Cover Image: Her Lifeline

Her Lifeline

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Member Reviews

I've been having a hard time choosing between 2-Stars and 3-Stars. While there were things I did genuinely like about the book, there were quite a few things I didn't like.

First, the writing of the Scottish dialect was a MAJOR distraction and hindered my reading enjoyment. I had to use Google a few times to figure out what someone was saying.

Every time I read "dinnae" I thought it was "dinner".
"Haud yer weesht." <- Hold you're shit? Maybe? I don't know.
"Cannae" = Can't
"isnae" = Isn't
"Please dinnae fash yersel with me" = *Shrugs* No Idea
"What's fur ye'll not go by ye?" = GOOGLE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS ONE!!

Her Lifeline is supposed to be an emotional read, but I had a hard time connecting to the emotional scenes. I felt like the heroine was very immature and obnoxious. She YELLED a lot and would jump from one extreme (like yelling) to another extreme (crying).
When we first met the heroine at the beginning of the story, she was eleven. When the story jumps to the present time, the heroine is twenty-two. She acted the EXACT same at eleven-years-old as she did at twenty-two. Loud and obnoxious with some added sass. (She was a Scottish version of Broghan for The Slater Brothers)
It just didn't work for me.

The hero Ward was a coward and weak - I didn't feel like his character was redeemed by the end. He had eleven years to heal and make things right and he didn't. I understand he had some past trauma from childhood and it was sad. But to me, he was weak for letting that be the copout for his lies and life he led.

While I did enjoy the concept of the story and the storyline, it was intriguing and different. I just couldn't like the main characters nor the dialect.
Although I did like the secondary ones - Aiden, Jesse and Tommy.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆
M/F Romance
Triggers: molestation, physical abuse, alcoholism, death

Ward has a great life. He is thriving in his business and loves what he does. But his past is something that he's been running from since he left home. Even though he doesn't have a great relationship with his dad, he does try to keep in touch with his half-brother, Jesse. When Ward's best friend from childhood, Tommy, is in a horrible accident, Ward runs home to try and figure out if he can help and to make amends for leaving.

Erin has been surviving. Ever since the death of her father, Erin has tried to keep her family together. She loves her family fiercely and isn't willing to let go of her hangups any time soon. So, when she sees Ward after all of these years, knowing what she knows about his relationship with Tommy and her family, she's hurt and incredibly angry.

Ward knows that he has a lot to make up for, but is hopeful that with his money and history with Erin and her family, that he can make those amends. What he's not expecting is being able to bond more closely with his family.

I think I had the most issue with the bombs that were dropped in this story. There were some huge ones, but they felt glossed over. Also, it didn't really feel that Erin and Ward had great chemistry. I hoped to have their relationship more developed.

In the end, this was just an okay read for me. It had incredible potential, but it just didn't really deliver for me.


Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
This book takes you from epic highs to the lowest of lows. The range of emotion in this book left me hollow and teary eyed at times, yet thankful for my blessings at the same time.

L.A. Casey has done a wonderful job of letting you feel the emotions of both Ward and Erin, the reasons behind those feelings, and the resolution of the hard feelings between them.

I immensely enjoyed this book even though I was an emotional wreck by the end.


Lee’Anne – ☆☆☆☆☆
I absolutely loved every page – per usual with an L.A. Casey book. I can honestly say I've never cried more when reading a book than with this one, it 100% sucks you in from page one and I wasn’t able to put it down.

Erin has been in love with her older brother Tommy’s best friend, Ward, as long as she can remember. Then tragedy strikes her family and Ward leaves to pursue his and Tommy's dream, leaving Erin and Tommy behind without a backward glance. Now, years later, Erin has harbored a hatred for Ward for taking credit for his and her brother’s invention. Tragedy strikes again – bringing Ward home with the realization that he has feelings for Erin like he never expected.

