Download Your Copy Within Reach By Sarah Mayberry Distributed In Paperback

a single dad was never on Michael Young's agenda, Yet with the sudden loss of his wife, that's exactly the role he has, On his best days, he thinks he can handle it, On his worst Luckily, family friend Angie Bartlett has his back, easily stepping in to help out,

Lately, though, something has changed,

Michael is noticing exactly how gorgeous Angie is, and how single she is, She's constantly in his thoughts and he feels an attraction he never expected, Does he dare disrupt the very good thing they have going If they have a fling that goes nowhere, he stands to lose everything including her.
But if they make it work, he stands to gain everything!,stars

Now, I see why everyone reads Sarah Mayberry! First, before I begin, let me say that as a result of my friends on Goodreads, I have been meaning to read Sarah Mayberry for aboutormonths now but being fickle and lazy and somewhat cheap when it comes to books, I had never gotten around to picking up one of her stories.
IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN WHAT I WAS MISSING, Because this book tugged at my heartstrings and made me what to read more by her,

I loved Michael and Angie, I loved the pain they had on losing their wife/best friend it came right off the page, I loved seeing the hurt and the guilt and the anger that came with the loss of Billie, I love that Angie helped Michael get back to the land of the living and Michael helped Angie as well, I love that they are friends and as such, both are horrified when they start to develop sexual awareness of the other person.
And the guilt that quickly followed, Yet all of it was handled in such a genuine, realistic way that I can't help but root for them knowing that all the while Billie was rooting for them too.


This book hit another chord with me however, as it slightly mirrors my own family life, I was five months old when my biological mother died of a seizure brought on by complications due to diabetes my older brother wasand a half years old.
Overnight, my dad was suddenly left a widower with two small children, When I was eight months old, he hired a coworker who knew both him and his late wife, to babysit his small children.
By the time I was one and a half they were dating, Three weeks after my third birthday, they were married in a ceremony that included my brother and I, In the next few years that followed, more babies were added to our household, As of today, my parents have been married twenty two years and have raised five children together, Within the next few weeks, they will became grandparents for the first time and are over the moon about that, So this story hits a quiet chord with me as I imagine a lot of emotions and feelings and thoughts that Angie and Michael went through are also what my parents went through as well and I thank Sarah Mayberry for the delicate and natural and wonderful way she wrote this story.
Now excuse me. For I have to lend my Kindle to my mom so she can read this story, For this is her story as well,

ARC PROVIDED BY NETGALLEY,
I loved her handling of such a touchy subject, I can see how the people involved might consider it a betrayal, but I'm of the opinion that its more of a betrayal to the memory of the dead to stop living.
Guilt is just the devil, Forgot where I heard that, but I believe it,
I can't really speak from the POV of a dead wife, but I'd want my spouse to move on in an appropriate time, of course and a year seems about right.
But, can you really put a timeframe on healing or love
And why not a best friend, someone you loved and trusted most in life.
Someone you know will take care of him/her,
This was beautiful and bittersweet I even teared up a little at parts, Though the ending could've been slowed down a little, Maybe instead of a week to come to grips with his feelings, a month apart might have been better, I found myself wanting more from the goodbye scene at the cemetery, Maybe some dialogue. And I'm very happy it didn't end with a marriage proposal, Made it more authentic. I'll definitely check out more of this author's works, I already read the first two chapters, that were offered for a preview at the end of another book written by Sarah Mayberry.
Even though I really do not like the formerbestfriendofadeceasedspouse trope, I have to admit I was caught and knew I would read it.

And I do not regret that, For such a short book, respecting all Harlequin's page constraints, it sure was quite packed with emotions and worked beautifully, The characters seemed completely real, highly likable, even when they especially him were behaving stupidly, without taking really care of the other's feelings.

A very heartwarming story about mourning and rebuilding a new life after,.stars. I quite liked this one, Have read some Sarah Mayberry in the past and usually enjoy her writing, Sorry, have no time for a proper review these days,

xx Contemporary Romance

I wish I had time to fully review this to give the proper notice it so richly deserves.
But since I dont, Ill simply say that Within Reach is a powerful, poignant, bittersweet, and satisfying read that embodies what I love so much about a great romance.
I highly recommend this touching gem to all my romanceloving friends, Its another wellwritten, memorable read from the talented Ms, Mayberry.stars! Wow, I can not believe how much I loved this book especially as it has my second least favorite trope: the widow/widower falling for the best friend.
My least fave is heroine falling for brothers,

The two main characters are real and wonderful the children are adorable, and the story is realistically done without losing any uber drama.


Having lost my best friend a few years ago, I have a hard time wrapping my head around this plot, but darned if Sarah Mayberry doesn't nail it.


