Wow, wow, WOW! After I read Everything We Keep I couldn't stop talking about it. I was thrilled that Kerry Lonsdale was going to write a follow-up and could not wait to read it. I was given an ARC and can tell you that this one was totally worth the wait! I loved every chapter and was sucked into the story from the very first sentence.

So many emotions play out in this one. As a parent, my hear was breaking for Carlos' boys. I cannot imagine how hard this would be to live through. I wish we would have heard more from Amy (can I be hopeful to think we may in the future?).

Thank you for an awesome read!

What an intense thriller! One of those that are hard to put down! It is full twists, and turns......some quite disturbing. Others were thought provoking. Did not see that ending coming, but a couple of story lines just stopped.
Was that intentional on part of the author? Will there be a sequel coming?
Why did the psychic hand her business card to Aimee? Hope we get to find out.

I read the original book and loved, loved it and while this book was good, it was not as good as the original one. It jumped back and forth between two different time periods and the story of each person from those two periods and I really had to pay attention to whom was speaking from what time period to make sure I understood what was going on. I would have rather read a book that was linear, but this is how the author wrote it. All that being said, I enjoyed the rest of the story. The characters had depth and the author did a great job on those characters and making you like or dislike each one. I would read any book of Kerry's as she is a great writer.

Engaging story of a man, James, who can't remember who he is or anything about his life. A traumatic experience has put him in a fugue state where he's living as Carlos with a wife and two sons. This is the story of his journey back to himself - but when he becomes James again will he remember his sons, his wife, his life as Carlos? A very intricately written tale going back and forth from present day to the traumatic past. Introduction of a new character at the end foreshadows the next book. Although I didn't read the first book, [book:Everything We Keep|29639736], it was easy to jump into the story. I will most likely go back and read it... and certainly the next book.

My thanks to Kerry Lonsdale and Lake Union Publishing for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Finally, I was able to find out what happened to James Donato aka Carlos in Kerry Lonsdale's sequel of Everything We Keep. The first book ended with a twist that left you desperate for more. This definitely didn't disappoint! I fell in love with the characters even more, and the plot had me on an emotional roller coaster trying to figure out what was going to happen next with James and Natalya.

Now I have to wait again for the next book.

Amazing! Just the sequel I needed! Highly recommend!

Wow! What I love the most of this story is getting the inside view on how Carlos and James felt concerning the memories and the changes those memories would bring! Kerry Lonsdale does an excellent job of putting the emotional thrill and angst involving memory loss! Loss, love and finding family, it's all here among the waves and art of life!

I tried so hard to love this book as much as I enjoyed the first, Everything We Keep, but I just did not. While I appreciated the effort, it just felt forced, overly complicated and at times unrealistic. I just wanted to get to the end to find out what happened, yet I really didn't care how. It was fast paced, but the constant back and forth at times were confusing, even though I usually enjoy this style of storytelling. I feel bad, giving a negative review, but I just enjoyed the first book so much and what it created but then that all was lost.

* I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

This is the sequel to Everything We Keep, which I had no idea was even coming. So, I was grateful to be able to read and review. In this book, we get to learn James's story. He has been in living in a fugue state for over six years in Mexico as Carlos with no memory of his former life as James Donato from the US in which he was to marry his childhood sweetheart. The chapters alternate between present day in James's life and in the past within Carlos's life. It is a confusing story because a man must find himself among six years of living a different life, acquiring two sons, losing a wife, falling in love with another woman as Carlos and then losing all that he had as James because his fiance had moved on. I found this novel to be compelling and even better than the first one. (YOU NEED TO READ THE FIRST BOOK BEFORE YOU PICK UP THIS ONE!) I loved the characters and felt that I really understood their feelings and hopes. Kerry Lonsdale ROCKS!

What a wonderful follow up to "Everything We Keep"!!!!

It was great to hear what happened with Carlos/James over the past few years. The story flowed nicely. Great character depth.

You find out what happened with Aimee after she returned from Mexico but ya not the sole focus. This book is about Carlos/James journey. You will not be disappointed!!

Kerry knocks it out of the park again!!!!!

Everything We Left Behind is the sequel to the book Everything We Keep, the book was just ok, I felt if you didn't read the first book you would've been lost.

I have so looked forward to reading Everything We Left Behind since finishing Everything We Keep, and it was such a good feeling to go on with the story of James Donato, Aimee and the continuing mystery of their lives. The anguishing struggle of James who is in a fugue state, who lives two lives, one as Carlos, an artist living in Mexico and in love with Natalya, and the knowledge that someday he would become James again is told in flashback chapters. The suspense is kept at a high level as each layer of drama are revealed. Carlos is afraid that when he finally becomes James he won't want his sons Julian and Marc who struggle to keep their Dad. His love and relationship with Amiee contiues to haunt him as does his fear of his brother Phil who tried to have him killed. The struggle to find out his true identity keeps James/Carlos living in fear, all bound up with lost memories of his childhood and his brothers. There is so much to this incredible story, feelings of lost love, and the longing for truth, the relationships that are not to be trusted, the hope that there will be reconciliation and forgiveness all make this amazing book one you don't want to miss

Kerry Lonsdale has done it again I have been waiting for this story to come back to me. The saga between Carlos (or is it James?) and Aimee continues in this absolutely fantastic work of fiction. The heartache and intrigue is palpable and you cannot tear yourself away from the pages. Just do yourself a favor and read this follow up to Everything We Keep. You family can fend for themselves for a day (that's all the time you'll need for this one).

