***4 ‘Every Moment’ Stars***

I’ve read quite a few books over the last couple of weeks that fall firmly under “emotional rollercoaster” but I think this one may take the cake because the emotional mines that are peppered throughout Worth the Wait were crazy intense. There were sweet and smexy moments, I swear the entire book was not an angsty emotional landmine, but holy hell, what Nick and Mia lived through, whether or not by choice, had me feeling emotionally drained in the end, even when I was happy that they finally got their much deserved HEA.

If you were to look up the meaning of “the weight of the world rests on his shoulders” I’m pretty sure a picture of Nick would be front and center as a visual example. After a huge tragedy struck his family he was the one who stepped up and wanted to keep everything from unraveling, but he took on so much that he ended up having tunnel vision and at times doing more harm than good. This is where I had a love/irritated relationship with Nick. He has a huge heart and wants to protect everyone, but that need tends to suffocate those he loves the most.

I loved Mia from the first time she appeared in the story. Though young, she has a maturity to her that makes her appear older. Part of that has to do with how driven she is to reach her chosen career goal, which is a lofty yet attainable one. She’s sweet with a huge heart, gentle touch and strong sense of self that draws people to her.

Nick and Mia’s story is a second chance at love romance and not only to we get to be flies on the wall for the second time they collide, but the first time they collided in flashbacks to the most meaningful moments, but also the most painful ones that ended up tearing them apart. And though I empathized with both Nick and Mia, I took Mia’s side of the issue more often than not because she tended to be the more reasonable of the two. But even with the major emotional upheavals that they went through the bottom line is that they were soulmates.

Worth the Wait is a spinoff of The McKinney Brothers Series and runs concurrently with Worth the Risk, the second book in the series and though I haven’t read it, though I really should since I read the first and third books, I didn’t feel as if I was missing out on anything, though I now want to bump the second one up on the TBR list to fill in the gaps. The writing was engaging, the pacing was good and I enjoyed the dual 3rd person POV’s. The flashbacks were done very well and I especially enjoyed getting to know the other Walker’s and can’t wait to get my hands on their books!

“I missed you until I thought I would die from it. I dreamed of you, some nights it was so real I could hear you breathing, I could smell your hair.”

I’m struggling, you guys. To find the words for this review. To find the quotes that’ll show you exactly how much, how deeply Worth the Wait made me feel. I don’t know if I can, but I’m going to try. Because this is a book that needs to be read. Savored. Poured over. Felt.

And, God, I felt it. I felt it so much; I don’t think I really stopped crying once I started—sometime in the first chapter.

This book, this unbelievable book. It was perfect. It was heightened emotions and true, broken, raw love. It was loss and pain and aching hearts, and mistakes made. It was trying to get back something that should never have been abandoned in the first place, and it gave my tear ducts the hardest workout they’ve had in quite some time.

What was between them didn’t make sense—it just was.
And it was in the past. But it didn’t feel like the past. It felt like right fucking now. She was right now.

I can’t really describe what it’s like to read this book, to experience every single thing that Nick and Mia did, because… it was so real. It wasn’t just words on a page—to me, it was a whole lifetime of emotion, pouring out of my Kindle, making my heart bleed and ache.

My heart is… healed now. Claudia Connor certainly did a number on it, which was to be expected. If you know anything of Nick Walker (who you can meet for the first time in the excellent Worth the Risk), then you know his life was no easy one. And Ms. Connor didn’t soften any blows, didn’t take the easy road with him. Or with Mia. And the end result? A love and a story that could not have been better. And a heart, like mine, that was beating so hard it pressed against my chest and damn near exploded.

I don’t know if that’s enough. If those are the words that’ll make you take a chance on this book, on this series, on this author. But I hope so. I really, truly hope so. Because it’s worth it.

“I’m not worried.”
“You don’t need to be. My heart is yours. You stole it, remember?”

~ ALL THE STARS ~

This was such an amazing book, I loved every word of it. Nick was amazing, he was the protective older brother and a complete sweetheart. Mia was awesome, I loved her strength and support despite everything that happened in the past. I love Claudia's work and this one will go on my top favorite list for the year so far. I can not wait for more.

I die everytime you walk away
Don't leave me alone with me
See, I'm afraid
Of the darkness and my demons
And the voices, sayin' nothing's gonna be okay, Heeyyy
I feel it in my heart, soul, mind that I'm losing
You, me, you're abusing
Every reason I have left to live. - Under by Alex Hepburn -

The ones we love the most we can hurt the worst. Words can cut deep saying no words at all can cut even deeper. Leaving a gaping hole in your heart, your body and your soul. Crippling your spirit your essence along the way. Loving that person is like muscle memory you just can't let go no matter how much you want to.

Mia & Nick have an all-consuming love. A love that I haven't read about in a very, very, very, very long time. Mia & Nick hurt I felt all their emotions a long with them. How I wanted to give it 5 stars and this might sound completely insane but that deep ache that my heart felt? That deep ache my soul felt? Is destroying. I didn't want to be wrecked. I didn't want to have to take deep breaths to emotionally deal with their deep rooted love. A love that with time and over the years with being apart has only grown.

