Review: How We Lived – Erin Butler

Nineteen-year-old Kelsey Larkin’s parents uninvited her to her brother’s funeral. She just wanted to wear jeans and a T-shirt—the clothes Kyle would’ve wanted her in—not wrap herself up in death. So she watched the funeral from afar, like an outsider. Which is just how she feels.

Chase came, though, just like she knew he would. Until a few months ago, the three of them had been best friends, and then Chase made a mistake that shattered both families. But when Kelsey looks at him, she doesn’t see her brother’s killer. She sees the boy next door who’s always taken care of her. She sees home.

When Chase tells her his feelings run deeper than friendship, she can’t help but get lost in him. In Chase, she finally has the closure she’s been unable to find anywhere else. But the boy she’s falling in love with is still hiding secrets about the night Kyle died. Secrets that could destroy everything they have…again.

Series:
Release Date: April 28th 2014
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Source: Provided by Publisher
Reviewer: Shannon
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

3.5 Cocktails

HOW WE LIVED is a great story about second chances.  In this case, it’s a second chance for Kelsey Larkin to figure out what she really wants to do, instead of following a path she had been on before her brother’s death.  And for Chase, it’s making up for the one mistake that destroyed two families.

Kyle and Kelsey lived next door to Chase for all their lives.  Kyle and Chase were best friends, but they often let Kelsey join them on their adventures.  But their entire world was turned upside down when a drunken decision by Chase, ripped everything apart.  Nothing was the same, with the exception of how Kelsey and Chase felt most at home with each other, even when they were supposed to stay away.

I felt really, really bad for both Kelsey and Chase.  They were both destroyed by what happened and were floundering trying to move forward.  But it wasn’t until they reached out to the each other that they found a way to truly move past all the awful and figure out a way to live.  Kelsey and Chase had great chemistry together and it made me wonder if Kyle would have really been that upset over Chase’s feelings for his sister if he wasn’t in such a bad place with this own life.

I had a hard time putting this one down, staying up until the wee hours of the morning, because I had a need to find out what happened next.  I definitely look forward to reading more from Erin Butler.  She crafted a wonderful story that was emotional, but didn’t leave me an emotional mess when it was over.