Review: Leo by Mia Sheridan

Leo
Mia Sheridan
Series: Sign of Love #1
Publication date: March 11th 2013
Rating: ★★★★☆

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Evie and Leo met in foster care as children and formed a bond of friendship. As they grew, their bond turned to love and they vowed to make a life together when they turned 18 and were no longer a part of the system.

When Leo unexpectedly gets adopted as a teen and he moves to another city, he promises Evie that he will contact her as soon as he gets there and come back for her in a few short years. She never hears from him again.

Now eight years later, in spite of the odds, Evie has made a life for herself. She has a job, she has friends, she's content. Then a man shows up out of the blue, claiming that her long lost love, Leo, sent him to check up on her. The attraction between them is undeniable. But, should she trust this sexy stranger? Or is he keeping a secret about what his connection to Leo is really all about and why Leo disappeared all those years ago?

Evie and Leo were inseparable.

Both grew up in foster care after surviving horrible things as children and quickly became the best of friends. They knew they could rely on each other, and the friendship they formed served as the source of care and love they so terribly needed in their lives. But as they became older, their feelings for each other started to change.

As their friendship turned into something more, life decided to intervene. When Leo is fifteen and Evie is fourteen, Leo gets adopted by a family and ends up moving across the country, leaving Evie behind. Before he goes away, though, he confesses his feelings for her, promising to write her letters and come for her as soon as she turns eighteen so they can start their lives together.

And then Evie never hears from him again.

Now it's eight years later and Evie has worked hard to build a life for herself. She has a job, a home, and complete control over her life. She left behind all the hurt from her childhood and moved on to better things, but she still can't help but wonder what happened to Leo.

It's not until she meets Jake that she gets her answer.

He's been doing a terrible job of following her around, and when she confronts him she's shocked to discover that he's friends with the boy that used to mean everything to her. Jake's also not scared of making his feelings for Evie known, and as they relationship progresses and Evie lets herself get closer to someone, secrets that could destroy everything they've built for themselves are revealed.

Leo was a really great, if not somewhat painful, read.

Since the moment I first picked up the book until the moment I read the final sentence, I was feeling for Evie, Leo, and Jake. That's a really powerful thing in writing, when the author manages to make you want to cry in the first few pages of their book, and that's exactly how it was with this one.

Evie and Leo's story was heartbreakingly sweet, and the flashbacks throughout the story only served to make it even more so. I loved that the writing made it so that I didn't feel disconnected to what was happening whenever I went from Evie's present to her past. They kept me connected to what was happening while giving me important insight into who Evie was and how she dealt with what was going on with Jake, why she was reacting the way she did and why she was thinking certain things.

And the plot twist, oh my god.

Even though I had an idea of what was going on, I was still surprised when the big reveal was... well, revealed. It was like everything that we'd read since then finally made sense and aligned and just connected.  And at the same that I was super happy about it, when I found out about the reason it happened I just wanted to stab myself in the eye with a fork because that wouldn't hurt as much as what I was reading.

It was a lovely experience reading Leo. It was sweet, sad, and incredibly touching to get to know these characters and their stories, and to know that even though you were hurt by those who were supposed to stand by you, you still can find your happily ever after and have your dreams come true.