ARC Review: Bookmarked by Bella Jay

Let me start off by saying I am DEHYDRATED!!!!!!! And for multiple reasons. My good sis, Bella Jay has caused me to be wrung out and hanging on the clothesline to dry in the backyard of an old house in a country town because baybee!!!! This book had me in my Cancer ass emotions throughout the whole damn thing. I went through it, you hear me.

This was my first book by this author and when I tell you she was not playing with the pen, she was not playing. I'm still reeling from it all. So, if it seems like I'm rambling, forgive me.

Bookmarked is about a couple who are within days of their divorce being finalized. The husband, Elgin "Juice" Newsome invites his soon-to-be ex-wife, Brooklin "Books" Newsome out to dinner. Since the couple agreed to still be friends after everything was said and done, I didn't see it as weird. However, dinner was only Juice's catalyst for what he really wanted from Books, a divorcemoon. You heard me, a divorcemoon. Sounds crazy, right? Well, what's crazier is that Books agreed to it. 5 days of just the two of them in an unfamiliar territory so that they can have closure.

Now, it's important to know that this couple isn't divorcing for the typical reasons you would think and they are still very much in love with each other. No cheating, no abuse, no slander, nor negative actions against each other. So, what's the harm?

Well, those 5 days were jam-packed with every emotion you can think of: love, passion, anger, irritation, sadness, playfulness, etc. And I felt them right along with Elgin and Brooklin. Throughout the entire book, I could see the unsureness & questioning, the uncommunicating words that they both could read off of their body language. The way they catered to each other and gave each other what they needed when they needed it. In my opinion, they were very much in sync. So many times, it had me questioning why the hell they were still going through with the dreaded d-word.

While it was explained, and I completely understand why they (*cough Brooklin cough*) felt the divorce was necessary, I truly believe there were other ways to do what needed to be done. My opinion, though, would not have led to this very well written, thought-out story that would lead you to believe this was a romance... until it wasn't.

Bookmarked is very much a love story (definitely not a romance) and I have come to grips with this. It was a reminder that sometimes you have to let go of the one thing you love the most to figure out what is really best for you. I enjoyed Juice & Books' story immensely and I can only pray Bella Jay hears more from them (and they have their HEA) because they are definitely not finished with each other. Thank you Bella Jay for the opportunity to ARC read this book for an honest review.