[BOOK REVIEW] Lost before You by Brooke O’Brien (Heart’s Compass #2)

O God. o god.. How to describe this book? How to tell you guys exactly how much feelings this book brought out? This friends-to-lovers-romance was extraordinary! I’ll try my best to do this book justice with my review, but bottom line: This friends-to-lovers-romance is one of the best I’ve ever read. It’s emotional, intense and phenomenally written. Brea and Mason are exquisite together. Brooke knows how to put emotions into words and share them with us through her characters, writing, and story-lines.

Brea and Mason have been best friends for years now. Both had their fair share of eh, let’s call it relationships? haha – Well, Brea actually had relationships whereas Mason was kind of a man-whore, oops. They have been harboring feelings for one another for quite a while but both didn’t dare give into them because they didn’t want to destroy their friendship.  Both have issues with trust, and Brea even more so because of her ex. She decides to throw caution to the wind and takes comfort in Mase for one night with no commitments. She can’t bear to lose him as her friend, and she knows Mase doesn’t do relationships. And of course, that one night ‘together’ will change everything for both of them… They have to deal with the feelings they have for one another, that have come to the surface now and it won’t be an easy road for these two characters. Be prepared for some major heart-wrenching moments, some really really intense angst and a lot of swoon-worthy moments as well. Brea and Mason’s story is one of the best friends-t0-lovers-romance out there!!

I didn’t think I could fall even harder for a character written by Brook after reading that amazing first book Where I found you, but Mason and Brea prooved me wrong! 

I didn’t think I could fall even harder for a character written by Brooke because meeting Callum and Ellie in book 1 was so freaking amazing. I knew this book would hit me hard as well, but I didn’t expect Mason to work his way into my heart even more as Callum did, but he DID. I couldn’t help but love Mason even though I hated it a bit to see the player side of him because right from the start I just shipped him so incredibly hard with Brea – but well, Brea had a relationship at that point and he’s an attractive guy who doesn’t want commitment so I get where he’s coming from, the guy has needs too haha. I loved seeing how devoted he was to Brea, and how he was always there for her – I mean, SWOOOOOOON!! He knew he wanted long-term with her, but he was scared of getting hurt so he never made it known and I loved seeing that vulnerable side to him. And then they have their night, which changes everything and now he’s desperate to explore their newfound relationship-status.

When we first met, I knew she was going to ruin me. It wasn’t one specific thing about her I fell in love with, but rather a million little things. It’s how I know there will never be anyone else for me.

Brea grew so much as a person throughout the book and I had a connection with her immediately. I loved her small presence in the first book already. She then already felt like just a nice person, you know? Someone you want to be friends with. And getting to know her better now was such a joy! Brea is hurt by her past, and it greatly affects her. Aside from Mason, she puts up a wall around when she’s around other people. But having to cope with her feelings for Mason after their night together, she finds new friendships which I really loved seeing developed. She made a really beautiful development throughout this book. It came alongside a lot of heartbreak, sobfests and reality checks.

One of the most exciting, realistic and addictive friends-to-lovers-romance I’ve ever read! 

I’m a sucker for friends-to-lovers romance but not every author knows how to truly develop them well and give it a nice amount of depth, but Brooke really really really made it work with Mason and Brea, damn. These two.. fkjsbgjdhbfghjbdfghd, these two characters are exquisite together on the page. I loved their intense friendship and the presence of their romantic feelings for each other simmering beneath the surface, ready to be a part of the game. Because of their beautiful friendship, this all felt so real and believable. And there were sooo many emotions present which hit me right in my fangirl heart. And don’t get me started on that amaaazing chemistry going on between these two. Their chemistry and attraction were like a firework exploding off the pages and I loved their romance development so much. It’s so well written and just feels so realistic; This romance isn’t perfect. There are moments where you just want to slap these characters haha and scream in frustration but that’s one of the things what makes this romance so incredibly beautiful. I fell into their story so easily and experienced it all alongside Brea and Mason and every betrayal, every sadness, every joy and the love that pours through the words written in the book touched my heart.

The angst in this book was incredibly intense, had me on the edge of my seat and made me forget all about the outside world. 

I think the angst in this book was even better than how it was written in Where I found you. I thought I had my fair share of heartbreak and sobfests in book 1 but this book was maybe even more intense when it came to the angst and emotions in this book. Whereas it’s really different from what I’ve experienced in Where I found you, it still had some similarities to the geniality of this author’s writing. She’s really great in angst-written plots and this one had me on the edge of my seat as well. I’ve had so many moments in which I had tears in my eyes and/or my heart in my throat.. the angst was so palpable and I love it when a romance story has such a well-developed angst-written plot present.

“Thank you for being here for me,” Mason whispers against the side of my head.
Tilting my head back, I flash him a small smile.
“You know if you ever need me, I’ll always be here for you.”
“I do know, and I thank God every day for you,” he says.
The emotion behind his words take me off guard, and I feel the tears fill my eyes for the second time tonight.
Turning my head toward the TV, I blink back the tears as Mason presses his lips against my temple, breathing me in. I don’t know what I would ever do if there came a day when Mason wasn’t in my life and I don’t want to find out.

My conclusion 

This author is so talented when it comes to writing down realistic and believable romances, characters you’re drawn to immediately and she really knows how to develop a great, romantic and sexy story-line that has you hooked right from the start. And I’m still flabbergasted by the fact this is only her second book and that her first one also was such an amazing read.

I fell in love with Brooke O’Brien’s talented and addictive writing style in Where I Found You and with Lost Before You, she’s cemented herself on my auto-buy list. *Lost Before You is an interconnected stand-alone novel. It was also really awesome to have the first book’s amazing couple who I loved so much as well, make appearances – I love interconnected books. I CANNOT WAIT for the next book in this FANTASTIC series, and HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

I’m going to quote myself from what I’ve said in the review of the first book because I still feel exactly the same way about this book as well:

This is such a beautiful, heart wrenching and powerful read. I just couldn’t do anything other than fall in love with these characters and losing myself in their story. It was so touching and beautiful and skjgdjhbgfhjdfg – just A LOT OF FEELS, alright? haha I enjoyed every single second of it and I’m craving more, more, more. The angst written throughout the book was really well done and it ended up in me having several teary-eyed moments. It left me an emotional blubbering fangirl, in the best way possible haha. Everything I could’ve wanted in a contemporary romance was present!

would I recommend this book? yes
would I re-read this book? yes
would I read future books by this author? yes
Do I need you to buy this book ASAP? YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

With Love,

 

 

Advertisement