Sometimes crying a river can't bring a man to his knees but that one rare tear that slips through can and change everything.

So much hurt, so much pain and so much regret. It is too much hurt, pain and regret for me at times. Some parts of the book I just didn't want to continue because it slayed me and I am just an outsider looking in on their pain. Their past, their present and what the future might be if they stop looking back, stop feeling the guilt. It's not to be forgotten but at least to be forgiven

If you're lucky you get that special someone if you're even luckier then you get to spend the rest of life with them well and if you don't? And that someone crosses your path for a second time then you get on your fucking knees and thank your lucky stars that fate intervened and has given you a second chance.

I have been a fan right since the beginning and I read Worth the Fall so I am probably biased to say the least. I feel a reread coming on for this book.

Ms. Connor knows how to write tearjerkers. How to worm her way around my heart and deep into my DNA. I won’t go to in-depth because this is a story that you need to feel yourself, make sure it goes to the marrow of your bone. After a night’s sleep I’m still gutted in some ways.

All the Walker men deserve happiness especially after such a colossal large and tragic loss. And in all honesty? I can’t wait.

Worth The Wait, A McKinney Brothers Novel (McKinney/Walker Book 1) by Claudia Connor is the most emotionally rich story to date. That is saying something because all of her books are emotionally intense. I loved how the author has now turned her focus on Hannah’s (Worth the Risk) family of brothers. In this case, older brother Nick Walker’s heart is on the line. Through Hannah, his past collides with his present.

The author takes us back to the past to give clarity to the present. It is so true, that events shape us and must be dealt with to give closure so that we can move on with life. Seeing it all from Nick’s perspective makes this a heart breaking wonderful read. It was worth the wait. For Nick it is definitely a small world and initially he is not pleased. His journey back to love is bumpy and full of potholes. It is a genuine honest romance filled with contrasting emotions, with love and family at its heart.

4.5 stars

I was really surprised at how much I liked Nick and Mia’s story. I wasn’t a big fan of Hannah’s book Worth the Risk so I wasn’t sure I would like this one.

Nick is Hannah’s oldest brother and the one that raised her. If you have read Hannah’s story you know she went missing for a short time as teen and was horribly tortured. Nick can’t let go of the guilt of what happened to her. You learn that all his anger and blame cost him the love of his life Mia.

I really liked the flashbacks in Worth the Wait. You go back to Nick as a teen and how he came to care for his brothers and sisters after their parent’s death. It was cool to see him caring for little Hannah and how he meets Mia in school. They have a long road ahead of them because Mia wants to finish med school and Nick is going into the FBI. But these two take it slow and fall in love.You could feel the weight of responsibility that Nick carried and he had a hard time letting Mia share the load. Their love story spanned about 12 years and the catalyst for their ending was the horror of what happened to Hannah. Mia tried everything to get through to Nick but he had blinders on so she walked away.

It is now 10 years later and they are in their 40’s and neither one has move on. I felt so sad for Mia. She hasn’t gotten over NIck but she has tried to move on in other ways. She had some happiness in her grasp and it was ripped away from her again. Running into Nick again is opening a wound that she isn’t ready for because she is already hurting. I would have liked for a little more of Nick working through his crap. He was so hard headed and it was almost impossible for him to see his way out.

This was an extremely emotional read. I wasn’t expecting it to be so sad but between the stuff with Hannah and Mia’s current loss it was a tearjerker. Well Done!

If you love extremely emotional reads and second chance romances, this is a book you need to read asap! This one is intense and will put your feelings through the ringer, but it’s a truly beautiful story of true love, first love, and forever love.

If you’re like me and have read the McKinney brother’s series, you’ve wanted Nick Walker’s book since the moment you met him. Nick is Hannah’s older brother and has raised her since they tragically lost their parents when Hannah was 2. When Hannah was just a baby, Nick found the love of his life. Mia and Nick were together for many years. They were in love. Then something happened that completely tore everything apart. It left them both alone and their hearts in tatters. But neither one of them ever moved on. Not really. When you meet that one true love of your life, you can’t just move past that and find someone else.

There is so much love in this story, but also so much loss. I felt like I cried so much while reading, it was just a somber read for me for much of the storyline. I couldn’t help but be tearful. But there are also moments of laughter, love and family that made my heart soar. It was just all around emotional. Mia and Nick both broke my heart. I rooted for them to find their way back to each other so hard. They both deserved that kind of love again. Both had been through so much.

I do wish that this couple would have found a way back to each other much sooner. A part of me understands why they were apart for so long, but another part of me knows that so much pain and heartache could have been avoided if either one of them would have just came to their senses and went after the other. I hate seeing people miserable and in pain and I wish that could have been avoided. Ten years is a long time to be unhappy.

Overall, I thought this was a great addition to this series. I’m looking forward to more books from the Walker family and it’s great to see the McKinney family scattered throughout the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves emotional reads. It was an engaging and enjoyable read!

