They say we're too young to be in love, so the song says. But for Hart and Ruby, there's no such thing as too young for true love. This is a story about love, a story of live which got even better after death.

Hart and Ruby's love story will remind you that love truly conquers all...even death.

This is a story about love, grief, and loss. It’s about how love remains even after we say goodbye. One of my favorite movie quotes that I feel sums this book up perfectly… “Death can not stop true love, it can only delay it for awhile.”- The Princess Bride.

While I did loved the overall premise, plot, and character growth, the ending kind of fell flat for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for a happy ending. I guess I just would have rather seen how Jameson/Hart and Ruby’s relationship grew even beyond the loss of Harts memories..
How new memories would have been made and together a new path was laid out before them. In the end it just felt like a magic wand was waved and all was put back together again.

I do want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for graciously allowing me to read this arc!

Always Isn't Forever by J.C. Cervantes makes you wonder if there really are angels and if you love enough a miracle can happen.

I loved this book. The characters were beautifully written and well developed. I loved getting to see Ruby in her journey of healing after the death of Hart. I also loved getting to see Hart in the body of the local bad boy trying to get Ruby to fall for him and trust him again. It was just such a heartbreaking and heartwarming story. I enjoyed every single page of it and I highly recommend it. I loved how the story had a bit of a magical undertone to it with Hart being a spirit in a new body and all that. It was such a good read.

Really glad I read this as I enjoyed it immensely!! This was such an emotional read that portrayed love and loss and grief so beautifully it hurt my heart so so much. If you enjoyed ‘you’ve reached Sam’ you’ll really enjoy this one!

This is such a beautiful multi-POV book with a touch of paranormal romance.

Hart and Ruby are in high school and truly in love when the worst happens -- Hart drowns. Ruby is left to face senior year and the future without her best friend and her love. Hart gets a second chance, only as Jameson, a boy Ruby can't stand, which makes his goal of winning her back all the more difficult.

I loved seeing the connection that tethered Ruby and Hart draw them back together. There's a great cast of secondary characters that are funny and endearing as well, which just made the story all the more pleasurable to read.

Overall, it's a sweet, touching story of finding your true love in high school, second chances, and moving on. The story is told mostly through Hart and Ruby, but there's an occasional Lourdes, the celestial being, POV to fill in some gaps.

Thank you NetGalley and Razorbill for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t know if I have the right words to describe how beautiful this book was!!!! It had me crying hysterically and at the same time warming my heart!!! I don’t want to give too much about the plot but that ending had me crying happy tears!!! This just might be my favorite of this year!!!

Imagine finding your soulmate at such a young age in high school, oh what a wonderful feeling. Knowing you'll get to spend the most and rest of your life with that person.
Only for tragedy to strike.
This emotional journey took me through all the feels, it managed to portray a story of grief and loss, into a beautifully written journey of Hart & Ruby,
It was absolutely extra special that the narrative was in the form of first person multiple point of view.
Loved. Every single bit.

Five stars! This book was immensely enjoyable. The author took great care at the beginning of the novel to show the readers how special Hart and Ruby's relationship was, which definitely helped me feel all the feels as I kept reading. Ruby's pain was palpable, as was Hart's frustration at essentially being stuck in Jameson's body. By the end of the book the tears were really flowing!

This is a paranormal romance but it's different from others in that the paranormality, although it certainly drives the plot, isn't the main focus of the book. And as predictable at the plot sounds by reading the description, it certainly took a different, more emotional journey than I was expecting... as did the ending, which was not something I predicted. On the other hand, Always Isn't Forever falls for the typical YA trap of oblivious and absent parents to a fault... why isn't Jameson's mom more concerned about her son WHO JUST WOKE UP FROM A COMA and takes everything he says at face value.

But overall, Always Isn't Forever is a spectacular YA novel that I didn't want to put down. Five stars! Thank you to Razorbill and NetGalley for the advanced copy; as always, opinions are my own.

This book was heartbreaking and uplifting. I’ve read this trope before but it was an INCREDIBLE take on it. I finished the book smiling.

Hart and Ruby. For Hart it has always been Ruby. But when Hart dies saving a young child in a boating accident, there may have been a mistake. He's gone too soon. When has a chance to come back to earth, the only flaw is that he won't physically be himself. And he'll eventually lose his memories. Is there any way he can find a way to let Ruby know he's back before he loses his final chance?

This is a sweet, tender romance of first love that has to be more, has to last. It's the kind of swoony romance with mystical interaction that young readers will love. Acceptable for middle school readers.

“Here’s the thing about love and time: you always think you’re going to have enough, that there’s an endless supply. And then in an instant it’s all gone.”

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I think J.C. Cervantes did a great job with telling Hart and Ruby’s story. It was a very sad love story, but ultimately has a happy ending for the characters.

Summary: After losing Hart, the love of her life, Ruby struggles with her grief and searches for a connection to him.
Little does she know, Hart is also searching for her and wants to find a way to rekindle the love that they had for each other.

"I'd rather let love break me open than never know its depths"
This book was heart breaking in all the best ways. I spent several chapters wondering what a HEA would look like for our main characters, but the real ending exceed expectations (and was a HEA for those wondering). Keeps you guessing until the end. I will definitely be recommeding this book to others.
"Love doesnt need more than one heart"

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I'm quickly getting hip to the fact that Cervantes is someone I want to read more of/follow because her deeply romantic and heartbreaking stories are *chef's kiss*. This one is no different. With [book:I Heart You, You Haunt Me|1832749], mixed with [book:Every Day|13262783], mixed with [book:The Lovely Bones|12232938], mixed with [book:You've Reached Sam|53086843], and [book:An Arrow to the Moon|41580931] which is why I LOVE it.

