Blog Tour Stop, Excerpt and Giveaway: Let Love Live by Melissa Collins

Who would you become if you lost the only person who ever mattered?

For twenty-six year old Dylan Hopkins, the answer is easy. He’s become no one. Memories of the happier times are all he has left as he finds himself meandering numbly through his now dull life. Though he cares about his work and family dearly, he’s yet to let himself find love again. Afraid of letting go of what he once had, Dylan chooses to keep his heart buried, where it belongs, having died a long time ago.

Conner Michelson is about to change everything Dylan knows. He’s every bit the bad boy persona – tatted up, ex-MMA fighter, but after an injury leaves him unable to fight, he has to rethink his goals. Having just opened his own gym, Conner can cross his first major life accomplishment off his very short list. Next up: find a man he can settle down with and build a family. Seems simple enough – a dream most people have, but when he meets Dylan, his carefree, easy-going life is thrown into a tailspin.

Determined to keep Dylan in his life, Conner vows to resurrect Dylan’s long ago buried heart and let love live once more.

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Denise’s Review:
I’m going to start this review with this, I made a mistake when I was reading this book. I missed three very important words. “Part One: Before”. Let me explain.

This book is written in three parts. “Before”, “After” and “Forever” (with a prologue thrown in, as well). I won’t explain the meaning of “Before” and “After”, because they will become very clear to you early in the book, and it is really critical to the entire story.

As I finished Part One, and saw the heading for Part Two: After, it all made perfect sense. I went back to the beginning and found the words “Part One Before” and it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders because I could allow myself to absolutely love and enjoy this book, from beginning to end.

I won’t give any of this story away, because you truly need to experience the entire thing, start to finish. However, I will say that if you can finish Part One without a tear in your eye, let me know and I will send someone over to check your pulse. It was all about love and loss, anger and heartbreak, and makes those three little words so very critical to the story.

I found this book so intriguing. I have never read a book quite like this. This book had two love stories in it, not the norm that we are used to of just one. And yet, it felt so right. The characters in this book were flawed. They made mistakes, some huge ones, some that could not be taken back, but those flaws made those characters so very heartfelt in everything they did. They loved 100%. And they loved in real life, with all the realities that go along with it. Anger and despair, along with the joy and happiness. Dylan’s heart is broken, and only with the patience of a man who loves deeply, could it be mended.

This story brought me through the gamut of emotions. I laughed, I cried (at least four different times, one being one of those ugly cries we hate), I sighed with happiness, and I questioned some of the decisions of the characters. Mostly, though, I just let this book take me on the journey it was intended to. I find that sometimes we try to anticipate where a book is going to take us, what is coming next. I couldn’t anticipate it, and found that I didn’t want to. It was a beautiful story, and I can only hope that Ms. Collins sees fit to add a little bit of these fine gentlemen back into another book in this series so we can catch up with them later.

I hope that you can spend some time with this book and appreciate it all. Definite reread! Final review is 4.5 pieces of eye candy.

Read Prologue over at Melissa’s Blog (CLICK HERE)

Melissa Collins has always been a book worm. Studying Literature in college ensured that her nose was always stuck in a book. She followed her passion for reading to the most logical career choice: English teacher. Her hope was to share her passion for reading and the escapism of books to her students. Having spent more than a decade in front of a classroom, she can easily say that it’s been a dream.

Her passion for writing didn’t start until more recently. When she was home on maternity leave in early 2012, she read her first romance novel and her head filled with the passion, angst and laughter of the characters who she read about it. It wasn’t long before characters of her own took shape in her mind. Their lives took over Melissa’s brain and The Love Series was born.