Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always by Jessica Sorensen

About the book

Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always is a new adult novella by Jessica Sorensen and is part of the The Secret series. The novella was published on Kindle on 24^th December and is 87 pages long. I received and ebook for review through NetGalley.

Synopsis

Lila Summers and Ethan Gregory are having the time of their lives while road tripping across America. They used to be best friends and now that they’re more than than, Lila wants to know that it is forever. She can’t imagine her life without him anymore but as soon as she brings up the subject of forever with Ethan, something changes.

Ethan definitely doesn’t doubt his feelings for Lila and the idea of living without her scares him to death. He doesn’t want to lose her, that’s for sure, but he isn’t sure if he is ready to make the commitment of forever with the chance of losing everything.

What I thought

Jessica Sorensen is one of my absolute favourite new adult authors and I have loved every book I have read by her so far. I couldn’t click the request button quick enough when I saw this title on NetGalley not too long ago. As this is a novella and a sequel of sorts to The Temptation of Lila and Ethan, it can’t be read as a stand-alone book.

At the end of The Temptation of Lila and Ethan, the title characters were finally happy together and planning to go off with one another road tripping across America. This is where the novella is set. Lila and Ethan are spending their nights under the stars and bathing in lakes but one of them is enjoying it more than the other. Both characters also have a conflict of emotions when it comes to their future together. Lila wants a forever with Ethan but as soon as she mentions marriage, things change between them and he becomes distant whenever she brings up the subject.

As short stories go, this one was great. There is a lot packed into the 87 pages and Sorensen manages to cover all bases. As someone who had already read The Temptation of Lila and Ethan, I felt an instant connection with the characters but new readers will find things quite confusing. I liked how Lila and Ethan were on an adventure, not only across America but also on an adventure with their emotions. As this novella is told in dual narrative, it was nice to see how each character was feeling and what was bothering each of them.

Not only is there a great deal of emotion but so much passion between Lila and Ethan. I couldn’t get enough of the steamy scenes between the two, especially as there were some quite exciting situations they were in. The setting of the great outdoors was also something I loved in this novella. It was good to have a change from the seedy bar scene or that of a big city.

I really enjoyed reading this novella and it was a great addition to the series. I can’t wait to find out what happens to Lila and Ethan next.