Meh. I wanted to be more excited about this book but it was just ok, to be honest I had to MAKE myself finish it - at about midway through I had to convince myself to keep going hoping for some unique twist or for me to actually care about James at all....

My full review can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2054324958?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rating

Everything We Left Behind is the sequel to Everything We Keep. The story picks up immediately where Everything We Keep left off, with Carlos coming out of his fugue (amnesia) state, and as he feared-his alter ego James does not recognize his children or anything about his life as Carlos. I thought the premise of Everything We Keep was silly and strained, although it was well written and the ending did peak my interest for the sequel. And what a sequel it is! Everything We Left Behind has an emotional depth that breaks your heart-both in the chapters narrated by Carlos (which are flashbacks told through the extensive journals he wrote after learning his whole life could vanish in an instant)- and present day James, who struggles with his unexpected life as a single father of two boys, learning his fiancee Aimee married another man while he was living as Carlos, and trying to piece together the events that caused his amnesia. Both novels could have done without the stomach turning twist concerning the parentage of James's "cousin" Phil (even though it is vital to the plot line), and Aimee- who was central to Everything We Keep, is virtually non existent here. But the story unfolds beautifully-each chapter is like another brushstroke from James and Carlos's paintings-and the best news is their story continues with the July, 2018 publication of Everything We Give. I'll be counting the days.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This book was offered to me because I had read the first one and throughly enjoyed it so I was excited to see how the Carlos/James/Aimee saga continued. Unfortunately I didn't like this book as much as the first. The first book was a good mix of mystery/romance to it and while rediscovering yourself after a bout of amnesia maybe be mystery enough I found this book to be more romance in nature. What ever suspense this book was suppose to have didn't even occur until the very end of the books d was wrapped up very neatly in a chapter.

Overall this book is 2.5 although I'll round up on Goodreads because I liked the first book. They allude to a third book coming out and I'm on the fence if I'd read it.

Everything We Left Behind was just as amazing as the first book. It was captivating, and I could not put it down. Fantastic book, so well written it was flawless.

I was really excited to receive an ARC of this book. It is the sequel to Kerry Lonsdale’s Everything We Keep and should be read in order. I read Everything We Keep and really enjoyed it. I really wanted to know what would happen to James if/when he came out of his fugue state. With so many loose ends, how would he be able to deal with his life? Would Aimee want to get back together or was she content with her new life? Would he be able to care for and love the kids he had as Carlos? What was his life as Carlos like?

However, the reality didn’t quite match my excitement. I did like the story and was thankful the loose ends were tied up, but I didn’t love the way it was written. This book flips back and forth between present tense (his life as James after the fugue) and past tense (his life as Carlos). I didn’t mind that at all. In fact, I’m not sure how else all the loose ends could be tied up. What I didn’t love was that past tense was told in first person while present tense was told from third person. I thought the first person writing was much more effective. I could connect with Carlos. I could understand and share in his agony and his joy. That said, I was really more interested in what happened to James after he returned than I was in what Carlos was like. I, however, felt very much like an outsider during the James chapters. I’m not always a hater of third person, but I felt like all the emotion was drained out of the story when she switched to third person. I had a hard time connecting with him and feeling the pain he was experiencing for much of the book. This made the book a bit hard for me to read and I ended up reading another book in the middle because I was having such a hard time getting through this.

The plot on the other hand, was good. It tied up all the loose ends that were left in Everything We Keep. Many of the aspects that drew me in from the beginning were still present in this book. It had a bit of mystery and intrigue, a love story, family drama, and some unexpected twists and turns. The characters remained true to who they were in the first book as well. I still loved some and hated others.

Overall, I thought the plot was well done in both books and worth the read. I am looking forward to more books by Ms. Lonsdale (and hoping they are told in first person), because this plot was unique and I would like to see more like it. Be on the lookout for Everything We Give coming in July 2018.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Kerry Lonsdale for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

This book is currently available free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

I've been (not-so) patiently waiting for this sequel and was not disappointed! What an interesting topic for a novel. I don't know what I would do if I woke up one morning and I am someone else. Talk about a twisted family drama - the Donato family gives you twist and scandal in one book! But, is everything as it seems? James/Carlos battles trying to figure out what is the truth and who to really trust. I didn't want to put this book down and am (eagerly) awaiting the next book!

