I love Roni Loren's books but I shouldn't have read this...because now I'm dying to read the rest of it! January is a long way off but I couldn't resist the chance. I can't wait to see more of Finn and Liv, and to get the rest of the story. What happened at the school and why, and how did the tragic events affect all of them, and I need more of Finn's back story as well!

This was a great book to start the year with. At first glance it long lost love story, but once you actually once up this book you will realize it is so much deeper than that. I will say that this book was also a really slow burn, the romance is there and the attraction is noted from hte begiinning but, actual sex and even a very hot make out sessions takes a lot of time (like passed 50%), but that said, I fell so hard for both Liv and Finn.

Liv was never the girl next door, always one to marched to the beat of her own drum, she was the gardener's daughter who caught the eye of the most popular boy in school. And she was his dirty little secret, until the prom night that changed everything for them. When these two run into each other 12 years later, the attraction is still there, and so is the hurt. But I loved Liv's personality so much. The fact that when she was near Finn she was just as strong and dominating as him. The fact that she always spoke her mind, and wore her heart on her sleeve, and most of all the fact that when she told Finn she loved him she meant it. I think the way their story unfolded was perfect. For them, we got to see the past when they were teenagers in love, and how they've changed and grown.

Finn was so amazing in this book. This home town hero turned FBI agent, who loved this girl that he was never supposed to. A hero who carried out an insane amount of guilt because of a decision he made all those nights ago. One who never planned to see the girl who stole his heart all those years ago, and one who loved her enough to know she deserved better than him. The way Finn was constantly the martyr, and the way Liv would not let him be that. The fact that he was able to be saved with her, to be himself, to lay all his hope and dreams and fears at her feet, and how she led him to better decisions. This was so fantastic.

Overall great book, I was actually a bit disappointed that its a standalone, because I was so ready for more, but these two got the HEA that they deserved, and I was more than happy for them.

The Ones Who Got Away is a story about a couple who survive a horrific experience at their high school prom and reunite twelve years later while filming a documentary. I enjoyed reading this story and getting to know the characters. I think the author handled this sensitive storyline very well and I look forward to reading her next book.

Another beautifully written story by a fabulous auto-buy author. An emotional take on the second-chance romance, this book will have you hooked from page one. My advice: Read it when you don't have to get up early the next day!

Roni Loren’s latest novel is a book that I honestly wasn’t sure I’d be able to read because the romance involves reuniting two survivors of a devastating school shooting. In the last year, my tolerance for contemporary plots with abuse and/or trauma has vastly decreased. Even in a good year, there are few authors I would trust with such a sensitive subject matter. Fortunately, Loren treats her characters with compassion and sensitivity. The characters are more than what happened to them and their story is about living, not just surviving.

More than a decade after a shooting devastated the Long Acre High School Senior Prom, survivors have gathered in their hometown to participate in a documentary with proceeds to go to charity. When four women who bonded in the early days following the tragedy get together and unearth messages from their former selves, they find that they may not have moved forward as much as they think they have. Is just hanging in there really enough?

In many ways, Liv Arias is prospering. She has a successful career and has reached a healthy place after some troubled years spent burying her troubles in sex and alcohol. Her teenaged goals may seem superficial – pursue photography and passionate love affairs – but they highlight the fact that passion in any form is something that Liv is definitely missing and maybe it’s time to take some risks.

Finn Dorsey is a fellow survivor who has spent the last decade mastering the lone-wolf approach. His relationship with Liv at the time of the shooting was complex in a way that only teenagers can pull off and he carries a lot of guilt and regret for what happened to her that night that he hasn’t processed fully. He is also an FBI agent coming off of a difficult years-long undercover assignment. He needs to recuperate and transition back to normal life before his superiors will allow him to take another long-term undercover assignment. When he confides his “live alone at a remote lake house” summer plans to Liv, she quite reasonably points out that they’re pretty much crap.

“That is such a man plan.”
“A man plan.”
“Yes. You don’t know how to be among the living anymore, so you’re going to…go live alone in a cave. Right. Good thinking. That will pop your how-to-be-human skills right back into place.”

A summer romance becomes truly inevitable when Finn and Liv come up with a plan that mutually benefits them both. Finn will still hermit away at his lake house for the summer, but Liv will come up for long weekends to keep him company and to work on her photography. They, of course, agree to keep things platonic but that quickly goes out the window.

