The way this book pulled at all my emotions. It is such a beautiful story of love, loss, grief, rediscovery. The writing of this story just pulls you in and I was so captivated in this love story. Told in dual timelines of past and present. You need both to really fully grasp the story and to relive the love story of Mina meeting and falling in love with her husband. That love is so powerful and all encompassing. I really felt all the love and emotion in that relationship- but as she starts unraveling clues you start to feel and see things differently. I do recommend diving into this one blind to not have any of the mysteries and possible twists spoiled.

This was such an emotional ride.
The ups and downs-the swoon and frustration! I feel like my heart is still recovering from the twists this story took! The raw emotion coupled with the sweet and funny moments made this a five star read for me. I’ve struggled with contemporary stories keeping my interest but this was a page turner! You will love Mina, and root for her while she finds her spark again. And Grayson? Oh Grayson. You’ll see. I absolutely recommend!

This book got me. There were things I was like how are they going to do this? And the twist I was like whaaaaaa. They got me. I loved the flash backs, they made me swoon. The way the author tied everything together was so good. At first you’re like ummm WHAT. But then it all comes together and your mind explodes a bit. It was different than other books I have read. Seriously it was just really really good and weeks later I’m STILL thinking about it! Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The writing style had a very pompous and cheesy air to it that I couldn’t get past, and it was very “insta love.” The premise and the plot twist element intrigued me but it wasn’t enough to outweigh the negatives.

Shaylin Gandhi’s When We Had Forever is a moving and beautifully written romance that explores themes of love, loss, and second chances. The story centers around Emily and Jack, two characters whose lives intersect in a way that reignites old flames and forces them to confront their past.

Gandhi excels at creating emotional depth, particularly through Emily’s journey as she navigates the complexities of rekindling her relationship with Jack after years apart. The way Emily grapples with her unresolved feelings and the regrets of her past makes her a deeply relatable and sympathetic character. Jack, on the other hand, is portrayed with a blend of charm and vulnerability that makes his quest for redemption and reconciliation with Emily both compelling and heartfelt.

One standout moment in the novel is when Emily and Jack revisit their favorite spots from their youth, such as the quaint café where they first met and the scenic park where they shared many memories. These scenes are evocatively described, bringing their shared history to life and highlighting the emotional stakes of their renewed relationship.

While the novel is engaging, some plot developments felt a bit predictable, especially in the way the central conflict is resolved. Certain aspects of their journey could have benefited from deeper exploration to add more nuance to their evolving relationship. For instance, more insight into Jack’s personal growth and the challenges he faces in making amends would have enriched the narrative.

Overall, When We Had Forever is a heartfelt and enjoyable read. Shaylin Gandhi captures the essence of rekindling love with sensitivity and grace, making it a worthwhile pick for fans of contemporary romance who appreciate a story about the enduring power of love and the possibility of new beginnings.

Addicting and deeply romantic, WHEN WE HAD FOREVER is a powerful story of unwavering love. Intricately crafted, with evocative prose and crackling tension, Gandhi takes us on a beautiful journey of self-rediscovery.

This book was absolutely fantastic!!! I am so amazed by this ending. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Wonderfully written.

✨”I can almost see it—us leading a normal life, like two people who just met and fell in love and didn't have an ocean's worth of lies and lost chances between them. But, we aren't those people. We never will be.”✨

“When We Had Forever” is a gripping, fast-paced, suspenseful and mysterious romance. There were times I COULD NOT stop reading or even believe what I was reading!! Some paragraphs had me reading them twice to fully grasp the truth of what was unfolding!

This stand-alone story starts by focusing on the FMC, Mina, and the recent death of her husband. We go on a journey through grief and recovery as Mina reflects on the past, while coming to terms with where she is presently. Life-changing discoveries will force her to examine everything she thought to be real, what true love means, and where her future will take her.

This book took me by surprise and was a welcomed change of pace from my normal romance reads! I would recommend it for those who enjoy:
🖤mysterious, plot twisting romance
🖤dual timeline (past and present)
🖤second chance
🖤”all this time” trope
🖤love after loss
🖤healing from trauma/self-discovery

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and author, Shaylin Gandhi, for the opportunity to read an eARC in exchange for my honest review. I will be preordering a physical copy of this for my bookshelf!

