Review: "Lost on the Way" by Isabel Jolie

Lost on the Way by Isabel Jolie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Lost on the Way" by Isabel Jolie was a bittersweet friends-to-lovers romance that featured well-developed, sympathetic protagonists and a compelling plot. When the story began, main characters Maggie and Jason were stuck in an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship that seemed to be hurting more than helping either one of them. Maggie enabled Jason to keep living a strange half-life in which he expected his cancer to come back at any moment, and he never really dealt with the loss of his best friend, fellow cancer patient (and Maggie's late boyfriend) Adam. As for Maggie, she continued to put aside her desire for marriage and children because of her love for Jason, who refused to acknowledge or return her romantic feelings because he was convinced that Maggie would somehow be less devastated by his eventual death if they were just friends. They each needed to learn how to deal with their emotions in a healthier way, which meant spending time apart even though it was difficult and painful for them both.

What I most loved about this book is that there was a real sense of character and relationship development, so when Maggie and Jason ended up back together in the end, I had no problem believing that they had each made positive changes that would allow them to make each other happy. They actually worked to get better; Jason spent months in therapy, while Maggie learned to advocate for herself and what she wanted her life to be.

I highly recommend "Lost on the Way" for fans of emotional contemporary romance and will definitely be looking for more books by this author.

*Review copy provided by the author/publisher via Hidden Gems Books. All opinions expressed are my own.

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