I love the development of Erin and Ward’s relationship. They go from best buds as kids, to Erin absolutely despising him, to lovers in such an intriguing way. The author does a brilliant job not only with the two main characters but the supporting characters as well. I know this is a standalone but I'm still holding out hope Ward’s kid brother will get a story!


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars rounded up

This is a really emotional story, so expect to need tissues, and maybe read somewhere where tears aren't too embarrassing! There are also a number of issues dealt with which may be triggers to readers; I think they are dealt with carefully and sensitively, without being belittled. I was not a huge fan of the Scots dialect, and whilst it felt like it rang true, I don't really see that it added to the story itself. I appreciate that as an audiobook it would possibly be more effective.

We start at the point that the whole situation starts eleven years ago... and then come into the present day and just how far apart Ward is from his childhood friends, Tommy and Erin, both physically and financially. His extreme wealth, built on an app that he and Tommy dreamed up at school, has led to him leading an unhappy, hedonistic lifestyle, although he runs a charity which is close to his heart, Preventing Secrets. We naturally assume this is based on the fact that he left Tommy behind and never gave him any credit for the app's design. Sadly, as the book goes on, we can guess, and then know, the extent of the secrets which he has been keeping. Undoubtedly this helps us warm to him, even though the anger at his seemingly cavalier disregard of his childhood friends.

Erin has a healthy dislike of all things Ward, and really one cannot blame her. His reappearance due to her brother's accident is like pouring oil on water. I did find her behaviour somewhat extreme at times – she has been a caregiver for years, is a trained teacher, and yet she doesn't listen. I also was confused that she could be so close to Ward's brother, Jesse, and not have a better understanding of how dramatic the issues must have been to keep him away.

Whilst sat in a hospital it may be difficult to show chemistry, but I found it difficult to see it as strongly as it seemingly was. I was glad that the issues were brought into the open, and whilst there is a happily ever after, there isn't really an entirely happy ending, so do heed my warning about tissues!

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Heartbreaking emotional story. This book cut you deep in the heart while reading it because so much happens to main character Erin and it seems that she can't get a breather. Ward comes back in his hometown after his best friend has a severe car accident. But he is not welcome home because his action from the past is still haunting him, but the only one to not forgive him is Erin. The hate relationship soon disappears and lust, attraction takes over when waiting for Tommy to get better. Ward takes action and decides to completely change his life and to fight for Erin's love. At first, I didn't like Ward but page after page the layer that he had surrounded himself falls off and we see a caring man that was badly hurt in the past. I liked how Erin lift Ward up when she found his secret from the past. I guarantee you that a few shared tears will fall reading this heartbreaking story. Loved the and how love is the one that helps them through the darkest hours.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

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A true love story. Well written, characters are strong and plot is amazing.
A great read.
Recommend this.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Amason Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

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This author is always a hit and miss for me and unfortunately this one was a miss. The book was well written but the plot wasn't for me.

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Her Lifeline by L.A. Casey is the story of Erin and Ward.
Ward was Erin's brother best friend. Erin always had a crush on him but Ward up and left them with no real word or reason. Ward has become a successful business man designing the app that he and her brother came up with. But now in the present day her feelings are harsher towards him but still have the underlining thread of love but she tries to push that down. Ward had reason for leaving had hurting those he cared for but now he is back but can he work toward the present when the past is still so fresh for them.
Enjoyed their story.

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Omg this book. Omg. Omg. This is my first book from L. A. Casey and I loveeeeeeeeee it.
I thought this book will be like those brother's best friend romance read, sweet and steamy, but I was so wrong, so very wrong. This book is not just about love, it's about family, what happen when you lose someone you love so deep, what happen when life keeps throwing you curve ball. This book brings all the feelings. I'm crying from the Prologue and since then there's nothing can stop me reading it, even when my eyes so red and puffy with all the crying. I can feel their fears, pains and struggles. I'm weeping with them, my heart breaking for them. I love the story, the characters (I thought Ward is just a typical a*hole, but there's so much more depth behind that), the sweet love, how tight their family is and how they would do anything to protect their family. So overall I really really love it.

