Lost Without You
by Molly O’Keefe
Synopsis:
ALL DEBTS MUST BE PAID
Tommy
Seven years ago, I thought I could save Beth, the girl I loved from the monster who was supposed to take care of us. I thought I could keep Beth and all the other kids at St. Jude’s Home for Court Placed Juveniles safe.
I failed. Badly. Now we all have blood on our hands and owe a dangerous man a very dangerous debt. We don’t know when he’ll come calling for payment, but when he does – we pay, or we suffer.
When my turn comes, I’m ready for anything.
Except seeing Beth again.
LOVE IS NEVER FREE
Beth
No one ever tells you that the cost of having your dreams come true is literally every single other part of your life. Yes, I’m a huge pop star these days, but I’m pretty much a mess, too.
I’ve spent my life hiding behind disguises, make-up and costumes, all to protect myself from the kind of pain that comes from revealing your true self to someone.
I did that once. With Tommy. The only person I ever loved. It didn’t turn out so well.
And now, with everything else falling apart around me, I’m suddenly in the backseat of his car.
Being kidnapped.
And the past we’ve both tried to run from is catching up with us.
Contains The Debt: A Prologue and 50,000 more words in the continuation of Tommy and Beth’s story.
Review:
I should have been prepared after her Everything I Left Unsaid series… Once again Ms. O’Keefe has left us at a major OMG moment at the end of the first full novel in her The Debt series, and I’m dying to get my hands on the next book! (Where I Belong, not out until June 26…sigh.)
Like the prequel novella (The Debt), Lost Without You draws you right in to the world of (now-seven-years-older) Tommy and Beth from the very beginning, not letting you go until the very last page–where the before-mentioned OMG moment ensures that the “letting go” involves some kicking and screaming on the part of the reader. (Wait, what? What do you mean, I have to wait to find out what happens???) Also like her Everything I Left Behind series, this one is pretty dark in tone and brings on the angst–these young adults seem to have been living the life every parent hopes their children never will. (Well, except for maybe Beth’s mother–what is up with her? Hopefully we’ll find out in the next book, because that whole situation seems worth another OMG or two. Or possibly a dozen.)
Life has been better since they left St. Jude’s–sort of. However, Tommy’s mostly alone, except for Simon, who is gone more than he’s around, and Pest, Tommy’s squirrel/dog. Beth is…well, I’m not going to give it away ahead of time, but Beth’s pretty much alone too, even though she spends her days literally surrounded by people. She’s still having trouble sleeping, so much so that her daily life involves a pretty scary cocktail of possibly not-quite-legal drugs from morning to night. Neither of them has managed to get over each other, and neither has been able to truly put the events at St. Jude’s in the past–Tommy even more so than Beth, since he has the complication of the “debt.”
The debt comes due early on, and it brings Beth and Tommy back together, though from the start you know it’s not going to be a sunshine and roses kind of reunion. But GAH, these two are so good together…and then she leaves us hanging. Hopefully I can find something to do to keep me occupied until June 26 and not obsessing over what’s happening with Tommy and Beth…
Darn you, M. O’Keefe! 😉
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.