Title: Most of All You

Author: Mia Sheridan

Genre: Romance

Status: Standalone

Goodreads

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Synopsis:

A broken woman . . . 

Crystal learned long ago that love brings only pain. Feeling nothing at all is far better than being hurt again. She guards her wounded heart behind a hard exterior and carries within her a deep mistrust of men, who, in her experience, have only ever used and taken.

A man in need of help . . . 

Then Gabriel Dalton walks into her life. Despite the terrible darkness of his past, there’s an undeniable goodness in him. And even though she knows the cost, Crystal finds herself drawn to Gabriel. His quiet strength is wearing down her defenses and his gentle patience is causing her to question everything she thought she knew.

Only love can mend a shattered heart . . . 

Crystal and Gabriel never imagined that the world, which had stolen everything from them, would bring them a deep love like this. Except fate will only take them so far, and now the choice is theirs: Harden their hearts once again or find the courage to shed their painful pasts.

I’ve read almost all of Mia Sheridan’s books but because I don’t really keep track of releases (other than sequels), I didn’t know this came out until I saw a bookstagram photo of it. I had to get it immediately!

First of all, I should mention that this book has A LOT of tragedy in it. Here is a list of TWs that come to mind immediately.

Trigger Warnings: sexual harassment, attempted rape, child neglect, kidnapping, child hostage, prostitution, molestation

Gabriel and Crystal meet when he walks into the club she dances at. He offers her a deal where he pays her to help him practice get close to a girl, which he can’t due to his past (a very VERY traumatic one). Gabriel has mostly healed with help from family and has become a successful sculptor. He wants to be able to find love and hence is looking to let go of his fear.

Crystal is a girl who has been beaten down all her life. Right from losing her mom at childhood to barely making do with her current job. At first, she gets offended by Gabriel’s proposition because she didn’t word it well and declined but she accepts later due to dire need of money.

Their relationship is a very rocky one, with Crystal having so many fears and issues that she has to work through. Gabriel is always there supporting her but what I loved most was the self-healing.

This story isn’t “Gabriel saves Crystal from a bad life”. It’s “Gabriel supporting and helping Crystal heal herself“, and that’s what I liked best.

And because both of them are dealing with their own issues, the relationship growth is a slow one. I liked that. I would have hated it if the story spanned over a short period of time, especially with the amount of PTSD on both characters’ parts.

Overall

This isn’t a light-hearted book. At times I found the tragedy too much to read through so if you get triggered easily, I would suggest thinking through before reading this. But going past that, the story is very raw and it will take over your heart with emotions.