I try not to be super mean in book reviews. But being honest I’m definitely disappointed in this book.

📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: When I Should Have Stayed by Max Monroe

📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Red Bridge character series. Book 2.

📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book ARC on Kindle. Courtesy of NetGalley. 🆓 on KU.

📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Contemporary romance

📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Second Chance, he falls first, instalove.

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Josie and Clay burned hot and then burned out just as fast. She left, and never gave him a reason why. But as their lives become intwined again, it’s up to her to tell the truth.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Max Monroe’s Billionaire Bad Boys series is one of my favorite ever. I loved the Winslow Brothers series as well. After that, I don’t know what happened. I read a few of their books and they seemed disjointed, and they lack not only the things I loved that made them shine, but the fundamentals of actual romance.

I felt like this book had a great start, and I was interested in where it was going. But a lot of it threw me off. There was an unaligned dual-ish timeline that wasn’t labeled well enough, and completely threw me off.

And while I was struggling through that, it only drew more attention to the fact that Clay and Josie didn’t have any foundation, only this attraction. In skipping through the timeline, they skipped everything that would have made the couple special.

And then there was the trauma of it all. Josie’s reason for leaving was harsh. Clay never came across loveable - only unserious and kind of one dimensional.

I think at this point I have to let go of the marketing and hype and just let go of these authors. But we will always have the Billionaire Bad Boys.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 2.5/5 ⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 2.5/5 🌶🌶

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.

Gahhhh love Max Monroe so much. This story was everything. It had me in ALLLLL the feels. And the cover and edges?? My god. 10/10

A poignant, bittersweet love story full of romance, loss, second chances, and all the messiness of life. 3.75 🌟s

Oh, boy- what isn’t When I Should’ve Stayed when trying to describe the story? At the heart, it’s a true romance, but it is absolutely so much more. This novel is beautifully written- it will make you laugh out loud, it will make you weep, and it will have you fussing at the characters in frustration. Josie and Clay have a lovely sweet but difficult story and Max Monroe brings all the feels.

I very much enjoyed When I Should’ve Stayed overall. This was my first read by Max Monroe. I definitely liked the cadence of the writing and the clarity of the characters. I do feel that parts of the story dragged on in places and was ultimately left feeling very ‘ugh’ about the reason for the distance between the main characters- not with what actually happened to cause Josie to initially feel the need to file for divorce, but how what she didn’t do afterwards caused all the heartache and unhappiness to draw for so long. (I’ll admit that I am not the biggest fan of miscommunication/lack of communication tropes.) I didn’t mind the time jumping and felt that the movement between past and present added a depth to the story. I just wish it would’ve been a little easier to follow when in time each transition was occurring. While I could absolutely follow along and the story reads fine without it, I do wish that I had read and do recommend reading the first book What I should’ve Said first.

All that said, When I Should’ve Stayed is a beautiful second-chance romance that pulls on all the heartstrings. I’ll certainly be checking out more Max Monroe books in the future.

Please consider the author’s note with disclaimer and trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. Your mental health is important.

Many thanks to Entangled: Amara, Max Monroe, and NetGalley for the e-galley. All opinions expressed are my own.

This novel has some beautiful writing; the kind of writing that you know is telling you a fictional story, but is just so evocative that it helps the reader be right there in time and place. Max Monroe tells quite a complex story with so much yearning, both talked of and secret, in public and in Josie's and Clay's minds. They live in a small town surrounded by wonderful characters, many of the found family sort. I had some trouble following the time jumps (might have been because I haven't read the first book of the series). Maybe it's just me, but I could have used a chart or calendar or something. I was definitely getting impatient by the end of the book, since I was certain things would work out once Josie and Clay actually got around to seriously communicating. Having said that, I thought the conclusion of the story was wonderful and the "Happily Ever After" chapter was amazing.

I was given an ARC of this book and volunteered to write a review.

This was a fun read after the first book in the series. It dealt with hard topics and there were a lot of different timelines, so at times it was a bit confusing. I was rooting for Clay and Josie and was happy they got their happy ending. This book had a lot of scenes from the first book in the series, so prepare to relive some of those moments again.

If you read book one in the series, you’ll remember the hints about Josie and Clay’s past—so getting the full story in When I Should’ve Stayed was exactly what I was hoping for. Make sure you read book 1 first, What I Should’ve Said!

Their whirlwind romance ended when Josie filed for divorce, leaving Clay blindsided and unsure what had gone wrong. But he never signed the papers, and their lives remained intertwined in ways neither of them could completely let go of.

