I love the cover and summary of this book but when I downloaded it and starting reading it I was unaware it was part of a series so I was a bit confused reading it.

I really did enjoy her writing and the characters and I'll be going back and reading the series from the beginning. I can't wait to read more from Emily Foster.

Another Cliffhanger and another book I didn't care to finish, or move onto the next book. I DNF half way through. It was too sad and depressing for me.

When I requested this book on Netgalley, I wasn't aware that this is the second book in the series. I am kinda glad I didn't read the first book because I might not have wanted to read this book and I hate leaving a story half finished. I didn't like the change between the point of views. At some points, I was getting lost and didn't know who was next. I think that happened because I started disliking the story after a while. I was taken by surprise when Charles point of view came up in the second chapter. I didn't like the chapter where Biz was visiting and she, Charles and Annie got high. Annie after leaving Charles is like an older version of Bella in new moon. At least Annie was working after she left him. Of course, after she got back together with Charles her job was forgotten and their relationship was the focus of the story. I felt like Charles's demons were an excuse to separate these two in order to fill more pages and to create a second book. I don't feel as if I got the chance to read about the two of them fall in love and overcoming everything together. I was very happy when I reached the last page of the book because the story felt sterile and I wasn't able to connect with the characters or get into the story. The authors writing didn't agree with me and I don't think I will like a work by this author.

Emily Foster has managed to draw me in and keep me turning the pages of my kindle until late into the night. Annie and Charles lit up the pages in How not to Fall and once again to see them reunited was heartwarming. Excellent read.

How Not to Let Go is a fantastic book by Emily Foster. I highly recommend it!

Review on Goodreads: Review Wow. Just wow. This was a romance about the human spirit. The character development and character arc were off the charts. I felt the growth of these two characters at a DNA level. And Ms. Foster if ever you want to write the HEA of a certain stuttering, piano playing, pink wearing mad genius albino then I am here for that!

Backstory: I read the blurb for this novel and thought, oh, well that sounds like a good book to read. I like the premise. And, just to prove that I am, if nothing, consistent, I didn't realize until I started reading that it was the sequel to a book I read and reviewed about a year ago. I must have liked the premise of that one as well. Wink. Wink.

However story: The first book was How Not to Fall (you can read that review here, if you want). As I started to read How Not to Let Go, I realized that I had read and felt frustrated by the first book. (Disclosure: I did not go back and look at my review because I did not want to be in any way influenced by it.) But How Not to Let Go was different. It felt more thoughtful, more cerebral. It brought in the backstory of Charles' life so that I could have some empathy for him. The writing was beautiful and, again, thoughtful. For me, this was an entirely different experience, one which I enjoyed.

These felt like real people to me. While there may have been a few angsty moments, I never felt like they went over-the-top. It may be because I have known extremely dysfunctional families and, frankly, the average person just has no idea what coming from a situation like that can do to a person's psyche.

How Not to Let Go delved into more psychology than I remember from the first so I found this fascinating. I have always been intrigued by people's motivations and their reactions.

The Your Mileage May Vary Story: So I don't often do this, but I peeked at some of the other reviews on Goodreads and found that people who loved the first novel hated this one, which is in complete contrast to me. See, this is why I am going to make it my reviewing motto: Your Mileage May Vary. Just because you love a book doesn't mean everyone will and vice versa. It's the differences that make the world great.

Last disclaimer: How Not to Let Go has been on my currently reading list for a while (mid-January until today). That has nothing to do with the novel and everything to do with yours truly who signed up for far too many review tours and has only now gotten to a place where she/me can semi-breathe and start pulling her act together.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First let me just start off by saying that when I got this book for review, I had no idea that there was one before it. It was never stated that these characters already had a book out and I was led to believe that this was a complete standalone. I would not recommend reading this book if you haven't already read How Not to Fall. While you can understand this one easily enough, I had a very tough time connecting with the characters and I think I might have liked this one better had I read them in order. Unfortunately after reading what I did of How Not to Let Go, I doubt I will be reading the first.

