Review: “A Bridge Between Us” by KK Allen

Author: K.K. Allen

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥

Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Second Chance Romance, Romantic Suspense, Grump & Sunshine, Family Rivalries

Release Date: November 19th, 2020

Synopsis: I had always known he wasn’t mine to keep, but that didn’t change the way I loved him—quietly, gently, and from afar. ⁣
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As the seasons changed, the corn stalks grew strong, and the grapevines flourished with hope. But none of it mattered, not when the soil at our feet bound us in a century-old rivalry. We’d never even had a chance. ⁣
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They said life flashed before your eyes on the way to death, but on that night, after my final scream burst from my throat and my world started to fade to black, I only thought of him. Of his sweet chocolate eyes, his desperately cautious stare, and his silence that carried more weight than gold. ⁣
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I should have died that night. Instead, I crossed the moonlit bridge and never returned. ⁣
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I let rivalry win. If only that had been enough to keep us all safe. If only we didn’t have a bridge between us.⁣

Review: This is my first ever K.K. Allen book and I gotta say, I am captivated by the way she tells her stories. She paints a picture so clearly in your head that you can visualise every single place the characters visit and the feelings and emotions they feel so well. That might be my favourite thing about A Bridge Between Us. That and the fact that it’s a beautiful story about love and putting yourself out there, no matter what is coming your way.

“Something about Ridge Cross made me want to hold on to him, no matter the consequences.”

The book follows Camila and Ridge, children of warring families. I know warring sounds really tragic, but their fathers don’t like each other and it’s this silent war and enemy lines are drawn and everything. But from the minute Camila sees Ridge, she knows that she wants to be a part of his world, she wants to be his whole world. And so begins their friendship of running through cornfields and slowly falling in love when everyone else around them keeps trying to tell them that it’s all going to go wrong. As you can imagine, a love story like this doesn’t just have a smooth journey. It spans decades and it goes through pain and struggles and loss and love and hurt. And that’s what makes it so beautiful.

A Bridge Between Us is part romantic suspense, part angsty romance, part childhood lovers and part Romeo + Juliet. Without all that death, of course. Not to say there isn’t death or struggles or surprises, because there’s loads of that too. This book will keep you firmly on the edge of your seat and it will make you try and guess how things are going to turn out. I definitely did try my best to identify the twists and turns, but nothing could have prepared me for the end!

“I had always known he wasn’t mine to keep, but that didn’t change the way I loved him—quietly, gently, and from afar.”

While slower than I would have liked and more in-depth than I expected, the story of Camila and Ridge is one that clearly cannot be written with a few well chosen words. KK Allen creates this beautiful relationship between two teenagers that only amplifies as they get older. It’s not instalove, but it’s a deep, soul wrenching kind of love that they take too long to admit.

I truly loved Ridge as a character. He’s gone through so much, coming from a life that he didn’t choose, but was thrust upon him. And through it all, he holds his head up and pushes on. His love for Camila carries the book, because even when they’re not together, you can feel that heart clenching love that he feels when she pops into his head. And Camila is a true ball of sunshine. She’s got everything she could ever want – family, money, friends, a good life – and the one thing she wants, she knows she can’t have. But nothing has ever stopped Camila from taking what she wants. And that includes Ridge.

“The all-consuming sensation that ripped through me was such a surprise that stars burst behind my eyelids. It was deep-seated pleasure. It was overwhelming fullness and joy. It was aggression and love. It was a wildfire rising from the ashes. It was us.”

This book has definitely made me even more curious about the rest of KK Allen’s books and I’m going to slowly and surely work my way through her backlist. Because if all of her storytelling is this poetic and stunning, I definitely need more of it in my life.

Thanks to KK Allen and Social Butterfly PR for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.