Love, Michael,

by Gina A. Jones

Publication: Dragonfly Books; August 2, 2019

Love Michael About the book:

Michael,

Twenty years ago, I spent our wedding night alone and was given a letter outlining the day and time of our divorce.

Now it’s our daughter’s wedding day, and your smile tells me you’re here for more than to walk her down the aisle.

When we met, it was the summer of Shania Twain, the color of Mocha Iced lipstick, Sand & Sable perfume, and the summer I began a seventeen-year-old mother. But time has changed me.

So tell me, why are you back?

Jill

My Review

Oh my shattered heart, not sure how to review this one! I just finished reading Love, Michael, by Gina A. Jones and my emotions are all over the place. This beautiful novel is told from Jill’s POV and switches back and forth between the present and past tense. Beginning with their daughter Monica’s wedding day, Michael has returned to walk his daughter down the aisle, and as Jill quickly learns, to make-up for the heartache he caused them both in the past. The author then flashes back to when they first met when Jill was seventeen years old and the story meanders between their history together and Michael’s reappearance into their lives.

Have the Kleenex handy for this one because Jones’ exceptional writing and this touching story will give you all the feels from good to bad. First, I have to admit that Michael and Jill’s past was eerily similar to my first marriage, so reading this was amazingly difficult at times. The author mentions that some of this story was based on her actual events in her life, so I feel like we need to get together over a bottle of wine and compare notes. But although there are heart-wrenching moments in this novel regarding Michael and Jill’s relationship, there are just as many beautiful moments when he returns years later.

Jones’ characterization was incredible in this novel, however, I truly had a love/hate relationship with both Michael and Jill. The younger version of Jill was so frustrating because of the things she tolerated, however, the older version of Jill was, at times, just as frustrating because of the walls she had built around her heart. The younger Michael was a complete ass, but as I continued to see the positive changes in him later, I couldn’t help but fall in love with him a little. I think the switching between time periods is the only reason I was able to like Michael at all. If their story would have been told in order from beginning to end, I would have hated him too much to care about the different man he later became.

As it states on the cover, this is truly a story about regrets, wanting, and getting second chances, but also about a third, fourth, fifth, and even more chances. But an even more prominent theme is love itself and how it can endure regardless of time, mistakes, and disappointment. Love, Michael is romantic, emotional, powerful, and is one of my favorite novels that I have read in a while. I highly recommend this story of love and forgiveness, but prepare yourself for some ugly crying. This was my first time reading Gina A. Jones, but certainly will not be my last.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Dragonfly Books for providing this review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!