This story centers around Charles and Annie. Charles had been a doctor in her lab when she was an undergrad and the attraction led to a fling between them once she had graduated. But though things were intense, they were brief as Charles was broken and couldn't be with Annie. Annie knew she couldn't be around Charles and not have feelings for him, so she left. When they end up reuniting, things once again spark between them and they rekindle their friendship. But with the past Charles has, Annie and Charles must figure out if they can find a way to be together or if they should let go once and for all.

I will admit that I struggled a lot with the characters here and that was a lot of why I eventually threw in the towel. Charles was broken and damaged, coming from a very dysfunctional family. Annie was pretty bland as a character. There wasn't really anything to her, and she just felt so one dimensional. She spent so much time being heartbroken and boring, that I just couldn't bring myself to care about her. She also irritated me with her actions and thoughts a lot of the time, and I just never could connect with her and Charles. Some of the things that happened were just too over the top and ridiculous to me, and that really killed what little interest I might have still had in these two.

Overall, I only ended up reading about 35-40% if this book before I resorted to skimming. I wanted to see if I should stick with it, and unfortunately it looked like I didn't miss much. This isn't what I would really call romance, as much of this story was angsty and filled with more of a self-help/therapy sort of vibe. It was all about overcoming the past emotional damage and learning how to love rather than actually forming a relationship and connection. I just couldn't get into it and maybe that is due to me not already having a connection with these two.

Last summer I read the book How Now to Fall and while I didn't love the book at the time I was still intrigued to know what would happen next so when I saw How Not to Let Go on NetGalley I knew I had to request it. Unlike a lot of new adult series, this book can't be read as a standalone. You could try but you probably wouldn't understand a lot of what happened because everything is connected to the first book and because it features the same main characters.

How Not to Let Go took me by surprise. Because I had a few problems with the first book I thought the same thing would happen in this one but let me tell you I was wrong. I wasn't expecting to like it so much but I did. First of all, I loved how deep this book was. While the first one was a lot about sex this one showed a lot more connection between Annie and Charlie. They spent a lot of time in this one talking and trying to figure out each other, especially trying to help Charles dealing with some stuff in his life. I loved how much they supported each other and how much both Annie and Charles grew. The character development in this was amazing and that's what made everything better in this book. One of the main problems I had with book 1 is that it had a lot of sex and I was uncomfortable most of the times but in this one every time that it happened it felt natural. There were still a few situations that might have left me uncomfortable but it was only a couple of times and it was doable. I can't talk a lot about this book because it deals with mostly things that happened or were talked about in How Not to Fall but let me just tell you that the way everything was dealt with was amazing and it's one of the books with more character growth I have ever read.

One thing I loved about this book is that it was told in a dual POV. Here's the thing, How Not to Fall was told in only Annie's POV and at the time I read it the only thought I had in my head was how much I wanted Charles's POV so I could understand what was going on in his head. We had Charles's POV in this one and it made me understand him so much better. Reading from his POV was heartbreaking almost all the time but it was so necessary. I loved that Emily Foster included this because I think the book wouldn't have been so good if she didn't.

Overall, this book was quite a surprise for me. I loved it and I loved how deep and emotional it was. I would totally recommend this one to everyone even if it isn't happy most of the times. But just try it because you will be surprised with how much you'll enjoy it.

First and foremost, beware that this is a sequel to How Not To Fall, and I honestly don’t think you can read, understand and enjoy this one, without having read book 1 first. So, even though I do think this book is awesome, you should definitly pick up the first book first.

Once again I loved the writing, I think Emily Foster truly has a way with words. This book was entertaining and fun like the previous one, but it was also deeper and more emotional than the first one. But contrary to book 1, this one is told in dual POV, and WOW, it changes everything.

Annie is still a great narrator, but this whole story is about Charles.

