Siobhan Davis always knows how to surprise me, and I love nothing more than when she tackles an angst forbidden romance story. Her unique dramatic flair married to her emotionally complex character writing makes for such a delicious combination- stories that you can’t put down AND that touch the heart. And Always Meant to Be does just that. Diving into a new trope to her repertoire, Siobhan gives us yet another addictively consuming love story that pushes boundaries and fills your heart.
I love age gap stories in general, but I particularly love when authors write the inverse of the well-trodden iteration of the trope. We don’t get it often in the romance world, the result of the forbidden merging with the latent patriarchal archetypes of romance we’ve all internalized. So I RELISH when an author breaks outside of that box, and who better than Siobhan Davis?! Siobahn is so great at defying and recreating tropes to make them her own, so I knew her take on it would be riveting, complicated, sordid and emotional, but I had now idea just how complicated this story would be. The moment I felt I had my bearings with the obstacles, we’d have a new twist to battle. This is just just about the reverse age gap but also the forbidden flair- as our heroine falls into an illicit attraction with her son’s barely legal best friend. OH THE DRAMA. THE ANGST. And yet again, that’s where Siobhan puts this story on it’s head, brilliantly so- because the only thing we COULD count on were the feelings, the emotional charge and undeniable chemistry between Vander and Kendall. Soulmates through and through- but with obstacles so abundant that their taboo felt like the least of their worries. Leave it to Siobhan to take an already juicy trope and make it even more salaciously dramatic.
Yet amidst all the drama and taboo deliciousness, there’s a sweet and tender beating heart. Two characters who discover love in the most un “conventional” places, and Siobhan gives us an emotional romance between them that unapologetically sparkles with this stories themes- that love is love, that if love is meant to be, it will find a way. While there’s a large age gap between these characters and certainly at first you’re wondering where the line is, the taboo of their age gap gradually blurs as we start to recognize their true connection. Like two close friends- one old at heart (and persistently emotionally open- how swoony!) and the other robbed of much of her love trying to reclaim and purpose that is just for her. We jump straight into serious feelings, which really works because we jump past that psychological transition straight into the romantic pull between these two- there’s no time or space to doubt it’s acceptability because Siobhan unapologetically declares that it just is.
Both characters are very likable and endearing- and , in true Siobhan fashion, we have plenty of less likable side characters ensuring disruption towards the HEA. There are many unexpected elements and twists, and one plot device that jarred me a bit because I was not expecting it. I also found a surprising amount of emotional connection just with Kendall’s struggles with her family- as someone who was part of a family structure that stayed together far beyond its expiration date in the name of stability for me and my siblings, I found this part of the narrative both really compelling, believable, and personal, and it speaks a lot to Kendall’s journey as a character- and how she finds ways to harness her altruism and selfless love of others in ways that no longer sacrifice herself entirely.
This story is quite unexpected, nothing like it seemed, but as always, I leave thoroughly entertained and emotionally fulfilled and pensive all at once. Love comes in so many forms- there is no formula, and I especially love the stories that help us see a facet not often told. Sexy, swoony, angsty, and edge of your seat suspenseful- this has all that Siobhan Davis effect!
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![Always Meant to Be by [Siobhan Davis, Kelly Hartigan (XterraWeb), Michelle Lancaster]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51YX9kZ0EJL._SY346_.jpg)
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Popular Highlights in this book
“Our souls are carved from the same entity. You are the other piece of me. I was meant to find you, Kendall. We were always meant to be.”Highlighted by 201 Kindle readers- “Vander is the other half of your soul, Kendall. It’s up to you what you do with that knowledge.”Highlighted by 140 Kindle readers
- “In every lifetime, you find one another because the bond is so strong nothing can keep you apart. Not oceans or mountains or timing or other people.” Her eyes drill into mine. “Not age.”Highlighted by 136 Kindle readers
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e-book: 5🌟FIVE ALWAYS STARS for Kendall and Vander 💚🖤💚🖤!!!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟While I love reading almost all the tropes that can be found in today’s romance books, the age-gap trope is one of the tropes I don’t read so often and with which I'm always very careful.But when it comes to the love affair between an older woman and a younger man, I’m pretty skeptical about whether I like the book or not.Before reading this book, I read maybe one or two books where a woman was older than a man and I liked them, but the age gap was no more than ten years.When I found out that Siobhan’s new book would be on the topic and that the difference between heroine and hero would be more than ten years, I was curious but also scared that I wouldn’t like the book.But, as always, the author did a masterful job and of course, I liked the book more than I thought would."Always Meant to Be" is a contemporary romance with an age-gap trope that will draw you into the story with its introduction and you simply won't be able to put it down.Kendall and Vander are a couple for whom you'll wholeheartedly want to get their happy ending because of all the obstacles they'll encounter throughout the book.If you love age-gap tropes and you are also a fan of Siobhan's books then this is the book for you!!!Highly recommended!!!
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