THE LIBRARY | Eversea & Forever Jack by Natasha Boyd.

Oh… have you ever read a story that stays with you a long time after you’re done. You carry it with you, in your heart and each time you remember a scene from the story you just sigh and smile and people are intrigued to know what has you smiling so blissfully. Eversea is that story. Oh how I love it.

My darling friend and book guru, Meredy, recommended reading Eversea after my epic meltdown with the breathing series and it couldn’t have come better recommended. Meredy is a book warm and a kindred spirit so go be BFFs with her on goodreads. She gets me and she knew that this story would pick me right up from where The Breathing Series left me all up in a knot in the corner.

Eversea series, Eversea and Forever Jack, is a love story about two people from two different worlds smashing right into each other at the least expected moment. Isn’t that how love happens though? Keri Ann is the girl from Lowcountry South Carolina and Jack Eversea is the most in demand actor in Hollywood. In the wake of the cheating scandal revolving around him and his girlfriend Audrey, Jack decides to skip town on his motorbike and finds himself in Butler Cove; a world and a half away from his own.

Keri Ann Butler is the hometown orphaned girl from Butler Cove, the Butlers of Butler Cove, saddled with the responsibility of keeping the manor afloat whilst her brother finishes college. Its his turn. Soon enough it’ll be hers. That was the plan. To make ends meet she has a job at the local bar, waiting tables and running the joint. But in truth Keri Ann is stalling on her life, afraid of the unknown, yet wanting so much more. It feels like she is waiting for something or on someone. One night, a hooded stranger walks into the bar…you know that saying. Only, he’s silent and unpleasant and though Keri Ann would rather tell this rude person where to go, she remains courteous, the southern girl in her won’t let her forget her manners. Turns out the stranger is none other than Jack Eversea, The Jack Eversea- Hollywood hot stuff and man of many women’s dreams. He also happens to be the star of one of her favourite book turned movie franchise. That Jack Eversea.

Despite Jack’s unpleasant attitude, he and Keri-Ann strike up a quasi friendship slash understanding; she grocery shops for him and he helps fix her house, the house she is forever trying to get up to heritage snuff if only to keep the grubby hands of the greedy town Pastor at bay- he would sooner the house were his than Keri-Ann’s now that her grandmother and parents have passed.

In the course of their arrangement it soon becomes clear to Jack and Keri Ann that whatever is going on between them is more than just an understanding. Feelings are getting involved and its hard to walk that fine line, where heart and sense collide.

Jack has never met anyone like Keri-Ann, so quietly confident and sure of herself, yet unsure of her place in the world. She second guesses herself when she shouldn’t and has trouble believing in her talent. Jack helps her see what is right in front of her, helps her embrace her creativity and pushes her out of her comfort zone into the world waiting on her.

Keri Ann has never met anyone like Jack obviously, but she sees past the handsomeness right to his soul, the man he hides away from the camera. She sees his passion for his work, his insecurities and foibles and she loves him even more because of the man he is at heart.

This is a love story so beautifully and simply told. I love the sweetness of it. I love that Keri-Ann has a lot of bad ass in her, she frustrated me sometimes because I just needed her to see past her fears and take a chance on love and life but for the most part she is a perfectly balanced character. Her naiveté only makes her more endearing and her determination to have a life and an identity all her own makes her so damn cool. That scene where she fixes her tyre in the rain despite the two men fighting over her and she screeches off in her truck… Oh Man! She is a breath of fresh air. I can relate to her, so will you. She fumbles her way through with Jack in the most enamouring manner, its really cute to behold and I like how she sometimes has to shake her head and think, OMG!! I’m kissing Jack Eversea!! because its how any of us would react in such a situation. I love that she just has to tell her best friend even when she has been sworn to secrecy by Jack not to tell anyone about his presence in Butler Cove. It’s such a BFF thing to do. But for her its more than just kissing Jack Eversea, its more than the hype and the fanfare. Its so much more…

And Jack. Where do I start. Sorry Christian Grey I have a new book boyfriend now. Jack is a Hollywood star as big as they come but behind the Jack Eversea Hollywood façade is a man embroiled in so many personal battles and fears. The fear of losing sight of who he is, of letting his past control his future, of letting other people have too much of a say in his life. Despite the passion for his work he is at a point where he needs something more. Something real. He has to face up to his past. Push past the pain and hurt, come to terms with who he really is and lay his father’s ghost to rest. More than anything, Jack has to fight to get the girl. But it won’t be easy- he has a contracted life to live for a period of time so getting together with Keri Ann is not a wise choice, there are people who will do anything to make sure he toes their line…

But there’s that thing the heart does, when it wants what it wants and is like, damn the consequences… yeah that. Everything is up for grabs and soon he finds himself fighting for the rest of his life and Keri Ann’s.

Fighting to protect what could be.

In book two we get to see Jack’s POV and understand what he is going through. We get sucked in from the beginning, seeing how everything unravelled between him and Audrey. We get to feel more of him through his journal and we are rooting for him. Keri-Ann…at times I really want to slap sense into her because she just kept testing my patience. Just like she stalled on her life, she stalls on Jack, pushing him away, despite knowing the depth of his feelings for her and hers for him. She just wouldn’t cut him any slack. I understand that she was desperate to make it on her own, away from the cloud if his celebrity, but her stubbornness was at the expense of his heart and her happiness and the fact that at times she was willing to trade on these to prove a point to herself was maddening. My God she made me mad.

Natasha Boyd takes her time with this story, everything unfolds at an unhurried pace, we want to know what happens but we are okay just gliding through the sleepy south. I did not want this story to end. She carefully sears through layers of emotions and carries us along on this wonderful journey in the Lowcountry with such a gentle feeling. Her words move us. She makes me want to go to Butler Cove to see the sea turtles. I love the pace of the dialogue, its not cliché, not even a little bit, even when its, OMG! I cannot believe this is Jack Eversea, its so well done. The other characters in the book provide an excellent buffer to the story and they are important enough for us to have our emotions invested in them. She does a wonderful job of showing us the best of simple pleasures and wraps us warm in this sweet love story. Its a damn shame it had to end but we’ll always have the memories.

I could go on and on about how joyous, how wonderful, how AMAZING this story is but I wouldn’t do it enough justice. Natasha Boyd has my heart all up in a knot over Jack. What a way. What a story. Utterly, utterly beautiful.