Most of All You: A Love Story

Beautiful book. The characters, storyline, and writing were excellent. Many other reviews are giving a good account of the book so I won’t repeat that. Rather, I will just say how this book made me feel...hopeful, grateful, and fortunate. My only complaint is that this book ended.

Absolutely amazing. Could not put it down. I read a lot of books. My distraction, my escape. I enjoy them all for different reasons. This book was beyond that. I walked away, thinking about it,and knowing that it will be a book I read again many,many times. Beautiful

Seemed like a good book and I had high expectations after reading Archer's voice. The beginning was exciting and characters deep but after reading 2/3 of the book I even thought of giving up but powered through. Ending was happy but boring and I really hated the way Ellie was depressing and cried all the time and sorry but no one would wait for almost a year for a person who said wasn't coming back.

I love Mia Sheridan. Her writing is phenomenal and just keeps getting better. Her characters are memorable and enjoyable. I will continue to read everything she writes with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes.

I enjoyed this book pretty much.... although some of it seemed almost too sickly sweet, and at times I felt ellie was lacking any personality at all and portrayed as very weak, but overall not too bad of a story.

A sweet story about healing and moving on. I really enjoyed. It was different and inspiring. I didn’t have quite the feels as I expected and I wanted a little something more toward the end but it was still a lovely romance.

Good love story between two sensitive souls with damaging pasts and the emotional healing that both have to go through. The two main characters are well fleshed out and the story is told through both their POVs.

A beautifully raw, utterly heartbreaking, completely gut wrenching story filled with hopeful warmth and tender touches that will wrap you up in a myriad of emotions all while comforting you in the miracle of faith. Faith in oneself, faith in others, faith in dreams, faith in hopes, faith in words, faith in actions, faith in a past and a path of a new future. 

A story of suffering, overcoming, escaping and finding a path towards survival while they attempt to leave the past behind; one choosing to stay present and move forward with a purpose, while the other escapes and finds no purpose in anything. Each needs the same thing, yet one searches for it, while the other hides.

One clings to the past

One embraces the future

One sees a dead end

One sees the possibilities

This story forces you to find understanding, strength, determination, friendship, sacrifice, forgiveness, faith and ultimately…LOVE. 

A life full of promise

A life changed

A loss of innocence

A loss of freedom

A fear of loneliness

A fear of trusting

A desire to seek

A desire to hide

A need for more

A need for hope

A dream of….

LOVE

 Two people coming from similar traumatic pasts; Crystal is stuck there and Gabriel is waiting and daring her to move. He allows her to learn from him at her own pace, giving support and nurturing her through one of her darkest hours. He opens himself up to her in all the ways that matter; providing her with safety and protection, along with all the doors she needs to finally choose her change. There is no pressure, there is no force, there is no complaining, and there is no insult.  There is only patience and the wait that comes with the hope that your efforts help and heal the person that has come to mean the most to you. Because LOVE is patient

Through the haunting past of loss, pain and the struggle to move forward that is almost tangible, Crystal settles for a life of self-deprecating and self-loathing acceptance that she will only ever have what she has now.  She believes options are out of her reach and the excitement of possibility is something that she should not wait around for.  Yet it does not stop her from watching in wonder as Gabriel embraces each day at dawn like a blank canvas ready to be painted in the brightest colors of his life, nor does it stop her from feeling a sense of fear because he treats her differently than any other before him.  The respect and kindness that Gabriel shows her is like a soothing balm to the very hurt, ache and scars from wounds that run so deep they are part of the fabric of her soul; stirring the uncertainty within her that one day soon the other shoe will drop. And just like in Cinderella, Gabriel is there…ready to pick up the shoe and put it back on her with the most deliberate and delicate of touches to ensure she knows just how much she is worth. Because LOVE is kind

 And while it is truly a daily struggle for Gabriel to help Crystal heal and see her worth, he never denies her the time and space she needs to come to terms with all that is new. Instead he shares his joy with her. He shares his hopes with her. And he shares his canvas with her.  Each morning he allows her to share in his life’s painting in the hopes that she, too, will add her own color to his canvas. She struggles to find her place and the right color to express how she feels, but they both see the very good in each other and want the other to be happy and have everything.  Because LOVE… It does not envy