I received an advanced reading copy of this book and am voluntarily reading it.

This is book two in a series that began with Everything We Keep. Unlike the first book, which was told from the perspective of Aimee, a young woman whose fiancé, James, was buried on what should have been their wedding day, this book is told from the perspectives of James and his alter-ego, Carlos, the personality who “replaced” James for six years due to a mental condition caused by trauma.

In book one, Aimee discovered that James was alive and well and living in Mexico as Carlos, with no memory of his pre-Carlos existence. In book two, the story-telling involves a re-emerged James in present day alternating with flashbacks to Carlos in the past and James in the past. Aimee makes a tiny appearance, but the focus is on present-day James’s angst over losing her, losing six years of his life, and gaining two traumatized young sons who suddenly have a stranger for a dad when James resurfaces and Carlos disappears. Can James be the father he should be to two children he doesn’t know? Should he try to win Aimee back after all this time, or should he let her be and try to make a new life for himself and his sons?

As in the first book, we have to contend with James’s highly unlikeable biological family, including his incarcerated brother, Phil, who is the product of incest between their mother and her brother. James’s abusive father has died, but we learn details about his nastiness, and we find out more about older brother Thomas who choreographed James’s disappearance and hid his survival from those who loved him. We also have Claire, the mother who treated James badly as a child, but once she learned of his existence as Carlos, traveled to Mexico to surreptitiously look after him as the benevolent neighbor he and his sons called Senora Carla. Now that he’s James again, how will that relationship work out?

Had I published a review for Everything We Keep, I would have given it three stars. At times it seemed too far-fetched to take seriously, plus I found myself annoyed by repetitive descriptions and phrasing; if Aimee dipped her chin one more time, I was going to scream. Everything We Left Behind has improved in those areas. However, the constant flipping back and forth between personalities and time periods became overwhelming so that I began skimming to move things along and get to the conclusion. The conclusion, as one might expect, left openings for book three, including the out-of-the-blue reappearance of a book one character who didn’t make sense then and made even less sense now.

As long as they don’t mind Aimee’s absence, readers who loved Everything We Keep will probably love this book, as it continues the saga of James/Carlos and his sister-in-law and answers the question of what happened to James six years before. Readers with no prior knowledge of James’s and Aimee’s situation, however, may have a harder time finding this tale compelling or suspenseful.

***I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars***

So I was approached by the wonderful Amazon Publishing to review this book, I had owned the first book and had not read it, so I took it as a sign to start. Thank you so much for sending me a finished copy to read and review!

This series has blown my mind, and exceeded every expectation that I had. I love Carlos/James and Natalya, they were my favorite characters in this series. The scenes with Carlos/James and his boys were absolutely heart wrenching. Can you imagine not remembering anything about the past 6 years with your children, waking up and not knowing who they are? Who you are? And those poor boys being terrified of the man that’s not their papa!

Kerry Lonsdale executed this book perfectly, with absolute precision, and urging you to keep reading page after page. I HAD to keep reading, it wasn’t an option, I needed to see these characters get the ending they deserved. The way that Kerry wrote from Carlos’s and James’s point of view, from both past and present, and pulled it off seamlessly says a lot for her writing skills. This is a series I can see myself reading, over and over. Kerry Lonsdale, thank you for making me fall in love with your books!

Now I am sad that I have to wait for book three!!

A really immersive read. I couldn't put it down. A well written read

I very much enjoyed reading "Everything We Keep" and had given it 5 stars. "Everything We Left Behind", was basically a review of the previous book. You had to get much further into the story before it got pretty interesting. I guess I am not a fan of the reader having to constantly go back and forth between the past and the present. Why can't the author just write the story? Kerry Lonsdale is a better writer that this. I also enjoyed "All The Breaking Waves" and also gave it 5 stars.

