Dirt poor. Hillbilly. Backwoods hick. Mountain folk.
Tenleigh Falyn struggles each day to survive in a small, poverty-stricken, coal mining town where she lives with her sister and mentally ill mother. Her dream of winning the college scholarship given to one student by the local coal company and escaping the harshness of her life, keeps her going.
Kyland Barrett lives in the hills, too, and has worked tirelessly–through near starvation, through deep loneliness, against all odds–to win the Tyton Coal Scholarship and leave the town that is full of so much pain.
They’re both determined not to form any attachments, but one moment changes everything. What happens when only one person gets to win? When only one person gets to leave? And what happens to the one left behind?
Kyland is a story of desperation and hope, loss and sacrifice, pain and forgiveness, but ultimately, a story of deep and unending love.
THIS IS A STANDALONE SIGN OF LOVE NOVEL, INSPIRED BY TAURUS. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
5 Stars for Kyland & Tenleigh.
★★★★★
My Casting:
I was unsure going into this book. Sometimes I absolutely love Mia Sheridan’s work and sometimes I just don’t seem to feel what others feel. I love So, despite all of the rave reviews, I was reserving judgement on Kyland.
And I loooooved it!
“Kiss me back, Tenleigh,” he whispered, his voice strained. “God, please kiss me back.”
I have to just confess, I have a little bit of a morbid fascination with any kind of story involving poverty or living below the bread line, so that had already piqued my interest in the blurb. But as we well know, sometimes the premise of a story can be exciting, but the execution can be less so.
But I just fell totally, utterly, head over heels in love with Kyland and Tenleigh, all of the mountain folk and their story.
This is a book that just pulls you in and makes you feel as if you are living on the side of that mountain, for the duration of your reading experience.
“There are no interesting stories in these parts, just weary, never-ending tales of tragedy and woe. And toothlessness.”
It’s also one of those books where it looks as though everything is falling apart, but you just know that things can’t possibly be as they seem. You hold out hope and cross your fingers that things aren’t as black and white as the characters think they are. And you’re rewarded in spades.
I am always garaunteed to fall in love with a story when you can just feel the palpable adoration between our hero and our heroine. And you could totally feel that Tenleigh and Kyland needed one another to survive. With very little food, almost no money, poor living conditions and disfunctional families, they became one another’s lifeline. They lived and breathed one another and in turn, I lived and breathed them!
“And I fell in love. Deep, hard, utter and complete love.”
Kyland Barrett is nothing but good. He is pure and honest and protective and everything wonderful. Your heart will break for him, and then melt for him, and then race for him.
And Tenleigh is a fabulous heroine. She is strong and independent. And she has so much love to give and so much hunger for life.
“I suffered, yes, but I realized I would happily suffer for you, because that’s what loving someone is. Willing to do anything for them, willing to make any sacrifice, suffer so they don’t have to. I loved you then, and I still love you now.”
I finished this book over a week ago and I’m still thinking about it. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you pick it up as soon as possible.
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A beautiful review, for the most amazing story.