4.5⭐️/ 3-4🌶️

Julia once imagined her future to be filled with hope and promise. A life in which she would get her degree, live a good life, and other great things. Instead, one moment changed everything and Julia’s innocence was replaced with a jaded attitude, and trying to survive. Eric was one of the popular hockey players with a trust fund, and trying to follow in his brother’s footsteps to appease his father’s expectations. Julia and Eric came from different upbringings, but surprisingly they knew each other already since they shared an interesting past together. Julia and Eric both attended Hawthorne University, and despite the three years that have passed from their last encounter, there was still that lingering tension left between them. Ilsa Madden-Mills once again wrote an emotional romance set within Hawthorne University as it focused on Julia and Eric’s lives as well as the loss, heartbreak, and struggles they endured. The first book was amazing, and this sequel had even more to enjoy with Julia and Eric at the center of the story. 

Once again, please check the trigger warning before reading this book as it does involve a heavy topic. (Sigh) ever since the first book, I had a feeling that Julia dealt with a lot. At first, I wasn’t even sure I liked Julia, but as she started to appear more alongside Sugar, I started to like her. Now with Julia being the main character, I saw the darkness she dealt with. I got the impression that Julia once had a hopeful view of her future, but due to circumstances with her mom, it all kind of spiraled out of control. Julia’s main source of income was through stripping, and despite the negative judgement she got from other students, she wasn’t ashamed of stripping, but more so did it as a means of survival. This book didn’t hold back on highlighting the daily struggles Julia dealt with, and my goodness I felt so bad for her. Julia didn’t deserve the bad treatment from others, and especially not what happened to her later in the story.

Eric was the big man on campus, everyone adored him, and he was quite the ladies man, but there was much more to him. In the previous book, Eric was introduced as Zack’s best friend and fellow teammate on Hawthorne’s hockey team. Eric was charming, handsome, flirtatious, and a carefree guy, but dealt with his own demons. I always love to see what’s underneath a character’s personality and Eric was the type of guy who actually cared a lot more than people gave him credit for. With the loss of his older brother, Eric felt the pressure to try to make his brother’s dream a reality as well as exceed his father’s expectations. Even with a wealthy upbringing, Eric’s family wasn’t the warm and compassionate one like others. Even with all that Eric dealt with internally, it was really nice to see him open up and be happy whenever he spent time with Julia which I’m sure she enjoyed too. 

Julia and Eric’s story was one of a second chance romance, and they definitely showed the ups and downs they needed to overcome to get their happy ending. This time around, Julia and Eric finally started to see each other as the person that they truly were. The way Julia and Eric saw each other  through their vulnerabilities and fears allowed them to not only form a deeper connection but also a loving friendship alongside their romance. Having that sense of friendship be part of Eric and Julia’s relationship was great, and I really enjoyed the chapters of when they started to reconnect. Through the ups and downs, Julia and Eric were there to support one another, and despite some minor setbacks it all worked out in the end.

Overall, this was another great story by Ilsa Madden-Mills. I really enjoyed Julia and Eric’s story especially getting to the nitty gritty of their backstories. Each character revealed a lot more than what I was expecting, and it made me see who they really were as opposed to what they portrayed themselves to be. Julia led a hard life, but no matter how many times she fell down (metaphorically speaking) she always managed to get back up and fight. Eric also managed to see that he needed to live HIS LIFE according to what he wanted instead of living it for his dad. The romance was good, steamy, and can never go wrong with a protective man, whoop! I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Sugar and Zack in this book, but that’s just my personal preference lol. At least the epilogue gave me what I wanted which was not only seeing Julia and Eric years down the line happily married, thriving with their careers, and kids, but also seeing Sugar and Zack with their own kids too! This was a satisfying second chance romance, and I’m sure Julia and Eric are happy the way their way back to each other.