My edition: Paperback, published on 6 June 2013 by Avon, 364 pages.Description: It's 1992 and Sarah is in love with Cahal, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. As they plan to graduate from university, all seems set for their happily ever after…
Fast forward to 2012 and something's gone wrong. Cahal is out of the picture and Sarah is divorced from Ian by whom she's had two children. What happened?
As Cahal walks back into Sarah's life, can they overcome past decisions and surrounding prejudice and make it work a second time around?
Rating:
Sarah and Cahal meet in university in 1992. They grew up in the same small village in Ireland yet their worlds couldn't be further apart. Whereas Sarah was brought up by a strict father who is a police detective and a stern and old-fashioned aunt, Cahal was born on the wrong side of town in a family of cheats and beggars.
Cahal worked hard to defy expectations and his disadvantaged background and he's now studying at the same university as Sarah. His kindness and intelligence, not to mention his good looks, are a lethal combination in attracting girls - including Sarah. But when her family finds out about Cahal they forbid Sarah from ever seeing him again, yet their conservative and judgmental attitude only increases Sarah's interest and eventually love for the boy from the wrong side of the tracks.
Despite the lovers' insistence on staying together, 20 years later Sarah and Cahal are no longer an item. Sarah ended up marrying her childhood friend Ian and Cahal emigrated to Australia, where he eventually had a family of his own. Yet when the two unexpectedly meet again at a work function old feelings are reignited and both Sarah and Cahal as well as the reader go on a journey into the past to discover where things went wrong.
This was one of those novels that was impossible to put down as the reader is pulled into an intriguing story. While I was less interested in whether Sarah and Cahal would get back together in the present, the past storyline was highly engrossing and I was desperate to find out why Sarah's father and aunt were so adamant that Cahal could not be a part of their life. I figured there had to be more behind their accusations than mere old-fashioned standards and I was right.
However, despite the novel revolving around the love story between Sarah and Cahal I never truly felt the spark between them that could explain how even after all these years they were so intensively drawn to one another. I also thought that the ending left somewhat to be desired. For all their protesting about how they could not be together because of their children and the physical distance between their families I felt a little cheated when the story came to the conclusion it did.
Still, the chemistry may not have been as indisputable as in other novels revolving around romances, I did think that the storyline set in the past made Always You worth reading - it certainly kept me gripped until the final page.
You can purchase your copy from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Waterstones or your own preferred retailer.
Would you like to know more about the author? You can connect with her online at:
Website: http://www.erinkaye.com
Twitter: @ErinKaye1
Many thanks to the handbag.com for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.
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