Published March 18, 2014
Publisher: Atria
Format: e-book, provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
Rating: 5 STARS
(From Goodreads) At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.
Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…
I am not quite sure if a book has ever affected me in such a way as Maybe Someday did. Colleen Hoover is a master at reaching inside of me, grabbing my heart and squeezing it with her beautiful words. She's done it before, and, I don't know. I shouldn't be surprised by it anymore. And, yet, when I read the final word, I sat here blinking my eyes, my mouth opening and closing like a damn fish, completely blown away.
Sydney and Ridge catch each others' eye across the courtyard of their apartment complex when he plays his guitar on his balcony and she sits on hers and makes up lyrics. Ridge asks for her help in giving words to his songs, and a friendship is born. Just in time too, because when Sydney's boyfriend cheats on her, she has to move out, and it turns out Ridge's apartment has an empty bedroom. The close proximity allows them to continue writing music together, but it also monumentally complicates things. You see, Ridge has a serious girlfriend, and his feelings for Sydney are now blurring the lines.
I was thrown for a loop nearly right away when Ridge reveals a secret he's been keeping from Sydney (I won't spoil it for you!). It affects the entire story in an incredible way, and was probably my favorite part of the whole book. How this secret is woven into the musical part of Ridge's and Sydney's story was utterly beautiful and a little heartbreaking at times. When it was first revealed, I was totally shocked, but once I finished the book, I don't see how this book would've been even half as amazing as it was without it.
It was Sydney really for whom my heart broke the most. Ridge was amazing. He's funny, charming, intelligent, artistic and chivalrous. He takes Sydney under his wing, protects her from her douchey ex and gives her a real purpose. How could she not fall completely and utterly in love with him? And, yet, he's been in a relationship for five years with a disgustingly wonderful girl named Maggie, and has no designs to break things off with her. Being around the two of them absolutely kills her, but it's the lesser of two evils, as far as she sees it. Because her world without Ridge in it at all would be even worse.
Can you imagine what that would be like? Sydney is constantly denying herself what she wants more than anything in life. And to make matters even worse, sometimes Ridge makes it seem like he wants her too. Talk about head games. But, they share this incredible connection through music that is impossible to ignore.
Unfortunately, the fact that they have a harder and harder time ignoring that connection and the beautiful music they make together, causes the worst heartache ever. Because Maggie also has a secret, and when that is revealed, it changes things for Sydney. She has to come to terms with the nature of hers and Ridge's relationship and face the fact that she might never be able to have him the way she wants him.
Sydney is stronger than I could ever be. She makes tough choices and tries to make the best of an increasingly difficult situation. Even though Ridge is the main link in this love triangle, it's absolutely impossible to be mad at him. You think you would, right? Nope. And then there's Maggie. You really, really want to hate her. But, you just can't. She's a genuinely nice person.
Maybe Someday is told in dual POV, so we get the benefit of all the angst from both Sydney's and Ridge's heads. The language pretty clean; the sex very minimal. Although there's almost no sex, the passion and sexual tension between Ridge and Sydney made my head want to explode. It was That. Good. And then there's the end. OMG - THE END. Completely, utterly, totally, wonderfully P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
I need you to go out today and read this book. Then, come back here and tell me that you get what I've been trying to say. That you understand now why I'm telling you how amazing it is. I can't wait to hear from you.