I read 85% of this book in one sitting because I was enjoying it and wanted to see how everything played out. This book does include the insta-love trope which I do not like, but the direction the book went in made it easier to read. I caught on to the "twist", if you will, very early on and I think the way that played out was well written by the author, it was best case scenario for me. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a story about love, loss and uncovering secrets. The plot is told in different time lines, which at times did get win the way of the flow of the plot. Overall this was a good book, just slow at times.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks so much for the arc!

This book was a RoLLeRcOAstEr!!! We meet Mina who just lost her husband, Michael. The grief is heavy and so very sad as they are in their late thirties. This story has a dual timeline where we bounce back and forth in Mina & Michaels relationship. We watch them meet & take a wild journey together.

As we uncover more of their story we learn that Mina wasn’t really happy. The man she fell for in their beginning days has tamed so much. He doesn’t let her really travel, but provides a cushy life for her- giving her little room to complain. But he also seems to be holding secrets. This really roped me in as a reader. I was starting to struggle with where this book was going and if it was going to be pure sadness. When we realize something may be up with Michael I was hooked more.

After her husbands passing she is contacted by his twin brother, Grayson. She is aware that he and Michael had a terrible relationship and much hurt between them. I will say this part of the book started to give me “the ick.” Grayson seemed to be attracted to Mina. I was honestly wondering “what am I reading?!” But I was hooked and stuck with it. This story had some crazy twists and turns! I’m glad I stuck it out!

I wanted to love but but it is just not for me - i ended up DNF-in about 35% in - just not the book for me

When We had Forever by Shaylin Gandhi

4.9⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: ebook ARC (thanks @NetGalley)

Loved:
*Fast-paced
*Twins
*"Grown-up" Monopoly
*Twist

Loved Less:
*Nothing

Description:
Six months after her husband died in a car crash, Mina Drake is still mired in a haze of grief. Reminders of her years with Michael are everywhere, but beneath her heartache lies an even more painful emotion. It’s a guilty suspicion she can hardly admit to anyone, even herself—that her marriage was over long before Michael’s accident.
They were good together once, she’s sure of it, sharing a connection so deep that Mina can’t understand how it unraveled. That is, until a chance discovery in her husband’s office—and the reappearance of Michael’s estranged brother, Grayson, a notorious bad-boy photographer—awakens her to possible answers.
More shocking still is the pull Mina feels to the tattooed, scarred Grayson, who’s nothing at all like the man she married. But as feelings stir to life again, so do secrets, changing everything she thought she knew about her marriage, and about the risks and rewards of loving with no limits…

My opinion:
Awesome plot (perfect in length and pace) with greatly developed characters. I could not put this ebook down. The twins add great interest to the book. The love and then hate I feel for certain characters is visceral. Shaylin really gets the "feels" feeling! The main twist is fantastic (I could guess somewhat of what was happening, but not in entirety). Lovely settings described well, without too much detail. This novel is one of my top 5 this year...out of 116 so far. I wholly recommend this novel to anyone, especially to those who enjoy romance...with some twists and angst.

#bookstagram #arcreader #booklovers #booktok #romancebooks #netgalley #WhenWeHadForever #teamgrayson

When We Had Forever is a uniquely written romance with an exploration of love, loss, and rediscovery. It is a balance between heartache and hope. The story begins with Mina who is dealing with the grief of losing her husband, Michael. As she navigates her new reality as a widow, the novel alternates between her present turmoil and her past relationship with her husband. It shows how they fell in love and how things changed over the years in their marriage. She starts to reflect on the past with a new mindset and that changes how she wants to spend her future. And then her estranged brother-in-law comes into her life and that is when things get intense. I don’t want to give anything away, there were lots of twists I didn’t see coming... I couldn’t put this down, it’s thrilling, mysterious, and romantic. If you enjoy Colleen Hoover and Lucy Score, you will devour this story.

Insta love
Dual timelines
Second chance
Miscommunication
Longing angst pining
Death loss grief
Forgiveness
Betrayal


Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin, and Shaylin Gandhi for sending this eARC

DNF
I was taken in by the premise, I love a good love-at-first-sight trope but this story was not what I was expecting. The alternating time lines did little to nothing to give more insight to the story or sparked my interest, literally barely anything happened, there also wasn’t any meaningful interactions with other characters, just not for me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an early copy of the book "When We Had Forever."

