REVIEW; Home Tears, by Tijan

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: New-Adult, Contemporary 

Recommend: Yes

Standalone

NO SPOILERS!!! 

Summary:

Dani has just returned to her home town, after everyone believing she had died. The love of her life had left her for her sister so she left for 10 years. When she returns, her family aren't overjoyed to see her except for her Aunt who gives her a place to stay. 
Jonah, a bad boy back in high school, befriends Dani, and the two begin to test the waters of a relationship. But the more time spent back home, Dani begins to uncover some hard truths about her family and she wonders if she was better off letting them believe she had died. 

My Thoughts:

I think unfortunately something was missing for me to entirely love this. I did read it in a day and found it just as captivating as other Tijan books, but I wasn't in love with the characters like I usually am. I didn't form those emotional connections...

Dani: I really felt a lot of sympathy for her and liked how we got some development with her character. She has been through hell with her ex Jake, not just marrying one of her sisters but also having dated the 3rd sister. That for me, was a little extreme. Now she's back in town and they all couldn't be more uncomfortable with her return and refused to try and even understand the grief that Dani harboured. She must be one of the most resilient characters ever. I know if I were here, I would not have returned to the shit storm that awaited. 

Jake: I hated him. What an absolute ass. I feel like he should have stayed the hell away from Dani as he was meant to be marrying her sister, who couldn't be less pleased with her return and who feared Dani would steal him back. Jake had no backbone and Dani was much better off leaving him in her past...

Jonah: He was pretty cool! An apparent reformed bad boy, everyone loved him and I loved how well he complimented Dani. He helped her grow and spread roots and pushed her to mend relationships as they both fought against the town's judgement. He was a real core in Dani finding herself and having someone to confide in who had her best interests at heart. 

So, we had sister drama. We had boy drama... now onto family drama. 

Dani starts to dig and finds out that there was a lot more family drama than just a death and a guy who slept with each sister. As she aims to uncover the truth about her mother and her family, it's woven beautifully with her own journey of forgiveness and allowing herself to love again (because of Jonah).

Overall:

I can't really explain it well, but this was a beautiful read about betrayal, forgiveness and secrets. It sort of highlights what's important in life and in family units. It explores the journey of Dani recovering from lies and heartbreak and allowing herself to have a new beginning and new chance. 

Goodreads