Miles Apart by A.L. Brooks is a contemporary romance about dealing with the aftermath of cheating partners and learning to trust again so you can be happy.
Alex is trying to forgive and forget, she really is! But finding that strength is hard when your partner of five years has cheated on you and now all you can think about is whether or not you’re good enough. Can you ever move on from such a betrayal of trust? Or is Alex just fooling herself? As time passes, she’s not sure, she and Terri have been rocky for a while and the more she tries to fix things the less she seems to feel.
Justine is no longer a fan of having a relationship. After she discovered her girlfriend had been cheating on her for six months Justine is happy with one-night stand encounters because that way she can’t get hurt.
While Alex is on a business trip in Canada she and Justine meet and the connection that is formed shakes them both and throws everything they think into question! But Alex is still technically in a relationship and must fly back home to England. Meeting Justine changes Alex’s life and brings forth the question of whether to cling to her failing relationship or to go for something new. Something that has the potential to make her incredibly happy.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
This book is full of so many emotions, I’ve read the book, so was excited when the audio came out!
Brooks tackles the sensitive subject of cheating in this book so well. She explores the notion that not everything in life is clear-cut and simple, it’s messy and upsetting and sometimes we make mistakes. What I love about Miles Apart is that at no point does the author excuse the fact that cheating takes place! Reasons are given and the circumstances are clear and explained but there’s never that ‘oh it’s all right that she cheated moment’ instead she takes us on a journey of complex feelings and shows the characters dealing with the consequences and battling with their conscience. She delves deep inside the characters to help the reader understand why it happened and how they deal with it. The result is a breathtaking ride.
The slow burn in this book is both delicious and heart-breaking and I’m always here for all that gut-wrenching goodness of wishing that a couple would just give in and be happy but knowing that it will happen at the right time! Oh, and when it does happen it is sooooo worth the wait!
The characters are well-established and have real and relatable development throughout the book. Both Alex and Justine have to work on themselves before they are able to commit to each other and it really touched me just how brave they both are! The author did a fantastic job on the development of these characters.
Alex has always done what she thought she should. She is a peacekeeper and although she’s not a ‘door mat’ she is slow to come to terms with and share her own negative feelings. She’s a complex character who struggles with her decisions and choices. However, Alex is also strong, most people would have walked out on their partner once they had cheated, but Alex stays and tries to work on her relationship. She wants to understand why it happened and if she and Terri have something to save. I really admire her and the road she travels to discovery is both long and full of hurt.
Justine has been hurt badly and is now on a path that includes a string of one-night stands, she’s not interested in bringing feelings into the mix as that just leads to heartbreak. Underneath that ‘I don’t care’ front Justine just wants to be able to trust again! She’s broken and she needs to let herself heal in order to be able to fully give herself to someone and love again.
The narrator did a really good job of getting the character’s inner turmoil across, it can’t be easy narrating a book so full of anguish, but she manages it and I felt all the same emotions I did when I’d read the book. At some points, some of the English accents sounded a bit mixed up, but this is a book that has various characters spread across a lot of different regions and countries! Taking that into consideration I think she did a fantastic job and I’ll definitely be looking out for more books narrated by Avery Reid, I found her voice really soothing and easy to listen to.
Cons And Heads Up
Cheating from past and present partners as well as one main character cheating on her current partner. The two main characters never cheat on each other.
The Conclusion
If you like a slow-burn romance full of anguish, then this one is for you!
Miles Apart will take you on a journey of heartbreak and redemption. It has flawed real characters who need time to work on themselves in order to be happy.
Alex and Justine are far from perfect, but they are lovable and relatable. Their story is full of longing and trepidation but also love and understanding.
There is a great cast of friends in this book that both support Alex and Justine and are willing to call them out on their nonsense when necessary.
Although this book is full of anguish, it’s also full of such sweet tender moments and as we’ve all come to expect from a Brooks book, hotness that will make your toes curl!
The Narrator did a great job at getting all of the above across in her performance, her voice is smooth, and I really enjoyed this audio.
Excerpt from Miles Apart by A.L. Brooks
Alex laughed. She knew Sonia wasn’t flirting, not for real, but her playfulness was heartwarming. And flattering.
“Sonia!” They both turned at the voice that came from behind them.