 There are no grand gestures, only moments. Small fragments of time shared between two characters that lost more than they ever gained. Moments so innocent and sincere that your heart feels as if it is being crushed in the truth of its purity.  Moments that seem so simple, yet are the most monumental in their journey together.  There is no competition. There are no celebrations in triumph.  There is only understanding. Because LOVE…it does not boast

 And while Crystal continues to struggle with the concept that she is more than the sum of her circumstances, Gabriel continues to show her that he is, in fact, everything he wants to be because of his circumstances.  That life, while taking a different path than he expected, or even wished for, he is where he is meant to be, living a life that was custom made just for him.  He shows her the portrait of his life, and he does it without reservation.  Because LOVE…It is not proud

 There are setbacks and self-inflicted wounds, as well as defensive coping mechanisms designed to keep a distance from one’s heart and the new found affection surrounding them, but no records are kept, no sins left unforgiven.  There are no plans for retaliation, no desire to hurt in return.  There is only affection and the need to forgive the wrongs and do right.  Because LOVE…it does not dishonor others. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs

 Adversity lurks around corners of the outside world. Those who think they know better disrespect. Those that do know better leave a mark.  And those who are up to no good try to defile all the good that is left.  But through it all, Gabriel is steadfast in his resolve. He is firm in his feelings. And he is loyal in his efforts.  There is no allowance for hurt. There is no allowance for interference. And there is no place for lies. Because LOVE does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth. It always protects

 But sometimes it is true that only time can heal wounds. And even though some wounds never fully heal and the scars always remain, in time, the light drives out the darkness, and the good drives out the evil.  The despair fades in the shadow of truth, and the light within shines through the fractured soul.  Healing is hard, acceptance is harder. Moving on seems unlikely, and trusting impossible.  But through it all there is patience, kindness, acceptance and understanding, which slowly chips away the pieces of the wall of protection to expose a heart steeped in fear, but full of promise, potential and joy brought to light by the careful crafting of a man whose hands expose the hidden beauty of things unknown that lie beneath a surface often thought not penetrable, but result in remarkable things of beauty. Because that is love. And LOVE always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres

 Love never fails.

Guys, this book. So good. I think this might be Mia Sheridan’s best work yet and that’s saying something because Archer’s Voice was terrific. I couldn’t bear to put it down for a single second; I was so involved in Ellie and Gabriel’s story. I’m blown away by how deeply I felt every single word in this book; it is a thing to behold, truly.

It’s been an hour since I finished this book and my heart is still pounding due to the plethora of emotions it was pulled through in Most of All You. Ms. Sheridan dumped me right into the deep end of feeling and made me fight for every inch I gained closer to the shore. Her ability to draw emotions with her words and make them all such a visceral thing is nothing short of masterful.

Gabriel and Ellie were everything. My heart just hurt so much for what they had both been through. It was impossible to distinguish who’d survived the worst circumstances, though it was easy to see who had overcome the atrocities of their youths. I couldn’t imagine either of them being able to heal in a way that was healthy without the other, theirs may have been a love story, but it was primarily a story of healing.

Most of All You is very much character driven, while there are outside factors that influenced their hurt, healing, and relationship, the plot took a backseat to character growth. Writing this book in dual POV really highlighted how much the characters grew, as we were able to see changes they made both from the inside and how others perceived them on the outside. I love a good character arc, and Mia Sheridan is a master at giving her characters compelling, fulfilling arcs.

Mia Sheridan is at the top of my must-read authors. Most of All You is a perfect example of why. She can take the most heart-wrenching, tragic situations and sculpt them into beautifully poignant masterpieces. The prose in this book was sublime and consuming. There are few authors whom I would place in the same class of author with Ms. Sheridan; her work has always been fantastic yet with every book she writes the writing exceeds the impossibly high bar she’s already set.

It is refreshing to see a love story where simply being loved by another human doesn't magically heal all wounds. As always, Mia Sheridan's writing is beautiful and flows so well! Definitely a great read!

I just love characters who go through adversity and find inner the strength to ride above the ashes. Have to love yourself before you can love someone else. Cliche but true. This books this on every heart string i have.

Mia Sheridan has delivered yet another beautiful tale or love and hope. Her characters again are soooo well created and tangible. This book was magnificently well written and I cannot wait for her next release in June 2018.

This story was exceptional which I've come to expect from Mia Sheridan. This book however has been escalated to one of my favorites. The story had great depth and the main characters were just incredible with their own stories perfectly written. I actually read it in one day as I could not put the book down. I highly recommed this book to anyone looking for a great love story.