She’s the only one who ever loved him—and the only one he can never have. 

Jude lost everything one spring day when he crashed his car into an apple tree on the side of the road. A man is dead, and there's no way he can ever right that wrong. He’d steer clear of Colebury, Vermont forever if he could. But an ex-con in recovery for his drug addiction can’t find a job just anywhere. 

For Sophie Haines, coming face to face with the man who broke her heart is gut-wrenching. Suddenly, he’s everywhere she turns. It’s hard not to stare at how much he’s changed. The bad boy who used to love her didn’t have big biceps and sun-kissed hair. And he’d never turn up volunteer in the church kitchen. 

She knows it’s foolish to yearn for the man who returned all the heartsick letters she wrote him in prison. But the looks he sends her now speak volumes. 

No one wants to see Sophie and Jude back together, least of all Sophie's police chief father. But it's a small town. And forbidden love is a law unto itself.

Sarina Bowen is an auto-buy author for me. Her newest series is about some Vermont guys that just want to have their happily ever afters with the women they love. The books are really sweet and super romantic but also have their Sarina Bowen shot of hotness. 

I enjoyed Steadfast quite a lot. Jude and Sophie were great as MCs and made me feel all the feels since the very first page. I knew I was about to be crushed when I read the blurb and started the book. It's actually a wild ride. You don't see much of them meeting until a bit far in the book which was fine by me because it wasn't just about them being together but being able to grow as their own person. 

Jude has to deal with lots of things: work, his family, his addiction (which Bowen doesn't romanticize!!) and seeing Sophie again after so many years. He's keeping secrets and he is struggling but he is set to become a better person, for himself and for Sophie. I love love love seeing the Shipleys again because they help Jude so much and treat him as he is part of the fam which is awesome.

Sophie's life isn't sweet and easy either. After the death of her brother, her family has been destroyed. Mom sits down without doing nothing all day. Dad is treating her so much worse than before. She has to do everything in her house or it will fall down soon enough. And when she finds out Jude is back in town, her plans go out the window. We see verbal abuse in Sophie's house: her father treats her horrible, so horrible that he calls her horrible nouns I don't want to mention but you can probably imagine. 

So this book is different from Bittersweet in a way that it speaks a lot louder in terms of drug addiction and abuse. It has all the romance and these two are so damn adorable but yeah, you cannot just leave out these and not talk about them. 

I am very excited about the 3rd and final (? I think so) book of this series!! Zach is someone I've wanted to know his story for a while now. It's gonna be supaaaah.