What If By Rebecca Donovan

[amazon_link id=”0141355905″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’What If’ is Rebecca Donavan’s first standalone book since her successful ‘Breathing’ series.

Cal Logan is shocked to see Nicole Bentley sitting across from him at a coffee shop thousands of miles from their hometown. After all, no one has seen or heard from her since they graduated over a year ago. Except this girl isn’t Nicole. She looks exactly like Cal’s shy childhood crush, but her name is Nyelle Preston and she has no idea who he is. This girl is impulsive and daring, her passion for life infectious. The complete opposite of Nicole. Cal finds himself utterly fascinated-and falling hard. But Nyelle is also extremely secretive. And the closer he comes to finding out what she’s hiding, the less he wants to know. When the secrets from the past and present collide, one thing becomes clear: Nothing is what it seems.

‘What If’ is the first book that I’ve read by Rebecca Donovan and I truly adored this book, it was heartbreakingly sweet and tender in parts and during the final pages I found myself openly crying, much to the bemusement to the fellow patrons of the local coffee shop.

The story is mostly seen from the eyes of Cal, now a young man who has never properly got over the loss of his first love and friend Nicole. A little girl who joined his group of friends when her family moved to the neighbourhood. Bubbly and outspoken Richelle takes Nicole under her wing and introduces her to her other friends, Cal and Rae and together the four of them form a tight knit friendship, looking out for each other and getting into mischief. Until the leader of the group Richelle and her family move away and without her leadership the group then falls apart. Years later, when Cal is at university, a new volatile creature by the name of Nyelle bursts into his life, reminding him so much of Nicole, the girl who was his first love. But Nyelle, is the complete polar opposite of Nicole, where Nicole was quiet, timid and content to blend into the background, Nyelle is fierce, ballsy and always looking for fun. As well as having a ferocious side, Nyelle had a beautifully caring nature and was regularly looking out for people last well off.

As requested, the author asked for not too be much to be revealed in reviews and it is quite easy to be carried as it is an mysterious story.

The main characters of the story are Cal and Nyelle and they are great leads. Cal, is the caring handsome prince who all the girls like and is oblivious to the trail of broken hearts he has left behind in his path as his heart belongs to Nicole and when Nyelle appears in his life, he becomes fixated and determined to find out who this intriguing girl is and why she reminds him so much of someone he once knew. I loved Nyelle, her fiery attitude always made me smile and trouble never seemed to be far from her and many a time Cal had to save her.

The story is written in two tenses, past and present. The present is completely seen from Cal’s perspective and the past tenses flicks between the group of four as children and moves between the characters explaining the dynamics of the group.

This book is a beautifully written love story about never giving up and the importance of friendship, with two captivating lead characters and a shocking twist, ‘What If’ is a gripping tale that will have reaching for your tissues when you come to the final page.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”0141355905″ target=”_blank” ]What If from Amazon[/amazon_link]and is available to buy from good bookshops.