If you love romance read packed with emotions, this book definitely a MUST-READ and I think you'll love this one,

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Oiso very much enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking forward to reading more from you thank you for arc

Review left on amazon uk

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Her Lifeline is a highly emotional read and not your typical 'I love my brother's best friend' romance. It is full of pain and loss, bitterness and dread, and chock full of heart.

Erin (11) has a huge crush on her brother's best friend, Ward (19). When tragedy strikes, Ward leaves without a backward glance. Reeling from pain and destruction, Erin builds up walls and comes to resent and hate Ward, while he makes a big name for himself, earning fame and fortune and forgetting those he left behind. Or so it seems. When tragedy strikes again, over 10 years later, Ward comes back to face what he's done and hopefully he can mend what he's broken.

If I were to sum up this read with one word, it would be nice. Erin caused plenty of drama and definitely kept things interesting. I wasn't completely sold on the grand love affair that was Erin + Ward, but I understood what the author was trying to do. It just happened to miss its mark with me. A part of me was disappointed that the last tragedy occurred. I didn't get why it was necessary because it didn't do anything for the plot, nor did it further any character development. It was just one more painful event in a series of painful events.

I loved the Scottish elements of this story. I couldn't get enough of the brogue of the characters. I really need to find more reads with such sexy accents.

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All those highs and lows of the emotional rollercoaster in the book kept me turning the pages till the very end.
I've read other books by this author and I had to read this one too.
I enjoyed the story, the drama, Erin that had so much that is happening in her life and her struggling with all that life served her... Can't wait to read the next book by L.A. Casey

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Erin Saunders was only eleven years old when her world came crashing down. On the same day that her father dies, Ward Buckley packs up and leaves town.
He’s the center of her world. And then he was just gone.

As the years pass, everything the Erin works for seems to be for naught. Her only light appears when she’s with her brother, Tommy and his young son. But when a tragic accident has Tommy clinging to life, Ward rushes to her side. He’s still the only man who could either utterly destroy her or be her salvation. She’s not going to give him a chance to decide which one it’s going to be.

“It was foolish to assume she’d have remained that cute kid who used to giggle whenever I was in her presence. She wasn’t a young girl with shoulder-length white-blonde hair and the most adorable smile I’d ever seen. She was a twenty-two-year-old woman with a face so beautiful it was hard not to stare. Her thick, white-as-snow wavy hair hung to her waist, and she was couple of inches taller than five foot, if that. Though her crumpled clothing covered her well, it did nothing to hide the swell of her breasts, the dip of her small waist and the delicious flare of her curved hips.
Erin had grown up, and I found myself taking notice of it.
Dafty.
I shook my head, scowling at myself for thinking such things when Tommy was in a critical condition on an operating table. Not to mention, the woman clearly fucking hated me and I didn’t have a clue how to go about dealing with it. The last time a person had looked at me with that much hate, I was hurt. Physically. Over and over again. I’d run away from that situation, but I couldn’t run away from Erin.
I’d already done that to her before, and I refused to do it again.”

Ward Buckley had been planning the escape from his nightmare for so long. He and Tommy were going to finally be free to seek their fame and fortune in London. But his best friend chooses to stay behind with his family in their time of need.
Ward stayed on the course and worked tirelessly to bring their idea to fruition. Now he has more money and success than he ever dreamed of. And the only thing that he really wants is something that even his vast wealth cannot buy – Erin.

Now that he’s back, he’s going to prove to her that she can trust him with her heart. He will be her pillar of strength and her shelter from the storm. If only she will let him.

