FINDING HIM (Covet #2) by Rachel Van Dyken

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 25, 2020

Coming out of a coma was one hell of a wake-up call. While I was in the dark, my estranged twin brother, Bridge, had replaced me in the company I owned and swept up my fiancée in the takeover. With my ruthless reputation, can I blame them for falling in love? I have to look long and hard at where I’ve been and where I’m headed. Alone time? The universe has other plans.

Our family’s secluded Vermont cabin comes with a gorgeous—if at first, unwelcoming—surprise. She’s renter Keaton Westbrook, a social media superstar struggling with her own private grief. As a winter storm bears down, we’ve found something to keep us warm—an intimacy neither of us expected and both of us need.

After we say goodbye, what happens then? Keaton and I are longing to reconcile with our painful pasts. I can’t bear to do it without her. Is it too much to ask of fate to give us a second chance at life and love?

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REVIEW: FINDING HIM is the second instalment in Rachel Van Dyken’s contemporary, adult COVET romance series focusing on businessman and heir Julian Tennyson, and model / writer / social media darling Keaton Westbrook. FINDING HIM can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading book one STEALING HER for back story and cohesion.

SOME BACKGROUND: At the age of fifteen, twins Bridge and Julian Tennyson were separated as a result of their parent’s divorce. Bridge had always promised Julian he would protect his brother but years of separation meant the two had become strangers until the fateful day when Bridge would be pulled back into his brother’s world. Having lived with his ailing mother, Bridge watched from the sidelines as his brother Julian excelled in the business of high finance, a business that was destroying Julian and the woman with whom he was about to marry. A near fatal accident left Julian Tennyson in a four-week coma during which time his fiancé left and married his twin brother Bridge.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Julian and Keaton) FINDING HIM follows the building relationship and romance between businessman and heir Julian Tennyson, and model / writer / social media darling Keaton Westbrook. Julian Tennyson was struggling in the aftermath of an accident, and the resulting loss of his fiancé to his brother Bridge. Told to take some time off, Julian headed to the family cabin only to come face to face with social media darling and America’s sweetheart Keaton Westbrook, who had rented the cabin from their corporate head quarters in an effort to write a book focusing on her relationship with her late, best friend Noah. A snow storm and the subsequent loss of internet connection found Julian and Keaton stranded together where they would work side by side on a book about Keaton’s grief in the aftermath of losing someone she loved. What ensues is the building relationship between Keaton and Julian, and the potential fall-out as Keaton continues to struggle with grief, and the perceptive attitude of social media towards her possible relationship with America’s bad boy, as Julian battles between head and heart knowing their time together is coming to a close.

Keaton Westbrook is the daughter of celebrities, and as such her relationship with Noah, and his subsequent death became one of the most popular trending stories in social media. When a publisher suggested Keaton write a story focusing on her love with Noah, our heroine went into seclusion only to face her future in the guise of bad boy Julian Tennyson. Julian’s reputation and the fall-out of his relationship with both his brother and his former fiancé precedes his introduction to Keaton Westbrook but forced time together found Julian considering a second chance at love but a love predicated on Keaton’s social media standings, and the public perception of Keaton’s new love. Grieving the recent death of his beloved mother, Julian understands Keaton’s loss but struggles with her inability to move on from the past. The $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are reintroduced to Julian’s brother Bridge, and his new wife Isobel but the majority of the story line focuses on Julian and Keaton’s time together in the cabin, in the woods.

FINDING HIM is a story of grief and recovery; of friendship and family; of acceptance and love. The premise is engaging and captivating; the romance is seductive and sweet; the characters are broken, struggling but healing.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one STEALING HER.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy