BIANCA

Oy and double oy! I cried soooo much in the prologue already!!!!!

And I didn't stop crying once I finished the first few pages!
THE STORY OF US was such a beautiful book.
I wanted to crawl into the prologue and save Eli. And hug him and comfort him.
And then I wanted to jump into the book to slap the hell out of a couple of people (or worse!). Grrr.
Shelby and Eli were so perfect together and they could be again. But it takes us a long time to get things right again.
And I kind of cried all through it! ☺
There's so much sadness and grief and hopelessness and drama in this story!
You can't help but cry. And feel. Jeez - the feels in that book!
But of course there's also so much hope and love and excitement and sexy moments!

You just feel that it's very close to Tara's heart, the way it's written.
It was an amazingly beautiful story. But it was also a very (patriotic) American story in some aspects. But I didn't mind. I loved and I cried and most of all I felt soo much for and with all Eli & Shelby! ♥

THE STORY OF US was such a heartbreakingly beautiful 2nd-chance lovestory! Full of sadness & grief & hopelessness, but also so full of love & hope!!! Just perfect!
Please run to your nearest amazon for your own Eli - this one is MINE! And don't forget to order a huge box of tissues while you're at it!


JANEANE

This book!  I mean, this book!  I was a wreck from the prologue, and Ms Sivec had me on edge for the rest of the whole darn book.

The Story of Us had all the feels.  I wanted to jump into the book and save Eli, I wanted to jump in and hug Shelby, and I wanted to jump in and b!tch slap the crap out of Shelby's mother - grrr she makes me mad just thinking of her.

I am a fan of a second chance romance, however through in the hurdles that our lovelies have to face and I am in love.  I loved the hurt, the fear, the pain, the helplessness.

There is a great sense of hopelessness throughout the story that had me in tears over and over again - though as I say that, there is so much hope.  Gah, serious emotional overload from the first word to the last.

I love love loved seeing Shelby and Eli come out of the shells they have been stuck in, seeing their fight come back to them.

Giving a big middle finger to those that wanted them apart.

I don't know how to put my thoughts into words to do this book justice.

 So buy it. Read it. You won't be disappointed.

Full text at: https://natashaisabookjunkie.com/2017/06/18/review-the-story-of-us-by-tara-sivec/

I wish in could give more than ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. There are tears upon tears. There is laughter. There is the Story of Shelby and Eli!
 
Boy and girl from two completely opposite sides of the coin. Eli didn't want to ruin the "princess" but somethings you just can't fight. A best friend who was just awesome (Goodness there are 😢 writing that). A mother so makes the mom and grandmother from flowers in the attic look like worlds greatest. Landry was just.....  With all the odds (deployment, POW , a total of 6 years) stacked against them will they make it?

This is one of the was one the sweetest love stories I have read in a while. Beautifully written. Engaging characters. Very very deep emotions.  I had to keep stepping away to collect how I felt but kept coming back because their story pulls you in.

Eli asked how much can a man go through before he breaks.....how many boxes of tissue will you go through?!?!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

"Only you. Always you." 

Previously, I had Tara Sivec filed in my mind as the incredible author of the Chocolate Lover series. I mentally had her tagged for Romantic Comedy. I was totally blown away by The Story of Us. Not expecting, but totally loving all the surprises she had for me. She took me somewhere I wasn't expecting to go, and I didn't want to leave. She made me question, accuse, doubt, get mad, be sad, smile, laugh, blush, gasp and I may or may not have shed a tear or two. I enjoyed this beautiful story from the beginning to the end. It will stay with me for a long time. When I see Tara Sivec's name in the future, it will still make me smile, but it won't just be for the laughs. Thanks for the memories. I'm looking forward to see what she has for us next. The line forms here...

My Review:
When I started this book, I told my husband that this book would make me cry and his response was..."Well, you like books like that, don't you?" And I do. I really do. But even going into it with that knowledge, I had no idea how much this book would spit me up and chew me out. I'm talking ugly, sobbing, crying mess. There's a single moment just took me by surprise and it took me several hours to recover from it (although I will admit that I cried off and on throughout the entire story). 

So, yeah...this book is AMAZING, but be prepared. You're going to need a box of tissues close at hand.

It's been six years since Eli left Shelby. There were so many twists and turns of what happened to cause all that and I don't want to post any spoilers, but they were in love...completely and totally. She was headed to NYC and he was headed into the Marines...and right before they both left everything imploded...through no real fault of their own. See, Shelby was the daughter of the plantation owners/powerful senator. Eli was their stable boy. Their's was a forbidden romance, but neither of them really cared. They'd get out, escape, and then they could be free to be who they wanted to be. 

But that didn't happen, because Eli died. At least that's what they all thought, until a SEAL team recovered him and his team five years later. Five years where they were beaten daily and tortured. And now he's home. He's messed up, but so is Shelby. She's a husk of the woman he left and slowly the story unfolds of how they both got to this place where they are both so, so broken. 

It's a difficult book just because there is so much heartache for these characters. They've both suffered horribly and the book is told through a series of flashbacks and letters to explain how they got here. It's heartbreaking and it isn't simply a matter of him being alive, now they can be happy together. They have six years apart to untangle and all the emotional mess that they are both in now. 

But the book is beautiful. The love is pure. The romance is gorgeous. I loved them both so, so much. My heart almost shattered at one point for Eli when he proves just how much he loves Shelby and accepts that things may not be exactly how he wishes, but he realizes she moved on. OMG, so many tears.

Then there are the friendships. Eli and Rylan...again sobbing. They went through so much together. My heart simply BROKE for them. Then the thing that Meredith does at the beginning to get Eli to open his eyes...such a fantastic scene. 

This story is brilliantly written. I cried...so, so much. But that was simply because Tara Sivec brought these characters to life. I lived and loved and lost through them and I thank her for that gift. I highly, highly, highly recommend this book! It will live a long, long life of rereads from my keeper shelf.

A beautifully, emotional second chance romance, The Story of Us is Tara’s best book to date. With a small taste of the “funny” that we’ve come to love about Tara and the angst she hides under the surface, this story should be a must read for your 2017 reading list.
“How much can a man take before he breaks? How much can a man handle before he forgets all the good things and only has regrets filling his head?”
The raw emotion you will experience from this read will keep you on the edge of your seat.  The love story is timeless, and expresses just what true love is.  Schedule off a day because once you start this journey you won’t want to stop.

* * Review goes live late in afternoon 6/13  on blog * * 

What is your ‘breaking point’? The place where nothing else matters. A darkness that doesn’t seem to have a shining light at the end of the road. For Eli - the torture of his capture during the war was gruesome and full of pain. For 5 years, the only thing that kept him going was the memories from his time with Shelby. Distant memories that fill Eli with hope. Something he desperately needs in the turmoil that his body and mind have experienced. 

Then the unexpected happens and Eli finds himself back home in the place he once shared with Shelby. So much has transpired in the years since his absence. Believing Eli was dead, Shelby went on with her life the only way she knew how. Through a tangled web of deception at the hands of her mother. Never in a million years did Shelby believe that Eli would one day come walking back into her life. Now - Shelby is faced with the realization that her two worlds are colliding. 

What was Eli thinking waltzing into Shelby’s life without understanding the consequences? It’s a road that is riddled with ‘strings’ that altered so many lives. While Eli tried to learn how to live in the world that he left behind, he desperately realizes that Shelby has paid a price for his abrupt departure into the military. Resulting in crushed dreams and tragedy. Now the two try to find a way to balance the lives they lead now while the memories of the past weigh heavy on their hearts. Will love find a way to overcome time and tragedy? 

The Story of Us is an emotional story that pulls you into the turmoil of what our military personnel face when heading to assignments in war torn countries. Eli’s plight certainly pulls at your heart and leaves you desperately hoping that he finds his way back to the love that kept him alive for all of those years. Shelby’s life was certainly no walk in the park. Her resilience and strength shine through all of the heartache that has riddled her doorsteps. 

This novel is a culmination of hope, faith, and finding your way back towards the happiness that bleeds over from the past. A true testament to the painful side of life as a soldier and the experiences that some face. Gut wrenching and full of emotion….The Story of Us is a powerful love story that clearly should not be overlooked!!

This story broke me! Okay so I am going to be honest and say I have only previously read Tara's humorous work and I go crazy over those books I love them so much. I know. I know. Where have I been? 

The answer is, I don't know, because I absolutely loved this work as much as everything else I have read by Tara. It is sweet, heartbreaking, emotional and utterly stunning! The writing just blew me away and I adore second chance storylines. I definitely need to go back and read some more genres from Tara, because this will definitely be on my reread list. I can't wait to see what Tara brings us next!

Holy crap!! Tara Sivec you have completely out done yourself with this book. I am emotionally exhausted (and blissfully happy) from the journey you just took me on with The Story of Us.  This love story was so gripping that it left me feeling emotional and raw - I absolutely loved it.

More often that not, it felt like everything was against the two main characters in this book.  But then you experience the magic of Shelby and Eli together and everything else just disappears.  All you feel is the love and passion they have for one another.  It is amazing.

At the start of the book, you meet Shelby and from all outside appearances she's a typical southern princess.  Although, you quickly realize how much more there is to this character.  After losing her one true love, Eli, she has spent the last six years heartbroken and becoming a person she herself cannot stand. However, you learn that her behavior and everything she's done was to help the one man who broke her heart.

Eli has spent the last five years as a prisoner of war. Tortured and beaten for years - he has survived the most inhumane behavior that one could possibly imagine. What carried him through were his thoughts about Shelby - memories of her laughter, her smell and her dreams - all the little details that he fell in love allowed him to escape the horrors of his every day life.

When they are finally reunited, they have a quite a few issues that they need to overcome. Not only do they have to overcome all the hurt created by their past but they have to figure out how to share with one another the hard truths about their lives apart.  It's intensity left my heart completely exposed and aching.  I ignored all of my responsibilities so that I could be and Shelby and Eli's world and get to experience their happily ever after.

The Story of Us was one of the most brilliantly written books that I've read in a long time.  I cannot recommend this book enough - you do not want to miss this romance.  It is a must read.

Okay so I always adore Tara Sivec and all her cute romantic comedy stories – fun, light-hearted, a good needed laughter after a long week of work.  But I have to say I LOVE the serious side of Tara, and the Story of Us is absolute breathtaking.  A heartfelt, emotional love story between a soldier and his childhood friend and their long journey to mend their broken hearts. 

Eli and Shelby came from different worlds.  Shelby’s family is wealthy – she is a princess, sheltered, flocking around all day taunting Eli.  Eli was hired help at Shelby’s family plantation.  Their romantic relationship started the night Shelby graduated and went off to college.  They shared one unforgeable kiss but sadly that was that!  Shelby went off to NY to pursue her dream as a dancer.  Four years later, she came back and they had one whirlwind romantic summer but Eli broke her heart again.  He let her go and went off to fight war, was captured and presumed dead.  Shelby tried to move on with her life but her heart was shattered and she was nothing but an empty shelf, existing but not living life.  That is until news came that Eli was rescued, alive, then comes home broken beyond repair.  Will they have a second chance at happiness?  Fair warning - the plot is not a simple second romance or military romance.  The storyline is complicated with twists and turns, as well as lies and deceit from Shelby’s family.  Eli was also hiding a big secret – that was a big surprise!  I did not expect that plot twist at all.  My heart breaks for Eli.  I cry thinking about Eli but also the soldiers out there – what they went though, are going through.  Their struggles are real and the challenge they continue to face long after their time served.   It really saddened me.  

The story of us is a poignant, heartbreaking, emotional love story - a tear jerker, so get some tissues ready.  The plot grabbed my attention immediately and kept me glued to the kindle from beginning to finish.  As I said before there are so many twists and moments I was like “WTF did I just read?” Trust me you will not be able to put it down either.   I’ve love Tara’s writing – simply beautiful.  It’s easy to connect and fall in love with the characters.  I thought the last part about Shelby’s mother and Landry ended rather quickly but there was so much ugliness there that I did not mind their disappearance.  I love the heart of the story – Shelby and Eli both broken leaned on each other through dark days and finally find their own happiness.  That’s love!  

I can’t wait to read Written on the Stars about Everett and Cameron – sounds intriguing and emotional as well.  I just dig that sh*t!  Love this version of Tara!

4 Stars

Wow! The Story of Us is a heartbreaking and emotional read that wraps up beautifully in the end. It's a story about never giving up. 

Eli and Shelby couldn't come from more different background. Shelby grew up with money, but with a mother who is a tyrant and controlling. Status is the only thing Shelby's mother is concerned about it. So when her daughter starts to fall for Eli, the help, she will do whatever (and I mean whatever!) it takes to tear them apart. 

Eli has lived through hell the last five years. Literally. What kept him going is the thought of Shelby living her dreams and away from her mother. But when he unexpectly returns home, he's surprised and hurt that Shelby hasn't left town and is still controlled by the Mom.

The Story of Us takes you through the hardship of what these two characters go through and how they fight for each other and overcome all the lies and deceit.  Their story is is emotional, but it's a story that works for them to find their HEA.

Wow – what an emotional and powerful story! Heartbreaking and beautiful and oh what a ride right from the first word. I’m definitely a fan of Tara Sivec, but this was a whole new side of her. The FEELS from this book, I’m still a puddle of mush!

The Story of Us is a second chance love story, yes, but it’s also a story about strength and healing and pain. Shelby and Eli definitely did not have the lives they imagined and now once again can hope for, but can they overcome and get back there.

This story puts together the pieces of Shelby and Eli, having met at teenagers and shared a secret romance and young love. But, then Eli is gone, he joined the Marines but he never came back. Shelby believes he’s been killed but he’s been captured and tortured – for years. He’s rescued and eventually gets back home, but what he doesn’t expect is to find Shelby there too. Her life certainly changed after Eli, her dreams squashed and she now lives under her mother’s thumb. These two truly deserve happiness together, but it’s not going to be easy.

Tara Sivec has created something very special with this book, it’s emotional and powerful and it’s one of those books you feel and experience. There are secrets and lies and hurts that run deep in this story, but to them overcome that, made my heart soar! I felt this story, the pain the beauty and the love! A wonderful, touching story that I won’t soon forget!

The Story of Us by Tara Sivec is a gut-wrenching romance that will tug you along by the heartstrings from the first sentence and will NOT stop until the last page. Told in dual POV between Eli, a rescued soldier who was tortured for five years, and Shelby, the woman who gave her soul to keep his honor and his family safe. The story is intricately crafted phasing between the characters and giving us glimpses of the past throughout, slowly building the big picture. The love letters are beautiful and the whole story was mesmerizing. Surprisingly, this is my first Tara Sivec book but it won't be the last. This book is so completely worth the emotional journey it will take you on. Enjoy!

Hero(s) rating: 4.5stars
Heroine rating: 4.5 stars
Sexual tension rating: 4.5 stars
Sex scenes rating: 4.5 stars
Sex scenes frequency: 4.5 stars
Plot rating: 4.5 stars
Dialogue rating: 4.5 stars
Storytelling rating: 4.5 stars
Story ending rating: 4.5 stars
Emotion: 5 stars.
Writing: 4.5 stars
Cry Worthy: 4.5 stars
Was there an instant connection with the book?  Yes, My heart HURT while reading it.
 
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley

I have no words! I went into this book expecting an emotional read, but I was not expecting THAT! The Story of Us is a fantatic, second chance romance with a twist...and another twist, and another twist. 

From the very beginning I was sucked into this story and was completely captivated by it. It was sweet, funny, and heartbreaking and all those wonderful things that make a story A-MAZ-ING!!! The story was well written and had a good pace. There were several times where my jaw dropped and I thought to myself, "did that just happen?". I wasn't expecting all those twists to the story. 

I was a little skeptical about Eli and his situation and how he was handling everything that was thrown at him but by the end of the story, it all made sense. And Shelby, she had her own secrets and story to tell. Throw them both together, it made for one heck of a story! 

If you are looking for a story that will take your breath away, THIS IS IT! Read it! I don't think you will be disappointed!

f you are looking for a book with all the feels, look no further! Stop reading now and go get your 1-click on. Eli and Shelby will make you swoon, fan yourself and cry amidst secrets and lies that are just screaming to find their way to the light with a twist I didn’t see coming.

From the very first page, I could tell that The Story of Us was going to be one of those stories that I couldn’t put down.  Eli is barely hanging on after being captured with the rest of his unit a little over 5 years ago, and he can just tell that something is different about today. Just when he thinks it is all over, rescue somehow finally arrives and he is freed. The memory of one woman has kept him going all those years, and he will find his way back to her.

Shelby and Eli fell in love over the course of a summer six years ago, but she was the princess in the scenario as the daughter of a wealthy Charleston socialite while he was just the hired help working in the stables on her family’s property. We learn about their history through a series of flashback chapters when Eli has returned stateside and has worked up the nerve to try to find her again. When Eli received notification that he was being deployed, his world had just been rocked by a revelation involving Shelby’s mother and he didn’t handle their breakup well at all.  But he had no idea that his harsh words in an attempt to protect her would lead to the loss of all her hopes and dreams.

Some secrets are so big and so pervasive that they threaten to pull everything into their black hole, and the secret at the heart of this story is definitely one of them. Eli may have survived captivity but he is still very broken when he comes back home and it will take Shelby’s love to help him heal. She is a bit broken herself, both physically and mentally, but Eli’s return inspires her to reach deep to find the spirit and backbone her mother has been intent on crushing for years. I don’t want to say more as it will spoil the journey these two must take to find themselves again but The Story of Us is definitely worth reading- just be prepared for the tugs on your heartstrings!

there was more than war keeping shelby eubanks and eli james apart in the story of us, even though the 5 years he was forced to spend in captivity should have been enough. there's also crazy amounts of emotional blackmail. and physical and emotional scars up the wazoo.

honestly shelby and eli are put through a wringer, and then when you think they've already dealt with everything you realize that no, there is more. and here's the thing, i don't want to give away too much about what shelby and eli have to deal with, because there are some surprises worth having in this story. it's emotional and heavy at times, but the romance is sweet and sexy. 

both shelby and eli suffer forms of post-traumatic stress, for different reasons. but the thing that makes both these characters worth rooting for is their strength in the face of adversity. they both have to overcome some serious ghosts and fears in order to get their happily ever after. it's not an easy road for them. but what they bring out in each other is their best self. so they can't give up, even when it feels like everything is lost. 

ultimately this is a book about grief, loss, and healing. and love, of course, it's about love strong enough to withstand anything and everything.

When Eli left for the Marines he had to break the heart of the only girl he has ever loved and now that he's back Shelby may break his. Eli left to save his family and his parents reputation so when he was given the choice of destroying his family and his sister or breaking up with Shelby he choose Shelby and he has kicked himself ever since.
Shelby had a choice to let Eli go or let his family suffer ruin so she let herself become her mother and host charity balls and give up her dreams. When Eli walks back into her life she nearly fainted but he is not playing by anyone's terms except his own. 
This story tore at your heartstrings most of the time and others made you so mad you could split nails. The love between Shelby and Eli is so perfect and they both find out how strong they really are. I just loved it.