All In by Emma Scott Series: Full Tilt #2
Published by Trillian on October 11, 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 296
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchase
Reeling from her loss, Kacey Dawson is grieving and heartbroken, her addictive demons hauling her back into the alcohol-soaked abyss she worked so hard to crawl out of. Kacey teeters on the edge of oblivion, and must fight her way through the pain, to build a new life for herself with her music, and somehow fulfill the promise she made to Jonah…one she feels is impossible to keep.
Theo Fletcher has a secret burning in his heart, one that he holds close, while he struggles to keep strong for his family that is falling apart. His mother’s health is fragile and his father’s disapproval is breaking him down. Theo is afraid if he follows his heart, he’ll fail, and not just himself, but his brother who believed in him when no one else did.
Drawn together by their pain, Theo and Kacey slowly build a friendship, re-forge old ties, help each other to heal, and give one another the courage to reach for their dreams. Together, from the depths of grief and guilt, they learn to laugh again, to trust again, and quite possibly find something beautiful and lasting amid the shattered pieces of their broken hearts.
All In… *sigh* Why was I so afraid to be All In?!? I was rather devastated at the end of Full Tilt. Devastated in a beautiful way but destroyed nonetheless. I’m certain that’s why I put off All In. However, if anyone can take something so raw and painful and make it beautiful, it’s Emma Scott. And she was All In.
Kasey and Theo lost Jonah but before he died, he extracted promises from them both. Two months after, though, Kasey is struggling too much with memories and the feelings they evoke so she heads to NOLA. There, without her support network, she hits rock bottom. Oh, she goes through the motions of living but inside she’s slowly dying. Luckily, she has someone in NOLA who cares enough to contact Theo.
Theo’s been having a rough time of it, too. His parents aren’t coping well and he’s reaching for his own dream while trying to hold them together. He misses Kasey and the camaraderie they had. When he gets a call about Kasey, he feels like he’s failed – failed her, himself, and Jonah. And he’s determined to make it right.
I adored how EScott built a romance around the relationship Kasey and Theo already had. It was unique since they were already close before they lost Jonah. They both understood how the other felt, and it made it easy to support one another while also building on feelings already there. Their romance, even though they feared others not understanding it, was organic and realistic. But most of all, it was beautiful.
All In makes for the third book from EScott I’ve read and I’m eager for more. She has consistently delivered emotionally riveting stories with characters that will always reside in my heart.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
It does sound emotional. Its tough to build a romance like this, so the author must be very skilled.
My sentiments exactly, Wendy! 🙂
This sounds like such an organic romance that has so much depth. You definitely have me itching to get this one read. I have only read one book by this author, but really enjoyed it.
Lovely review!
This duet (Full Tilt & All In) was so, so good, Renee. I highly recommend it. 🙂
Twitter: Northwomn
I’m glad to hear this one was great.
It was a nice ending for these characters. 🙂