Nora hasn't looked back. Not since she left home, and her broken heart, far behind her. But now tragedy calls her back, where she must finally come face to face with ex-boyfriend Charlie, and best friend Sophie. Only now will she be able to confront her past-and reconcile her future.
Sophie seems to have everything. Married to Charlie, with a wonderful daughter and a successful career. Yet underneath that perfection lies an explosive secret. A secret that ripped through their town and destroyed her friendship with Nora. So when Sophie finds out that Nora has returned, she hopes Nora's stay is short. The life she has built depends on it.
But first love doesn't fade easily. Memories come to light, passion ignites and old feelings resurface. As the forces that once tore them apart begin to re-emerge, both Nora and Sophie must accept that true love is something worth fighting for.
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I never intended to stay away for eighteen years. ONE, NORA
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(@MillsandBoon, 4 August 2020, 374 pages, e-book, #ARC from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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I got this book from NetGalley after I read one of their random promotion this book is great emails. I didn't realise it was a Mills & Boon title until it was on my shelf. I probably wouldn't have requested it if I'd known. I associate Mills & Boon with cheesy, OTT heterosexual romance. I had no idea they published LGBT fiction. I loved this book. Sophie and Nora's story is familiar. They fall in love as teenagers and enjoy a passionate summer together. They're caught and betray each other and Nora moves away and cuts Sophie and their home town out of her life for eighteen years. Sophie marries and forces the truth about her sexuality deep inside herself. Nora returns and things sort of explode. I loved the way the author portrays the power of first love. You never forget your first love, the first person who made you feel something. They always have a hold over you. I loved the setting, Lychfield in Texas, a small town full of small-town prejudice and small minds. Everyone wonders why Nora left all those years ago. If Sophie comes out will she be accepted or become a freak show? What about Sophie's marriage to Nora's old boyfriend? This is a complex story, beautifully told. I loved it so much.
