REVIEW: All That We Are Together by Alice Kellen

All That We Are Together by Alice Kellen: On the cusp of hosting her first official exhibition, Leah appears to be avoiding her heart’s whispers, and given it’s been three years since Axel tore it to shreds, it’s any wonder she can feel any joy, particularly given how much Axel encouraged her to find her true spirit in her work.

To complicate things, she’s met Landon, and whilst seemingly loves him, behaves in a way that keeps him at arms length, either afraid she’ll fall in love again, or worse, that he is an act of comfort that she is bidding her time within the arms of. And of course, when Axel shows up to her opening night, like serendipity, their energy, fire and passion reconnect and before long, Leah finds herself back down the rabbit hole she was in in the first instalment.

With a literary style that is simply delicious, deep and patient, we navigate Leah’s world – part two – and share in her deep fears, deep regrets, deep loves and deep hopes. Clearly, it was always going to come to pass that her and Axel would cross paths again, and whilst Axel is definitely the selfish, hot, deep soul painted in every woman’s guide to heart-break magazine, Leah finds herself travelling overseas with him wherein the stakes e-commerce simply too high. And as we really walk the journey of love, loss, hunger, doubt, and everything deeply human in between, there are paradoxical moments where we kind of want everything and nothing – similarly to Leah. From go to wo – this was a a brilliant second and certainly a powerful stand-alone.

With laughter and tears for days, this was hard to put down and equally harder to pick back up once the real hearts gave way. A great read and one that provides a catharsis that is beautifully considered.

Book Info:

Publication: 23rd January 2024 | Sourcebooks Casablanca | Let it Be #2

Three years without seeing him. Three years without Axel. How do you move on from a broken heart? Three years have passed since Axel Nguyen shattered Leah Jones’ heart into a million pieces, and Leah has spent every moment of those three years distracting herself from the devastation. She tries to move on with Landon, a guy she meets in college, but she can only truly escape thoughts of Axel when she’s painting. At least one good thing has come out of all of her dream of exhibiting her work is finally coming true. Axel is achingly aware every day of how much he misses Leah. The moment he learns about Leah’s exhibit, Axel can’t think about anything else but to go see her. Being in the same room with Leah, as beautiful and magnetic as he remembers, leaves Axel desperate and Leah breathless in his presence. He offers to be her agent; she accepts. One work trip to Paris later leaves Leah and Axel full of pent-up attraction and wondering if their whirlwind romance is a forever kind of love or if it’s better off left in the past. International bestselling author Alice Kellen concludes her emotional new adult duology with an evocative and passionate love story for readers of Colleen Hoover, Anna Todd, and books to make you ugly cry.