Never Let You Go by Monica Murphy

Title: Never Let You Go (Never Tear Us Apart #2)

Author: Monica Murphy

Publisher: Bantam

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Perfect for readers of Colleen Hoover, Jay Crowonver, and K.A. Tucker, the second novel in this darkly sexy contemporary series from bestselling author Monica Murphy wraps up an emotionally powerful two-part tale of forbidden love.

The truth hurts, they say—and my pain cuts deep. While I was falling for Ethan, he was deceiving me the entire time. He help a huge secret, protected by his lies. When I discovered what he was hiding, the truth shook my world, threatening to ruin us forever. Ruin me. But I soon realized that what we share can’t be destroyed.

The connection between us is too strong. It always has been. I can’t deny him any longer. And I can’t deny my truth: I’m in love with Ethan.

I don’t want to let him go.

While we’re trying our best to make this relationship work, other forces are fighting against us. My family, who wants to keep me safe. The media obsessed with my tragic past. The public that feeds off of it. Even Ethan’s father—the man who nearly destroyed me all those years ago. He’s doing his best to finish the job.

Despite my love for Ethan, the doubts creep in, clouding my mind. Is he worth the pain? Will our love survive, or will we have no choice but to end it—end us—once and for all?

I read Monica Murphy’s Never Tear Us Apart earlier this year and it left me completely desperate to read the sequel. Much like with the first book, Never Let You Go was dark and at times the romance was twisted, but through it all it never stopped feeling real.

Now that she knows the truth about Ethan and his connection to her past, Katie isn’t sure she can trust him anymore. But Ethan is also the only person who will ever come close to understanding what she went through all those years ago during the worse days of her life. And though she wants to hate him, Katie also misses having Ethan in her life. Katie might be willing to forgive Ethan for his deception and make their relationship work, but it sometimes feel like the whole world is working against them. They’ll have to fight to be together, and just when they think they have a shot at their happy ending, their past will come back to haunt them one more time.

After reading Monica Murphy’s Never Tear Us Apart earlier this year and feeling completely raw and conflicted about everything I was feeling about the story and its characters. Oh, and I needed to read Never Let You Go as soon as possible. The only problem with that was that at the time, Never Let You Go wasn’t available. But then a couple of weeks ago it landed on my Kindle and I dropped pretty much everything to devour it. And when I say devour, I mean devour. I struggled to put my Kindle down the entire time I was reading. And that’s because the story was just that good. Where Never Tear Us Apart had me constantly back and forth about how I felt about the romance, with Never Let You Go, I was on-board right from page one. After seeing Ethan/Will and Katie struggle through their feelings for each other and what having a relationship with one another meant, I understood, like they did, that there was no one better suited for them than each other. Much like with the first book, this story was emotional roller-coaster ride that never really let up. But that’s what made the story so fantastic and engaging. 

I loved seeing how different Katie was in Never Let You Go compared to how she was in Never Tear Us Apart. Where in the first book she was just surviving, barely venturing out into the world, in this second book she really came into her own. She wasn’t afraid to say what she thought and do what she wanted, even when it cost her. She was coming to terms with her past and the fact that she didn’t have to let it define her future, despite what everyone around her was telling her. I loved seeing Katie become that strong person I knew she was based on everything she had gone through. As much as Katie grew over the course of these two books, I feel like that’s even more true for Ethan. Never Let You Go felt like it was very much about him coming to terms who he is and not let himself be defined by his father’s actions. That process of accepting himself was reflected, in a way, in the the chapter titles and the way he went from being Ethan to accepting that he was also Will. And I loved the by accepting who they were, horrifying past and all, they were able to come together and build something strong. 

Monica Murphy’s Never Let You Go beautifully concluded the story that began in Never Tear Us Apart. Though it wasn’t always easy to read and broken my heart on more than one occasion, it was the conclusion that Katie and Will deserved.