Guest Review: Pieces of Us (Missing Pieces #3) by N.R. Walker

As Justin's recovery moves forward, Dallas dares to hope their lives are settling into their new normal. His money worries have eased, business is picking up, and best of all, Justin now laughs more than he frowns.

Justin's memory still eludes him, but with each snippet or flashback, small pieces of his old life start to slot into place. He remembers more of Dallas and how perfectly happy their lives used to be, and with each passing day, Justin realises he can have that again.

But when someone from Justin's past turns up, he discovers that not all the missing pieces are good, and sadly, he and Dallas also learn just what it means to live with a traumatic brain injury. If Dallas and Justin have to fight for their Happily Ever After, then Dallas will stop at nothing--nothing--to give Justin the life he always wanted.

". . . as I tried to put the puzzle of myself back together, it was the pieces of us that made me whole."


Reviewer: Annika

Here we are again, at the end of a series, leaving new friends to live their happily ever after. And after all that Dallas and Justin have gone through, they are well deserving of some happiness. Their road has been bumpy and difficult, but never once did they falter in their love for each other.

When I first picked up Pieces of You I was so sure I was going to be a mess through all three books, that they would gut me and put me back together – in the best of ways of course. So after the first book I had such high hopes for the coming two. Hopes that sadly wasn’t realised all the way.

In this final book it’s been almost three months since the accident and Justin has made major progress since he woke up. A bit of a one track mind, maybe – but judging by Dallas’ comments, true to his former personality so it still fits. They are both adjusting to their new normal taking it one day at a time, living and working together. And for the most part they are happy – very happy.

Pieces of Us suffers from the same monotony as the second book, not to the same extent, but to the degree where personally I would have liked to see them as one book instead of two. I think that the flow of the story would have been a bit better, kept the reader more engaged, because as it was I didn’t really have a problem putting the book down and go do RL stuff. And that’s not something I’m used to with Walker’s stories. And that’s probably unfair to her, to put her on that pedestal, but there you go.

I’m of two minds in regards to the ghost that came back into Justin’s life. Ever since they were mentioned in book one I expected a visit, I expected the drama that would inevitably come with it. Now this reappearance made two things happen, one that I hate, and one that was good. Anyway, this visit obviously caused drama, it was dealt with quickly and mostly felt like a plot device. I do not like drama for the sake of it, it’s just so unnecessary. On the other hand, this visit also showed us the reality of living with a TBI, the consequences of certain things. It felt real, it was humbling and it also needed to be there. At the same time I wished it had been triggered by something else. But that might just be me.

Despite my niggles, I did enjoy reading this book and visiting Dallas and Justin again. They are a lovely couple and their story was heartwarming and inspiring. The love that they shared shone through everything, it was plain for everyone to see - and feel. And to see them happy again it was so worth reading this series.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review





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