Falling into You

By: Jasinda Wilder

Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan, Piper Goodeve

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

I wasn't always in love with Colton Calloway; I was in love with his younger brother, Kyle, first. Kyle was my first one true love, my first in every way. Then, one stormy August night, he died, and the person I was died with him.

Colton didn't teach me how to live. He didn't heal the pain. He didn't make it okay. He taught me how to hurt, how to not be okay, and, eventually, how to let go.

Nell Hawthorne is in love with her life-long best friend, Kyle Calloway. Their young love is invincible and life is full of promise; then one night Kyle dies suddenly in a tragic accident and Nell is forever changed. She meets Kyle's older brother, Colton, for the first time at the funeral. They both struggle to move on with life as best they can. Years later, they meet again in New York City, and Colton realizes that Nell has never really gotten over Kyle's death. She seems to be harboring a deeply rooted pain, a heavy weight of guilt, and regret. He knows he shouldn't get involved, but he can't help himself. Trust doesn't come easily for either of them, and they both have demons. Together, they learn the purpose of pain and the meaning of healing, and the importance of forgiveness.

Mature Content Warning: 17+ for language, and adult situations

This audiobook contains an exclusive copy of Jasinda’s original song "Falling Into You."

©2013 Jasinda Wilder (P)2013 Jasinda Wilder

Gut wrenching but inspiring

This amazing sequel to Falling into You was just as heartbreaking and incredible. At first I was expecting a continuation of Colton and Nell’s story. Although they did make appearances, they were the main characters in the story, and that was more than all right.

Becca and Jason were best friends with Nell and Kyle since they were little. As we know in book one, Kyle dies, and we get to see how the two best friends deal with it.

In a story that takes us from high school to adulthood, we have a great read.

Becca and Jason had their own problems to deal with on top of their best friend’s death. It was a difficult road and every time things started to go good for them another disaster would strike. They went through so much. My heart broke for them each and every time something happened. I could barely keep my chest from tightening and my throat from constricting. But through it all, they had each other and their love never faltered. It kept them going.

Wilder did another great job building these characters and their relationships, thoughts, struggles, and fears. It’s always a special reading experience when reading a book and you can feel what the characters feel.

Becca expresses part of her daily struggles here:


“That’s me
The silent girl
The stutterer
The prisoner
The smart girl
The valedictorian scribbling maledictions to no one”

And here is a part of Jason’s thoughts:


“You’re my woman. Of course
I’m responsible for you. It’s my highest duty in life to take care of you, protect you.”

Here is both of them:


“Promise me you’ll love me forever. No matter what.”
“I can’t promise you forever, Beck. I can’t promise you forever, because that’s not long enough.”

So many stories I read are with the bad guy gone good when he meets his love. Well, Jason was always good. Becca was always good. Regardless of their struggles and pains, they were good people, good to each other. That was how they got through it all.

However, I think the performance lacked a bit. The man's voice could have been a bit more in touch with the character's emotions. It almost felt monotone throughout.

I recommend this story to those that enjoy some sexy times, struggles, angst, love, romance, and great characters.

Not sure what to say!

I'm not sure what to say! At the end of this book, I was not quite sure if I liked it. I know I didn’t love it but I didn’t exactly hate it. The story seems split. Instead of a mix of happy and sad, it really is mostly sad and you keep waiting for the happy. When the happy comes, it’s not a rush of relief or yeahhhh it finally happened because the book becomes pretty graphic sexually. This made me feel like it really wasn’t a romance between the two. It was more like a crash. I also had a hard time understanding the depth of the pain Nell goes through. The great great great extreme sorrow she puts herself in because she feels Kyle’s death was all her fault when it obviously was not, just felt way over the top.

I know the characters talk about how they are healing, but the things they do don’t seem to back that up. When the story finished, I liked them but still felt so so sorry for them and wanted just a little bit more from the author to make me more secure that everything would be okay. Maybe this is more of a ‘real life story’. I tend to like the fairy tale stories. I like that rush of giddiness and the smile that comes over me when the main characters jump those hurtles and they find each other through all the misfortunes. Or a really good mystery that keeps you guessing. This book had none of that.

