Only Forever

This was my first time every reading a Sophia Ryan novel. So, I went into reading Only Forever only knowing that the description sounded interesting. I got past the first chapter everything was going fine. Then I got past the second chapter with me all on board. Only Forever was a hot journey from discovering that no matter if an ocean separates you from the one person you were mint for, that fate or destiny will always find some way to bring you together. But, not before they have a little fun with you first.

As young children, they both were told that their soulmate was out there. One was told that a blue light was their destiny and the other was told they future lies in Ireland. So, the story opens with American Sabrina Sullivan blissfully married to her Irish archaeologist husband. Now, nothing could split them apart because but what the oracle told her has finally come true. Or did it. It only took one millisecond, just a touch really to figure out that yes, the Oracle was correct that she would find her soulmate. However, the man that she married wasn’t he.

Only Forever, was a hot read from beginning to end. The plotline captures you with the tale of two lost souls destined for each other, but where reasonability and metaphoric ideas collide.

I like that Only Forever, presenting me with the chance to immerse myself in my not so realistic beliefs for the few hours it took me to complete. After reading, I don’t know who I was sorrier for; the husband, Sabrina or both. It’s a hard choice to make, deciding for the known or take a leap of faith and go with the unknown. I can tell you though it was a pleasure to see how the story unfolded.

Sabrina and Dominic have been married for a few weeks when they were called on a job to a dig site in Ireland. Dominic, being an archaeologist, would be the field supervisor, and Sabrina, being a photographer, would be a media assistant to her new boss, who is also Dominic’s best friend, Ian McCanna.
Sabrina and Dominic were truly in love with each other, so when she first touched Ian and felt a strong and unexpected connection, she didn’t know what to make of it.

But then, Dominic started putting his job first, in fact, he started putting everything before her. Add that to the fact that being apart from Ian hurt both physical and emotionally, there wasn’t much she could do to ignore her feelings.
Honestly, it took me some time but I just hated Dominic. He was nothing more than a cheater with no moral to question Sabrina’s reasons. On the other hand, I just loved Ian, I mean, how could I not? More even when he protected Sabrina when he didn’t have to.

I’ve never read something like this; I’m not used to the spiritual side this book explores, so this was a pleasant surprise. Ian and Sabrina’s connection is beyond this world: he can hear her thoughts as well as see the same ghosts that she sees. And even though they’re two different bodies with the same soul, I never knew for sure until the very end if they were going to end up together or not. Just by that you can see how well the book was written and how good the storyline is.

All in all, it is a really interesting book with strong characters and anything bur predictable.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

This is the first book i have read by Sophia Ryan and it won't be the last.This was a hot read and i did not want to put it down cant wait to read more from this author

I found the story to be very interesting with a good plot. Romance was good as well.

tl;dr: paranormal romance with unclear mythology but interesting character arcs

***

THE STORY:

Anyone who knows me is aware of my rather myopic preferences on romance novels. I like contemporary romance. I don't typically read any other sub genre, including but not limited to westerns, paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and especially not historical. This also extends to other forms of media, including television and movies. I say all this up front because it colors how I feel about this book.

When I first began reading it, I was pretty surprised to find a very strong paranormal or magical element to the story, since the publisher's description does not accurately represent this side of the story. It was glaringly obvious from the second chapter that something was afoot. There are some protestors outside of the archeological dig site that most of the book takes place at, and the leader of the protesting group shares a weird glance between herself and Sabrina, one of the main characters.

<blockquote>Sabrina gulped for air, realizing she'd been holding her breath for the moments she'd been trapped in the woman's gaze. The discomfort that had enveloped her faded the farther they got from the gate, but a ghostly after-feeling remained, as if the encounter had dug up and resurrected something ancient inside her that had been buried deep eons ago.</blockquote>

I almost threw in the towel in that point, because I do not enjoy paranormal romance, particularly since I didn't think it was supposed to be one. But let me be clear–this is a paranormal romance, with some sort of Celtic mythology about soulmates. This mythology is not explained very well, and actually, the author spends more time discussing the archeology setting than the paranormal premise of the novel, which is that Sabrina, despite being married to Dominic, is one half of a soulmate pair with Ian, her husband's best friend.

