4 1/2 Stars!

Ellie and Zach have been best friends since she was twelve. When Ellie was seventeen they lost their virginity to each other. When she was 19, Zach left with his brothers for LA to become rock stars and Ellie hasn't heard from him since. Ten years later, the Carter brothers are back home to help with their ailing parents. The first thing on Zach's list is to get Ellie back because he knows he never should have let her go in the first place, but Ellie wants no part of him as she doesn't want her heart broken again.

This book ticked all the boxes for me ... I laughed, I got mad, and I swooned! Ellie's story just broke my heart ... she lost everyone and still soldiered on! At first I didn't like Zack, but he grew on me as he was so determined to win Ellie back. I sure hope that this is the first book in a series because the other Carter brothers deserve their stories! A great read and I recommend it for the rock star lovers!

I received a copy courtesy of Backlit PR through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Eh...this book was just okay for me. I found Ellie to be incredibly annoying and self centered. Not enough detail was provided into her past that made her so distrustful of people; perhaps if it had it would have justified her behavior.

I wanted more from the story; more of a reason the couple had broken up, more of a reason for his distance or her hatred. More of something.

Really enjoyed this story, Zach deserved all the hardship that Ellie could give him and more, I’m glad this wasn’t a story where once the H showed up all was forgiven and forgotten. I was a bit perplexed that considering they were such big rock stars the boys didn’t have any security or assistants, they seemed to be going it alone. The ending was very abrupt as well but overall a great read and I’m looking forward to more.

There are certain things I like in a book. steamy reads are nice, rock stars are VERY nice and HEA endings! The only thing that I do not particularly care for is stubbornness. Don't get me wrong, stubbornness is a great tool, but when it lingers and lingers it out uses its welcome. Ellie has a lot to work through and she has issues and who doesn't? Everyone should know what it is like to lose someone you love..right? Maybe your first love? Ellie has had ten years to cope with his kids from her life. That is until Zach comes back into her small town and seems to be everywhere she looks. Needless to say, I wanted a little more back story or maybe even some more scenes from their time together before they moved to LA. Prologue and Epilogue maybe? Even a back story on the brothers here and there. A huge divorce issue is going on with Kyle and has the paparazzi swarming the small quiet town. Just some more back story is all I wanted. This was a stand-alone and I am wondering if I missed something. I like the characters just wanted more umph to it!I

This wasn't a bad read. I read it in less than half a day. Well, a romance story it was and if you like tame then this read is for you. I received this ARC from the publisher via Net Galley at my request for my honest review. Thank you Net Galley!

A good second chance romance. Zach left with his brothers to go to LA and became a famous. Ellie his best friend and first love stayed behind. Now he is back to help his parents but now seeing Ellie, he can’t stay away from the woman she has become. Fast paced read with lots of drama and emotion. I admit the characters were a bit childish at times however they did do some growing up during the read. I liked it.

These Wounds Run Deep is a mostly well-written second chance romance.

Ellie and Zach were best friends and high school sweethearts. She was part of his family, which consisted of his two brothers and his parents. And they were happy and in love the way only teens can be, until Zach and his brothers went out into the world to eventually become famous rockstars and Zach quickly cut Ellie from his life. In the 10 years since Zach cut her from his life, she has persevered and become a successful coffee shop owner in their small hometown. She froze Zach from her thoughts eventually and in the present, refuses to dwell on the wounds he caused when he dropped her from his life. But now he and his brothers are back in town to care for their ailing parents - their father had a stroke and their mother has Alzheimer's. Ellie knows she'll eventually run into him, but she's not prepared for the wave of emotion that comes over her when he dares step foot into her shop. And when it becomes apparent that, at the very least, he's set on repairing their friendship, she's determined to keep the distance between them. She wants nothing to do with the man who practically crippled her emotionally when he cut her from his life. But Zach is sweet and charming and dead set on being part of her life again, to make up for being the jerk he was so long ago. Can Ellie cope and at least have him as a friend again? Or will her frozen heart be too much for Zach to fix?

I mostly enjoyed These Wounds Run Deep, but there were a few problems with it - hence 3 instead of 4 stars. For one, Ellie was a character in stasis. She didn't do much growth until the very end, and by then it was pretty much too late for me to like her character or connect with her. When she broke up with Zach simply because he couldn't make it back from LA in a timely manner, and was so completely stubborn about refusing to talk to him about it, I was pretty irritated with her. Immaturity and non-communication are very negative, unlikable character traits, and Ellie had them in spades. Yuck. Another problem was that the whole story, while generally interesting, had a tone of shallowness. None of the characters were particularly deep or standouts in any way. Zach was sweet, and remorseful, but not the sexy, intense kind of rockstar I prefer. Ellie was just blah. Even the brothers were sweet, but not that interesting. I guess I was hoping for something intense and deep and steamy, and instead I got something mildly pleasant and entertaining. So 3 instead of 4 stars. Not bad, but not spectacular.

