Madam Read: The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski

If you could do anything in this world, get up and go anywhere with anyone…what would it be? where you would you go? and with whom? This book made me cry, made laugh, made me stay awake, broke my heart and mended it again and again. It took me to the edge of the cliff and kicked me off it. Freefall.

Her.

Camryn is so sick of it all. Her life is crappy and it’s only getting crappier: her boyfriend and love of her life died, her brother is in jail and her parent’s get divorced. She is stuck in a life that’s going nowhere fast. She needs to get out of, and away from, it all because there has got to be more to life than this; half baked dreams and monotonous realities. Throw in an annoying best friend who also happens to be in love with a drug peddling douchebag…Life sucks and Camryn wants out of it. And one day she walks away from the life she knows in a bid to find the one that’s passing her by.

Him.

Andrew Parrish is on a journey home to see his old man who is dying from an inoperable brain tumour. A trip he’d rather not be taking but his family will only bug him if he doesn’t. Andrew is wild and sexy, crazy and funny but all that only hides his own pain and secret. He gets on the same bus Camryn is on, because he’d much rather the long bus journey than a quick flight home. Maybe his old man will kick the bucket before he gets there, so he won’t have to deal with the drawn out goodbye or worse, break down and cry because the Parrish men, don’t cry. He was raised to be tough.

Serendipity.

They both strike a friendship, not warm at first, stubborn people trying to navigate each other, on a journey to find answers. Troubled hearts dealing with their own degree of pain. Andrew is they type of guy that says what he wants, when he wants no matter how crass it can be. Camryn doesn’t know what she wants but with Andrew’s help she slowly discovers what that is; to be herself and not what is expected of her because all her life she’s been going with the flow of everything around her, just gliding not so pleasantly along. Andrew shakes her out of her comfort zone and into the wider world with nothing but the open road ahead.

And just when she finds her footing, just when things start to click along, tragedy strikes…and our hearts break.

 This is beautiful. In all truths of the word. The story, the moments, everything about this is heartwarmingly beautiful. Passion, sweet, sweet passion and a love story that tugs at the heart strings. We relate to both characters, they have our empathy, and together they carry us along on this journey. The story awakens something in you, makes you wonder where your life has been and where its going to? What you could have done if you had the chance to do it. It makes you want to take a chance on life, because you just never know.

This is a precious love story.