This book dives into their past and present, showing how love can endure even after heartbreak. The back-and-forth timeline had me a little confused at times, and honestly, I found myself wanting more from their life now. There’s a lot of history packed in but I craved more real-time connection between them as they found their way back to each other.

Still, this is a beautiful second-chance romance, and Clay absolutely stole my heart—he’s the definition of a romantic. Fingers crossed Max Monroe gives us more of their journey in book 3, because I’m not ready to let them go!

This story was written so beautifully and I loved Josie and Clay’s story. It made me swoon, giggle, sob and even healed a little part of me. This book will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, filled with sweet moments, heartache, and unresolved issues.

Jumping timelimes is not my cup of tea. However, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The book is about Josie and Clay and will say that at times Josie worked my nerves. The side cast of the book helped me enjoy it more.

I loved What I Should’ve Said so much. I can’t even begin to say how much I loved it. But this book…idk. I’d say at least 40-50% is repeated scenes from book 1. The scenes are of course, from a different perspective but it’s extremely repetitive. I thought Clay was a fantastic character. He had so much potential and a heart of pure gold. Josie started off strong and flat lined.

There felt like A LOT of miscommunication in this book. Admittedly, this is my least favorite trope. I really loved seeing Bennet Bishop again. Bennet, Nora and Summer were some of my favorite characters of all time so I loved seeing them again. But eventually it just became too much. The ending also felt rushed for me. The chemistry was so awkward between Clay and Josie. Clay legitimately loved Josie and her vibes weren’t anywhere even close to feeling the same way. I still love Max Monroe. I just think maybe I loved Bennet and Norah too much for my own good 😂

I loved this book!!!

I finished it in one sitting.
The fact we are going back and forth in time for when they were together and present when they aren’t!

This is boom two which I didn’t realise and wish i had so I could have had a better understanding of the characters but I quickly caught up as I read into it!

Grandma Rose I adored!!

Absolutely another amazing story with characters that I couldn’t get enough of. This definitely gave me all the feels. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC of When I Should’ve Stayed.



wow did i STRONGLY dislike this book. i didn’t read the first in the series, but based on other reviews, it seems like i didn’t even need to since it sounds like this book was a lot of the same scenes from the first book.

this book DRAGGED, even listening on 2.5x speed. was the writing bad? no, not necessarily. but the plot was so incredibly frustrating and i genuinely did not feel any connection to any of the characters and they all annoyed me in their own ways.

the time jumps were so, so excessive. i usually love a dual timeline but this was like a 3 or 4 way timeline and it was just so much to follow and keep track of.

then when i realized that the ENTIRE PLOT revolved around the fact that the FMC just needed to have a single honest conversation with the MMC??? absolutely not. this genuinely made me so mad.

the MMC was so pushy and annoying at so many different points - he was obsessed with marriage and a wedding despite the FMC making it clear that she needed time and space to process her grandmas death, etc. but he continually pushed her on so many different occasions.

and Josie was actually insufferable. like yes, of course, she went through something traumatic. but she literally isolated herself on purpose, and then had a mental breakdown about how she didn’t have anyone to support her - then abruptly divorced her husband without even giving him the benefit of the doubt or opportunity to support her???? absolutely unreal.

tbh, i should have dnf’d but i felt like i had already invested too much time to not finish it.

Max Monroe pulled out all the stops for this one! It’s just as good as the first book! It’s beautiful, heartwarming, emotional, sad and happy all at once. This book broke me apart and put me back together! I love second chances romances, and this one was one of the best!!
Josie had a hard outer shell but she was soft and a bit broken in the middle. It took some time and a long journey for her to find her HEA. Clay has always been her beginning and her ending.
It just took her time to work past her issues to believe it! It sometimes drove me nuts that she wouldn’t tell him things, but people are complicated because of their pasts and their beliefs. Her past was tough, and it was hard for her to forgive herself. This was a beautiful story, and I loved every single minute! The writing and conflict were amazing. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop! Josie and Clay forever! I received this book from Entangled Publishing and Netgalley! All opinions are my own!

Thank you so much to Entangled & NetGalley for this e-arc.

When I Should've Stayed is about Josie and Clay's second chance romance, which lasts several years. Despite the fact that Josie and Clay were genuinely meant to be together, she files for divorce after misfortune happens to them. The plot alternates between the past, where we follow Josie and Clay from their first interaction to marriage to their downfall, and the present, when they are both merely going through the motions with neither of them moving forward. It is about healing, heartbreak, and the kind of love that endures even when everything fails. I adore this town and these people. I loved this book. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Thank you so much to Entangled Publishing for the complimentary copy of this book!