It's their second chance for their relationship and it has had its ups and downs. It was a great story hope there is another books for the brothers.

What would you do if you best friend and the guy you lost your vcard to left one day to move to LA with his brothers and made it big in the rock scene? Not only that but they were the only family you had so as the phone calls became more scarce and you read about him in the tabloids your heart was beyond repair and you were determined never to let that happen to you again.

Ten years later he comes back to his hometown to take care of his ailing parents only to run into you at your well established coffee/bakeshop and looking hotter than he would have ever imagined. The struggles come with trying to protect your heart and know that at any time he could leave again without looking back. The author had to do justice to Ellie so she didn’t look like some kind of weak female who would pine away for an ex only to give it up again as soon as Zach returned.

I loved the determination that Zach had that would make any girl get all mushy with some big rock star paying that much attention to you. Ellie stood her own and shown not only toughness but also the guts to take chances not only with Zach but with the life she made once he left. The supporting characters made me really hope that Ms. Leigh will do a story on Zach’s brother and Ellie’s friend.

I received this ARC for a freely given and honest review.

It's been ten years since Zach Carter and his brothers hit it big and moved to L.A. Life in the fast lane was hard to explain to anyone who didn't live it--so how could his best friend Ellie understand? Now that he's returned to his hometown to deal with a crisis, the consequences have piled up around him. But what hasn't changed is how bad he wants Ellie back in his arms.When I started reading I couldn't put it down I read the book i couldn't put it down.Ember is magnifysent writer.I cannot wait to read more of het books.Keep up the great work.

It’s been ten years since Zach Carter and his brothers hit it big and moved to L.A. Life in the fast lane was hard to explain to anyone who didn’t live it--so how could his best friend Ellie understand? Now that he’s returned to his hometown to deal with a crisis, the consequences have piled up around him. But what hasn’t changed is how bad he wants Ellie back in his arms.

A decade after high school graduation and Ellie has never been more content--until Zach Carter, her oldest friend, her first love, and the boy she lost her virginity to, walks back into her life after ten years without so much as a postcard. And one thing the tabloids couldn’t prepare her for was how much this man still makes her heart race.

Ellie is determined to prove to Zach that she’s moved on and doesn’t need him. Everyone important in her life has left her, including Zach, so why would this time be different? But there’s no way she can avoid him while he’s back in their hometown, fighting for her attention…and forgiveness. And her body won’t let her forget he’s in town, either.

Ellie and Zach were best friends from the age of 10. The grew up together and their relationship grew into something deeper and they fell in love. When Zach was 19 years old he and his brothers got a recording contract and moved to LA. Ellie was sad that Zach was leaving but was so happy for him. Unfortunately the relationship and communication that Ellie thought she would have with Zach slowly started to dwindle and then stop altogether just months after he left. It took a long time but Ellie got on with her life, started a business of her own and became an independent woman.

Zach and his brothers, Kyle and Carson, made it big but have come home to Portville, OH because their parents are not will. Zach wants nothing more than to be with Ellie and get back to what they once had but Ellie’s done with Zach and tells him straight out that she’s not interested in being his friend or anything else. Zach isn’t one to give up, however, and he does everything in his power to be with the woman he never stopped loving.

The Wounds Run Deep was a good book. I really liked Ellie and her independence, strength and perseverance when it came to her life. She had been through really hard times with her mother and father and then after feeling betrayed by Zach she picked herself and moved on. I didn’t blame her for not wanting to open her heart to him again as she really didn’t know him any longer and certainly didn’t know if he was going to stick around.

Zach was a good guy though he hadn’t always been. When he left for LA he was immature and self-centered and let the fame go to his head. He said that he’d never stopped loving Ellie but that didn’t stop him from getting married (and subsequently divorced) while he was gone. If he’d loved her that much why would even contemplate marriage, much less do it? IDK. I saw that he’d become a better man and was pulling for him with Ellie.

The story had some really slow places in it and I honestly didn’t feel connected to the characters enough to get into the sex scenes, which was disappointing. At some points I had to force myself not to skim. The end of the story felt too abrupt to me. I needed a bit more than “ok, I’ve decided to be with you.” “Yay!” The end. Alright, it wasn’t that bad but it kind of felt like it.

Overall a sweet story that I had some issues with.

Rating: 3 out of 5


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If you love second chance romances than you don't want to miss out on "These Wounds Run Deep." This story tugged at a lot of different emotions from me. I laughed, cried, and smiled through out the story. Ellie and Zach's chemistry was off the charts. This is my first book by Ember Leigh but won't be my last. I would recommend this book.