“She walked over to her books and plucked one off the shelf. She opened it, and in the centre was a perfectly pressed yellow rose. The pigment of the petals was faded, but its beauty was not lessened.
“You gave me this on Valentine’s Day… the day my dad died.”
I looked at Erin’s face, and blinked.
“I remember.” I cleared my throat. “Why have you kept it?”
I tried my hardest to remain cool and collected, but my heart was beating a mile a minute. She’d kept my rose. All I could think of was that she couldn’t truly hate me if she’d kept something from such a long time ago. Especially from a day that had brought her so much heartache. Hope surged through me.
“I’ve been askin’ myself that for years…”
“And what did you come up with?”
“It was the last thing you ever gave me before you left and everythin’ changed. I guess… I guess I wanted to keep somethin’ from when you were still mine.”"

I have been a huge fan of L.A. Casey’s books since reading the amazing Until Harry. It immediately shot to the top of my “Best of 2016” list and I couldn’t wait to devour more of her work.

Her Lifeline certainly lives up to its promise!

L.A. Casey creates a very special kind of unrequited love that feels like an arrow shot right through your heart. It’s that magic that makes Erin and Ward’s story nothing short of an emotional hurricane.

At times, I wondered how they could ever find their way to the other side – but the ending was as sweet as it was poignant. And it reminded me of how it really feels to smile through tears…

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This is different from previous books I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it. As usual the writing is amazing she has this knack of pulling you into the book. The whole story flowed effortlessly and although the characters aren't perfect you'll end up loving them. You go on a journey it's a rollercoasterof emotions, I cried several times. It's not a second chance love story but a story of second chances, of family , of love and forgiveness.

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Actual rating 3.5 stars

I have read books by this author before and thought I knew what to expect. What I read, however, was more than I expected, yet at times it irritated me a lot.

This is a story of friends to enemies to something else. It is based in Edinburgh and the author uses the Scots dialect throughout. As a Scot I thought this would make the story more believable. Unfortunately it fell a little short at times. Yes we have a certain way of talking up here, but the broad Scots in this book is more up North I feel. We don’t tend to use slang all the time, but you wouldn’t know that if you read this. Also the author mixed up the use of ‘naw’ and ‘nae’ quite a lot I felt.

Aside from that, the story is a decent one, although the ‘hero’ does have a number of faults which didn’t endear him to me a lot of the time. His attempts at mending bridges have mixed reactions from those he is trying to appease. I didn’t love him, but by the end I liked him more than I originally did.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

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What an amazing jigsaw puzzle of twist and turns that just blows you out of the water toward the end and all I can say is “TISSUES!”
This author has a way of weaving a story so that you are so engulfed in a happy moment and then out of nowhere you’re a sucker puncher from nowhere and it’s a Wow! Did not see that coming.
You will see the great highs of friends and family. But most of all the love and the commitment to one another. Not to use love or money against one another. For it to care and give or to use find your true happiness.
Erin tends to be an enabler to her mother as does Tommy by not allowing her to wake up in her own vomit as long as she is not face down in it. Allow him to clean, up her own mess. Anyway, but when Wade comes back home things slowly change.
Wasn’t sure when she ended up at the cemetery how things would work out was glad for the outcome. The second chance for Erin was to finally have a life first a foremost but to have it with her secret crush.
As for Ward, it was his first time to find love ever and that it could be with a person he could trust and who loved him for himself means the world to him. I give this: 4 stars. Provided by netgalley.com.

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Erin had a crush on her brother Tommy's best friend Ward she was only 11 but her heart was broken when he walked away. He walked away with an idea that belonged to both him and Tommy but he is the one that implemented it and now he is an extremely wealthy man (loyalty I don't think so). When Tommy is seriously hurt in a car accident Wade returns and tries to make amends (too little too late). Can they forgive him for what he did Will her childhood crush develop into ,ore Can this be called a second chance Oh no a 11 year old crushing on a 19 year old is not the first romance. I did get frustrated with this book Wade was a A...hole but they so quickly forgave him maybe I just hold grudges

Sfter saying that it was a good read that I thoroughly enjoyed

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My feelings for this book are a little all over the place. I did enjoy the overall story and I'm glad that I read it, but I also had issue's with it that made it hard for me to connect to the story and the characters.

