How a meeting between two dogs can turn into something just…

Synopsis

She missed out on her happily ever after.

He’s not sure if he deserves one.

Sometimes, fate needs a helping hand…

Bethany Cross is ready for the mother of all fresh starts. No more self-sacrifice. No more city smog. And definitely no more lying, cheating ex-husbands who make divorce proceedings an actual living hell. Instead: Cotswolds. Country air. Candle making.

But when her Yorkshire Terrier, Poppy, makes the “acquaintance” of a rather virile Dachshund, the irritatingly handsome barrister attached to him makes Beth’s newly simple life…complicated.

James Taylor has ditched the courtroom for the countryside while he cares for his terminally ill sister. When a prickly, flame-haired, and newly single Londoner moves into the Taylors’ rental cottage, she looks like just the distraction James needs. But each encounter is an escape that only amplifies just how much he’s about to lose.

As Beth’s walls of caution start to crumble under James’ touch, past scars threaten to engulf the first sparks of chemistry. And when reality catches up with them, both must find a way forward — even when the future seems unbearable.

Always Beth is a dual first person POV, open door romance, featuring a swoonworthy MMC, bittersweet family ties and a HEA.

My review

Bethany Cross, Beth for friends, is ready to start afresh, even if her lying, cheating husband is making it difficult to get a divorce.
With her moving to the Cotswolds, she hopes to have some peace with her lovely Yorkshire Terrier, Poppy and Beth’s candle making.
Little does Beth know that when Poppy meets Dachshund Dick, it will change her life too. Because even if James Taylor irks her in every wrong way, she starts to not getting him out of her mind.
But James has just left the courtroom to take care of his terminally ill sister Lauren. And he for sure has no time to think about the new tenant of the cottage… Yet he cannot stop thinking about her too
Perhaps they can be the distraction the both of them need… 

When I started reading this book, I thought I had it all figured out: woman meets man, woman clashes with man, woman and man fall in love, woman and man live happily ever after.
Well, I quickly realized that the big lines I had indeed correct, but I never expected to also have my heart broken, a few times just lightly but few times also hugely… 

At the first meeting with Beth, I felt sorry for her… Her marriage is over, and while her greatest wish is to get a final closure over it, her husband refuses to give in easily. His position is also making it difficult for Beth to find someone ready to fight in her corner.
And it saddened me to see how she wasn’t able to completely move on because of him.
I also understood why she initially kept everyone at a distance from the moment she moved into the Cotswolds.
But it was also wonderful to see how slowly she starts not only to feel truly at home, but also  Beth is opening up, even becoming stronger.  

And then she meets James… And I couldn’t stop laughing and having fun!
Seeing the two of them bickering every time was so delightful! But also seeing how impossible it was for the both them to ignore that attraction… 

Yet I couldn’t stop my heart from breaking while reading James, and also Lauren’s story… 

Lauren’s illness shows us how unfair life can be… To read how final things were for her, was just terrible. However, despite her situation, she still has this strength over her. And wants to make sure that James will end up well…
I am very close to my brother too, even if we are not twins, but that love between the siblings was so real and recognizable for me, it made my heart ache for the imminent pain that was lurking around the corner. 

I could perfectly understand why James decided to help out Lauren. Because just like him, I would do anything for my sibling.
Yet while it’s expected for a man to be strong, and keeping his emotions in hand, we clearly see fragility in James. Especially when things are getting rough with Lauren, but also when we get to know about his past, we see how in pain James has been and still is… 

While for both Beth and James it felt that, once their initial dislike was over, they met at the wrong time, for me it felt that they met at exactly the right time. Because inadvertedly, they were exactly what they needed, at exactly the right time. 

When the terrible thing happened, it broke my heart and I had to have a few sobs myself, especially reading how it all happened… But I was glad that James had someone there for him.
So for a moment, I hated the author for doing what she did! But that feelings didn’t last till the end of the book, luckily for her! 

How things turned out from that point was rather unsurprisingly for me, as I had a hunch how the story would go. But that didn’t take away any pleasure I had! 

This story was absolutely heart – warming and breaking to read, even with a few heated moments in it.
I loved reading how Beth and James find each other in their darkest moments, I felt sad getting to know Lauren but also losing her.
And I laughed over the antics of Poppy and Dick/Richard! Those dogs for sure put a smile on my face! 

Even if this was a romance, it also shows the fragility of life, but also the strength of it!