Review: Jessica Sorensen's "The Secret of Ella and Micha" and paperback giveaway

(Giveaway at the bottom of the post. Open Internationally)

“The Secret of Ella and Micha” had been on my TBR list for a good while but I was reluctant to read it as I knew there is a sequel coming. Well The sequel's less than 10 days away and I couldn’t hold back any longer so this was one of a couple of books I had my head stuck in this week. From the first page (in fact from the first paragraph) of the prologue, Jessica Sorensen had me hooked. I read well into the night and stopped at a place where I felt it was safe to pause (I would have kept going but I had to be up early for work). Fortunately, thoughts of the story had me up before my alarm and I finished the book on Monday morning... coffee keeping me going for the remainder of the day!!!! Lol

So what’s the book about?

Ella and Micha have been best friends since forever. They know each other inside out, back to front and they’re inseparable. Everyone assumes they will end up together (and in an ideal world, maybe they would):

He’s my best friend., my soul mate. In a perfect world, full of roses and sunshine,

we’d be together, but this world is full of broken homes,  

drunken fathers, and mothers who give up easily.

But fate has other plans. One tragic night everything changes. It’s the best and worst night of Ella’s life but she can’t handle it and so she runs. She tells no one where she is going including Micha and starts her new life as a college student. A new life means a new image and a new personality. The old Ella has been left behind along with the secrets that haunt her.

That night Micha’s world is also turned upside down. He's lost his best friend and spends the next 8 months looking for her, refusing to believe he’ll never see her again:

              “Have you ever considered that maybe she doesn’t want to be found?”              

“Every single day.... which makes me even more determined to find her.

 Unfortunately for Ella, it’s summer break, and with nowhere else to go, she’s forced to return home and face the music. Her biggest fear is that everything she spent the last 8 months burying will resurface, especially with Micha living right next door:

       I’m not ready to go back home and face everyone I bailed on.

       Especially Micha. He can see through me better than a mirror.

He is the one guy Ella has never been able to hide from. He’s sexy, smart, confident and can get under her skin like no one else. He knows everything about her including her deepest darkest secrets and he’s determined to win back the girl who left him that night, no matter what it takes.

From the word go, I connected with both of the main characters. Ella was so vulnerable, scared and fragile at times. Whatever she was hiding had ended up defining her. She couldn’t even in a look in a mirror because the reflection was of someone she could no longer bear to be:

Mirrors see straight through my facade. They know who I used to be; the loud spoken,

reckless girl, who showed what she felt to the world. There were no secrets with me.

But now secrets define me.

As I progressed through the book, I discovered that there were two sides to her personality and they couldn’t have been more different.  The Ella from college was quiet, polite, rational, didn’t get into arguments and never lost control. But the Ella that I saw emerge more and more frequently when she went home for the summer was the complete opposite:

For a split second, I forget who I am and turn around to blast her with a death glare.

But then I remember that I’m the calm and rational Ella;

one that doesn’t get into fights and beat other girls up.

She tried everything to keep her old self hidden because by doing this, she wouldn’t have to face her problems, her demons and her ever growing feelings for Micha. She fought an internal battle time and time again but she wouldn’t win. Micha wouldn’t allow it. He was determined to bring the old Ella back and he knew exactly which buttons to press in order to do it:

 “I’ve been back for less than a day and everything I’ve worked

so on concealing is falling apart because of you.”

I loved his character. He was hot, confident, strong minded and funny. He wore his heart on his sleeve. He was also so caring, protective and selfless when it came to Ella. He would do anything to keep her safe, to help her heal, to keep her in his life. He would even give up his dreams:

“You stopped playing?” I asked him. “Why would you do that? Isn’t it your dream still?”

He shrugs, snaking his arms around my waist, “It’s not the same without you watching me.”

The sexual chemistry between these two was off the charts.  Everyone could see it but Ella wouldn’t allow herself to go down that path:

Before I took off, the boundaries of our friendship were starting to blur.

I thought time would fix this, but it seems we’re back to where we started. 

As much as I would love to melt into him, it just can’t happen. 

I can’t open up like that and lose control. I need control.

There were a number of secondary characters in this book that I felt played an important role. Lila really helped to show me just how much Ella had changed during her 8 months away (both physically and emotionally). Then there was Ethan. He gave us an insight into the effect Ella had had on Micha’s life when she left and just how much his life had ground to a halt in her absence. 

This book is one I would definitely recommend. “The Secret of Ella and Micha” was like one giant puzzle. At the start, there were so many missing pieces: what happened that night? Why was she left on the bridge? Why did she run? Why was it the best and worst night of her life? God the list went on but not in a bad way. As I got to know the characters and as the story progressed, I found Jessica Sorensen gave me little snippets of information, little parts of the puzzle that I was able to put together in order to get a clearer picture. This definitely left me craving more.

The story was told from both the main characters points of view and at times this did overlap which was great because it gave me both Ella and Micha’s interpretation of the same situation/ scenario (don’t men and women think so differently!!!1 lol.) 
"The Secret of Ella and Micha" had a great story line which was emotional, gut wrenching and did leave my heart in a mess at times. But the characters had me from the first page and I was going to ride this roller coaster with them until they got their HEA. If you’re looking for an engaging read that takes you on a journey of friendship, love and healing, then this is definitely for you.

I can’t wait for the sequel: "The Forever of Ella and Micha." It is available for pre order, just click on the book cover below:

Ella and Micha have been through tragedy, heartbreak, and love. When they are with each other, anything seems possible. But now they are thousands of miles apart . . .
Ella continues going to school and tries to deal with her past, desperate for Micha to be by her side, but she refuses to let her problems get in the way of his dreams.
Micha spends his days travelling the country with the band, but being away from Ella is harder than he thought. He wants her closer to him -- needs her with him. But he won't ask her to leave college, just to be with him.
The few moments they do spend together are fleeting, intense, and filled with passion. They know they want to be together, but is wanting something enough to get them to their forever?

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