I really liked the readers, there are two (a male and female). Both do a good job, have pleasant voices and perform well for the characters. In the end, I am not upset I spent the credit as I do think it was a good, yet sad, story. Just make sure you are not using this for a ‘fun day at the beach’. This is more of a listen on a ‘solitary night in front of the fire while knitting or sewing’ type of book. I would not want to be driving and listening to this. I will be listening to the next book as I already bought it. I have been putting it off for a while, I just can’t seem to get myself worked up enough to listen to it.

Tearjerker but so good

I'm finding it so hard to review this book. The first time I listened to it I was in total shock. Months later I decided to listen again but I was afraid of how it was going to make me feel. But I love Jasinda Wilder so I took the plunge. Though I knew what to expect I still cried and I'm still sad. I love happy endings so I guess I'd just have to write my own. The story is still amazing the second time around.

Grab the tissues!!!

Any additional comments?

THE BOOK STARTS OFF BY GIVING YOU A SHORT SNIPIT OF TWO TEENAGERS GROWING UP TOGETHER BEING THE BEST OF FRIENDS AND GROWING INTO A STRONG TEENAGE ROMANCE. THEY KNEW EVERYTHING- AND ONE THING THEY DID KNOW THAT THEY WOULD GROW OLD TOGETHER, JUST AS SOON AS THEY GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL. THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE KYLE AND NELL. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH THAT YOU ARE PAINED WHEN THEIR WEEKEND GETAWAY TURNED FATAL.. WE KNOW THAT KYLE DIES, AND THAT'S JUST THE SYNOPSIS AND THE BEGINNING. WHAT HAPPENS THE REST OF THE STORY MAKES YOU CRY,CRY,CRY!!!!! I'M NOT HERE TO SUGAR COAT THINGS, THIS BOOK SUCKS!! NOT BAD SUCKS, BUT DON'T READ IT WHILE YOUR PMS'ING BECAUSE THE UGLY CRY WILL BE UGLIER!

ALL NELL KNEW WAS KYLE. WHEN COLTON CALLOWAY (KYLE'S BROTHER) RETURNS TO MOURN THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER, HE JUST KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT NELL THAT HE NEEDED AND WANTED. COLTON WASN'T THE SAME AS HIS BROTHER- HE WAS THE SMOKING BAD BOY. HE WAS OLDER.AND DEF OFF-LIMITS. BUT HE MAY BE THE ONLY THING THAT SAVES HER LIFE AND HER SANITY.

THIS BOOK WAS VERY EMOTIONAL, YOU WENT THRU THE STAGES OF GRIEF, ANGER AND HAPPINESS. THE AUDIO MADE IT SO MUCH REALER. IT WAS DONE BY A MALE AND FEMALE NARRATOR, AND YOU GOT THE FEELING THAT THEY FELT SO MUCH WHEN IT WAS BEING NARRATED.

Worth the Credit!!!

The book starts by giving you a glimpse of two teenagers growing into adulthood falling in to what they believe is true love. We experience soul wrenching tragedy that in turn brings a new blossoming romance. Unfortunately, both main characters are struggling with hidden dark pain& sorrow. I enjoyed the two narrators portrayed in this book. This book was a pleasant surprise!

Rips your heart to pieces

So I cried allot while I listened to this book. It's crammed with so much heartache but strength too. This book really moved me and it was stunning in the depth of heartache that the author and the narrators conveyed. This definately is not a light feel good listen. It rips you up and spits you out. Colton and Nell are very damaged but they understand each others pain like no one else can. With both of them so damaged though, will they survive? I'd like to think so. With such intensity I'm sure to get the next book and see how this story continues.

Worth a credit? YES! Just make sure you have a kleenex nearby.

Hard to categorize this one!