Reread
Reread, and I as I suspected I had to take a star off, Still, I rarely givestars, but for a writer to make the concept of a best friend moving on with the spouse takes something.
The hero falters a little, but given that he lost his wife he pulls through for the heroine, I teared up for a second time with this one,

Inherent angsty love story of two essentially decent people,

Overall RatingStars
Book Cover / Book Blurb / Book Title,Stars
Writers VoiceStars
Character DevelopmentStars
Story AppreciationStars
Worth the ChiliStars,on Amazon
Smexy HEAT Rating Mild to Moderate
pages

Okay, I'm officially a book snob, I've disappointed myself. I cut my "romance reader" teeth on Halequin books and the SuperRomance was one of my favorite lines for this publisher, Many of our favorite authors started here, Saying this, I've absolutely refused to read these in the last few years, I'm ashamed. Sarah Mayberry is amazing. I can't believe I've ignored her because she was a SuperRomance! The gall of me,

The GREAT about this book:
This authors talent in story telling is extraordinary, This was really a simple read, If you dissected it, nothing unique here, However, it was told seamlessly, We felt all the emotion for this couple that our author wanted us to feel, It really is a refreshing romance,

Refreshing romance What do I mean This is a good story without all the crazy angst and the "pounding my chest" alpha behavior.
The H in this story would rather be with his family doing family activities than doing anything else, What's wrong with that There are no bars, no motorcycles, no tattoo's, piercings or anything else, but we really like this guy, He is just a good guy, He loves with his whole heart, All he is he gives himself to those he loves, This is sexy.

The story has kids, Love when children are used to enhance a relationship,

Story takes place in Australia, A few bits of slang and I was in heaven sigh

The asking price for the eBook is a fair one.


What issues did I have:
The cover is awful, It is too "old". Reminds me of those books I mentioned earlier I read them in the's!! They'd have had a similar cover, Desperately needs to be updated, Reminds me of a an old's movie, Looking at the cover you just know you are going to get milquetoast characters and a bland story, Need to add a bit of pizzazz,

Title is pretty oldfashioned too,

I would have liked a bit more of the relationship, We had quite a bit of buildup to these two getting together and then it was over, It ended on a happy note so no argument there, but I'd have liked to have felt a more complete ending, Maybe an epilogue But, then we wouldn't have a SuperRomance, Maybe this is why I've stayed away for so long, . . hmm something to ponder.

I want more of this author, I really enjoyed this read, Vicki you kno who you are, . pointed me here and I want to tell her THANK YOU!!

I just know you'll be Happy Reading this one! Within Reach by Sarah Mayberry focuses on one of my favorite tropes in romance.
A widowed hero who finds love in the most angstridden situation one can find and thus Within Reach by Sarah Mayberry is a superb read and delivered exactly what I wanted in the right doses.


Michael loses his wife ofyears to an undiagnosed congenital heart defect and devastation doesnt even begin to cover what he goes through in the process of picking up the pieces of his life as his two kids demand that he be a pillar of strength rather than breaking down and digging himself a hole somewhere, which is exactly what he feels like doing.


Angie Bartlett loses her best friend when Billie dies at the age of, Her vivacious friend whose zest for life and color, whose life was so abruptly cut off leaves Angie reeling from the loss of it all.
And it takes her a timeout from the situation back at Billies household to realize the rapid escalation towards crisis it was veering off to.


Helping out in the process of moving forward means Angie finds herself spending a lot of time at Michaels, and both start to face that unsettling discovery that there might be more to their feelings towards each other than just mere friendship.
Angie feels as if she is betraying her best friend by feeling desire of such ferocity towards Michael, And Michael who has

vowed never to forget nor love any other woman except Billie finds himself torn apart by the strength of his desire to possess and be possessed by the woman who is slowly driving him insane with want.
Though Michael wants nothing more than to ignore the feelings that Angie invokes and bury his head in the sand, the answering need that flares to life in Angies eyes proves to be his undoing every single time.


Sarah is an author who certainly gets everything right when it comes to developing lovable characters, She has that uncanny ability to deliver characters that we the readers can relate to, characters who are flawed, yet comes with redeeming qualities that just makes them seem so real and larger than life.
For me, both Angie and Michaels characters were equally appealing, Angie in my opinion is kindness itself, and she earned my love from the very beginning of the novel, Angie might be reserved when it comes to being openly affectionate, but she has a mighty tender spot for Billie and her family and that shines throughout the story, even way before she starts developing feelings for Michael.
I loved how Angie seemed to be able to give, expecting nothing in return, even when she knows that the ultimate conclusion of a relationship with Michael might mean irreversible heartbreak for her.


Michael is such a delicious hero, The way Sarah brought him to life through Angies eyes, those things about an attractive man that we all notice and take a second look at coupled together with that innate sense of fairness and kindness deep inside of him makes him one of the most droolworthy heroes I have read this year.
I love a man who is larger than life, and that is exactly how I envisioned Michael as I read along, And let me tell you, Michael might seem a bit hesitant when it comes to taking the “plunge” with Angie, but when he does, oh boy does he do it well!

The only thing that disappointed me a bit was the lack of an epilogue.
There was so much angst in the book that the lump in my throat refused to go away each time I picked up the book.
Even from chapteritself I knew that Within Reach was going to end up breaking my heart a bit, but then I trusted Sarah enough to put it back together.
The ending itself wasnt bad, but I wanted something to keep with me, something to dream about a bit during the moments of semiwakefulness that I go through when I am right about to fall asleep.
And I wanted just a bit more for Angie which I know might not convey the message that I want to, but I wanted to see Michael and Angies happily ever after, a happily ever after worthy of someone like Angie.


Nevertheless, Within Reach was an amazing read, and Sarah Mayberry is an author that always never fails to deliver,

Recommended highly to fans of Sarah Mayberry, fans of widowed hero themed romances that love a good angstridden read!

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