Man (James/Carlos) struggles to regain his life after waking up from a Dissociative Fugue state. Will James come to terms with losing the love of his life, Aimee, from the first book? Will he be able to let her go? Will he accept and love his sons even though he doesn't remember being their father? Will he forgive his family for their past transgressions?

A year ago, I read and very much enjoyed the author's debut and the first book in this series, Everything We Keep (4 stars). Since then, I have been impatiently waiting for the sequel, and I am happy to report that I enjoyed it just as much as the first! In fact, I think the author's writing style has improved and this time, my interest did not wane at all like it did for a bit in the middle of the first book (for a while there, it felt a bit too "chick lit" for my tastes).

Everything We Left Behind follows James in the present as he adjusts to being himself again, while alternating with Carlos' life over the last 6 years living in Mexico with his two sons, Julian and Marc, and his girlfriend, Natalya. At the beginning, I was a bit confused by this back and forth layout, but I imagine that is how James/Carlos felt as well while living in a fugue state hehe ;) Overall, I enjoyed finding out more about James' new life and, of course, more Donato family secrets were revealed in this suspenseful story!

The most prevalent themes in this book were love, loss, resilience, the true meaning of family, forgiveness of one self and others, and accepting what cannot be changed. I would definitely recommend reading this series in order and back-to-back so that you don't forget any of the details like I did.

Lastly, the author has announced that the third book in the series, Everything We Give, will be released in July 2018. Can't wait to find out which character it will focus on, but my money is on the oldest brother, Phil!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely loved the first book, Everything We Keep and I was highly anticipating this sequel. It was very well written but I really did not like the back and forth from James present day to Carlos and Aimee was basically left out of the entire story. I was disappointed with the book being more of an explanation being told to us than the suspenseful story from the first book.
I really didn't like present day James or Carlos so that didn't help.

past andWhen I read Everything We Keep a year ago, I flew through it, and I had no idea if there would be a sequel, but I loved the open ending. When I started Everything We Left Behind, I wasn't sure if the author would be able to pull off telling the story from a male perspective. Not because a woman couldn't do that, but just because I wasn't feeling it at first. Before I knew it, though, I was deep into the storyline again, and dang was it good. The last 20% of the book, I was sure she wouldn't be able to wrap it up to my satisfaction. Well I was right and wrong. Wrong because she definitely got a lot more out of the characters in that time than I would've expected, and it was done well. Right, because there is another book in the series coming!! I am looking forward to it very much, cant wait to see what happens next.

I really appreciated that Everything We Left Behind did go back over some of the things that happened in the first book, so I didn't feel completely lost and like I had to go reread the first book so know what was going on, things came back to me quickly. (Make no mistake though, these are not stand alone novels) I also enjoyed Lonsdale's ability to switch back and forth between James' and Carlos' past and present perspectives.

Thanks to netgalley & the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Compared to the previous book, I was a little disappointed in this. I wanted the story to continue from Aimee’s POV and it didn’t – this book is the continuation of Carlos/James’ story. Aimee and some of the other characters from EVERYTHING WE KEEP do make a couple of cameos, but the main focus of the story is Carlos/James and his family.

I don’t think I could say this book suffers the dreaded “second book syndrome”, but it is definitely not as good as the first one. The writing is great and the tension is definitely there, but I think I just wasn’t as invested in these characters as I was with Aimee and the other characters in the previous book.

I’ve got some theories about where the story will go in the third book, and I’m really hoping the psychic makes another appearance – and that we see the characters from this book again.

When James was in a boating accident in Mexico his brother Thomas bought back a "body" after 2 months saying that after it couldn't be viewed as was too decomposed. So why was he lying, why has James now turned up as Carlos in Mexico where he was in a fugue state believing that he was Carlos and not James, and after 6 and a half years has come out of it and regained his former identity.

