Picking up the Pieces: A Small-Town Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Cloverleaf Book 1)

Luke and Emmy have been best friends since they were children. She was the reason that stayed in town as his homelife was very difficult but now that she is going away to college he has decided to join the Marines. They spend one night together and ends up breaking her heart before he leaves.Emmy or their group of friends haven’t heard from Luke and eight years later he is back looking for a second chance. Emmy suffered a tragedy after he left, and she is no longer the same girl and isn’t about to let him break her heart a second time.This is a second chance at love story about family, love and the challenges that life brings. Luke has always wanted what is best for Emmy even if he didn’t make the best decisions while Emmy has never stopped loving Luke. It was great to meet their group of friends and I look forward to their stories.

Where to start with this 🤔 Our lead hero Luke is back home. After serving two tours overseas he’s hoping he can win back the girl he destroyed when he left.I had some misgivings to be honest, I doubt I’d have been as forgiving. I understand where he was coming from but still I felt he could have done it differently.His home life wasn’t the best. His father was an abusive piece of crap. His mother lived in a bottle. It was Emmy that held him together. Patching him up when his fathers fist got out of hand.Emerson or Emmy as she’s known is such a fantastic character. I loved her. Luke and Emmy were inseparable. Best friends since they were kids. Luke has been there by her side. Solid and steady. When he tells her he’s enlisted she’s not happy but she understands.It’s here though they cross the line. The attraction has always been there but in night changes everything forever. This is where I question Luke’s stupidity. I wanted to punch him in the nuts.But it’s his silence when he leaves that is the final nail. He didn’t just leave Emmy he left everything and everyone. Eight years and he thinks he can walk back into town and be welcomed he has another thing coming.The emails and phone calls he’d ignored would have changed the course he was on if he’d bothered to acknowledge them. This man has so much to atone for. And when he finally finds out what he left behind it will bring him to his knees.A great read. Absolutely outstanding secondary characters. I’ve found from reading this to what Jessica has written now she’s grown as an author. Her stories are just as awesome I just feel she’s matured more.

I finished this story about a week ago and I’ve been mulling over what I wanted to say in my review since then. Warning there may be spoilers ahead.First and foremost, I must address the fact that there ARE spoilers for “The Walking Dead” in this story. Thankfully I was caught up with the series by the time I read this story otherwise I’d be really pissed because they’re not minor spoilers.Overall I really liked the writer’s style and I loved Emmerson, she felt like someone I would want to be friends with in real life. The flash backs were pretty interesting, sometimes when authors sprinkle flashbacks through their stories I get confused but I must say that this was very well done and I didn’t even once question whether the passage was ‘past’ or present’.I wish that the author didn’t give Emmy such a ridiculously tragic back story, I mean pretty much her entire family died tragically leaving her behind. Nor did I like the confrontation about what exactly happened after Lucas left… it took too long to get to that point and seemed completely out of character for Lucas to jump to the conclusions he did. Especially if he grew up with Emmy, knowing her feelings about family, and seeing as he was so concerned about getting back with her.I enjoyed the tight knit closeness of Emmy’s group of friends and how protective they were towards her. I wanted to like the character Savannah but she spent more time being a loud mouth spouting off empty threats than focusing on her friends, I mean she might’ve been scrappy but her threats were so over the top that I don’t know why anyone took her seriously.The one chick (I think her name was Ashley) was pretty much useless, she was your stereotypical mean girl arch enemy who served no purpose other than to cause romantic drama. I personally didn’t like how the group treated her, yeah she did bad things (to Emmy especially) but it put the group in a bad light for me.I personally don’t think that Lucas did anything that warranted Emmy’s forgiveness. He basically moved in and tried to pick things up where they left off. And though it was “explained” I still have no idea WHY he did what he did to Emmy before he left. Had he just up and left with no contact that would make him more redeemable but what he did was pretty damn unforgivable. Nor do I understand his reasoning for joining the military to begin with – his father blackmailing him with something so stupid just didn’t seem like a good enough motivator. And I don’t consider myself a feminist but the whole “going alpha male” thing that Emmy and Savannah are swooning over did nothing for me.As a whole it was an okay story, pretty predictable and there were a few annoying characters but I loved the writer’s style and the main character of Emmerson. So I would recommend it for anyone who is looking for light beach reading.

Picking up the Pieces was my first book by Jessica Prince and I’m so glad I found this book; I just didn’t want to stop reading, I was gripped from start to finish.Picking up the Pieces had such a heartfelt storyline that I just loved from start to finish as it wasn't necessarily as predictable as I first thought it would be. It was great to see both Emmy and Luke’s troubles from both their points of views; their backstories were heartbreaking and I felt their present emotions were captured so well throughout the whole story, both with their fears and their changing warring emotions that they both struggled to accept at times.Picking up the Pieces is well written, with a HEA and a complete standalone which I really enjoy from a book, rather than stories being dragged out. I would definitely recommend you give this story a read!

This book took me no time at all. I read the first 20 pages on one day and then had no reading for a week and then read the entire rest of the book on another day. The story didn’t have enough detail for me but it sure made me feel “all the feels”. I cried several times while reading it and laughed many times as well. I wish the plots had more connected to each one but this was a quick read. Good to move onto the rest. The characters were a little hard to fall in love with but all around a good read.

Not a bad storyline. Emmy could've made Luke work harder, and seriously Luke could pull his head out. Savannah is a good friend though.

An okay read that over laboured the past and the secret Luke never knew about. Other relationships develop within the story as well as this one. Liked the camaraderie of the friends and townsfolk. Would have liked an extended epilogue but was an okay read.

When Luke decides to leave for the marines it breaks Emersons heart but when he decides to ignore any and all contact from all his friends, he has burnt a lot of bridges.Emmy has spent years getting her life back on track and finally at her happy place when Luke walks straight back in!Will Emmy and all their friends ever except him back or did Luke push everyone too far