Review: The Boy I Grew Up With

The Boy I Grew Up With by Tijan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via the author in exchange for an honest review.

This follows Channing and Heather, who if you are a fan of Tijan's Fallen Crest series you probably already know them. I've only recently discovered Tijan and I'm still making my way through her books and Fallen Crest is still on my backlog. This stands nicely on it's own. This delves into Channing's crew, so if you haven't read Crew yet that kind of explains more about crews but it isn't necessary to understand the storyline here.

We go back and forth between the past and present of Channing and Heather's relationship. It is important to go back into their past to understand how they have gotten to where they are in the present day, as well as to understand where they need to go. They've been through alot as individuals and as a couple. Channing is in a crew, he started crews, and sometimes that means things get a little dangerous. Heather runs a restaurant, and really wants nothing to do with crew business she just wants Channing, she's always just wanted Channing. Crew comes first, and Heather is tired of coming in second place, so she needs to learn to accept the crew as part of Channing's life or make a permanent break from him. Channing is in the same situation, he can't live with out Heather, but he can't put her first because of his crew. They both have to go through some fairly dramatic stuff before they decide if their relationship is worth it because while they love each other, they aren't sure they are right for each other. They both really grow as characters, from making irrational decisions that make you scratch you head, to really thinking out what they want to do with their futures as individuals and as a couple. They are both tough, hard, and not to be trifled with, and when they come together things are pretty explosive.

This was highly character driven. There were some fairly violent action scenes between the crew and the local motorcycle gang which really cemented that crews get into some dangerous stuff. They also protect their own, and while tensions are high people think emotionally do and do some crazy stuff. There is plenty of heat and chemistry between Channing and Heather as well. You know that anytime they are together there is going to be a steamy scene to follow because they pretty much can't keep their hands off of one another. This book deals with some heavy topics, and while I didn't expect the ending I'm really happy with how it turned out.

If you are a fan of the Fallen Crest series, I think you will like getting to know Channing and Heather. If you've read Crew, which I have read, you will appreciate getting to know them and seeing the older more established crew in action. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Channing and Heather in Crew #2 as Bren's story continues.

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