Julia Gabriel is an author I have never read before Next to You, but I am a fan now! I absolutely loved this book! I highly recommend to anyone looking for a Love Story that you can feel the connection and believe it could be you!

This was a sweet, beautiful story.

Jared Connor suffered a traumatic event as a kid and lives with the physical and emotional scars, every day. A reclusive billionaire, he now lives his life simply, out of the public eye, taking contracts as a caretaker. His current job is looking after Phlox Miller’s estate.

Phlox Miller suffered terrible disfigurement after an experiment went wrong. She’s undergone a multitude of surgeries and now lives with a new face – a beautiful stranger looks back at her in the mirror, every day. She’s spending time at her country home to overcome her fears.

Both are immediately attracted to the other, but Jared believes that he can never have a fairy tale life with true love, a wife and children. As their relationship develops from employee/employer into something more intimate, will Jared be brave enough to cast off his own fears and doubts to give their love a chance?

A moving story with a Beauty and the Beast theme. It was sweet and sexy. Jared’s anguish and torment really tugged at the heartstrings. I loved Phlox’s strong character and her determination to be with Jared, never caring what other people might think. Great read!

What a wonderful read! Just sit down with a hot pot of tea and some cookies and dive right into a fun book with great main characters as well as sassy mid card characters. I had a total blast reading this book and cant wait for more from this author!

The beauty and the beast plot is one of my favorites – it is pretty much a given that I will pick up the story if it even hints at it :) And I’m very happy to say that here it works very well.

Phlox is a wonderful heroine. She’s smart and fun, but she’s also got a solid head on her shoulders. She may be gorgeous but she hasn’t always been and she had to go thru a horrible experience where she was burned badly. These things have given her a different take on beauty and other people’s reaction to it, which is a good thing because anyone who dares to fall for Jared needs a lot of understanding and patience.

Jared has carried around a lot of baggage. Not only because of his scars but because of what his father did to his family. It’s colored absolutely everything about his life and he’s still letting it impact his interactions with others. When he first sees Phlox he allows her beauty to impact how he treats her but she doesn’t let him blow her off and he quickly learns there is so much more to her than her face. It’s going to take a lot though to get him to let down his walls. Luckily Phlox may just be the person for the job.

**Warning: there is some spoilerish info below**

I really enjoyed this story but there were a couple of things I didn’t understand. There was a fight between the brothers that seemed to come out of left field because they had what I thought was a good relationship up to that point. Some suggestion was made that there was some undercurrent with how Jared saved Jake from the fire, but either I didn’t get it or it wasn’t detailed enough to make the impact needed for that fight to make sense to me. And then the deal with their dad wasn’t ever really resolved. An argument could be made that Jared just needed to accept and let it go but I felt like closure really was needed for him to truly heal.

Overall though the rest of the book worked really well for me and I loved the romance that developed between Jared and Phlox. It’s a tough go for both of them but Gabriel handled their troubles very well and gave them a great HEA.

What a joy to read such a heartfelt romance. This is my first book by Gabriel and cannot wait to read others. She manages to give us beautiful characters with tortured souls, both injured physically by horrific accidents. Jared had a disturbing childhood that left him damaged physically and mentally. Phlox is a chemist and suffered an accident while creating something, her injuries were healed but changed her appearance making her uncomfortable in her own skin. The way their stories were told was beautiful and I couldn't put the story down. It's definitel a feel good story, happy ending, but the road to get there is never easy. My copy was given through Netgalley for an honest review.

I have never read anything by this author before. However, I chose this book based on the summary of the story. Jared Connor was ten-years old when his father set fire to his house and left his two young sons to die. Fortunately, Jared awoke in time, and, by carrying his eight year old brother on his back, saved both of them from certain death. Jared’s brother completely healed while Jared was severely injured with third degree burns over his face and upper body. As an adult, Jared cuts himself off from people and hides his scars by living in seclusion. On the other hand, his father is on death row still attempting to appeal his death sentence.

Phlox Miller, a make-up scientist who owns her own company, had an accident at her country home. As a result, she suffered third degree burns. Since then she has had many surgeries to recover and fix her face. However, she does not recognize herself anymore when she looks in the mirror. While Phlox was going through her recovery, she needed someone to take care of her summer home. Her best friend and co-owner hired Jared Connor - sight unseen.

The story opens when Phlox is returning home, for the first time since the accident. Both Phlox and Jared want to be alone, but, instead, find that they have to deal with each other as well as their problems.

This is definitely a very special story. Both Jared and Phlox have internal, as well as their external, issues that they have been unable to work through as of yet. Yet, somehow they manage to help each other and fall in love at the same time.
One word of warning; this is not an easy book to read. There are no magic cures or simple answers for Phlox and Jordon. There is only the reality of having to learn to deal with the life they have been handed. However, there is still a happy ending - which actually made me feel happier than I normally do at the end of a romance. I was happy that they had found each other. I also came away from this book with a renewed admiration of the courage it takes for burn victims to be able to go through the healing process and live their new life.

Loved this book!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I need to find a hard copy of this book so that I can take it with me everywhere I go and read it all the time. That is how much I loved this book! It is an amazing story of love and how it really does beat all the odds. Jared is easily one of my favourite book characters ever. He has the biggest heart and really is the nicest man. He has obviously been scarred on the inside as well but once he opens himself up to the opportunity of love he becomes even stronger. Phlox is a lovely character who also deserves all of the happiness in the world.

