It is vital that Everything we keep is read first or this book will just confuse.
Carlos has gone, James is confused and getting a crash course on how to be a father to Carlos' two boys. The boys are upset and angry. First they are left motherless now their dad has ... actually they don't know what has happened to him.
Senora Carla and Tia Natalya are the same though...or are they?
This is a stunningly good follow on from Everything we keep. I think it is better. The comings and goings, twists and turns are full of suspense. There is also the romance - Aimee/James/Ian/Carlos/James - and what about Natalya?
I have yet to decide if Senora is a proper goodie or deserves a damn hard slap for being an underhanded git.
What I do know is that I am looking forward to more books by this author.

Man I thought the first book was good, but the second one did not disappoint! Can't wait to buy and read the third one!

excellent read

Emotion, heartbreak, memory loss, love, it's all here! James has awakened from his fugue state, and he had been living as Carlos. As James, he has no memory of Carlos or of his past life. How does he learn to be James? It would be like starting life all over again. Now I have to wait for the third book of the trilogy!

And I thought Everything We Keep had twists!!!! (And don’t read this review unless you have read the first book. I don’t want to spoil anything.)

The second book in this series gives us the perspective of James/Carlos. After Aimee’s story, we see just what happened to James. The story goes back and forth between the present and the past months before he remembers, when he starts to, and the aftermath. There are some turns that I did not see coming. It seems people know more things than you would even imagine. He struggles to merge both lives together. Can he even do that? What mysteries will be solved?

I have to admit there were times that I was confused with the bouncing back and forth and had to reread passages to make sure I was understanding what was happening. But that didn’t detract from the story, just my brain working it’s magic. You could feel how hard it was for him to long for the past life and yet not want to upset what he did have as Carlos. There are revelations that will probably make you shout “What”?! Which is always good in my book. Another plus is that being a SF bay area girl, I loved that it was featured in the first book and somewhat in this book, but my mom is a native of Kauai and I love that it was featured prominently in this book. It’s another good outing in the series and I look forward to Everything We Give next year. (Team Ian for the win!)

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

After reading Everything We Keep, I was eager to read Everything We left Behind, the continuation of the strange story of James Donato. In this second book, we follow James as he emerges from his dissociative fugue state, where he has been for over six years. It will be difficult for a reader to read and fully understand this book unless the reader has read Everything We Keep, because, although this book does sort of get into how James got where he is, it only becomes clear after reading most or all of the book, so the reader will be left trying to figure out what is going on for the bulk of the book. In this book, which is done in alternating chapters, one in the present, where James has returned to the life he once had, and one during the previous six years, where Carlos (who is really James in his fugue state) lives another, totally different life in a small town in Mexico. Some reviewers said they liked this format. I did not. I felt confused trying to remember at times where I was, in the present or during the fugue state in Mexico. Yes, the chapters were clearly delineated, but when caught up in the story, I still often found it confusing. There was a lot put out in this book about the trials and tribulations James was going through, as well as how he gone through what he did during his fugue state in Mexico, but a lot of it was repetitious and had already been covered in the earlier book or other chapters. Frankly, rather than making this a separate book, I think the ground covered in this book could have been covered in the earlier book, which may have made that one a bit longer, but would have left the reader with a more concise, easier to follow story.

Again, there was almost no character development of most of the Donato family, though they did play an important role in both books. The only exception was the mother of James, Senora Carla, or Claire, who really did not come across as any sort of motherly or loving figure. In fact, I found her deceptive and unlikable in most cases—as well as being controlling and totally demanding. I thought her explanation of why she prohibited James from painting, which he truly loved, was totally hollow and weak. The story concerns James and his interface with the Donato family, his working through the events of six years earlier when he was engaged to marry Aimee and his would-be death in Mexico, his grappling with his new life in Mexico and his relationship with his two young sons. All of this is interesting but dragged out through the book. This book is not filled with lots of action, which may have been why it dragged for me. At least, in the earlier book, I kept wondering what was going on and reading page after page to see if the answer was forthcoming. This book lacked that completely. Even the answers about what had happened the day James went missing and what led up to it were not, in my opinion, as well done as they could have been.

One thing I found of interest in the earlier book, and in this one was the way the author handled the dissociative fugue state. She really gave a vague, limited explanation for the reader. I find it hard to accept that I need to research what something is on the Internet that is so central to a book story when reading a novel. It only takes away from the story for me.

