The Edge of Always Review

He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…

When everything falls apart, love remains . . .

THE EDGE OF ALWAYS

Camryn Bennett has never been happier. Five months after meeting on a Greyhound bus, she and her soul mate Andrew Parrish are engaged—and a wedding isn’t the only special event in their future. Nervous but excited, Camryn can’t wait to begin the rest of her life with Andrew – a man she knows in her heart will love her always. They have so much to look forward to—until tragedy blindsides them.

Andrew doesn’t understand how this could happen to them. He’s trying to move on, and thought Camryn was doing the same. But when Andrew discovers Camryn is secretly harboring a mountain of pain and attempting to numb it in damaging ways, there is nothing he won’t do to bring her back to life. Determined to prove that their love can survive anything, Andrew decides to take Camryn on a new journey filled with hope and passion. If only he can convince her to come along for the ride…
I really loved The Edge of Never (my review is here if you're interested) and in fact, you may not know this but in the original ebook, it said that it was a standalone novel.  THEN, it became successful and was picked up by a traditional publisher and became even more successful.  I guess the author decided that the story wasn’t done or perhaps she bowed down to pressure from fans, regardless a sequel was born. It goes without saying that if you haven’t read The Edge of Never then you really shouldn’t read this review because you may encounter spoilers.

The Edge of Always continues Camryn and Andrew’s story and what happened AFTER the whirlwind romance.  I’d like to say, what happened when reality set in but I think their situation is unusual at best.  Then again, it would probably be boring if it was just another couple trying to cope in today’s struggling economy.  Luckily for them, Andrew has over $500k sitting in his bank account although I forget exactly how he came to have it.  I think one of the problems for me with this book is that I’m not sure if I get the whole travelling bug, especially when I’m at the stage where I want to settle down and would do just about anything to have that sort of money lying around.  All debts would be paid off, I’d buy a property and get the job I WANT rather than having to do a job I don’t love as much just for the money so I can live.  Sure, I’d want to go on holiday but I’m not sure if I’d want to travel for extended periods as I feel it would be frivolous spending.  At the same time, maybe I’m just envious and slightly resentful that Camryn and Andrew have the opportunity to travel around, free of debt and responsibility.  I do wonder what that sense of freedom would feel like.  I honestly don’t know what the answer is but it raises some interesting internal questions for me.  All in all, I think what I enjoyed about The Edge of Never is that Camryn and Andrew were just two normal people who came together by chance because they were on the same bus.  They could have been me, you or anyone but in this book, it’s like they’re not the norm anymore and that’s something that they’re proud of but for me, it means that the characters are less relatable.  I hope that makes sense!

Getting back to the book, I thought it started off a bit slow and admittedly, there were times when I was a little bored but thankfully, it did pick up and when Camryn and Andrew went back on the road that was a major turning point for me.

If I’m completely honest, I would have been perfectly happy if The Edge of Never had been a standalone book as I really don’t think a sequel was necessary in this case.  That being said, overall, I did enjoy the story but sadly, it lacked the magic that The Edge of Never had.  I do however think that it’s a must read for diehard fans.

The Edge of Always is published on 7th November, 2013.  To find out more about J.A. Redmerski’s books, please click here to visit her website.