Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
You have no idea. Really, you have no idea. Corinne Michaels has mentioned several times in her Facebook group, in newsletters, and elsewhere that her characters’ stories for her newest book, Could Have Been Us, came from out of nowhere, that they surprised her. And guess what? She isn’t lying. I had no idea. Honestly, I figured Could Have Been Us was the brother’s best friend unrequited story. On the surface, that is what it appears to be. But it isn’t. It really, really isn’t. Here’s the thing. I want to talk about Jack and Stella and the beauty of their story. I would love to divulge details, but to do so would be to spoil one of my favorite reads in April. Seriously. So let me give you some promises:
- I can promise that you will cry with this book. Well, maybe not everyone, but those of you who are tenderhearted.
- There is no question that Jack and Stella are together in this book. It’s a romance, not women’s fiction, so there is a happy ending. Here’s the promise: when Jack and Stella are finally together, that’s it. Game over.
- There is a bigger story in Could Have Been Us than Jack and Stella. That’s all I’m saying.
- In the first book of Michaels’s Willow Creek Valley series, Return to Us, we met one or two of Grayson’s siblings, but we meet them all in this story. This means you’ll get subtle previews of upcoming attractions.
- There is so much beauty in this story about sacrifice and resiliency. To not read Could Have Been Us would be to shortchange yourself. Again, this is one of my top April reads.
I had no idea that I would pick up this book and not want to put it down. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had that feeling, and Corinne Michaels’s Could Have Been Us surprises, delights, and takes you through an emotional journey grounded in a big love. Michaels has written a GORGEOUS story that will steal a piece of your soul, so buyer beware. If you haven’t downloaded it to your Kindle or other reading device, you are missing out, and I suggest you download it today. You won’t sleep until the very last page.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 