Deeper by Megan Hart

Megan Hart
Publisher: Spice (July, 2009)

Some lovers never leave you...

Twenty years ago she had her whole life spread out before her like a mesmerizing map. She was Bess Walsh, a fresh-scrubbed, middle-class student ready to conquer the design world. And she was taken. Absolutely and completely.

But not by Andy, her well-groomed, intellectual boyfriend who hinted more than once about a ring. No. During that hot summer as a waitress and living on the beach, she met Nick, a dark haired, local bad boy. He was, to put it mildly, not someone she could take home to Daddy.

Instead, Nick became her dirty little secret; a fervent sexual accomplice who knew how to ignite an all-consuming obsession she had no idea she carried deep within her.

Bess had always wondered what happened to Nick after that summer, after their promise to meet again. And now, back at the beach house and taking a break from responsibility, from marriage, from life, she discovers his heartbreaking fate--and why he never came back for her. Suddenly Nick's name is on her lips...his hands on her thighs...dark hair and eyes called back from the swirling gray of purgatory's depths.

Dead, alive, or something in-between, they can't stop their hunger.

She wouldn't dare.

My Thoughts:

I have heard many great things about this author and her books, but having not read anything by her I jumped at the chance to borrow Deeper from an online friend. I will definitely be purchasing books in the future by Megan Hart.

The first chapter moved a little slow, maybe I wasn't in the mood for this particular book, but I was sorely tempted to set it aside and try it later. However, it being a borrowed book I wanted to get it read quickly so I could send it back, so I pushed through. Once the story got really going I could not put the book down. The unrecognized love that Bess and Nick shared was heart-breakingly sweet and only such a love could hold the spirit to this world and allow it to come back to right the mistakes from the past.

Deeper moves between now and twenty years past. Bess has moved back to her grandparents beach house in Bethany while dealing with a marriage on the rocks with a divorce coming soon. Coming to the beach and this house stirs her memories of a summer love, memories that were never forgotten and never far from the surface. Young Bess and older Bess are dealing with the same relationship issues with Andy.

Twenty years ago: Bess is living in the beach house while working at Sugarland to pay for college. She has been in a relationship with Andy for three years and suspects him of cheating on her. He has become distant and is not answering her calls or calling when he is suppose to. She meets Nick at a party when she says she "sort of" has a boyfriend.

Nick has a bad rep and Bess has been warned away from him on several occasions by several of her friends. This does not stop Bess's desires. She keeps it on a friendly level until she decides that she has had enough of Andy's antics. Bess and Nick's relationship progresses pretty quickly, moving from a roll in the sack to being unseperable over night. Neither one of them are willing to put a name to what is going on between the two of them. They won't admit their feelings for one another.

Present: It has been twenty years since Bess has been back in Bethany. She has not seen or heard from Nick in as long. With her marriage falling apart she takes herself to the beach and is comtemplating her life and the summer love that she shared with Nick, when out of the blue he is there. She thinks it must all be a dream until he shows up at her door the next morning soaking wet and smelling of the beach and summer. Thing progress very quickly again. This time everything is different. Bess wants to know why Nick never came for her but is afraid the answers will send him away again.

The time that they share in the present shows a different side of Nick. He can't answer where he has been only that he wanted to come back to Bess. And until Bess said his name that fateful night on the beach he couldn't reach her. With the time that they have together, Bess and Nick are more honest with each other about their feelings and what happened in the past.

Deeper had tears stinging the backs of my eyes and my heart melting over and over again. The love shared between Bess and Nick was a love that would stand the test of time and bring them together again. I truly loved this story.

5 stars