I am not sure where the author is going with this, but I know I am not very satisfied with the series so far and am unsure what the future of it holds for me. I know this book will interest the reader who read the first book, since it continued the story. I am not sure, as I said, this book can be read, understood and appreciated by a reader who has read the first book. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

The saga continues as James/Carlos struggles to find himself. If you did not read “Everything We Keep” then this book will not make an impact, but as a follow on it is a great story, sorting out a dysfunctional family into normal (?) folks. Tragic and yet full of hope and promise, expectations and disappointment as well as happiness and joy. Much like real life only in an idealistic setting. The characters display a lot of emotions as the story jumps back and forth in time frame format. In a bit of disappointment, it appears the next chapter is over one year in the future. Fortunately, I have an excellent memory. Unfortunately, my memory is very short.

Everything We Left Behind (Everything We Keep #2)
Kerry Lonsdale
Book Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
*Read Everything We Keep before even looking at this book*

Everything we left behind is Carlos's/James story. At the end of book one, we see Amiee finally letting go of James. Her husband to be who is no more. James is gone, and Carlos has his own life. After many years James emerges from his dissociative fugue to find he is living someone else's life. Everything he left behind is gone, and he is living in Oaxaca with his two boys. Carlos has everything James thought he wanted. He's an artist, living free from the drama of his Donato family, but Amiee is missing from his perfect picture. James doesn't remember living as Carlos, so his loss of his ex is fresh in his mind. He doesn't remember his two sons or his life in a foreign place. James and Carlos are two different people. James now needs to find his own way. Everything is different, but he needs to find his own home in his heart.

I read these two books back to back, and I probably would not recommend this. At least a little space between the books would have been better because it made some of the plot more predictable due to the writing style. I struggled with the rating of this book but came to the decision it fitted perfectly with the first book, therefore, needed the full 5 stars.

James and Carlos are two separate people in the form of one body. The story is told from both of their points of view. Neither are perfect, and both have their issues. I enjoyed this story. I would say this is the sadder novel of the two but has a happily ever after. James just needs to pull it all together and find the best of both worlds.

5 stars out of 5. *I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.*

Paperback £8.99. £3.98 Kindle or Free for Kindle Unlimited, 348 pages
Expected publication: July 4th, 2017

This book is a great sequel. We get the perspective of James & Carlos. It starts with James finally coming out of his fugue state after 7 years of being Carlos. The story is told in present time as James & flashbacks as Carlos. This is a fascinating concept that can happen to people. I highly recommend reading this book & am curious what's next as it seems like it should be over. Guess I have to wait until next year. :-)

This book was the second book in this series and I loved how it explained everything from James and Carlos' side. I did find it confusing at times when they switched back and forth as it took a minute to line up the timeline but I'm interested to read the third book in the series to see how it all ends!

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Kerry Lonsdale for the opportunity to read and review this book - I loved it!

This is the sequel to a favorite of mine from last year, Everything We Keep. It's a somewhat complicated story - James is engaged to marry Aimee. Two months before the wedding, he discovers his brother Phil is laundering money and endangering the family business. He takes off to Mexico where he is lost at sea and presumed dead.

Six years later, James wakes up from a fugue state where he learned he had been living in Mexico as Carlos, a widower with two sons, and is involved with his sister-in-law. This book is told from both James' point of view in the present and Carlos' starting in the past and moving forward. It's fascinating to see both characters and the story develop.

These are great books and there is another coming next year - I already can't wait for it! Pick up the first one, then grab this sequel!

I had read the first book, Everything We Keep, when it was a Kindle First so when NetGalley offered me an advance copy of this book I thought I would give it a try. Unfortunately this book is not as good as the first one. Everything We Keep had a mystery to it, what happened to the fiancée? It also had likeable characters in Aimee and Ian, who unfortunately don't appear much in this book and when they do it's not really for the best, though based on the ending it looks like another book is planned for them. Everything We Left Behind starts off immediately with the verbatim prologue that was the epilogue of Everything We Keep with James coming back to himself after his time as Carlos. For obvious reasons this is a difficult adjustment as he finds out he has two children he doesn't know and years missing from his life. Unfortunately the story keeps jumping between the present with James and the past with Carlos which makes it a disjointed read. Carlos is angry at living on borrowed time because he feels that at any point James will emerge and he doesn't trust him to be a father to his boys. James is angry at his lost time and what happened to him and is having a hard time with his new reality. I didn't like the incest angle in the first book and I feel the same way about the relationship with the sister-in-law in this book. A month after the wife dies in childbirth?! That would probably be hard to believe about anyone let alone the sister making such a move. It just didn't help like her character in a book filled with unlike able characters.

