Skye Daniels: Where you've always been

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243300617-where-you-ve-always-been

Noah and his family move across the state (Texas) after his father loses his job thinking his life as he knows it is changing (and not necessarily in a good way) when they move into his grandmother's home he is surprised to find that there are other kids in his new neighborhood and instead of ditching him they bring him into their friend group with open arms, he is especially enamored with this fiery red head who has already decided for him that they are going to be best friends forever.

Ella struggles with PTSD after an event from childhood led to her not liking to be anywhere that she can't easily get out of because of that she sits at the end of the booth, doesn't like crowds and has probably relied too much (her thoughts not his) on her best friend Noah when she's struggling with her anxiety.  

Noah struggles with emotions from long term grief over the loss of his father at a young age and feelings of having to become the "man" of the house early on he has been taking care of others for ages and that includes all of his friends he doesn't mind doing it he is happy to help.  Noah, Ella and their friends all live together in a large house making for some light hearted funny moments along with arguments throughout the book.  

Noah and Ella have always said they would never lie to each other but they have both been holding back a big secret... the reason they have never been able to make a relationship work with anyone else is because they both have been in love with each other since the day they met.

But are they brave enough to face the truth and tell each other how they feel taking that big leap from friendship into the unknown of something so much more?  Will their new relationship status be able to survive the ups and downs when other secrets kept are revealed?  

*2026 read  *State challenge- Texas  *Friends to more *childhood best friends  *slow burn

*spice  *college romance  *Indie author *mental health representation  *grief  

*dual POV  *mutual long term pining  *she's more experienced  *soul mates

Thoughts:

This is a really sweet story about finding the love of your life at a young age and being afraid to take that next step towards something more than friendship due to not wanting to change what they have... but both knowing that their love is true and inevitable. 

The lead characters faced real life serious issues related to mental health and dealing with anxiety, PTSD and loss the author deals with all of these issues in a thoughtful way.  

The lead characters are easy to love and I also loved their friend group who were loud, sometimes meddling and borderline obnoxious but always true friendship goals.  

There were some truly laugh out loud moments that I could see happening when you are living with that many people at that age group in a big house.   

The story was heartfelt and I truly enjoyed it!  I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series which comes out later this month.