If You Only Knew
Prerna Pickett
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: February 11th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

A boy recently released from jail and the daughter of a prosecutor fall for each other against the odds in this YA novel.
Corey has just been released from jail, and all he wants is a new beginning. But when his former gang comes knocking, Corey agrees to vandalize the home of Kent Hopper, the prosecutor who put him away.
To erase the guilt she carries from getting away with a crime, Tessa spends most of her nights riding her motorcycle. When she catches Corey destroying her father’s car, she doesn’t see a criminal: She sees a way to finally right her own wrongs. So instead of turning Corey over to the police, she convinces her father to give Corey a second chance.
As Tessa and Corey spend more time with each other, it becomes difficult to ignore the pull between them. But they’re both keeping secrets, and when those secrets come to light, they’ll each have to face their demons in order to have a future together.

 
As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

Redemption, secrets and facing the past are all central plot points in If You Only Knew. Like all good coming of age stories, If You Only Knew is all about growing up and changing into the person you've always meant to be. As flawed and complex as the lifelines we trace, these characters are well on their way to growing up and receiving second chances.

There's this glimpse of hopefulness to this story that warms my heart. While I wouldn't say I had fits of the warm and fuzzies throughout the course of this novel, there was so much good to be found in If You Only Knew's honesty.

There's laughter, joy, sadness, swooning and anger to be found within these pages. If You Only Knew is the type of story that I call a balancing act--it has a little of everything. The sharp edges of life and its harder parts, lending to a blunt tone, but there are softer elements we often try to hold onto.

You can smile just as easily as frown while reading this novel.

What makes this story so special is that balance and the way that the story unravels for Tessa and Corey. In the span of If You Only Knew, Prerna Pickett creates a cast of believable characters that you'll find you want to simultaneously shake sense into them and root for. Tangled with their own pasts, the two characters at the center meet and together they grow.

They have everything you could want in a fictional relationship. You root for them. Their chemistry is high. They have some seriously tense and highly intriguing interactions that will give you all the feels.

For many, this is the kind of love story that will keep the pages turning; there are complications, and bumps in the road, but a majority of the time spent between these two is used on character growth. I'm not keen on romances where characters stand still or change is one sided; Pickett tells the story of two characters who fall in love and genuinely balance each other out in the most beautiful of ways.

Colour me impressed by this novel. This story made me feel so much.

Author Bio:
I’m a wife, mom, writer, reader. Lover of foods, beaches, the ocean, shoes, starry nights. Sometimes I pretend like I’m good at drawing.

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