Finn and Liv’s romance is, in many ways, the easiest part of their story. Their chemistry is palpable and the joy and comfort they bring each other is beautiful. They’ve always fit well together and, since coming together for the first time, neither has met anyone else who lights them up in any similar way. Picking things up again is almost effortless and it’s nice to see neither of them struggle with admitting how they feel. Being in love is easy for them. Maintaining a functional relationship and letting go of baggage and distractions is harder.

I can’t wrap up this review without touching on the truly lovely female relationships in this book. The women in this story have been through hell and back and they have each other’s damn backs. They celebrate each other’s triumphs and they support each other unequivocally. I have no doubt that this thread will continue through the rest of the series, and I’m excited to see it play out.

"These women were fierce and tough and brave. And for the first time in longer than she could remember, she realized she was one of them. Those words applied to her, too."

The Ones Who Got Away is ultimately a story of hope and perseverance. It isn’t a gentle read, but it is a powerful and hopeful one.

When I read the excerpt of this book months ago, I knew that this book what going to be different to what I've been reading lately. With the advent of self-publishing sometimes is hard to find a read that shakes you to the core. This book is one of these reads.

The premise of the book is different: School shooting survivors reuniting for a documentary. The first thing I want to say about that is that the author handled a delicate theme with the utmost respect. This wasn't a cheap plot point. It was a well thought out. I especially liked how she handled talking about survivor's trauma.

And when you think about all that I am saying here, you still don't think this will a romance book. Hence the magic of this book: In a world of excess and shock value, the delicate handling of the book's theme is what makes this a great book. Romance has flourished in the midst of all this horror...And doesn't this give you hope?

I can't wait for "The One You Can't Forget"!

The Ones Who Got Away is the first book in a series by the same name about several survivors of a school shooting (at the prom, nonetheless! OMG, the descriptions/nightmares here were vivid--just a heads-up), twelve years later. This one deals with two of the survivors, Liv and Finn; the only other survivors we meet are all women (Rebecca, Kincaid, and Taryn) so presumably their SOs will not be fellow survivors...? Though I could be wrong--time will tell.

Anyway...

The four women, who hadn't been particularly close before the shooting, came together afterwards and at one point before graduating and going their separate ways, wrote letters to be opened in ten years in which they each pledged--to themselves and to honor their classmates who didn't "get away"--to do certain things with their lives. They all missed the decade mark, but when they are brought back to town for a documentary about their experience, the woman who had custody of the letters brings them with her. Over drinks, the four of them read their letters out loud and decide what they have or haven't accomplished (with not a little bit of justification and hedging on some of their parts--and a teensy bit of cringing, too ;))

Liv's pretty sure she doesn't actually need to go through with her younger self's plans--and absolutely sure that she doesn't need to pick things up with Finn where they left off (she was from the wrong side of the tracks, and his father was very controlling and not terribly nice, to put it mildly, so theirs was a secret relationship) but of course fate--and Ms. Loren--have other ideas. I loved watching Liv and Finn as they reconnected, came to terms with their pasts, and figured out a way that they could move together into a future--second chance romance at its best :)

I'm not sure how this managed to be my first book from Ms. Loren, but it absolutely won't be my last! Rebecca's story is next--can't wait!

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Total page turner! I seriously could not put this down. It had the perfect amount of suspense and romance. Looking forward to the next one.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Relevant, passionate, healing-filled Reunion Romance by one of the most intuitive writers out there for deep human motivation and emotion had me in high anticipation for the beginning of a new series by a favorite author.
Review

The Ones Who Got Away took me to a contemporary world that most of us are fortunate we will never have to experience- the survivor of a mass shooting. Exploring the aftermath and pairing it with a nearly desperate, cathartic romance that was always meant to be sent me to so many places inside my mind and heart. In few other author’s hands would I trust them to tell a story like this and get it right. I do not say that to be dramatic, but because its true. I wasn’t even nervous that Roni Loren would fail to show a group of high school shooting survivors a decade later, capturing their past thoughts and actions as teens, then young adults, and now the adult versions. Oh yes, at the heart, we have a salacious and passionate reunion romance between the jock and the artsy girl from the other side of the tracks, but this is twisted up in PTSD symptoms, people just getting by, and oh, the honesty and lust for life that happens when they trigger something in each other because they do know that life is an iffy thing.