Jarad had a lot of scars on his face and body as when he was ten and his brother Jake was eight his father set the house on fire with his kids in it. Jarad saved Jake’s life and Jake is fine. But Jarad believes no one will ever love him because of the scars and why he has them. His father is setting on death row and even now appealing his death sentence. Jarad is a billionaire and sold his business and lives in seclusion as a caregiver. Then he meets the woman who owns the home he is taking care of and she is rich also. Phlox is strong and she is a scientist. She also has been burned in an explosion but she had several surgeries to repair her face now she doesn’t even recognize her own face. Jarad had internal as well as external scars. Either Jarad nor Phlox have dealt with what happened to them. Yet Phlox does seem to look past the scars and sees him as the man.

This was a beautiful and moving story and plot maybe a bit like beauty and the beast but that is fine with me. This is awesome either way. Some parts made me laugh and some made me choke up and shed a few tears. I couldn’t put it down. The characters were superb especially Phlox and Jarad and all the twists and turns they went through. I highly recommend.

This is my first time reading a book by Julia Gabriel, and I will be looking for more of her books to read. I did enjoy this book very much right from page one. Jared and Phlox both have had trama in there lives that left them scarred. Jared's scares were more visible and his choice was to hide from the world. Phlox's scars could be more hidden from those around her. But when the two meet and fall in love Jared had to face his trama and scars and come out of hiding or he would lose Phlox who's job kept her in the public eye. The love these two have for each other and the sacrifices they were willing to make is so romantic and heart warming. Thank you Netgalley for the oportunity to read and enjoy this book.

This is the fist book I have read by the author and I wasn't disappointed. This was a really touching story and I enjoyed it very much. The author knows how to write to get you hooked into the book. I loved how the characters connected in the story and loved getting the background on how the characters got their scars. Some emotions will run high in this book and some parts will touch your heart. Overall, the author did an amazing job.

Phlox had an accident that burned her bad and went through a numerous amount of surgeries to "fix" herself and not have the scars or burns to show what happened to her. Although some surgeries could not fix or change all parts. She goes to Connecticut to face her demons and overcome them but when she arrives she doesn't expect to fall into a sexy and handsome man's arms. She realizes that her caretaker is the one that rescued her. She needs to know more about Jared and how he ended up with the burns on his face. The more time she spends with Jared, the more she wants to be with him and in her life. One day some secrets come out and things change for Phlox.

Jared has always been treated differently with the burns on his face but that didn't stop him from becoming a billionaire and then selling his business. He decides that he will become a caretaker and be away from everyone as he thinks it's best especially with the way he looks. He had a trouble past and one that he doesn't want anyone to know about. When he meets Phlox, he can't imagine that she has been through what he has until he sees a photo album. He has to make things right with Phlox and the more time he spends with her, the more he is changing. When his secrets come out, he doesn't know what Phlox will do.

I highly recommend reading this story as it's a touching romance with some hot & steamy scenes. You can feel the connection between the characters and watch a love form between them both. The battles that they both must overcome and the struggles that they go through is not easy for either of them. Can love overcome the issues and stay strong between the two?

This is really good and it flows well. The two main characters Jared and Phlox are very likeable. The book tells us of their love story. It is beautifully written with compassion. Jared has bad burn scars down one side of his face and body. He is pretty much a recluse, and takes a job as caretaker to Phlox's Connecticut house. Phlox was burned when oil exploded onto her face. She has had 32 plastic surgery operations and has decided , no more. When Phlox and Jared meet, the attraction is instant. But can their love survive in the real world?

This was a moving story between Phlox and Jared. I liked he fact that Phlox wasn't afraid to go after Jared. She was a strong heroine. I know that Jared had been through a lot, but his lack of confidence and the way he kept pushing Phlox away was exasperating after a while. Overall, a good read.

Next to You by Julia Gabriel is the story of Jared Connor who got burned in a childhood accident and now lives in hiding doing menial jobs despite being a billionaire and Phlox Miller who has returned to her country house to adjust to her changed life and return back as the old, dedicated Phlox. But sparks fly when they meet and it is not something either of them wants.

I love reading romances about reclusive heroes and independent heroines and this one had all this and more in it. The cover, blurb and title are all very interesting and had me intrigued right from the start.

This is the first book by Julia that I have read and it wont be my last!

Her writing style is simple and yet engaging and she had me intrigued and invested in the story right from the start. The plot is beautifully conceived and executed and the author throws well calculated twists and turns in the story to keep the interest alive.

I love Phlox who is geeky intelligent and a strong character. Her life has been spent balancing the expectations of her parents both of whom want different things from her. An accident leaves her battered and struggling with her identity and it was interesting to watch her get up and gain her confidence again. I empathized with Jared at the start but later on could not understand the reason over which they fought and thought they had to stay apart. The other characters like Jared's younger brother and Phlox's business partner and best friend are also some very interesting people and I am so eager to read their story too.

The story is fast paced and held me engrossed but despite the crispness of execution, I felt the intimate scenes were too many and often times did nothing to take the story forward. These could have been toned down a bit.

All in all, I enjoyed reading Next to You by Julia Gabriel and give it 4 out of 5. Seeming a bit like Beauty and the Beast, it appealed to my fairy tale loving self and I recommend it all lovers of romance above the age of eighteen.

I received the book from the publishers via Netgalley and I am very thankful to them. The above review is my honest and unbiased opinion and in no way influenced.