Review: Only Between Us by Mila Ferrera

Title: Only Between Us
Author: Mila Ferrera
Pages: 247
Publisher: Mila Ferrera Books
Release Date: September 3, 2013

Last semester, Romy escaped from an abusive relationship with the guy she’d thought was the man of her dreams. This semester she’s putting herself back together, determined to reclaim her passion for art and for life. When she signs up for a painting class at the local art co-op, the possibility of passion becomes very real -- in the form of her teacher, Caleb. Both mysterious and seriously hot, Caleb bares his soul on his canvases, and Romy’s fascinated by what she sees.

Caleb is just trying to keep his head above water. Caring for his traumatized, unstable sister is getting harder every day, and his paintings are so dark and bleak that no one is buying. Teaching classes at the co-op is no longer enough, and now he’s going to have to sell more than just his art to the wealthy, sex-starved women in his classes. But when Romy comes along, she makes everything more complicated. She sees the truth in his paintings -- a truth no one else has realized, until now.

Romy and Caleb might have a real shot together -- one that could heal them both. But when ghosts from their pasts re-emerge, determined to keep them apart, will they be strong enough to hold on to each other?

My Thoughts: After loving Mila Ferrera's Spiral, I had a really good feeling I was going to enjoy her other new adult novels. So I wasn't at all surprised by how quickly I was hooked with Only Between Us! Just like with Spiral, Ferrera's sophomore novel was a story full of heartache and tough issues that was eased by the love and hope shared between the characters.

Only Between Us revolved around twenty-three year old Romy, who is trying to get her life back after being in an abusive relationship, and twenty-four year old Caleb, who does anything and eveything he can to care for his mentally ill younger sister. I'm so glad the story was in both of their perspectives because I loved knowing exactly what was going on inside their heads. It was easier to sympathize with them and made things much more powerful. It also showed that the author can flawlessly write from the male POV just as well as she can the female POV.

Since I've always had a soft spot for art, I loved that Romy and Caleb were artists and met in an painting class. Caleb was actually Romy's teacher, and his artwork inspired Romy and allowed her to see all the secrets Caleb hid from the world. Not only that, Romy's words impacted Caleb in a way that he couldn't describe and left him feeling like he was finally understood and worthy. I admired them as individuals, and I loved how well they fit together. They were kind and wonderful people, and their relationship was just so sweet and hot! They both were going through their own problems, but with each other they gained strength and the ability to heal bit by bit, even though it wasn't easy getting there.

Only Between Us was an emotional read about two broken people who fall in love and change each other for the better. It had a satisfying conclusion and made me even more of a fan of the author Mila Ferrera. It looks like there's a companion novel to this book focusing on Caleb's best friend Daniel called Everything Between Us, and it should come as no surprise that I can't wait to read it!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars