DOUBLE REVIEW — The Heartache Duet by Jay McLean

★ Buy Heartache and Hope (Kindle)  

★ Buy First and Forever (Kindle)

Love is not a noun. Love is something you do. Something you prove. Something you work hard to create.
Love is not something that simply exists because you say it.
Love is not a noun.
Love is a verb.



Before I jump into this review, I have to confess that I have only read ONE book by Jay McLean, Where The Road Takes Me and yes, I absolutely loved it. How could you not?!


Now, that's out of the way... Heartache and Hope turned out to be far more emotional than I thought it would be. I had assumed that this would be an angsty teenage romance but what I got was more than I had been anticipating and hoping for.


Ava Diaz hasn't lived the life of a typical teenager for a few years. She leads a life that revolves around her mother, school and step-brother. It's a hard life, a life full of sacrifices on her part which she does so tirelessly and without faltering. She does what needs to be done even if it means putting her entire life on hold or change it completely to suit the requirements.


Connor Ledger is the new guy and is ways away from his home in Florida to pursue basketball and to be noticed by the right people so that he can make it into a D1 college and finally in the leagues.

And then, and I mean this literally, Ava walked in and Connor Ledger was a goner from the very moment he laid his eyes on her.



I wipe the wetness off my cheeks against her hair and clutch her head to my chest, her ear to my life source. She quiets her sobs. Waiting. Listening. But she won’t find what she’s searching for. Because: “There’s no magic in a broken heart, Ava.”



Reading about teenagers falling in love for the first time — the highs, the lows, the first kiss, the first fight — GAH! And to read about the love going through the trials and then coming out stronger? Take all my money!

I loved every single thing about this book. I LIVED for the text conversations or whenever they were together, just the two of them and they were being their happy selves, my heart just burst with happiness every single time! I had such a hard time putting my phone away for even just a few minutes.

Connor and Ava, they are everything. They are this perfect blend of hope and love and angst and heartache. This book gave me all the freaking feels that I look for when reading a book in this genre and add to that cliffhanger... Jay McLean has one satisfied, happy and a very eager reader at her hands.










We fell in love at a lake surrounded by reckless ideals, and our lives at the time didn’t give us enough grace to allow us to live that love. She left, and I stayed, and every day that you and I have been best friends, I work toward getting her back. She was my first everything, and I want her— no, I need her— to be my last everything. I need her to be beside me when all of this is over and everything ends, because she is my end game, Austin. My forever.



Heartache and Hope ended on such a note that it left me anxious to get my hands on this book and lo and behold when it landed on my Kindle I threw everything aside and dedicated an entire day to my favourite pair.


I know I've already said this for Book 1 but even with First and Forever, it was more than I could have hoped for Ava and Connor. It was literal perfection. It was just as amazing as the first book if not better.


I love how McLean focused on Ava and Connor as individuals, their problems and took the time to highlight subtly why it was important for the two of them to break up, not just for them to grow as individuals but also fave their problems on their own rather than wishing them away and seek the help that they needed to heal themselves of their past ghosts.
It was truly heartbreaking reading and visualizing these two battelling with their demons and insecurities.


And just when I thought my heart couldn't break further — BAM! Yeah... I know... *sad sigh*




You’re my girl, Ava. My first and forever.”



This duet is the perfect fusion of angst, humour, heartbreak and love. I especially love how everything just settles and comes full circle in the end.

This duet is legit money!

It's heartbreak.
It's hope.
It's first.
It's forever.
It's pure magic!


PS. I just need an extended epilogue with Connor and Ava waaay into the future. Jay?! Pretty please!!!