Review : The Secret of Ella and Micha (The Secret #1) by Jessica Sorensen

SUMMARY :

Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. 

Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes. 

(New Adult Contemporary)

*Mature Content** Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language.

REVIEW :

Ella and Micha are two broken halves of one another, when together they make the perfect match; they have this energy buzzing between them, it’s like they’re the only ones in the room even though they’re in a room packed with people. Despite it being clear they’re meant to be, Ella decides to up and leave one miserable night. She gives no explanation to Micha even though he’s been with her through everything. The next eight months Micha spends tracking Ella down and Ella spends in a numb shell trying to forget everything and be somebody she’s not. But then when summer arrives, Ella has nowhere else to go but home, and face what she has been avoiding all along. 

I was dying to know why Ella ran away in the first place and leave Micha torn up. When I did find out I understood the reason she did it, but at the end of the day Micha was the only one that understood her, why would she want to shut him down and put each other through months of heartache? Micha was a sweet guy, he had several of his own problems to deal with but put his life on hold for Ella, he spent months tracking her down, and stopped doing all the things he loved whilst she was away. The chemistry when Ella arrived back in town was instantly apparent between both characters, I just wished Ella could see what she had pushed away to the back of her mind and denied a lot sooner. Both Ella and Micha had family problems to deal with, I think if Ella was able to declare her feelings much earlier on they would both have one less hurdle of hurt to deal with. 

Jessica Sorensen focuses The Secret of Ella and Micha on a lot of issues; family, growth, uncertainty love and friendship. She brings these individual issues to the forefront in their own way, which I liked as I really wasn’t a fan of the romance. Fans of first loves and a sweet sizzling romances I’m sure will eat The Secret of Ella and Micha right up, I think I’ve just become a picky reader as of late. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this book, I did but I think I really needed to be in the mood for this type of read to fully appreciate it.