The Weight of Life by Whitney Barbetti

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Title: The Weight of Life
Author: Whitney Barbetti
Series: Love in London #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: June 28, 2017
Format: ebook
Pages: 276
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 #LetsReadIndie Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

-Mila-“Don’t let go.” Those were my first words to him, as I hung over the side of a London bridge. The words I would soon say again, in a moment that didn’t involve bridges, but something much more fragile: my heart.

He held onto me for three weeks, in a time when I needed to be held. Needed to connect to someone who understood how loss tunneled unrepentantly through the fabric of your soul.

Although he said he'd stay, we both knew he wouldn't. I had already survived one loss—I didn't know if I'd survive another.

-Ames-She spun into my life like a tornado of smiles and chatter and everything else I'd long avoided, with a persistence that I admired, albeit begrudgingly. She broke down each neat wall I’d constructed without even trying. Her presence alone caused me to remember what it felt like to smile, to look forward to what the day would bring.

But it was only supposed to last three weeks.

“Don’t let go,” she’d pleaded.

I’d promised her I wouldn’t—but I would. I didn't have a choice.

My Review:

4.5 stars — This book was completely unlike what I was expecting…or rather, my initial expectations, b/c I did read a review that mentioned it was not as gut-wrenching as they were expecting, and hence why I was convinced to give it a try.  I don’t mind the feels, but I like a balance.  And this book had the perfect balance of feelz and lightness.

This is my first book by this author, and it definitely won’t be the last.  I was intrigued by both Mila and Ames right from the start.  Mila was such a different heroine from what I was expecting.  She was so light and sunny and positive, even when struggling with dark things.  It wasn’t an all the time thing, but more just who she was at her core.  I loved how thoughtful she was about the struggles of life and grief, and how intrinsic it was to her personality to truly care for others and try to understand them.  She wasn’t perfect, by any means, but I really loved her regardless.  Her battle with her parents was different, and showed a different side of her…I enjoyed the fact that that wasn’t magically resolved, it just was what it was.

I struggled with Ames at the very beginning…he was just so gruff and rude, and I *almost* found his turnaround a bit hard to buy.  But the funny thing is that I just didn’t care by that point, b/c I loved the new Ames we were getting to meet.  His heart was so big, and I loved watching him make room in it for Mila.  And just like her, he was definitely not perfect…he had great intentions with his family, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t being a blind idiot a lot of times.  I really appreciated that at the end he didn’t let himself off the hook for his bad behavior.  He truly felt that regret.

And the romance between Mila and Ames was just so freaking sweet and sexy…I definitely felt the chemistry, but more often than not I spent most of my time swooning.  I also loved the interesting conversations they had about their pasts, love, grief, and all that good stuff.

This book had a really interesting cast of secondary characters as well, and I loved the relationships that our MC’s had with them.  From Mila’s relationship with her twin, Jude (which made me look and confirm that he has his own set of books); to the friendship she develops with Lotte; to Ames’ friendship with Samson; to the wisdom passed down by Ames’ FIL Asher.  I really appreciated how these relationships gave more insight into Mila and Ames.  Obviously I’m wishlisting Lotte and Samson’s story…gotta see what happens there!

I will admit that closer to the end I found my attention wandering.  It’s the reason I’m rounding down instead of up.  It could have been just me and my mood, or it could have been that I was getting bored.  But either way it was fairly brief and so really didn’t affect my overall enjoyment that greatly.

So yeah.  I love it when you get a book as a recommendation from a fave author and it works out.  Will definitely be looking to read more from this author in the future.