I have to say that I’ve never read a romance with such a well done pacing and character growth. A long time passes since Annie fell for Charles and he tells her that he can’t love her, and again, a lot of time passes within this book. And Annie grows a lot, she learns how to let go of some things while protect others, but Charles learns how to deal with his past and present, and accept the future. And so much happens!

This book surprised me a lot. I liked the plot, the pacing and the characters (obviously). But I loved the talks, the depth, the understanding. I loved the support. I loved how they talked about everything that mattered and how everything made sense.

One of the issues I had with the first book was the amount of sex – crazy, I know – but here the balance was perfect, and it had way more meaning. I loved it. And I really liked how each little action had a reason behind it.

I don’t want to talk more about the book, because I don’t want to give anything away, but just know that I loved it. It was one of the most profound NA books that I’ve read.

So, I highly recommend this series. Read it. Think about it. This is not a perfectly happy NA book, it’s raw and gritty and it somehow felt real. Again… READ IT!

Lovely, engaging, challenging and real. The hero, on the outside is who every guy wants to be and every girl wants to date. On the inside, however, he wrestles with the pain his father inflicts, his defensive alter ego who strives to protect his family, the fear of loving and the loneliness that losing that love can create.

Conversely, the heroine doesn't look perfect on the outside, but she's always known love and acceptance from her family and friends and most importantly, she's willing to love without restrictions.

If you’re interested in a romance that is about true emotions — affection, fear, security, courage, love and forgiveness- look no further, this is the mother load.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGallery, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was a very interesting read. Charles and Annie are the main characters and I had a bit of a problem seeing the chemistry between them. The problems involving Charless family were a main part of the story and I enjoyed reading about them. The couple has a lot of struggles until they can be together. The book is very well written and the prose is beautiful.


I reviewed a copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley

This book just about killed me. Super angsty and at times it was downright painful. I honestly wasn't sure if or how this couple would ever be able to get to their HEA. I loved this couple and even though they really made me angry at times, I loved this book and their story. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed the first book and I was happy to read the sequel so that I could read the rest of Annie and Charles's story. Annie and Charles still have great chemistry and the sex scenes are still written really well. The problem is that, for the most part, this book was a bit boring. I feel like the author could have had Annie and Charles get together in the first book and be done with it. The first part of this book was just Annie and Charles longing for each other before deciding to at least be friends. We all know where this is going, right? Yeah, the whole friend thing didn't last for long and before you knew it, they were dating. So the rest of the book was Charles feeling like he wasn't good enough for Annie just because he had a crappy childhood. Now I had an awful childhood so I get his thinking up to a certain extent. But after a while, his thoughts that he would never be able to be with Annie because his father was a jerk was just boring. Not a lot happened in this one, other than getting to meet Charles's father and realizing that his father was indeed a huge ass. Oh, and Annie cried. A LOT. In this book, we got to see Charles's POV, but it didn't really add much to the story. I'm glad I got to see how this story ended, but I was still a bit bored by it.

I am left so confused with this book.... When I was exploring Netgalley, I saw How Not To Let Go, Emily Foster and loved the description so I requested it. But as started to get into the book, I quickly realized that How Not To Let Go is the second book in a series. Oh, and I should tell you that it was NEVER stated that it was a second book for follow up book to How Not To Fall.

I will say that the writing was well done, but unless you read How Not To Fall (which I did not...) then you can't really appreciate the back story of Charles & Annie and what takes place in How Not To Let Go.

So even thought I am left confused and irritated, I will say that had I read How Not To Fall, I think that I would have appreciated How Not To Let Go much more! So I'm left with both books still on my kindle not fully read. Sometime in the summer I will circle back to these books and finish them. I do know that Charles & Annie get the HEA which intrigues me and makes me want to read this series when I have more time.

* I promise to update my review when I fully immerse myself into both How Not To Fall & How Not To Let Go.

I heard about this series on Smart Podcast, Trashy Books. The first book was great. This one tied things up nicely. The characters are well rounded and aware of their flaws. I will definitely pick up the next book Foster writes.