STORY (contemporary romance) - The story line of Falling Into You has three very different parts, with each having a different mood and feel. The first part is a sweet and sexually inquisitive romance between Nell and Kyle. (It will bring back memories of high school and your first love!) This part of the book ends with a horrible accident, and Nell holds Kyle's hand as he dies. It's heart-wrenching and made me cringe, and I was really glad when it was finished. At Kyle's funeral, Nell runs into his older brother Colton, a "bad boy" who lives in New York. (This is all in the publisher's summary - no spoilers here).

Fast-forward a few years, and the story changes to a much darker one. Nell blames herself for Kyle's death and is pretty screwed up about it. She runs into Colton again, and they start seeing each other. He's determined to help her heal emotionally, and he's also very attracted to her. We learn about his problems and his violent past, but we also see his creative and sensitive side. They share their guilt and emotions, but will it be enough to keep them together?

Then, in my opinion, the story changes a third time and turns very sexually explicit for a very long time. I'm not prudish or offended in any way, but this large part of the book is definitely X-rated. The story concludes well, and there's a nice performance of a song titled "Falling Into You" at the end.

PERFORMANCE - There are two narrators who alternate reading this book -- a young female for Nell and a male for Colton. Their overall performances are good, but the female's performance during the accident gave me goose bumps.

OVERALL - Pretty good book, but not great. It's touching and sweet, but there's also some difficult scenes. There's also lots of cursing and sex, which may be offensive to some listeners.

Confusing yet touching

I have a hard time describing this book. The first few chapters felt like young adult - teenage girl with a ton of melodrama. Think Twilight. Just when I was about to give up on it, the story and narrator changed to Colton's POV. It was refreshing to hear a new voice and the story suddenly seemed adult. THEN, it went off the deep end with extremely graphic sex scenes. I actually like some sex scenes but this was a bad combination of sexual detail and melodrama.

I was particularly annoyed when the book changed back to Nell narration and the the female narrator was now doing the Colton dialogue even though we'd already heard male narrator as Colton.

Some moments were touching and sweet and the dialogue felt real if not witty or clever. The music references were genius. This book would have been really cool with a soundtrack.

Heartfelt but lacking

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

I read the reviews for this book and dove right in. It sounded like a great, tear-jerking read and I was in the mood for one. While Kyle and Nell make a great story, and it warns of adult language and situations, this book seemed more like a young adult novel than an adult one. The skittish sex, understandable considering their age and the story, but just the way the characters interact with each other and the way the characters themselves are. Nell is immature and self centered and shows it quite a bit throughout the story. I expected it at the beginning when she was sixteen, but it showed when she was an adult also.

Nell is very selfish. Her boyfriend died, in a tragic way, trying to save her and two days later she is kissing his older brother? What? No amount of emotional upheaval can condone that, even for my jaded mind that was a no-no. And then later in the book she is a cutter and a drinker? I don't see how she got to that point, where were her parents?

It just leaves a lot out, and the narrator for Nell is pretty good, but the narrator for Colt is...bland. He is emotionless and it kind of ruins it. Maybe if I read the book instead of listened to it, it would have been a bit better for me. All in all, it is a good read that will have your emotions on a roller coaster, but the parts that weren't emotional just lacked for me. The emotional plot is very well written, but the other parts of the story seemed bland.

A lot of the time I found myself wanting to scream at Nell, telling her to stop being so selfish, that yes, her boyfriend died, in a horrible way and it was awful, but she wasn't the only one who lost him, and while I understood that she had a lot of guilt, understandably, the way she dealt with it throughout the story was just off.

I did like the way her relationship with Colt developed though, it was very nice (That I won't spoil!).

This is a heart wrenching story about Nell trying to get her life back together after a tragic accident, finding comfort and love with Colt, and it is a good story. I probably wouldn't read it again, but it still made for a good read, just not the best. If you're looking for an emotional release, this book will do it for you though, but I would recommend reading it rather than listening to it.

And then...

Love the book, love all her books but part 2 and 3, the female part was annoying because the book says...”and then” over and over to the point I almost had to turn it off