Listen… When I Was Theirs broke me. I knew going in this was going to be heavy on the emotions, but my god I wasn’t prepared to be this genuinely devastated.

I sobbed, so fucking much. Seriously, so so much. I honestly didn’t think I would ever stop crying, but I didn’t because this ended up being such a beautifully written story about healing and finding love after loss & every little moment mended my broken heart.

Highly recommend if you enjoy getting your heart shattered and sobbing uncontrollably.

I hate to be this person, but it just confused me to much with all the diffrient POV’s, I personaly try my best to avoid putting myself in these situations but sometimes it is not obvious from the blurb that it is a multiple POV book. And sadly this is, but before my brain got all to scrambled i did enjoy what i was reading. It was just not for me

First and foremost all I can say is, WOW.

“When I Was Theirs” made my heart gush, break and heal all at once.

One night working in a bar Emmy Marsters meets Ben Bennett under unusual circumstances. What should have been an odd occurrence between two strangers turns into a nightly routine. However a dark secret looks over Emmy and Ben’s bright future. Ben tries to shelter Emmy from feeling the inevitable pain, but he is no match for Emmy. He lets down his guard and lets Emmy in. As quickly as their love story begins, it’s over just as fast… until Ben’s brother Jared comes along

Jared was never meant to stay. A ball of anger due to life’s unfortunate circumstances, he’s abrasive and cold. That is until Ben asks Jared for a promise. Wanting nothing to do with the request, Jared drowns himself in the comfort of alcohol while trying to ignore his brother’s request. Eventually Jared decides to follow through. Instead of driving right in, he puts up walls and boundaries that won’t allow him to cross any lines.

Slowly over time Jared and Emmy start to spend time together bonding over pain, Jared taking over Ben’s nightly routine. During one of those routines, Emmy’s dark past turns up causing Jared to doubt her. Jared realizing he made a mistake, decides to block out his regret and shame by getting drunk. What he doesn’t know is Emmy’s nightmare is waiting for her. From there, hell breaks loose leaving Emmy and Jared to deal with the consequences. In dealing with the fallout, the power of hope, healing and love is uncovered.


Evelyn Flood did an amazing job creating such emotion behind the story. For those who have suffered the same fate as Ben (along with loved ones) it’s a heartbreaking reminder that life is never fair. Be that as it may it serves as a beautiful reminder to as Evelyn puts it, “Breathe. Live in the Little Moments. The bigger things will still be there, whether you worry about them or not.”

Another thing I truly appreciated that Evelyn articulated well, is Jared’s struggles && recovery. Without spoiling the story line, the sacrifices Jared made not only for himself but for Emmy eventually leading to Emmy’s self discovery was absolutely beautiful. It shows what a real relationship with someone in recovery should look like. Both people working on themselves first, before coming together as one.

I thoroughly enjoyed “When I Was Theirs” and I’ll definitely be reading Evelyn Flood’s books..

ARC - PUBLICATION DATE 14TH NOV 2024

5 ☆

『 tropes 』
•insta-love
•second chances
•cancer
•alcoholism
•mental health
•death
•two brothers

『 plot 』
emmy is hurting, she is just getting by, she works two jobs just to distract herself from her past, and is just living in limbo.

ben is leaving, it’s not permanent, it can’t be. he’s hurting, he’s leaving, he’s trying really hard to stay positive and leave how he wants to, alone and hurting no one else.

but the night emmy and ben meet, ben knows he can’t stay away from her, he should, but he can’t. they have a fast, instant, whirlwind romance but ben has a secret, a secret that will inevitably break them apart, with ben leaving and emmy heartbroken.

then comes jared, ben’s brother. he’s bitter, he’s hurting and he’s angry. but he needs to see ben before ben leaves.

ben broke emmy’s heart, but can jared but it back together?

『 my thoughts 』
this book made me feel, SO much. it was beautiful, it was heartbreaking, it was hopeful, it was meaningful, it was just everything.

this book is just simply about love, about different love, at different stages of a person’s life.

emmy and ben’s love was fast, it was instant, it was all consuming, it was temporary, it took and took and took and it was exactly the kind of love that ben needed in that particular time in his life, he needed someone to love him with everything they had. it was also the love that emmy needed at that particular time, it needed to show her what real love was, it needed to heal her, to consume her, even though in the end it broke her.

emmy and jared’s love was slow, it was cautious, it was thoughtful, it was unconditional, it was healing, it was unselfish and beautiful and it was forever

『 overall 』
i loved this book so much, i loved the complexity of all the characters and topics and themes of the story. it was thought provoking, it was insightful, it was messy and scary and bittersweet. i need this book to be read far and wide. i’m obsessed.