Review: Stealing Her (Covet #1) by Rachel van Dyken

Print Length: 318 pages

Publisher: Skyscape (November 5, 2019)

From Goodreads.com:  My estranged twin brother, Julian, was always the wonder boy - and soon-to-be CEO of our ruthless father's corporation. My mother and me? Left behind. Now, years after tearing our family apart, my father dares to ask "me" for a favor? Pretend to be Julian while he fights to survive a tragic accident. It can save the company. Nobody will be the wiser. It'll be our secret.

I can play Dad's favorite. I'll do anything for Julian. And for my mother, who'll want for nothing.

But this double life comes with a beauty of a hitch: my very real feelings for Julian's fiancée, Isobel. Not only am I betraying Julian, I'm deceiving a woman I love. She doesn't suspect a thing. As lies compound, lines are crossed and loyalties tested, all I can ask myself is. . .what have I done?

Because sooner or later something's got to give. There's no way I'm giving up Isobel. But once the truth is exposed, it might not be my choice at all.

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My Rating: 4 stars out of 5

This book was EVERYTHING. It was the kind of story that I remember Rachel putting out when I first became a fan of hers. But FAIR WARNING, this book can also be a bit triggering to people who have been where Izzy is.

Isobel has been in love with Julian since college, or maybe it was high school, I can't quite remember. Most of her "Good" memories of him are from college so we'll just with that as it really doesn't make a difference either way. When they first got together, he was everything. They had hopes and dreams of their own, they were building a life together. And then his father stepped in, forced him to fall in line, and then suddenly the love of her life became a lying, manipulating man who was emotionally abusive towards his fiance. He made her call and schedule an appointment for his time during business hours for crying out loud. And when she finally makes the choice to leave? He is nearly killed in a car accident. 

Bridge has been the forgotten son. The outcast. Ever since his parents divorced and he was sent to live with his mother, he has held onto nothing but hatred and loathing for his father and twin. He's had to work two, sometimes three jobs not only to make ends meet, but to care for his mother's medical bills. So when his father shows up, promising more money than he could ever hope to make if he could just convince the world that he's really his twin brother, how could he resist? 

So okay, yes you do have to be prepared to suspend reality for a bit here when it comes to people (especially people like Isobel) being so easily fooled by the "brother switch". You also have to be prepared to watch as instead of sticking to her guns and leaving him (and thereby forcing him to come to her), she stays and helps him. And honestly? While I know its going to piss people off, I can understand her reasoning completely. I can also understand how she KNEW there was something wrong, something off, even before she knew the truth, but how she was so willing to pretend that it was really her fiance come back to the man he used to be. 

I think the hardest, and most enjoyable part of this book was watching these two as they got closer. Bridge knew he couldn't keep her, but did his best to fix the damage his brother had done anyway. He did what he could to restore her self-worth, to build her back up, to make her feel beautiful. And he asked for nothing in return. I kept wondering how this was going to play out. Would she ever confront him about the truth? Would Julian wake up from his coma? And just what was their father's end game in all of this? 

It was easy to get caught up hating Edward (the father) just as much as his son did. I could say there was enough intrigue once Bridge starting putting pieces together that it made this story hard to put down. But what really did that for me? Was the fact that I could relate to Isobel on a deeper level than I am comfortable admitting. 

At one point Isobel is talking about when she went to the hospital after the accident that put her fiance in a coma and she says, "I felt so damn relieved that it was over. That I was done walking on eggshells, done being hurt by a man who said he loved me".

To which after some time, Bridge replies with "Your heart was bruised, you were in pain. All you wanted was relief".

And I felt that. I think others will too. The fact that they were twins notwithstanding. The fact that at first she was being deceived taken out of the equation, it takes a strong woman to be as beautifully broken as she was, to allow someone to tear down the walls she has built around herself.

This book was more than a story. It was a journey. And I can't wait to see what happens next.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                       Stealing Her is available from Amazon.com