only missing out on one thing – love, to make her complete!<br /> <br />This story does contain a Happily Ever After – absolutely LOOOOOVED the epilogue. It was short and sweet!<br /> <br />This was a great book by author Amanda Bennett! A great second chance romance!

I wanted to give more than two stars but couldn't. The first half of the story was quite good, I did feel like the situations were being a little rushed but the characters were mostly likeable. <br />At the half-way mark, I lost interest. The whole sorry was rushed, weeks, then months, then a decade all passed. A Part Two timed ten years later probably would have read better. I also found the sex scenes a little repetitive. I loved Dax, but his choice of wife seemed ridiculous, I know it worked to tie in that Rachel knew he would never love her the way he'd loved Charlee and we already disliked her for the most part so we could overlook his adultery when he and Charlee hooked up again, but I ended up feeling really sorry for her. She was pathetic, allowing a one-night stand (though it was referenced as a 'relationship' at one point) to basically force her to abort a baby and then to marry him when he'd been left devastated? That's devastating for her... <br />I though the second half was forced, and it didn't work.

LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK WONDEFUL STORY AND AMAZING WRITTING !!!!!!THIS IS ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS!!!! THIS BOOK TOUCHED EVERY EMOTIION THAT IS IN YOU AND IT TOUCHED IN ALL THEM WAYS !!!! FALLILNG IN LOVE MENDING BROKEN HEARTS AND ALL THAT STUFF IN BETWEEN BEFOR THE HAPPY EVER AFTER THIS BOOK HAS IT AND MORE !!!!AWESOME AWESOME!!!!AMANDA BENNETT YOU ROCK THANK YOU FOR BRINGING DAX AND CHARLEE AND ALL THE OTHERS THAT SURROUND THEM ... THIS STORY WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH CRY AND CHEER AND THANKS FOR THIS BOOK DOING IT FOR ME!!!!!

It's been a minute since I last wanted to DNF a book &amp; came close several times with this one. Ultimately though, it was a short read, so I powered through and got nothing out of this book at all. As I read, the word "spastic" kept coming to mind. The story just kept jumping from one thing to another with little to no logical progression or follow through. And so many continuity errors that just kept distracting me. The characters were superficial at best &amp; very hard to relate to. <br /><br />In looking at how I rated other books I've read by this author, I probably should have skipped this one, but unfortunately I didn't check beforehand. You'd be wise to save your time &amp; money by skipping this one, unless you're a glutton for punishment.