James was engaged to marry Aimee the love of his life and so is devastated to find that she has now married Ian and had a daughter and he himself has two sons that he doesn't recognise! He has also been married but his wife died in childbirth and he is now living with her sister Natalya - how can he have spent all this time with these people and now not know them - and what is the danger that he is in and why can't he remember exactly what happened to him and what his brother Phil had to do with it.

Phil has been in prison and is due to be released and that is when James realises that he could be in danger and so could his family and so he flees to Hawaii to Natalya - can he rebuild his life there and can he really forget Aimee?

A great follow up to Everything We Keep the story is told in alternating chapters between James and Carlos so that you get all of the back story - I read it in one session as couldn't put it down - it is worth reading Everything We Keep first though as this is equally good and you have the full picture

3.5 stars

Everything We Left Behind is the sequel to Everything we Keep. In Everything we Keep, we hear Aimee's story of love and loss. How she was informed her finance was dead to then have doubts and eventually find him alive but living in a fugue state. Her finance James, does not remember her and believes himself to be Carlos. He has married, adopted his wife's son and fathered another son with her. Although his wife is dead, he has no recollection of Aimee who is heartbroken and feels as thought she has lost him for a second time. She is left with no choice but to leave him behind with his two sons and move on with her life.

In Everything We Left Behind, James/Carlos has come out of his fugue state. He has no idea where he is or who the two children are who are speaking to him in Spanish and calling him father. He eventually learns of his brother's deceit and the life he led as Carlos. He is also devastated to learn that his life long love, Aimee is now happily married and the Mother of a young daughter. He is obviously angry about the deceit and betrayal of various family members and is attempting to move on with his life.

This book is told in the past and in the present day. We see Carlos living with his son's and falling in love with his deceased wife's sister, Natalya. We see him trying to hold on to who he is in the past, while also seeing him as James in the present day. James has a lot of his plate: he has two son's, his finance is married, various members of his family have lied to him, he has lost 6 years of his life, and feels he can trust no one except for Natalya.

Like it's predecessor, this book is about love, loss, family, betrayal, starting over and the search for the truth. I did enjoy Everything we Keep more than this book, but it was interesting seeing things from James/Carlos' point of view. Lonsdale kept the pace moving and the story interesting. I was hoping for more Aimee in this book, but enjoyed the back and forth between the past and present of James/Carlos life. This book is well written and kept my attention. It did not pull me in quite as much as the first in the series but I enjoyed seeing how things evolved for James.

I received a copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book followed the first one which I finished just before starting this one. I liked it about as much as I liked the first one--they were both ok not the best. The story is a little unrealistic, slow and confusing. Carlos/James was an interesting character but I was hoping for a little more Aimee in this one. I read the whole thing because I wanted to see what happened at the end, but not a favorite of mine.

Everything We Left Behind is the sequel to Everything We Keep, and you certainly should not read the second book in this series without having read the first. This novel alternates point of view between James and Carlos, delving more into his side of the story. While this novel lacks the suspense of the first, and is almost a retelling of the first book in some places, fans of Everything We Keep will love this closer look at the characters and what really happened.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I recently read, and loved, Kerry's first book Everything We Keep and immediately jumped into this one. The first book is from the perspective of Aimee, the women who buries her fiancé on their wedding day. She is heartbroken but tries to carry on with her life, never forgetting the love of her life.

Everything We Left Behind is a continuation of this beautiful but heartbreaking love story, this time told from the perspective of James, the man who was buried all those years ago. I read these two books back to back and loved every minute of them. I was totally drawn into the character's lives and love and devoured both books.

Kerry is a new-to-me author but has now been added to my must-read list. I love these stories! And it looks like Everything We Give is coming in July 2018. Yay!! I am so excited to continue this series.

Everything We Left Behind was just as good if not better than Everything We Keep. I loved it and could not put it down. Although it is the sequel to Everything We Keep I think it could be read as a stand alone as it was easy to fall into the story.
This book is told from Carlos/James' point of view and it kept me hooked from the first few pages.
I loved it - 5 stars from me.