Review: Retrieval by Aly Martinez

Aly Martinez is my go-to author when I need a gut-punch read and boy does she send us on a roller coaster with this one.

RETRIEVAL,the first book in a duet of the same name, focuses on Roman and Elizabeth.  Soul mates broken by tragedy who are pushed back together by circumstances they never imaged.  Woven through their story is Clare.  A broken woman, who lives in unspeakable darkness, connected to Roman and Elizabeth by the same circumstance.

RETRIEVAL is a story of a second chance.  Roman and Elizabeth had is all until they couldn’t figure out how to deal with their tragedy.  In the two years they’d been apart, neither had moved on.  Yet they were at complete opposite ends of where they were before.  It was easy to see, the moment these two were together they were meant to be.  But it took them being in a room together for Roman to realize he couldn’t be without her again and to finally fight for his wife.  Elizabeth didn’t want to be swayed by Roman.  Didn’t want to risk her heart again, but it’s hard to fight fate when you’re supposed to be together.

Mixed with Roman and Elizabeth’s story is Clare.  She’s a broken woman trying desperately to protect her daughter from her abusive husband.  At first, readers aren’t sure what Clare has to do with the other couple.  But as things unfold, we discover Clare is an unwitting pawn in a game her husband played.  The reasons behind what he did and why I’m sure will come out in Clare’s book, TRANSFER.  But I was left praying Clare’s savior made it to her in time.

RETRIEVAL is a hard book to put down.  You want Roman and Elizabeth to reconcile, pulling for them each time something happens.  At the same time, you wonder what is happening with Clare and just what will Clare’s story mean for Roman and Elizabeth.  At the end, the characters are tied together, leaving you desperate for the next book (which is slated for release on September 27th).