I was given a copy of Everything We Left Behind for my honest review.

Before I start my review, I would highly recommend reading Everything We Keep so you truly understand what happen for James to become Carlos and understand James relationship with Aimee and his family. I was so excited to get a copy because after I finished Everything We Keep, I was dying to know what happens to Carlos when he realizes he is James.

The chapters switch off from Carlos point of view and James point of view. I truly felt Carlos pain of fear that when he became James that he would forget his kids and his love of Natalya. I kept thinking how scared I would feel. I also felt James anger and confusion about losing the last 7 years of his life. How scary to wake up and realize that you life is not the one that you remembered.

Kerry did such an amazing job to make you feel for both Carlos and James. I loved learning about what happen in those years. I wish we got to see a little glimpse of how Aimee dealt with James coming back home.

I am so excited for the next book! It will be hard to wait another year. Thank you Kerry for another great novel!
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Kerry Lonsdale has done it again - another fabulous book. After reading Everything We Keep when it came out, I waited impatiently to find out what happened with James and Aimee. This book was everything I wanted and more. Drama, suspense, family issues...if there had been a dog, it would have been perfection.

Can't wait for the next one!

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. I really liked the first book in this series, so had high hopes. Unfortunately, it fell flat. I felt there was too much extraneous information, when the meat of the story could have been condensed to half of what it was. I actually enjoyed reading Carlos/James perspective. The plot was good, I just wish it had been a bit more cohesive. I was happy with the ending. I will probably read this author again given how much I enjoyed the first book.

3.5 stars - I adored Everything We Keep and couldn't want to hear more of the story. While I did like the basic plot of this book, I didn't feel it was enough of a plot for a second book so this novel had what I felt to be a ton of filler. I found myself loving and being very engaged...then quickly being bored and wanting to skim. I feel like Lonsdale could have added a little more excitement to this book but I did like how the plot with the main characters played out. That being said, as a whole I enjoyed the book and was happy to read more in this story. I'll also continue to read Lonsdale, especially because I loved Everything We Keep so much.

Well, I did not realize that this was a sequel until I just sat down to review it. Oops. In that regard, this book can definitely stand alone.

Ironically, my biggest issue with this book was that I felt thrown in. I wanted more backstory. I didn't understand what had happened and I wanted it in laymen's terms. I wanted more on Raquel. I wanted to know the family dynamics. I guess I should have read the first book before reading this and maybe I wouldn't have had these issues!

Having said that, I thought this was a quite solid book despite the strange premise. It was challenging for me to really comprehend the strange dissociative fugue state that James-Carlos had, and to relate to how it might be to wake up one day in this state, but I enjoyed reading about how this often happened after trauma. It did feel too convenient as a trope, but I got over that since this is a book. I would have recommended it alone, which says a lot.

I also wasn't terribly enthralled with the Natalya/James-Carlos relationship. Natalya was Carlos's deceased wife's half-sister, and I thought it just could have been much tidier if she had been a best friend, or a next door neighbour, or something that would just keep family out. There were too many "true loves" in this book for me to feel passionately about any--it's hard to believe that Aimee was James's true love his whole life when he then has no problems going to the sisters.

I did really admire the way that James-Carlos both cared immensely for their children and worked to do everything in their power to keep them happy and safe. This was really admirable, and made me care so much more about all of the characters.

If you enjoyed the first book, then this one will probably satisfy you. But you should probably read the first one before diving into this one simply so that the premise will be more clear and so that you care more about these characters than I did.

I couldn't wait to read this sequel! And Kerry did not disappoint. I personally hope that this story will continue and there will be a third story sometime soon down the road!
The Donato family is nothing but trouble. Or so we think. James was trying to track Phil down after he harmed his fiance Aimee.
What he didn't bargain for was being lost at sea and losing six years of his life as James and instead becomes Carlos. This all took place when he suffered from a dissociatic fugue and couldn't remember any of his life pre-Carlos.
He creates a new life as an artist, gets married and has a child. To then talk to Aimee when she locates him as Carlos and have no idea who she is. How is that possible?
He goes through a roller coaster of emotions from fear to love to questioning everyone and anyone around him. Who and what can he believe?
Will Carlos ever become James again and if so will he remember his life in Mexico or fall back into his previous life?
He returns to California and he tries to piece together the life he once had and has to figure out if that's the life he wants again or if he wants to live in Mexico and remain Carlos for as long as possible?
This book will have you questioning what is going to happen till the very end and then you may still not believe it.