“Sylvie!” Sonia leapt out of her chair and practically ran around Alex to greet the petite woman standing behind her. Alex watched as they hugged fiercely, exchanging multiple kisses and laughing.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another movement and swivelled slightly in her chair. Standing behind the two hugging women, and presumably Sylvie’s company for the evening, was a tall blonde, a laconic smile on her—wow—beautiful face. Alex stared. For the second time in two days, she was physically responding to another woman, something that hadn’t happened in years and definitely nothing that had happened while in the relationship with Terri.
She should look away, try to get this unnerving response under control, but she was helpless. The woman in front of her was gorgeous. Her hair fell just past her shoulders in what looked like totally natural twisty curls. Her eyes were a pale blue. She looked to be a couple of inches taller than Alex but had the same slim build. Dressed in low-slung jeans, boots, and a dark green button-down shirt, she was casually sexy, and even more so when she shoved her hands in her pockets and settled her weight on one hip. Alex let her gaze travel back up the body before her, trying extra hard not to stare at the flat stomach and small breasts, and startled as the stranger caught her staring
Alex looked away, her face ablaze.
“Alex.” Sonia grabbed her arm, urging her to stand. Alex was extraordinarily grateful for the interruption of her mortifying moment. “This is Sylvie, a dear friend I haven’t seen in about, what, six months?”
“Something like that, oui,”
Sylvie replied, smiling widely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alex.” She held out her hand and shook Alex’s before air-kissing Alex on both cheeks. She was shorter than Alex by a few inches and had to lean up to effect the greeting.
As she let Alex go, she gestured to the stunning woman beside her. “Sonia, Alex, this is my friend, Justine.”
Alex swallowed hard before turning to face Justine, who stepped forwards and smiled confidently at her and Sonia as she shook their hands.
“Enchanté,” she whispered as she kissed Alex’s cheeks. Her lips were incredibly soft against Alex’s skin. Her hand gripped Alex’s a little tighter and lingered a little longer than was normal. Alex swallowed, overwhelmed with a surge of desire that swept up out of nowhere and scorched her body. As soon as Justine let go of her hand, Alex stepped back, only just avoiding clutching at her chest to check her thumping heart. This was…ridiculous.
She watched as Justine greeted Sonia, and noted with a discomforting sense of triumph that Justine’s attention to Sonia was significantly muted in comparison to that which she had bestowed on Alex.
“Can they join us?”
Sonia asked. “Of course,” Alex replied, inwardly groaning. Her pulse was racing and a warm flush still held court in the hand Justine had held on to for those delicious few moments. She dropped back onto her stool, willing her breathing to settle and her hand not to shake as she reached for her beer. She needed to get on top of this, whatever this was, and fast. What the hell was happening to her this week? First Sonia, now Justine?
The two new arrivals pulled up chairs from a table nearby, and Sylvie and Sonia immediately launched into a conversation about the last time they’d seen each other. Alex sipped her beer and listened, smiling politely at the two friends’ amusing banter. But she was aware of Justine the entire time. She didn’t dare look at her, fearing her flushed cheeks would give away her completely unexpected reaction to the beautiful woman sat beside her. This visceral level of response to another’s presence had never happened to her before. It disturbed her greatly, and she wished she could just shake it off.
The sudden and almost desperate need for some breathing space propelled her out of her chair.
“Bathroom,” she muttered at Sonia’s questioning look, then followed the way Sonia pointed out for her to the washrooms at the back of the bar.
Alex locked herself in a cubicle and perched on the edge of the toilet, breathing deeply. She took her time, rationalising away her response to Justine. She was tired, still jet-lagged, in fact. Emotional after the turmoil of the last few weeks. Justine was beautiful—anyone would have been flustered to be greeted so warmly by someone so visually appealing. Alex was lonely, and having someone pay attention to her like that, even for just a moment, had been flattering. She’d been feeling unattractive, undesirable even, after Terri took her attentions elsewhere, so a kiss and a touch from a beautiful stranger was bound to stir her libido a little. Wasn’t it?
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9783955338664
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Audiobook Publisher: Tantor Audio
Narrator: Avery Reid
Note: I received a free review copy of Miles Apart by A.L. Brooks . No money was exchanged for this review. When you use our links to buy we get a small commission which supports the running of this site
