"Most of All You" by Mia Sheridan

Book Synopsis by Goodreads –

“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 about him. And even though she knows the cost, Crystal finds herself drawn to Gabriel. His quiet strength is wearing down her defences 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 that 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.”

(Click on book title to see the Goodreads 'Most of All You' website)

“Most of All You” Review –

Once I finished this novel I gave it a Goodreads rating of 4/5 stars, I found this book to be a perfect example of a sweet and emotional contemporary narrative. This is a New Adult story featuring very mild adult scenes, and mention of rape.

What I loved most about this novel was the relationship between both the two main characters, Ellie (Crystal) and Gabriel.

Crystal also known as Ellie is a struggling male entertainer whose past life was full of people who didn’t care and love for her. This therefore affected her relationship with individuals, especially men, and made it difficult for her to make friends and to confide in the people who loved her.

Gabriel struggled throughout his childhood and young adult life similar to Ellie. As a child, he was abducted by a local paedophile, after five years he finally escaped and returned to his family. Although, Gabriel has struggled with the idea of human comfort and had experienced a growing anxiety about how to love women.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy about this novel was that their story together was so perfect but also sour, they began to love each other out of desperation. I also didn’t like how Ellie’s career as a male entertainer was the main reason as to why Gabriel found her. Feeling as though her experience with pleasing men was something that Gabriel thought of as something that may fix his emotional insecurities.

But all in all, I very much enjoyed this novel and also sad that there isn’t a sequel. But that’s the thing about contemporary novels (cries soundlessly).