Heartfelt, steamy, angsty, tender ... all the good things we want in a romance. This is all of that, but it's also original and unflinching. Amber's story is about addiction and recovery. She's mostly sober, going to college, working, pulling herself out of a self-loathing spiral. Miguel is a personal trainer with a big, loud and challenging extended family. He's a caregiver, and he gives and gives to all the people in his world. There's not always enough left for himself. And he's really (really) hungry for love. The book takes place over a year or so as they both work through some pretty intense family stuff and their demons. Add in Angel, a troubled cousin of Miguel, his mom's cancer and life is really complicated.

This novel is a wonderful companion to Nonverbal, which introduces us to Brody and Paige. Miguel is a work colleague of Brody and Amber is his sister - and Paige's bestie. While both these novels are standalone, they fit together beautifully and create such a vivid slice of life - and happily ever afters.

All the characters in these two novels lead hardscrabble lives. Home is a trailer park, work is uncertain, money is short and emotions are big. It's extraordinary - we couldn't be further from sports and cities and billionaires. I was blown away by the way that Amber and Miguel are able to trust each other and build themselves an unconventional life together. It's optimistic and satisfying. I recommend this novel if you like love and angst with your grit. Fabulous!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Raina Ash for the ARC. Opinions are my own and I'm off to read the rest of Raina's back list.

This was a good read and even though I didn't read the first book in the series, the authors writing style made sure I was able to still understand everything that was happening. The author does such a good job bringing awareness to mental health,Her books deal with tough topics, but with so much understand and no judgement. Miguel was such a golden retriever and continued to show up over and over for Amber and never gave up on her and their love story.

Definitely check trigger warnings but I would highly recommend this book.

wow i really enjoyed this book. you feel so much emotion ,loved how flawed both characters were. loved having gone on this journey with amber and migel. raina does such a good job with heavy topics. loved the he fall first trope.

Well this book is the opposite - bad girl meets good boy. Amber has her struggles and tries to put her life back together. Miguel is the support she exactly needs. Not the most upbeat, exciting love story - more realistic, I think, when there is an addiction. Family, however you form one, is what is needed to get your life back on track and to be happy.

I struggled during the first half of the book. I felt like Miguel’s character came off as creepy and it just dragged on in general.

Then I literally could not put down the second half. Absolutely loved every minute of it. It was like I was reading two different books. Miguel got his redemption in every way. My heart broke for him when his mom died. The entire storyline with Angel was perfection.

Overall 3 stars, but the last 50% would easily be a 5 start read on its own.

This is such a great read! Exciting, sexy and emotional, a brilliant addition to the Love Beyond Words series.

While I didn't realize this was the 2nd book in a series, I still enjoyed this and don't feel it was necessary to have read the first book. The story is more of a slow/medium burn and medium spicy. While the book deals with difficult subjects, Raina Ash really deals with mental health is a respectful way which I truly appreciate. Miguel and Amber's love story was not without some bumps and will they or won't they be together moments but it was a good read. I also enjoyed the characters and found them super relatable.

5/5 ⭐
3/5 🌶️

I absolutely adore Raina's writing and her inclusivity. Nonverbal was such an amazing story and I was so excited for Outspoken and getting to see Amber and Miguel get their happily ever after. It was not a fast burn like I expected, but I loved every minute of this one, even the slow burn.

Miguel was so different from what I was thinking he'd be. I knew his general personality from Nonverbal and knew he was a bit of a romantic, but he was the ultimate "he falls first" trope. I usually don't love the instalove thing, and parts of Miguel's over eagerness got to me... But overall it worked so well and ended up being perfect for the story.

Amber was so real. Having been an addict's family member, I can understand how hard addiction is... I loved watching her navigate her struggles and seeing her inner turmoils with her addiction. My heart broke a lot for her when she'd talk about her self worth, especially when she opened up to Angel about it. I really enjoyed her character so much.

Angel. Love him. Won't spoil anything, just read about him and love him too.

I hope Raina isn't done with this world yet, cause I'm not ready to let these characters go. So many tears, laughs, gasps and more while I was reading them. I can't get enough.
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