When I Should've Stayed

Red Bridge, Book 2

By: Max Monroe

Narrated by: Ryan West, Mindy Kennedy

Josie: Before The Moment

There are ghosts at every corner. In the stolen kisses while I waitressed at the diner, in the town festivals in the square, in the many jokes about Betty Bagley and her pie at the Fall Farmer’s Market, and in countless nights spent watching Clay make drinks with that handsome smile of his plastered on his face while I sat on a stool at the bar.

It should all feel familiar and comforting, and yet, it makes it hard for the person I am now to breathe at all.

I wish I’d been stronger. I wish I’d been wiser. I wish I didn’t have to do this.

I wish.

Tonight will be a defining moment for the rest of my life.

I have to end it now …

… before it ends me.

Clay: After The Moment

When Josie and I said, ‘I do’, I thought it’d be us against the world forever. But I wasn’t expecting the world to be so against us.

I know I should’ve stayed that night, and I should have gone back a heck of a lot sooner.

Because I don’t know how to be here. I don’t know how to be anywhere.

Truth is, I don’t know how to be without Josie at all.

She might think we’re done, but I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure we’re not.

©2025 Max Monroe (P)2025 Recorded Books

I liked it!

Where do I start with this one?! First I would definitely recommend reading the first book in this series before this one!

I really struggled with how I was going to review this one! I enjoyed it but I thought that the book was kind of drawn out a bit. The story timeline jumps around a lot. The majority of the book is a recap of the first book just from different points of view. Which reliving parts of the first book had me an emotional wreck just as bad as the first book did. It takes a lot to get me to shed a tear while reading. As in hardly ever!

I did love Josie and Clay as characters though. There was so much build up between them that by the time you got to the end you didn’t get to enjoy the after effects of the build up. If that makes sense. The story was over.

What I think kept me engaged with the book was the audio. I did an immersive read. The narrators did a really good job at bringing the characters to life! The book did play out like a movie in my mind.

I looooooved the first book in this series! I liked this one! This won’t be my last book by the authors!

I did't think I could love Red Bridge more...ope!

I don’t even know where to begin except to say: I blubbered through a pile of Kleenex the size of a small mountain with this one. When I Should’ve Stayed absolutely demolished my heart and picked it back up in the most tender, soul-shaking way...oy vey. I wasn't fully prepared for this one!

I listened to the entire audiobook in one day. I was up far too late editing photos and figured I’d listen while I worked. Maybe a little mistake because once I hit play, I couldn’t stop. The narrators were outstanding. They didn’t just read Clay and Josie’s story, for me, they became them. The emotion in their voices made me feel like I was living each moment alongside them. BRAVO!

First love of this book: Clay. MY Clay. His patience, his care, his unwavering love for Josie, gah! He is utter perfection. He’s the kind of man who waits not so quietly, but gently and completely. The way he loves her through distance and conflict? The way he calls her “baby” like it holds their whole history? His heart undid me. Clay Harris is now one of my all-time favorite book men.

And Josie...I am getting weepy just writing about this because her story hit home for me in ways I didn’t expect. While my own loss didn’t happen in a single catastrophic moment…yet, aren’t all miscarriages catastrophic? Losing a life you’re building, mourning a dream that once felt so certain, that you loved so completely so quickly no matter how tiny or how short of a time you carried them... it’s utterly heart-crushing. And being told your childbearing journey is over, whether you’re ready or not, is a grief so complex it’s hard to put into words.

After our youngest was born, I had to have a hysterectomy. I didn’t get to decide when that chapter closed for me, and there’s something about being told your body won’t do that again that drains someone who wants it...it's a quiet, irreversible loss that lingers in ways people don’t often talk about. But Max Monroe did. They did talk about it, and through Josie, they showed it. Artfully, thoughtfully, thoroughly. Thank you both for your thoughtfulness, care, and emotion tied to such tricky topics.

There were moments where I felt frustrated with her. But I also understood her, how she handled her grief, her secrets, her silence, so completley. Sometimes survival doesn’t look like strength, it looks like shutting down, closing off, pretending you're fine. Watching her unravel in both timelines then begin to piece herself back together had me reaching for tissues more times than I can count.

On a lighter note, Grandma Ellis? She is one of my favorite side characters and an absolute icon. She brought humor, truth, and warmth in all the right moments. I want to bottle her up and carry her with me. She reminded me of the power of showing up for someone: even if you can’t fix it, you stay. Simple as that!

And let’s not forget Summer. Good LAWD. Her story broke me in book one, but in this one, it literally broke something open in me. The way love and loss intertwined around her character was handled so delicately. Max Monroe wrote these grief arcs with such care, and I’ll never forget them.

As a second book in a series, it’s stunning. The dual timeline, the emotional layers, the small-town setting, it was all pitch perfect. And now that I have a STONG inkling around who book three will follow? I’m completely hooked! I cannot wait to see how that pans out!

Final verdict: This book isn't just a love story—it’s a story about loss, healing, and staying. It’s a story that saw parts of me I don’t often show. The audiobook was perfection. The writing was brave. And the characters, especially Clay, Josie, Grandma, and Summer, have left a permanent imprint on my heart. If you’ve ever loved, lost, or had to let go of a future you thought was yours, this book is for us.

Tear Jerker

What I Should’ve Said
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧🎧🎧🎧
Narrated by: Erin Mallon & Jason Clarke

I randomly found this in my Audible library and still don’t remember buying it—but I’m so glad I did. It instantly became a favorite of the year.

Bennett is broody but also selfless—a devoted single dad, which gets me every time. He’s not exactly looking for love, but it literally runs out in front of his car.

Nora is a runaway bride in search of safety and a purpose, and somehow finds both in a little town with a yellow bridge called Red Bridge. Oh, and with a broody man and his sunshine daughter, Summer. 🌞

I absolutely adored Summer and her instant connection with Nora. This story broke my heart and stitched it back together—though it left a little piece behind.

All over the place

I did not like the format of this story. It was way all over the place too confusing not like his other books. It’s OK to go back in time so but not every four chapters. It’s just way all over the place.

So bad

I gave 5 stars because everything being judged did deserve 5 stars. What I don’t like here or in any story is bouncing back and forth in the storyline. Not only is the story years apart but also broken up like it was in categories. That’s extremely annoying to try to follow the story. Great story but I believe it could have been delivered smoother and easier to follow.