Review: Watch Over Me

Title: Watch Over Me

Author: Mila Gray

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: December 3, 2019

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Summary

Zoey’s been caring for her mom, sister, and brother ever since their dad was put in prison for domestic violence. She’s made sacrifices in order to ensure that her family stays together. However, when her father gets out of prison, their life is once again turned upside down.

Moving to California, Zoey finds herself drawn to Tristan, her older brother’s friend from high school. As a promise to his friend, he’s protecting Zoey and the rest of her family. Helping them try to get their lives back together.

However, Zoey’s and Tristan’s relationship quickly evolves into something more. Maybe Zoey can finally be happy–until her father shows up again.

Review: Watch Over Me

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book to review! It turns out that a romance was just what I needed right now to balance out the stress of work and the end of the semester. This is my first Mila Gray novel, but I definitely wasn’t disappointed. Her romance is woven in with real world issues, populated with characters that you really care about. As you’ve probably heard before, this is one of the most important things for me in a book.

The pacing in this book was impeccable. Sometimes, romance books can fall prey to uneven pacing, with particularly slow points in the middle. The danger of Zoey’s dad finding them permeates throughout the novel, leaving you turning the pages to see what’s going to happen next. With small hints slowly escalating throughout the novel, readers will find themselves wanting to devour this book in one sitting.

This book is definitely for an older audience, and could be triggering to those who have dealt with domestic violence. All in all, it brings into conversation a lot of important issues and is a lot deeper than a typical, “fluffy” romance.

4/5 stars