3.5 stars

Two months before his wedding, financial executive James Donato chased his trade-laundering brother Phil to Mexico, only to be lost at sea and presumed dead. Six and a half years later, he emerges from a dissociative fugue state to find he’s been living in Oaxaca as artist Carlos Dominguez, widower and father of two sons, with his sister-in-law Natalya Hayes, a retired professional surfer, helping to keep his life afloat. But his fiancée, Aimee Tierney, the love of his life, has moved on. She’s married and has a child of her own.
Devastated, James and his sons return to California. But Phil is scheduled for release from prison, and he’s determined to find so James flees with his sons to Kauai, seeking refuge with Natalya.
This is the second in the series & whilst it could be a stand-alone book I’d recommend reading the first book. I read this immediately after reading the first book Everything We Keep, which I found a compulsive read & I just had to find out what happened to James. I read this in under a day & did enjoy it but it wasn’t as engrossing as the first book. The characters are well developed, Julian & Marc are especially likeable & their coming to terms with Carlos / James was very well handled. The plot is well paced but I didn’t find it as engrossing as the first book. Everything was well resolved until the final page when there’s a teaser which I hope will lead to a third book.

I have been turning pages as fast as I can all day today, needing to know everything about James/Carlos and the people he loved, and why he found himself in the situation he did. It was definitely a fast paced story, but one whose characters were well defined and who I came to care about deeply.

I loved the settings, especially the scenes that took place in Hawaii, they were beautifully detailed and I could see James and his boys there.

There was this very conflicted part of me that wanted to hurry through the book so I would have answers, but another part that wanted to read slowly and savor every beautiful word and moment in this very emotional book. The hurry vote won, because I just needed to know that everyone was going to be alright and it would all work out. I love when I care so much about characters that I need to know they are okay.

I recommend this read to anyone who loves a very beautiful, emotional and fabulously written book with characters who steal your heart and make you care about them so much. This was all of those things and more.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thoughts Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

What a phenomenal, heart-wrenching, incredible story. Imagine you wake up not knowing who are. The people around you assure you that you belong to them, and you happily rebuild your life. Years later, you find out that you were someone else entirely who you don't remember because of some psychological trauma that caused you to live the life you are currently living in a fugue state. And at some point, that fugue will lift, and you will go back to who you were and won't remember who you are now. And the life you are living now has a wife (who died in childbirth), two young boys, and someone you love very much. How do you prepare yourself and your children for the day you wake up and you won't remember who they are. I know it sounds complicated, and it is...but the story is so mesmerizing to watch unfold. My gut physically ached for this man and everything he, and those around him, went through. There are secrets and twists and such emotion. This story was incredibly and masterfully done...and it looks like there is a third book coming.

Just like the first one, I could not finish this. Writing needs improvement. I feel like this story has already been told plenty of times.

The story of James/Carlos was painful and heartbreaking at times as they tried to fumble through the world that they live in. It was neat to see things through Carlos's eyes. What he did for James was incredible and smart. He loved his sons, but he also loved himself enough to prepare for the worst. At times, I didn't care for James, though I couldn't imagine being in his position. Missing years of your life only to find that you have children and the woman you love is married to someone else would be beyond difficult. There were so many components to this book that added to the complexity. The element of his family kept me wondering the whole time who should be trusted. I'm not sure I really know. Overall, a great book.

I am going to give a comment that can sound terrible, or great, depending on how you make it. I could not wait for this book to be over. Why? I could not wait to find out what happened in the end. I wanted it to end, because I wanted to know the ending! Highest compliment!

This book is full of suspense, but is really a book about a man with a desire to find his family. James, living as Carlos, due to his brother, is the father of two young boys and the love of his life, Natalya. James comes to from an incident where he does not recognize those around him. What next? How does he regain the relationship he once had with those he loved most? This book deals with flashbacks, and pieces from the past and future, something that can be done well, or not, but this was carried out well. I did not realize this was a sequel, and I wish I had read it first, that is one recommendation I will make to others.

How would it feel to be "out of place in (your) own life"? James feels exactly that as he tries to navigate his way through a new life he has no recollection of living. Lonsdale takes us through both Carlos and James' stories, intertwining the two as we see they share the same body, heart and soul, but also a bit of a messed up mind. The love stories are alive, as well as the relationships he has with his sons and family, as mending takes place amidst lurking danger.
Lonsdale answers questions and reattaches torn fibers as a healing descends on the characters she's made us fall in love with. Excellent sequel that has you on the edge of your seat right up to the end.

This book was every bit as good as the first. I felt like I was right there with James and Nat. I can't imagine experiencig something like that much less having to make a new life again. I can't wait for the next book!