This book is out now!

This book is the follow up to their emotional read What I Should've Said. In What I Should've Said the book focused on Norah and Bennett and this time around our couple are Josie and Clay. We meet both characters in the first book - Josie is Norah's sister and Clay is Bennett's best friend. In this one we get to see their back story and how they became a couple and ultimately what drove them to separate.

"You can still come here on Friday nights. Just leave the other guys at home."
"The cheaters, you mean?"
"I don't know. Feels like I might not want to see you with a good one either."
"Why not?"
"Thinking maybe I'd like to see you with me."

We knew some of Josie's story from Norah's point of view in the first book but it is dug a little deeper in this. And now she has a career of catching cheaters which she often would bring her dates to none other than to Clay's bar. Clay was attractive to Josie from the start and couldn't understand the rotation of men she would bring in there.

Their relationship is a whirlwind. Things happening so quick that it just seemed like Josie barely had time to breathe. Clay was just all in from the start. He knew that she was the one for him and didn't want to waste any time. We knew Josie was close to her grandmother who took her in when she left her home so when she passed Josie was very lost and took her death very hard. There were other things that happened that just kept building up and Josie just felt it was best if she and Clay separated.

"Because time's always ticking, and every second I spend not telling you what you mean to me is a second I don't want to spend."

The book is told from two timelines - the past leading up to the break up and the present on how they are mending their broken hearts. I would say you should read the first book (pleaseeee read trigger warnings) but if you really want to dive into this one without reading the first that is okay. A good portion of the present timeline takes place during the course of the first book which I thought was pretty cool. Since I have read the first one, it felt like a refresher. And yes Max Monroe puts you through the wringer of that moment all over again (iykyk).

I recently got to see Max Monroe on their book tour for this book and they told us that this series is a 4 book series! And that the next book is going to be on Bennett's sister Breezy and the local sheep farmer Tad. Which I'm very excited to see Breezy shine and I feel like Tad is going to be very hot. I know the first two books in this series have been gut wrenching so I'm hoping with the third its a little bit lighter but who knows what the duo will throw at us. I will be ready either way!!

📕 ARC Review — I ventured out of my comfort zone and started with a new to me author and boy was that the right decision. This book gave me all the feels, sad, heartbreaking but also heartwarming. Clay is one of my favorite book characters to date.

Thank you entangled publishing, max monroe and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 5

Thank you @entangled_publishing for my copy!

This is book # 2 in the Red Bridge series. It can be read as a stand-alone because there is enough context provided to understand the storyline, if you haven’t read the first book. However, if you haven’t read What I Should’ve Said, I highly recommend you read it! It was one of my favorite books last year. The storyline takes place the same time as the first book, so there is some overlap between the stories. This was bittersweet because I loved getting to see the characters again, but I also had to relive some of the emotional parts from the first book.

This was such a great second chance romance. I really enjoyed the dual timelines and POVs. Everything is leading up to “the moment” where everything fell apart. I loved getting to see everything unfold— them falling in love, where everything went wrong, and how they found their way back to each other. I loved Clay’s character and how he never stopped loving Josie, and how he never finalized the divorce. This story is realistic, emotional, and raw but beautifully written. However, overall this story is not as emotionally heavy as the first book. Highly recommend!

Read if you enjoy:
✔️Second chance
✔️Small town
✔️Emotional angst
✔️Insta-love
✔️Dual POV
✔️Dual timelines

Max Monroe has done it again with another pull at my heartstrings! This book had so many emotional layers and a story that was so messy and beautiful. I love how Josie and Clay’s relationship and seeing things from a different view. When I Should’ve Stayed had everything that I could ask for—humor, romance, heartbreak and hope.

This was such an emotional read. Max & Monroe knows how to pull on your heartstrings. Even though it was a small portion of this book, reading the loss of Summer through Josie and Clay’s eyes was just as devastating!
I won’t lie - I hate Josie a little bit for what she put Clay through. He is an absolute saint whose only flaw was loving the girl!
This had so many emotional layers! This a love that was messy and beautiful!

I'm still reeling from What I Should've Said. If you haven't read it, consider this your warning: you need to read it before starting this book.

I was prepared for tears, but @authormaxmonroe took my emotions on a wild ride. I was not okay, and my heart shattered into a million pieces.

I loved getting a deeper look into Josie and Clay's relationship and seeing things from a different perspective. This book tied up all the loose ends and gave me the perfect ending to their story.

Amazing job!

Thank you @authormaxmonroe and @entangled_publishing for the advanced copy.

This book is out now! Go grab it!