The Truth About Us (Mills Lake #1) by T.J. Hannah

The Truth About Us

ARC received by author in exchange for an honest review.

Sophia is running away from her family and her old life. She has a secret that follows her, even in her dreams.
She moves into a tiny town to start over and she is ready to reinvent herself.

First, Sophia decides to answer a Craiglist add and ends up getting two roommates, Tobie and Tosh.  They are a couple and they're expecting their first baby.
Then, she takes the position as a bartender in a little bar. Soon she meets Corbin Kasey and feels a pull towards him that she has never felt before.

Corbin has his own demons. His father is the owner of the bar. Too bad he is also an alcoholic which leaves Corbin the responsibility to keep the place and the employees out of the red.

“Other days I’m the guy who was given an opportunity to learn a trade. The Uncle to the most wickedly smart nephew in existence. I’m the one who has friends better than I could ever have asked for. That keeps a bar going and people employed. I put a roof over a useless man’s head because I can’t bear where he’d be without me. I’m the guy who looked at a girl once and the girl looked back. So it's not all bad. It's never all bad." 

Corbin doesn't do relationships but has a regular girl. He doesn't need another complication in his life.
He has a good set of friends and roommates, a great cousin and his idea of relaxation is to swim in Mills Lake.

"Life is about family, but family isn’t always just blood. The family we choose sometimes is more important than the family we’re born into.” 

When Corbin meets Sophia he tries to stay away but soon he recognizes that this is not possible and he gives into his feelings which run much deeper than what he thought at first.

"Once you set your eyes on the right woman, you might as well be dead. Your every action from that point on is for her and her alone." 

I really liked this book. This is the author's debut novel and I think she did a great job. The story flows smoothly and the characters are likable.  It helps that this book is written in dual POV's.
The emotions these two broken characters have felt true to me. (Ex: Sophia's panic attacks). I thought Corbin was great.  He was not a perfect guy, which made him even more human to me.

“It’s a fucking tragedy,” he murmurs against my skin, lightly kissing my neck. “What is?” I don’t mean for it to sound like nothing but air but I’m concentrating too much on containing myself. “You and me, sweet Sophia. Nothing that feels this good ends well.”

The secondary characters were well written too. Specially, Tobie and Tosh. I fell in love with this sweet couple. I wonder what will happen to them in books to come.

And, you know what the best part of the books was:
There is NO CLIFFHANGER!!!
Can't wait to see where the next book takes us.

4/5 Fangs