Our Finest Hour (The Time Series Book 1), by Jennifer Millikin

Publication: JNM LLC (October 12, 2017)

finest hour About the book:

Some people live by a set of rules.

I have only one, and I learned it the hard way: Don’t let anyone get too close.

The night I met Isaac, I followed that rule.

No last names exchanged, no details about our lives, and we spent the next hour soothing unspoken pains.

When our hour was over, we went our separate ways, never to see each other again.

Until the day I suddenly needed help.

We shared a shocked expression, we shared a stuttering greeting. Just wait until he finds out what else we share.

I have a feeling he’s going to take my rule and throw it out the window.

But not without a fight.

There’s a reason for my rule, and I’m not going to forget it anytime soon.

A touching and tender romance novel about those who break our hearts, and the people who repair them.

My Review:

Don’t you love it when you accidentally stumble upon a great read and even better, it’s free? I found this gem on Amazon the other day and once I started reading, I did nothing else until I had finished the very last line! While on a rare night out with friends, Aubrey meets Issac and as they talk and drink, she spills her guts about her mother leaving when she was a small child up, her boyfriend recently dumping her, and everything in between. Issac is also nursing some serious wounds that he doesn’t share, and although he’s leaving the country in a few days, he and Aubrey decide to share an hour together full of passion. Five years later, they accidentally meet again and everything has changed. Soon, Aubrey is fighting against her own rules of pushing everyone away as she realizes how important Issac has become in her life.

The term “mother” is probably one of the most sensitive subjects in my life and I went into this not realizing that Aubrey has a ton of issues involving love, trust, and worthiness due to her mother leaving her and her father when she was a young child. However, this in no way impacted my enjoyment of this story and watching Aubrey journey through her own personal struggles and successes. I related to and enjoyed the close relationship she had with her father and absolutely loved her young daughter, Claire. There honestly are not enough words to describe how much I loved Issac and his mother Lucia. His father and sister were perfectly fine, but it was clear how much of his mother’s love and spirit had impacted Issac throughout his life, contributing to the incredible man he became.

My only real issue with this novel was Aubrey herself. I did like her character and I loved the happy moments that she experienced. Even some of the not so happy moments were still relevant and added depth to her character. However, her fears and issues became cumbersome over the course of the novel, as did her friend Britt trying to analyze her issues and I guess an attempt to bring some clarity to certain fears and concerns in Aubrey’s life. There is no way to estimate the number of people in this world that have had one or both of their parents leave them, but everyone does have a choice to make of it what they want. Live a life in fear of abandonment and having your heart broken, or take risks like the rest of the universe?

That issue aside, this is a great read and I definitely recommend it to fans of second-chance romances! Jennifer Millikin is an incredibly talented author and shows amazing talent in her characterization and her relatable and well-developed plot structure. Her writing style will make you feel as if you are right there in the novel with the characters, the writing is perfectly paced, and I promise that you will fall in love with Issac!