It's a star crossed lovers tale in which the two partners are separated- in this case Hart drowns in a boating accident as Hart and Ruby headed into their senior year of high school. She's devastated. Hart gets an opportunity to live in another persons body, but that body is the generally hated teen motorcycle riding badass. And Hart can't share the truth with Ruby. It's an arrangement with an angelic being. Will their love overcome these deficits?

Duh. It's a romance. A tragic romance that makes your heart ache and the return to one another is *fall back on the bed clutching the book* good.

For all fans of You’ve Reached Sam this is the perfect book for you. Although the story did take me a little bit to get into I did fall in love with this book. I cried… a lot, but I also laughed and felt my heart swoon. At the beginning we don’t know if Hart and Rubys love will conquer all, but it does. This story also shows different types of grief. Ruby with her grief of losing the love of her life and Hart with losing his old life and who he once was before he died and an Angel pulled his soul from his body knowing he was dying but it wasn’t his time. As the book progresses you not only fall in love with Hart and Ruby but all the side characters.

I will definitely be ordering a physical copy of this book seeing as I received an ebook from NetGalley for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story was so sad and wonderful. I was crying from the moment Hart died and was heart broken for him and Ruby. Their love story was so wonderful and a testament to true love. This book brought so many emotions and left me in a puddle of feelings.

“In the end, I’d rather let love break me open than never know it’s depths.”

WARNING: you will need tissues. Like, boxes of them.

I have never sobbed so hard while reading a book before. You could feel everything Ruby felt and the power of her grief is overwhelming. This isn’t a long read at only 300 or so pages, but I needed to take so many breaks because putting myself in her shoes and imagining losing the person you love most is devastating. All I could think of was losing my S.O even though he is right next to me, snoring away like a stupid, noisy little airplane. It almost felt as if this book needs to have trigger warnings because I was NOT expecting that level of powerful writing. I absolutely loved this book, it is one of those reads that changes you as a person; at least for a time.

Note- I received a copy of the ebook courtesy of NetGalley, Penguin reading group, and J. C. Cervantes. This ebook was an unedited copy and the above quote may not appear in the final print. (but it should)

This story takes the idea of soulmates to a whole new level, and I absolutely loved it. Ruby and Hart's story is a beautiful and emotional one that paints a really good picture of the ways grief can hit different people. Ruby has lost the love of her life in a sudden and tragic way, and months later she's still learning how to let herself heal without completely letting him go. And while Hart is gifted a second chance, he doesn't get to just tell everyone what happened and pick up where he left off. He also has to grieve the loss of his previous life, witnessing the pain his loved ones are in, and also the reality that sometimes loving someone does mean letting them go. We all face those moments where we have to learn to accept what is, even when it's painful. At the same time, Hart refuses to give up on the belief that love is worth fighting for. It's a heartbreaking struggle that is so well-written, raw, and realistic. I definitely felt all of the emotions these characters were experiencing. I really wasn't sure what kind of ending this story would have, and while I won't spoil it, I will say that it was really well done. It's a well-paced, engaging story that swept me in from the very beginning all the way to the very end.

I really loved both Ruby and Hart as characters, and I'm glad the book is told from both of their perspectives. We not only get to see how grief looks for both of them, but we get sweet little flashbacks of their relationship throughout the years (because they met as adorable little kids) and what it was like for them to fall together. Of course, it makes their separation all the more heartbreaking. But it's so easy to care about and root for them both. I enjoyed all of the side characters as well, and even getting to learn more about who Jameson was before Hart became him. And these characters give the story more than just grief and sadness – there's humor, warmth, and hope all throughout. It's an emotional story, but also a really beautiful one about relationship and connection.

Overall, I absolutely recommend this for anyone who loves a story that pulls at the heartstrings while still leaving you with hope. At its core it's a story about love, a force so powerful it can transcend death. And honestly, what better kind of story is there?

I feel like I’ve seen a lot of books by J. C. Cervantes, but this is the first one I’ve ever read. Since it was compared to YOU’VE REACHED SAM, I really wanted to check it out.

It took me a few chapters to get into the story and really fall in love with Hart and Ruby. I’m not sure why, but once I invested, I felt like it was really easy to enjoy the story.

Some of the mechanics of the plot do require a bit of willing suspension of disbelief. As Jameson, Hart has a super limited amount of time in which he’ll retain his memories of his life as Hart. Once that passes, he’ll have Jameson’s memories but still be Hart in spirit or soul. The rules of Hart’s exchange (his soul in Jameson’s body) state that he can’t tell anyone the truth about who he is and what happened.

There’s a bit of dancing around the edges of those rules and bending them here and there. I think it might be harder to enjoy the story if you needed the spiritual/afterlife side of it to make perfect sense and be perfectly self-consistent.

Fortunately, I found it pretty easy to suspend my disbelief because I wanted to know if and how Ruby and Hart could find one another again. I’m always up for a “Can true love conquer all?” type of story, and this one definitely delivered on that trope.

All in all, I can see fans of YOU’VE REACHED SAM or THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END liking this one. It’s a great light summer book with a sweet love story.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Hart has loved Ruby since the day he saw her when they were 9 years old. It's always been Ruby. Sometimes you just know ehen you're soul mates.

So when Hart's life is cut short and he is given a second chance at life, he knows he wants to go back to see if a life with Ruby would be possible in his "new to him" body. But he can't tell her who he is, so that's a major complicaiton.

A great story about loss and an everlasting love that extends beyond the grave.