4.5 Stars
ARC won during Shh's Summer Buzz Book Event! Thanks M.J.!

Oh my lanta. I have so many feelings after finish this book! I have to wake up for work at 4:30 am and I didn't finish reading 27 Truths until a little after midnight. It was that good. It was worth not sleeping enough. It was worth bawling my heart out into a blanket.

Like every Christmas past, Ava is going home to her family, to her friends, to the man she's been in love with since she was a girl and he was a boy. After seven years of keeping her feelings to herself she is ready to admit to Luke Lane about her dreams for them. Breaking their promise is worth it, she knows he must feel the same, there's no thought in her head that he doesn't. Except, he isn't the same man anymore and she isn't the same girl and there's no way to force them into a fairy tale bubble. As she comes to recognize that fairy tales aren't always complete with happy endings she learns to open her heart up to another.

He was my home. He just didn't know it yet.

From the very beginning I was invested in Ava's story, I couldn't get enough of this sweet girl with rose-colored glasses clouding the truths of life. She's the most loyal character I've ever had the opportunity to read from, always giving her all to her family and her friends, ignoring herself. Like most young women, she's in love, hopelessly and desperately in love with a man who cannot feel the same for her. I could connect with her on so many levels because of this, the desire to hold onto something, to make it work, to love enough for two people. It's also heartbreaking, to read about a girl so willing to make things work that she hurts herself along the way. To watch her recognize that fairy tales are not always like the ones we are told as children. Then there's Luke and Liam and T. These men are like bookmarks in her life story, the monumental people that stand out in every memory. These relationships are good and bad, and when all are brought together it's turbulent, to say the least. In a short period of time Ava grows tremendously and as she recognizes fairy tales aren't always like the one she's imagined she finds happiness in a new way.

“The world doesn’t begin here, not does it end here. And I hate like hell to say it, but the same goes for being between your legs.”
Silence. Deadly, ugly, excruciating silence.

There is so much that went into Ava's story, you see her family, her youth, her teenage years, and all she's done to become the 25 year old she is today. We see how her family has shaped her vision of what love is, how her upbringing as a princess has spoiled her. We also see how stuck in her dreams she really is and how much it takes to break the habit of dreaming to see reality. Her relationships are somewhat funny, a bit dramatic, and absolutely heartbreaking in every way. You feel for her endlessly, you want to give her the happiness she so deserves, and once she has it you want to hold tight to it like she does. I certainly didn't expect M.J. Fields to take my heart and burst it into ten million little pieces. Luke and Ava are so hard to accept, you see the right and you see the wrong in them, you see how they just don't work. I sort of wanted to shake Ava and punch Luke. We see how Liam stands by her side, now as a friend. T bides his time, he wants the opportunity to show Ava he is Thomas, not just T, and that he can be her more. It was amazing what it took for Ava to open her eyes, to face the heartbreak and open her heart up for more. It was so easy to be swept up in this story, to forget everything but Ava and her desperate want to love and be loved. Just like Ava, we soon see that one of the men is the right one for her, and despite the jealousy, the drama, and the absolute angst we hold onto hope for their happiness. Of course, it wouldn't be an M.J. Fields novel without ups and downs and 27 Truths: Ava' Story has a lot of them. It truly was like riding a roller coaster of emotions the entire time I read this book. And the journal, the love journal, I wanted to have it for myself, to have their love for myself, to give up anything I had to for them to have everything they ever wanted.

“Ava Links, you are my Goddess” He cups my chin. “Even more so now than before. Let me be the guy who makes you forget your heart was ever broken.”

If you are looking for an HEA, walk away, but if you are looking for a novel with every emotion a person goes through in life with relationships, this is it. Love is all encompassing in this novel, Ava has made it the center of her life, and with it comes some of the most agonizing, yet beautiful truths. It's an unforgettable story about timeless love, about life lessons and acceptance, about making the journey into your own fairy tale. The plot flowed perfectly, the writing was excellent, and the characters were exactly what I want out of a coming of age romance. It hurt my heart in the best way possible and I want to read it all over again. ( )

I really enjoyed this book! I had kept putting it off because I was unfamiliar with this author and other books by known-to-me authors kept gaining my attention. I’m so glad I didn’t miss this gem. It is a very solid story with an intriguing storyline. The girl is caught in a love quad. The boys represent her past, present, and future. One is certainly one part of her life, but the other two are debatable as they keep fluctuating and all of their stories are so intertwined. This was such a good book. I can’t wait to read the others and see what happens now. ( )

I really enjoyed this book! I had kept putting it off because I was unfamiliar with this author and other books by known-to-me authors kept gaining my attention. I’m so glad I didn’t miss this gem. It is a very solid story with an intriguing storyline. The girl is caught in a love quad. The boys represent her past, present, and future. One is certainly one part of her life, but the other two are debatable as they keep fluctuating and all of their stories are so intertwined. This was such a good book. I can’t wait to read the others and see what happens now. ( )