Dax is a crap character. Facepalm

WOW! What an emotional ride this book was! Dax &amp; Charlee are an amazing couple. Amazing in that they love each other, that they are soul mates and two of the most stubborn people ever.<br /><br />Charlee is 20 and living with her mom. She has no idea what she wants to do with her life and she’s just been laid off the job she had for four years. She’s taking time over the summer to chill &amp; hang by the pool with her best friend, Taylor.<br /><br />Dax is moving into his friends Aunt’s house for a while. The house right next to the most beautiful women he’s ever seen. Charlee. He is the reason clique’s like “love at first sight” exist. However, it’s the same for Charlee. They are so completely sweet in the beginning silently stalking each other. That time when you are first head over heals for the other person but too nervous to share those feelings. You flirt and do stupid stunts just to see the each other.<br /><br />However, it doesn’t take long for them to find each other – and boy do they ever! Once they do, there isn’t any going back. They are so amazing together. Their story of falling in love and wanting to spend every minute with each other is…..completely amazing.<br /><br />Excerpt – Dax:<br /><br />With every touch, every movement of my body against hers, the closer I came to falling even more in love with this girl than I ever thought possible. I opened my eyes and caught her beautiful face in my line of sight. Her mouth was barely open and I could hear her breathing become more labored. My lips yearned for hers, so I leaned forward and gently pressed mine against hers. She let out a small moan, urging me to keep moving. My wet lips made there way across her jaw and down her neck before making their way back up to her ear. I placed a small kiss right below her earlobe, and then placed my lips right by her ear, so only she could hear me. “I love you, Charlee.” With one last hard thrust, her and I came undone together. As one we fell, leaving every inhibition behind. We didn’t care what tomorrow would bring us, and in that moment, all I cared about was loving her.<br /><br />I mean really? How amazing is that writing? Amanda Bennett has a way with writing romance that brings your emotions full circle. I was laughing, I was yelling at them for being ridiculous and I was crying with them too.<br /><br />As most stories tend to do, real and in books, real life creeps in and makes things complicated. When they first meet at 20 and 19 years old they are too young to understand true love and soul mates. They felt the emotions and knew it was different than any other relationship but giving up everything when you’re that young is extremely hard. Time goes by and you mature and you realize your mistakes. Mistakes that have hard consequences. These two have a lot to figure out and they make a lot of mistakes. Will they finally get their happily ever after?<br /><br />I LOVED this book. It was a quick read for me, less than 2 days, but that may have been that it was extremely hard to put it down. Amanda Bennett has put together an amazing story with very deep and complicated characters. I know this one just released but I would love to hear Taylor &amp; Trevor’s story?!?! Especially giving how this one ends……would be amazing to continue. However, I just want more of Dax &amp; Charlee anyway I can get them. The end is amazing and there is an epilogue (yeah!) and there is complete closure, but it could continue. Either way……definitely highly recommend this book!!! Go get it right now!!!

<p> <img alt="My Review" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1388938019i/7959868.jpg" width="209" height="70" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </p><br>What happens when the hottest guy ever moves next door? What happens when you move into a house next door to the hottest girl you have ever seen? Well that is exactly what happened in Forever and Almost Always which centred around Charlee and Dax.<br><blockquote>He looked like a mix between Paul Walker and Kenny Chesney, weird I know, but so fucking hot. My mind flitted to thoughts of his bare sweaty back that I had seen earlier and I could feel the wetness pooling between my legs. When I caught sight of the dimple in his left cheek, I almost came right where I stood. What the hell was going on with me?</blockquote><br>Dax and Charlee sought each other out from the beginning, although several obstacles did come into play. This story was so very typical of many first love relationships. Passionate from the start but with some jealousy, ex's that won't get outta the picture and a few other hiccups thrown into the fray. And Dax... I liked him sometimes, and then other times he was a typical 19 year old boy in a relationship: wanting to party, avoiding meeting the family... the author definitely nailed his character, so much so that I totally had flashbacks of my douchebag boyfriend from back then lol :)<br><br>The best part of the story for me were the best friends. Taylor (Charlee's BFF) and Trevor (tattood bad boy) had some definite chemistry that I would love to see played out in another book. The story points that focused more on these characters and Taylor in particular definitely pulled me and kept me reading.<br><br>This story was told from dual POV's, which happens to be my favourite. My primary issue when reading this was that I had some problems with the pace of the book. The crisis point came pretty far into the book and although the first half of the book was very descriptive, the end seemed to wrap up too quickly for my liking. I really liked the character development that took place in the end of the book but I just wish we got to know more about how they were feeling about some revelations that came into play.<br><br>This was my first book by Amanda Bennet and although I am not completely in love with these characters I will keep my eye out for other books she writes, especially if she does a spin off for other characters that were present in Forever and Almost Always. Take a look at the synopsis, head on over to Goodread or Amazon and take a look!<br><p> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p><br><p> <a href="http://wp.me/p3yzww-j4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">See this review on Fabulously Girly Book Blog</a> <br> <a href="http://amzn.to/K4ni49" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Buy this book on Amazon</a> </p><br><a href="http://www.fabulouslygirly.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Fabulously Girly Book Blog<br></a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/fabulouslygirly" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Fabulously Girly Facebook</a><br><br><img alt="Blog Signature Small" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1384443645i/6877315.jpg" width="295" height="70" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">