It Starts with Us

Picking up where its predecessor left off, this sequel follows a young florist rebuilding her life after leaving an abusive marriage as she cautiously reconnects with her first love, the steady, kind man from her past, while co-parenting with her volatile ex-husband and trying to protect her infant daughter and her own hard-won peace from the danger he still poses. Hoover tells the story in the alternating voices of the two reunited lovers, letting the reader into both the tender, hopeful romance and the ongoing threat, and giving the once-silent love interest his own backstory and perspective, so the book balances the sweetness of a second chance against the real difficulty of moving on from abuse while staying tied to an abuser. The tone is warmer and more hopeful than the first book, aiming for healing. This suits readers who want an emotional, hopeful continuation of a story about surviving abuse and daring to love again, especially those invested in the previous book. It fits less well newcomers or anyone wanting a standalone, since it depends heavily on its predecessor. The detail that the heroine must build a new love while safely co-parenting with the abusive ex she escaped gives the book its central tension. Emotional, hopeful, and heartfelt, it rewards invested readers. Content note: it deals with the aftermath of domestic abuse, so sensitive readers should be aware, but its focus on healing is exactly what its readers seek.

Best for readers who want to finish a book feeling better about the world than when they started. The prose is accessible: you can read this quickly and it never asks too much of you. It moves quickly: once you're in, it's hard to stop. If you're drawn to darker, more complex territory, this may feel slight.