I'm going through the books I requested pre-2018 when I stopped blogging to clean up my NetGalley TBR and this was on the list. I don't think it's a book for me anymore and will not be reviewing at this time, but if I do read it, I will update this review. Thank you for the opportunity.

“Fishy, fishy in the brook, will she ever turn and look?”

You know how some people say, “There are books you read, and then there are books you experience.” I thought I knew what that meant and believed I had already read my fair share of books I’ve “experienced” but after reading The Man I Love, that saying has a totally new meaning for me. This book, I felt wholeheartedly, profoundly. The Man I Love is one of the most human books I have ever read. The emotions that were pulled out of me while reading were quite scary, to say the least (and I mean that in the best way possible). There are books you connect with, then there are books that shake you to your core. I won’t bore you with the personal side as to why this book had me so shook, but I will say I had to put it down at one point because I felt like I couldn’t breathe. What I felt was enough for me to push the book away and not pick it up for a week. I found any possible excuse to not read, but finally working up the courage to finish this amazing story, I now have a story that will stay with me for a LIFETIME.

The characters in this story weren’t like any I have ever experienced before. I felt like I personally knew them, as if they were real people. I randomly found myself laughing and crying at the things they said, such human things. I loved each and every character, even the ones I was suppose to hate. I believed in the love that Erik and Daisy shared.

“She smiled back at him. Neither of them had said so much as hello yet she was looking at him with those eyes. Deep in the cathedral of his young being, Erik felt a bell toll, a peal of recognition. And for the rest of his life, he would swear, he would swear to anyone who asked, although nothing was said aloud, he heard Daisy Bianco speak to him. She said it with her eyes, he heard it clearly in his head, and it wasn’t hello.
It was, ‘Well, here you are…’
Here I am, he thought.”

The love between Erik and Will knocked me on my ass. They were the epitome of the perfect Bromance.

“Just out of curiosity, this…” Erik gestured to himself. “Doesn’t do anything for you?”

Will made to get up out of his chair and Erik sprang back two feet, laughing. “No, no. Sit. Never mind.”

“One,” Will said, holding up a finger, “don’t start what you can’t finish. Two, walk away now so I can look at your ass.” Erik ran away. “Even better,” Will yelled after him. “When you run it gets all high and tight. Like a girl’s.”

but it was Erik and his personality, his relationship with each and every person that truly made my heart ache with wanting him to be real.

I am human valium. Take me. I am the alpha. I lead this pack. I have you in my pocket. I am decent and good. You always liked me. Let me lead. Let me calm you again. You don’t have to do this.

Suanne Laqueur’s writing is sophisticated, honest, and brutal. She has officially made it to the list of authors I will read anything by, no questions asked.

I am excited and scared to continue reading this series. Suanne, be gentle with my heart. ❤

That is all I am going to say about this book besides that I hope you give this series a chance.

**keep tissues close by**

I came to this novel a little backwards, I suppose? I've had this novel for a while and I've held it on to it as "my next read" and yet somehow I wasn't ready for it until now. I read Laqueur's The Venery series over Thanksgiving and fell in love with her characters and the emotional journey she took me on so I circled back to TMIL knowing, hoping, I'd feel those similar aching connections.

This novel dug in just as deep for me, it just took me a little longer to fully connect. It required patience in my reading when I though I wanted to be impatient. It was an unfurling, an unraveling--not a frenetic frenzied quick read. So as I settled into the story of Erik and Daisy and their motley crew of friends I once again felt that draw to crawl into the book and stay until I got to the ending.

There were many points in this novel that felt familiar--almost like a memory of my own more than a plot in a novel. Maybe that's because I was graduating in 1992 and my own hazy memories and motley crew of friends and acquaintances seemed similar in ways--that bubble we created in college that was full of secret jokes and weird pairings and gossip and fun. Or maybe it was working through some of their grief and loss and thinking about my own. Whatever the connections, they were there and it just worked.

And while the ending could be perfectly satisfactory as is, I'm glad to know that I still have more books to read. I have more answers to know and connections to make--because I have no doubt that I will--and I cannot think of a better way to avoid all the things I should be doing today.

*Link to be added when review is live on blog this week*

Unfortunately, I could not get interested in this book and did not finish it. However, I do appreciate the opportunity to read a review copy of the book. Thank you.

Interesting story and characters.The writing is flawless and so beautiful! The story unique and so different from the usual books we read lately

I love this author's writing style. I read wonderful stories all the time, but the actual craft of writing from this author continues to blow me away.

Erik and Daisy meet and fall in love in college. She's a world class ballerina, and he does the technical design. Everything is going wonderful for them. Their romance is perfect. School is great. By all signs, the future is nothing but up, up, up. After a tragedy, it's impossible for them to get back on track. This is the journey of their love and despair and the eventual finding of themselves. It spans many years.

I didn't read anything about this story before starting it. Every emotion hit me hard, and I had to ride it out fully. I want to go into detail about all my feels at each point, but I don't want to spoil anything. Just know that you aren't going to want to put it down, but you may have to a few times to wipe your eyes. It's beyond beautiful. It broke my heart at times and overfilled it others. The Man I Love is not to be missed. Exquisite. Moving. Defining.

Didn't realize this was romance. Not my genre but thanks for the opportunity.