The push and pull between the two soulmates was executed well, and the anguish they feel about having to stay apart is palpable. It dragged on for a very long time, though, and I felt like the impetus for them finally coming together was somewhat out of character for how Dominic is supposed to be (logical, hardworking). The jealousy and hurt feelings by everyone made sense, even for the other people on the dig who weren't directly related, since it affected the whole environment to have hostilities between people who had leadership over the group.

In general, the characterization was mostly good, but I think that the similarities between Ian and Sabrina, and then between Dominic and Meggan, could have been a little more obvious, with more time spent on that than yet another sex scene that didn't serve to further the plot. I also felt that the story maybe could have benefitted from some kind of prologue, maybe giving some explanation into the soulmate thing, giving a clear mythology to extrapolate the rest of the story from.

The conclusion was good, and left a fitting bookend to the story that was satisfying, leaving the reader able to imagine the new normal for all the main players.

TECHNICAL ELEMENTS:

I found the smut to be too crass and explicit. I'm not a huge fan of certain crude words for body parts, and this book was overloaded. There are 321 instances of the f-word. It was pretty gratuitous at times. A little can go a long way.

Some of the writing was also a little awkward, where some sentences weren't as clear as they could have been. Example:

<blockquote>Dominic's comments fisted Ian's hands at his sides, but he held his anger in check.</blockquote>

Now, I know that the author here intends to describe how Dominic's words caused Ian to feel anger, and therefore tighten his hands into fists, but the way it's written here is as if comments could become sentient, grab hands, and manipulate them. There were a few of these scattered around, phrasing that I had to read and reread before I understood what they were supposed to mean.

Overall, I felt like the book could have done with some trimming of excess to make it a little tighter. I also felt like some themes were introduced in early chapters and completely dropped until the end; for example, Sabrina's adventurousness in bed and Dominic's preference for more straight-forward sex. In the entire middle of the book, it's a non-issue, and I think that would have been a good way to show the divide between Sabrina and Dominic, and emphasize the similarities between Sabrina and Ian, but instead, it's a non-issue until the very end. Even the growing chasm between the newlyweds isn't apparent until the author points it out, instead of slowly introducing it over time, because all of a sudden, Dominic has no time for Sabrina anymore.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I didn't hate this book. That doesn't sound like a glowing endorsement, but considering that I really dislike paranormal romance, and even more so that I didn't feel like the mythology was well-explained at all, it's a fairly positive reaction from me. Someone who enjoys Celtic mythology and adultery plots would probably really enjoy this, especially if they have a high tolerance for highly explicit (bordering on pornographic) smut. There were a lot of interesting interactions between characters, but I needed more. More explanation, more nuanced plot development, and maybe less sex. (Did I just type that? First time for everything, I guess.)

This was an absolutely stunning, riveting read. I enjoyed every minute, and was enthralled by the supernatural twist on this fun romantic read. Highly recommend, and would love to read even more novels like it!

I was grateful to receive a free copy of this book, Only Forever by Sophia Ryan. The cover really captured my attention along with the story line. I really liked the dynamic between Sabrina, her husband and his best friend Before reading the book, I didn't realize it was going to take a small detour into the paranormal which isn't really my preferred preference. I stuck it out and finished the book, but the plot kept stalling.. This was an ok read, but with all of the other book options, I'd suggest friends and family look elsewhere for a good read.

Quick Summary: WOW! That was insanely tragic and yet satisfyingly romantic, in a paranormal kind of way. I never saw THAT coming.
Rating: 3/5
Recommend: +/-
Audience: NA
Status: Paranormal, Contemporary
Chemistry/Intensity: Yes
Conflict/Drama: Yes
Family Dysfunction: Yes
Maturity Level of Adults: -
Humor/Wit: +/-
Strong Protagonists: +/-
Interesting Antagonists: +/-
Other: The story was quite unique. I did not think the adults acted mature, in many to most instances. I also felt more could be done with the ghosts. Lastly, the age of the characters against their professional roles and statuses was not believable. Still, the content was intriguing.