That said, Finn and Livvy are gun shy about relationships. For Finn, as an undercover FBI agent, he knows he only has just the summer before he gets sent deep undercover again and he is filled with darkness and barely holds onto his true self by a thread . And for Livvy, she can only make things work if she stays detached. People she loves leave and die like her mom and Finn and all the kids gunned down and she doesn’t believe her splintered, damaged, nightmare-ridden self can connect with anyone. I wanted them to heal and heal together so badly.

The pair of them were combustible together. They were secretly dating in high school because Finn’s family and even Livvy’s would have fought them on it, but now as adults, they are like gasoline and a match. Up they go as soon as they get near each other. Honest, sexy, dirty talking and hot sweaty sexy times ensue. Livvy is a firecracker and drives Finn wild and back into a lighter, happier place and Finn is a smoldering hottie that pushes her through her ice walls and makes her release her artistic, passionate, devil may care self. They are good together and I was left with no doubts. Even when they were on the outs, they were mature, honest, caring, and oh so in love.

Beyond these two, I liked the other layers to this story and setting the stage for the other series stories to come. Livvy and the other survivor girlfriends she has that all do a time capsule letter and realize that none are living up to their teen self dreams, but also realize that they have each other.. Finn and Becca dealing with their friendship, her teen crush, and their shared past. And the need to find closure with Finn’s family.

I know that I have totally gushed and rambled through this review, but I’m still on a reader high and wanted to convey the fabulousness that I was feeling so others would catch the bug and go grab this one.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebooks for providing me a free copy of #theoneswhogotaway by #roniloren for my honest review.

Tragedy struck the Long Acre High School and only a few students survived that horrific night. Liv and Finn reunite 12 years later when they both chose to participate in a documentary that brings those who lived back home. This is a second game romance about heart break and loss.

The description of the book sounds so promising and I expected to feel a lot of angst. The beginning hooked me in but all honestly this book just didn’t do it for me. Yes, it was cute but I wasn’t invested in the characters and for me the book just didn’t deliver the 5 star rating that I’ve seen on ig and goodreads. It was good enough where I’ll catch the next book in the series.

Rating:📚📚1/2 /4 #foodie #the_reading_foodie #laeats #fatty #yummy #reader #read #book #books #pho #springrolls #losangeles #alwayseating #bookish #alwaysreading #bibliophile #bookworm #bookslut #bookstagram #booknerd #foodstagram #bookgeek #bookporn #foodporn #arc #soup #readersofinstagram

I love a second chance romance. I don’t know what it is but I just adore them. The Ones That Got Away is unlike any second chance romance that I’ve read.

Olivia Arias and Finn Dorsey survived the worst tragedy of their lives, 12 years later they are reunited, however, the events of that day still have a profound effect on their lives. The event of that fateful day is brought back to the forefront of their minds and they have to deal with the loss, grief, anger, and regrets. In one summer Olivia and Finn are there to help each other move forward but also learn how to forgive and be able to maybe reconnect on a whole other level.

Despite what happened to Olivia and Finn on that fateful day, the chemistry between them did not diminish. Even while reading you can feel the lust permeating off that page, wondering if they will rekindle their relationship or if all the trauma they both been through is beyond repairing what they once had. I was rooting for them and you will too. You will laugh, you will cry and you will have, at times an unbearable ache and a quiet understanding for anyone who have been there something so traumatic. The Ones That Got Away is a book that you will not soon forget and the story was just what I needed to get out of my book funk.

This was an enjoyable contemporary romance book. Finn and Liv are survivors of a school tragedy and years later they are brought together again and must decide what is important to them. I really liked the characters of Finn and Liv. Both are easy to like and I enjoyed following their story. The banter and chemistry between them was well written and believable. I liked how for the most part they were real with each other and real about their feelings for each other despite the circumstances. This was a nice change of pace from a lot of the fantasy I have been reading. Overall, I would recommend this to fans of other contemporary romance books and I will likely check out the second book. I recieved an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley as well as a copy from Bookish Firsts.

I reviewed this for the January edition of RT Book Reviews

The moment I read the blurb of this book, I knew I wanted to read it. Normally I’m not one to chase too heavy themes in my reads, but for some reason this plot spoke to me. A tragedy that is a high school shooting and the survivors coming together years later for a documentary on the incident. I wasn’t going to pass this up.