I did like Erin and Ward and I thought it was sweet how they were able to fall in love slowly as they're forced together after so many years apart. Ward was a little hard to like at first, because of the way he left in the past, but he grew on me and I came to really enjoy his character. He and Erin had me rooting for them to make it the entire way through the book.

Though I still felt like I was missing pieces of their characters at times and it made it hard to connect. Ward was especially a pretty mysterious character so when some things were revealed about him I was waiting for the story to dive into that more, but it didn't and it made him seem underdeveloped.

The other issue, and honestly my biggest one, was the accents. Oh my lord, my brain was not ready to handle reading Scottish accents like this. The "Dinnae" type things I could just replace in my head as I was reading with the English version of those words. But some phrases still have me scratching my head and it was difficult to read a book where there were times I had no clue what was going on because I didn't know what was being said. And sure, for the most part I could read on and would figure out mostly what a phrase meant by the responses it got or just the context it was said in yet that didn't stop me from kind of losing my reading mojo. It was almost like an interruption to my reading since it would make me pause in confusion.

Overall, I still this this was an interesting story and if you can ignore or understand the Scottish-isms then I definitely recommend giving it a try.

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Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC for a honest review.

This novel turned me into a blubbering mess. It’s powerfully written to pull at your heartstrings. It’s definitely not for those who cry easily. Best for anyone who likes a little pain in with their romance. I can relate with her because I have experience what she went through.

The h and H are at odd with each other. Grudges are being held. Though the H changes her tune pretty quickly. I like that L.A. left us on the edge of our seats with each interaction. You won’t be able to put it down, guessing from one scene to the next. The road to HEA is a long one but one that is deserved and justified.

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4 star Review Her Lifeline by L.A. Casey
Hard to believe, but this is the first book I have read by L.A. Casey. Her Lifeline was an emotional read that tugged at the heart strings and yet frustrated me. It was an emotional, story of love, heartbreak, drama, forgiveness and second chances; be prepared tissues may be needed. The writing was strong and I certainly felt the emotions as I was reading this story.
The book contained may Scottish “isms” and I admit to being lost at times as I struggled to figure out what was happening.
We all make mistakes in life and Ward’s mistakes were not ones that I could easily brush aside. In fact he acted like a jerk, particularly to his best friend Tommy (who also happened to be Erin’s brother) and I struggled to like him at times. It takes Tommy’s near death experience for Ward to wake up to himself.
Can Erin and Ward come to terms with the past in order to create a future together?
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book through NetGalley from the publisher.

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A novel that will turn the reader into an absolute emotional trainwreck, Her Lifeline is a powerful written romance filled with drama and heartbreak. A word of warning to empaths, stay far away from this novel unless you want your day ruined. For those who like pain with their romance, this novel is perfect for you.

On one hand, it is understandable why the leads are at odds. However, the female lead seems to change her opinion pretty quickly even if her grudge is both justifiable yet not all at once. Each conversation left the reader on edge, waiting to see where it would lead. Watching their romance unfold, however was rewarding.

That being said, the ending is crushing. Even if the leads earn their happily ever after, the ending for the story itself definitely was not. Had I known what I was getting into, I would have passed on this novel. I love friends-to-lovers stories, but this novel was too much of an emotional roller coaster. That being said, it was definitely a novel I could not put down and read in one sitting.

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I really enjoyed this story. The hero is a little tough to love at first but the author does a wonderful job of developing his story and laying it out in a way that draws you in and wins you over. The childhood crush thing is a bit hard to imagine given the age difference between Ward and Erin but that's not a huge part of the story so it's not too distracting. There are a ton of emotional ups and downs in the story which keeps you flipping page after page experiencing all the heartbreak, forgiveness, loss, and hope. Bring the tissues and a copy of this one for a relaxing enjoyable read. I highly recommend it.

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