Meant to be Kept, by Amelia Foster

Publication: Limitless Publishing, LLC; January 22, 2019

meant to be kept About the book:

One night. One too many drinks. One mistake. That’s all it took to derail my marriage.

Now, all I can do is beg for a second chance. To try and redeem myself in a bid not to lose the love of my life.

I’m determined to use every second, every moment I have to show my wife how much she means to me—to rebuild the trust I shattered.

But the harder I try, the more I start to realize our marriage had fallen into a routine of complacency and misplaced priorities long before my indiscretion.

Isabelle is a strong, passionate, beautiful woman—a wife who has sacrificed so much for me. I just hope it’s not too late for us, and that I’ll be able to convince her that our love is meant to be kept.

My Review:

I have to start with a huge and sincere congratulations to Amelia Foster and her debut novel, Meant to be Kept. Really, just, wow! This novel is about the amazing love story between Tanner and Isabelle, the huge hurdle that they face, and the lengths Tanner goes to in order to keep them together as husband and wife. Told in dual points of view and flashing back and forth between the past and present, author Amelia Foster provides an in-depth look into where Tanner and Isabelle started, how their relationship changed, what went wrong, and how they tried to make it right again.

Without giving spoilers, I have to mention that this is an interesting story because I absolutely adored Tanner from beginning to end. There were times I felt I shouldn’t like his character because of things that had happened but I just couldn’t help myself! I truly loved Isabelle also, except for one little thing that annoyed me from time to time. Tanner and all of his family had apparently put Isabelle up on a pedestal many years ago and several characters mention her “perfection” throughout the novel. Yes, I thought she was fantastic, but no one is perfect. The more her perfection was implied, the more everyone shot Tanner down (including himself). I get that we should all be thankful for those we have in our lives, however, I don’t really agree with feeling undeserving or making others feel undeserving of someone’s love.

Anyhow, this is Amelia Foster’s debut novel and I want to warn you that you will not believe this is her first novel as you read it. The flow of the writing and the development of the plot moves along beautifully and flawlessly, even with dual POV and changing time periods. Her characters are well-developed, honest, and relatable. The events within the story are certainly believable, as well as, the roller-coaster of emotions that Tanner, Isabelle, and their family experience throughout the novel. Besides being a romantic and outstanding read (that you will immediately get sucked into), Meant to be Kept will probably make you give your spouse/significant other an extra kiss before work tomorrow morning, pick their dirty clothes up off of the floor without comment, or even let them take charge of the remote for the evening. It just leaves you with the feeling that it never hurts to take the time to do random, little things to show someone you care.

I absolutely loved this novel and it certainly has earned a 5-star rating from me 🙂

*Many thanks to the author for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!