I Could Never by Penelope Ward-review tour

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 21, 2023

It all started with an unexpected phone call.
Two years after my fiancé passed away in an accident, his father died suddenly, leaving Brad’s adult, special-needs brother with no one to care for him.
The next thing I knew, I was on a cross-country drive to New Hampshire where I’d be moving in to look after Scottie until I could get him into a group home.
The last thing I ever expected?
I wouldn’t be taking care of him alone.
Josh Mathers, my fiancé’s best friend—who also happened to be my sworn enemy—insisted he was the better person for the job. He told me to go back to California, and I told him where he could stick that demand.
Our disdain for each other wasn’t anything new. It dated back to a text I’d accidentally read years ago.
We hated each other. But we both loved Scottie, so neither of us budged.
Now we were living together in a tiny house—with one available bedroom. Thank goodness it was only temporary.
Over time, I realized the broody jerk I thought I knew was different than I’d imagined.
I found myself slowly growing attached to someone I once considered the enemy…and growing attracted to him.
Sure, both of us were guilt-ridden over Brad. We were also two grown people with pent-up frustration toward one another—stuck in a cabin in the woods.
But this was Josh.
I could never.

•••••

REVIEW:I COULD NEVER by Penelope Ward is a stand alone, contemporary, adult, erotic romances story line focusing on thirty year old consultant, Josh Mathers, and twenty-eight year old, make up artist Carly Garber.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Josh and Carly) I COULD NEVER follows two years after the death of Carly’s fiancée Brad. Brad’s younger brother Scottie is a young man struggling with autism but when his father died, Scottie was left in the care of his aging aunt. Desperate to help, Carly drove from California to New Hampshire to help care for Scottie but came face to face with her late-fiance’s best friend Josh Mathers. Josh and Carly had always been like oil and water, and now that they were ‘living’ together to take care of Scottie, true feelings and emotions were about to boil over. Carly knew her time in New Hampshire came with an expiry date but she never expected to miss the one person who had the capability of pushing all of her buttons. What ensues is the building relationship between Josh and Carly, and the potential fall-out as both Josh and Carly battle between head and heart with issues of guilt, and struggles with PTSD.

The world building focuses on caring for an adult with autism. Josh and Carly are thrown into a world for which they are not prepared but Josh had been with Scottie for an extended period of time. Working together to care for Scottie meant working around the demons from the past, a past from which both Josh and Carly struggled to move on.

The relationship between Josh and Carly is a late best friend’s former fiancée; an enemies to lovers relationship in which their combined guilt is virtually catastrophic. Trying desperately to avoid the proverbial ‘elephant in the room’ Carly and Josh will test the dating waters with somebody else but always comes home to one another. The $ex scenes are passionate and intense.

The secondary and supporting characters are limited as the story line primarily takes place in a small cabin in the woods. We are introduced to Scottie, and his aunt Lorraine, as well as Josh’s brothers Michael and Neil, and Carly’s new friend Lisa.

I COULD NEVER is a story of struggle and mental health, loss and grief, guilt and acceptance, love and understanding. The premise is thought provoking and real; the romance is spirited; the characters are sassy and idealistic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor, before switching to a more family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island.

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