Since this was essentially a romance, I was ready not to expect too much tragic incident related narration, but after finishing the book I can say that I could’ve been okay with a little bit more about that detail. After all, this was a defining moment in the lives of the characters. And the shooting itself seemed to me like it could’ve used some dissection. From the few memories the hero and the heroine share with us, I got very curious, but in the end found the past still lingering in my mind with more questions.

While the tragic theme stuck with me, the romance was still there to remind me that this book was about Liv and Finn. I found their romance, or their second chance romance to be more specific, nicely paced, what with their emotional baggage adding weight to their story. They were both characters I could relate to, and for people who’ve been emotionally damaged, they didn’t waste time with unnecessary drama.

I liked this book and its characters, and cared about what happens to the rest of the survivors. I think there’s especially one very heartbreaking and compelling story about one among the group and I can’t wait to read it.

Wow! This was my first Roni Loren book. I don't always read blurbs, but I'm a sucker for a second chance romance where the main characters have a complicated history, so I went for it. Wow! Such an amazing story! Two people, Olivia and Finn, who went through a tragedy in high school and meet many years later, each still working through the repercussions of the event. There was the typical will-they-won't-they and it's-just-temporary, but they had a fresh spin. Ms. Loren writes a really good sexy scene, and the book really moved along. I also enjoyed getting to know the secondary characters, like Rebecca, Taryn and Kincaid, whose stories are hopefully going to be told in future books.

I loved how Roni Loren showed the aspects of the aftermath of survival. Finn and Live are not living their lives to the fullest. Coming back together helps them all see that. Finn and Liv are truthful, flawed, funny and sexy. I also really liked Liv reconnecting with her other female classmates and committing to support each other to live their best lives. I couldn't get enough of this book! And the cover is perfectly awesome.

Different kind of story about people from a small town who survived a school shooting. Years later she returns and sees the guy who she believes left her when she most needed him. He is tortured and has an almost obsessive loyalty to his country. He puts his own desires second and his service to his country first.

I do think the heroine forgave him a little too fast, but I enjoyed this one.

This was my first book by Roni Loren, and I will definitely read more of them! I loved this book. It was sweet and sexy. It had a little bit of a drama undercurrent to the plot, but it fit into the story nicely. The angst wasn't overdone! You're going to love Finn. He is swoon worthy, and Liv is a strong, lively female that figures out what she wants. I just love a good HEA!

Very enjoyable book, even if it was originally centred around a shooting at a high school 12 years ago. The shooting was only mentioned only in the context of the story and didn't go into every detail, so wasn't quite as harrowing as you might imagine.

There is a documentary now being made about the shooting, with the proceeds going to the families of the victims, so the documentary-makers manage to persuade some of the survivors to talk about their experiences for the documentary. Two of these were Liv and Finn, who were 17 at the time and had been having a secret fling. Of course the shootings changed everything for all the survivors and people that hardly spoke to each other before the shooting became friends afterwards as so many of their classmates hadn't survived.

​At the beginning we got to know a little bit about the four female friends, Liv, Rebecca​, Kincaid and Taryn, who hadn't been in close touch with each other for a long time, along with Finn who tried to keep himself to himself at the beginning. Finn is now an FBI agent who has just finished a 2-year undercover job and is taking a break to decompress. Finn and Liv start getting closer and realise they miss their high-school friendship, so Finn offers Liv the use of an apartment above the pool house on the property he is currently staying at, not far from their original hometown, at the weekends. Liv accepts and they start to get closer, working through issues they had from the shooting and moving forward with their lives.

The four friends had originally written letters, put them in a jar and buried them. They opened them at the beginning of the book and realise that they haven't quite done what they said they wanted to do in their letters. So they all promise to try again to live the lives they had promised each other they would when they were younger, in memory of their fallen classmates who wouldn't be able to live their lives. Life had happened and they had not quite gone down the paths they had wanted their teenage selves to live, Liv in this instance with her photography. I loved the part where Liv told her patronising boss she quit!

I loved the relationship between Finn and Liv, they just clicked again after all those years apart and it was great to see them finally getting together.

When the four friends got together I immediately wanted to know more about all of them and hoped there would be more in this series. Luckily enough I checked and there are! So I can't wait now to read about the other girls stories too. This was a book that I felt may be quite sad, but it was actually a real mixture of every emotion and, whilst sad in parts, it didn't overwhelm the book and the whole story just worked really, really well.

Really good read. Highly recommended.