***4,25 "Be happy... it's time!" stars***

This was a story that i was waiting like crazy since the second book of the McKinney brothers...
This was a heartbroken story about young love, second chances, about family and about how a brother became a single parent and got sucked by this role!!!
In here, i could understand Nick better and i learned more about Mia and her part in Walker's lives!!!

"You left me."
"And you let me go."

Nick and Mia met in college and they fell hard for each other... They stayed together for over a decade, but unfortunately, their love wasn't easy at all!!!
Nick wasn't just a carefree college student... He had lost his parents and he became a father figure about his four siblings and especially for two year old, Hannah!!!
Nick also was very responsible and protective and he was standing like a real father to Hannah...
And Mia, in a way, became a mother for Hannah too!!!!
But when the tragedy stroke, Nick and Mia lost each other and they fell apart...

"He was barely there, so lost in his dark cage of anger and guilt he'd built for himself. He'd locked himself in and locked her out."

Now, more than a decade after, Nick and Mia's paths are colliding for once again... but there are many obstacles that are standing between them...
Mia had a big loss lately in her life and she can't get over it...
Nick is still hunging by the guilt of the past...
The only untouched thing between them is the love that they are still feeling for each other, but is it enough to forgive and forget??? Can they give another one chance to them???
Will they be able to leave the past behind and to embrace the future together???

"What was between them didn't make sense- it just was.
And it was in the past. But it didn't feel like the past. It felt like right fucking now."

In Hannah's book, I wasn't very sure if i liked Nick...
He was very rough around the edges, very bossy and extremely possessive... But in here, i realized why he was like that and i loved him for that reason...
Hannah was his whole world and he was making a very good job raising her....
Everything else didn't matter as much as it mattered this little girl and i love him for that reason...
But unfortunately, he became a little bit unfair toward the love of his life, Mia and he didn't treat her right... But nobody can say that he didn't love Mia with his whole heart!!!

"I have no defenses against you, I never did."
"And you think I do? You think you aren't burned in my brain! In my heart! You're there. You've always been there."

Mia from the other hand was a lovely and quiet woman who didn't fight with all her heart for what she wanted.... I wanted her to fight more about Nick but she gave up easily on him...
But i loved that she gave him a chance even with all this heavy load upon his shoulders...
She loved very much Hannah too and i think that she stepped up in the role of mother for her... And i don't know if that was right for her!!!
The only sure thing is that Mia didn't deserve all this heartbreaking...

"She’d gone from a girl feeling her first love to a woman who’d melded every part of herself to a man.
And then he was gone."

I liked very much how Nick and Mia have found their way back to each other, even though i felt a little bit sad for the lost time... They didn't deserve to be apart from each other for such a long time!!! Such a wasted time for no reason!!!!
They allowed the bad things to overshadow the best things of their relationship and it was such a pity!!!

"I lost you, lost us. Now it feels like I have a chance again. Like we have a chance."

And now, i can't wait for the rest of the Walker brothers to tell their stories...
I'm pretty sure that their books will be very interesting!!!!

***ARC generously provided via NetGalley for the exchange of an honest review!!!
Thank you!!!***

We met Nick in Worth the Risk as Hannah's overprotective brother. Worth the Wait is his story is some what segues between the timeline of both. I was always curious about her brothers and I'm glad they get a book. Nick struck me as a strong personality and his love for family along with that responsibility thrust on him.

A big brother's love is precious. Especially Nick for Hannah. His devotion stems from early childhood as the the one who brought her up. It was a tough position he took on a lot. But it also meant he experienced things differently in the same regard. His first love slipped out of his hands and we get to know their story. It's quite sad and emotional really for both of them. They dealt with a lot individually and it needed to be overcome.

Nick and Mia had a long history. College sweetheart that weathered the long distance. They were like family before everything crumbled. Hurt and regrets that linger in their memories. Which make their first meeting after many years harder. To me they supported each other well before they were torn apart. A pseudo family too. This is their second chance at getting it right.

Third person books don't always work for me but I've always not minded with Claudia's writing. She delivers it well. I loved Nick and Mia's story but I felt like the drama was too drawn out till the end. Getting to see past events in a different light. The Mickinney fam is always nice to see. I will like getting to know the brothers!

Worth the Wait is the first book in Claudia Connor's new series, a spinoff from the popular McKinney Brothers series (specifically from Worth the Risk). And yes it features none other than the older, highly protective brother of Hannah Walker. For fans of the series this is a great addition to what is already a very memorable series. For new readers then yes you will also fall in love with what is going to be another great set of characters. Its actually better to read Worth the Risk first to find out how and why Mia and Nick broke up but its not really necessary to appreciate what they have gone through.
If a book can make you fall in love, break your heart and give you a great happy ever after my suggestion is start reading it now. Any words I use to express how good this book is will probably be insufficient on how much emotion it can wring out from you. Suffice to say, a reader will never regret picking it up and finishing it till the end. Prepare to fall in love with Mia and Nick (and little Hannah Walker :))