I was intrigued by the premise, expecting a suspenseful romance. However, what I encountered was quite the opposite. From the get-go, I anticipated the twist, but I continued reading, hoping that the storytelling would compensate for the obvious predictability. Unfortunately, what I got was a superficial love-at-first-sight with minimal depth and an abundance of poetic writing. Moreover, there were hardly any meaningful interactions with other characters.

I presumed that the alternating timelines would provide insight into their story, but aside from the lyrical prose, not much happened. I was particularly uncomfortable with the excessive emphasis placed on the characters' physical appearance, specifically their slenderness and abs. It felt as though one glance at the stars and a description of their physical attributes were sufficient to establish their connection.

When the betrayals and secrets within Mina's marriage were revealed, her response was nothing more than romanticizing it. The story was filled with cliches reminiscent of 90s romance novels, but in a negative way.

Overall, "When We Had Forever" is not a book that I would recommend.

A swoon-worthy, epic love story with heart wrenching grief and second chances, Shaylin Gandhi delivers a masterpiece.

This dual-timeline romance is gripping and catapults the audience straight into Mina’s grief as she is newly widowed. As she takes a walk(or run) down memory lane, she analyzes the choices she’s made within the 14 years since she’s crossed paths with charming Michael Drake. He turns her world upside down and inside out, their chemistry igniting instantly. During her grieving process, Michael Drake’s brother, Grayson, makes a sudden appearance in her life and she can’t seem to shake him.

I am in awe of the way Gandhi takes us through the inner turmoil of Mina. The way she navigates her feelings and emotions through flashbacks and her present experiences are beautiful. She constantly reminds us that living for today is what’s most important, tomorrow doesn’t exist yet and yesterday is no longer a concern.

The love that develops is wholesome and heartwarming. It’s passionate and full of longing, but hope for a happy ending is enough to make this an epic love story. I enjoyed every moment of this book and was fully immersed in these characters lives. I felt every emotion from every character. My heart was ripped out and made whole again.

This is a non-negotiable 5 star read.

Rate 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced copy of this novel. This book is not at all what I expected in the best way.

As the book opens, we find that Mina has lost her husband after a decade of marriage. I thought this would be the story of her grief and moving on. While it was in some ways, this book was full of twists and turns.
This novel reminded me of the movie 'The Prestige', where you aren't sure which characters can be trusted, and the subtle changes in personalities have you questioning everything. I think because of this, I was able to guess the curveball right away.
This story has dual timelines from before Mina's husbands passing to after. The back and forth helped build the mystery as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

This book leans toward instalove, The characters had great chemistry from the start, and as the reader, I felt myself rooting for them.
I applaud the author for taking a different path in this book than your typical romance.
I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and pacing of this book and would recommend it.

When We Had Forever was recommended by another author I follow. Wow I'm glad I listened. This was a suspenseful emotional roller coaster of love, loss and grief and the realization of the truth. I appreciate how this story was uniquely written with a dual timeline. It kept the reader on one’s toes. I truly enjoyed reading this book. This is the first time I have read any works by Shaylin Gandhi and I look forward to reading more from her.

In this dual timeline romance, you’re dropped right into grief as newly widowed, Mina, is trying to wade her way through her grief. She’s just lost the love of her life and now his estranged brother is reaching out to make sure she’s okay. The problem, Grayson is Michael’s twin and it’s painful to hear his voice and see him without falling back into the depths. When Mina discovers her husband had been hiding a huge secret for her for 14 years, her world explodes around her. Have the last 14 years been a lie?

He tucks a long strand of hair behind my ear. “No secrets, then?” “Not here. What about you? Any closeted skeletons I should know about?” He doesn’t blink. “Nothing I won’t tell you eventually.”

This book is unlike any I’ve read in a long time. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I kept turning to my husband and verbalizing all my speculation. Along with the mystery you find yourself falling in love with her love story, angry and hopeful. There was a whole spectrum of emotions. This is my first book by Shaylin Gandhi and it won’t be my last. I love her writing style! Cannot wait for this to come out to share with my friends!

Trigger Warnings: Grief, death of a loved one (off page), physical violence (off page), manipulation.

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press and Shaylin Gandhi for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of the book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.