The Life That Mattered and The Life You Stole by Jewel E. Ann
- Alisha Eadle
- May 9
- 9 min read
The Life That Mattered
by Jewel E. Ann
Self-Published
Book 1 in the Life Series
Sex isn’t love.
Love isn’t sex.
And friendship is neither.
The son of a French Olympic skier and a Malaysian fashion designer, Ronin Alexander has lived the life of a nomad, traveling the world to find his next adventure.
Life takes a dramatic turn when he meets Evelyn, a beautiful scientist who owns a bath shop in Aspen, Colorado. They defy all the rules of relationships, falling hard and quickly in love.
Their world intertwines with Evelyn’s two best friends, the Governor and his soon-to-be wife. The four become close—very close.
When tragedy strikes, things from their pasts are unveiled—unimaginable truths and the grim realization that life will never be the same.
The Life You Stole
by Jewel E. Ann
Self-Published
Book 2 in the Life Series
Sex. Lies. Revenge.
On the heels of a devastating loss, Evelyn fights to put her life back together.
Only … part of her husband belongs to another woman, and the devil owns her soul.
“If you tell her the lie, I will tell her the truth.”
When her best friend goes to great lengths to protect Evelyn from destruction and devastation, mistakes are made, lines are crossed, and all trust is shattered.
“We weren’t unbreakable.
I just needed to believe we weren’t unrepairable.”
Genre
Triggers
Sexual Assault, Emotional and Physical Abuse, Affair, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide
This duo of books fucked me up.
No joke.
One of the reasons I'm writing a review for both of them in one post, is because these books, while excellent, had me so emotional, I almost don't want to revisit them.
I was bawling. BAWLING!
Please don't not read these books if the triggers aren't triggering, or you tend to be an overly emotional reader, like me. They really are excellently written.
But no joke, I read these books in February, and the scar they left ...
Ouch.
This is going to be such a HARD couple of books to talk about, because I DON'T want to give anything away.
The overall arc of these books is so good. We quickly are immersed into the dynamics of Evelyn and her best friends - Graham and Lina - and the romance.
Yes, The Life That Mattered and The Life You Stole are thrillers at their core, but the romance, the love that is there between Evelyn and Ronin, is what packs the emotional punch in these books.
The deep love and respect these two have for each other is what gives you hope during the hard times, but also raises the stakes.
The friendships, while an incredibly important aspect to these books, I found frustrated me more than anything. Mostly because everything these people did, were the opposite of what I would do with my best friend.
Communication is so important, not only in romance, but in EVERY relationship.
But when I say that the miscommunication/not communicating trope is all that bugged me in these books, it's true.
Otherwise, these books were EXCELLENT.
I was going to read them - I plan on reading everything Jewel E. Ann has written - but damn. My best friend sucks for having me read these with her.
And yes - they destroyed her as well.
The woman who once claimed she NEVER cried during books, bawled her freaking eyes out.
If you love emotionally gripping romances with a heavy dose of unexpected twists, you will definitely enjoy these books. Just keep an eye on those trigger warnings, and be prepared to rage and cry.
After Lila rushed past him, he tipped the bellboy, watching him retreat toward the elevator for a few seconds before returning his attention to me.
Graham: “So you don’t have to listen to her scream.”
Graham handed me a keycard.
Evelyn: “Hmm … she’s never mentioned screaming. You must be referencing a movie, not actual events.”
Lila: “Oh my god! There he is,”
Lila whispered when the elevator doors opened to the lobby just as Ronin strutted with jaw-dropping swagger toward the steakhouse.
Graham: “Oh my god? Clearly, I didn’t fuck you hard enough earlier,” Graham grumbled.
Evelyn: “Gauge your love for him by his love for you.”
Lila: “That sounds selfish. Like I love myself more.”
A smile stole my mouth, and I think she got my point before I said it, but I said it anyway.
Evelyn: “Love yourself more.”
Evelyn: “I’ll walk you to your door,”
Evelyn said as she turned off her Jeep.
Ronin: “God …”
I laughed, shaking my head.
Ronin: “That’s messed up. Now I feel a huge urgency to get my own vehicle. I think I’ll go tomorrow to buy one just so you don’t ever have to walk me to my door again.”
Evelyn: “What is this?”
she whispered when I eased her to her feet. We weren’t drunk on alcohol, but clearly intoxicated with some thing. My lips brushed hers while my fingers threaded through her hair.
Ronin: “I don’t know.”
I grinned. Biting her bottom lip, I sucked it slowly before releasing it.
Ronin: “But I can’t wait to find out.”
One hit. I was an Evelyn addict from one hit. Every day felt borrowed since my accident. Every minute felt like the first and the last. Right then Evelyn became my beginning and my end—origin and destination. And maybe … if the impossible could find a way to be possible, she could be everything in between.
He locked into his skis and helped me into mine. I started to fall to the side. When he caught me, I gave him a tight-lipped grin.
Evelyn: “You’ve been warned. And I’m certain after you witness this catastrophe that is me, you will never get a hard-on for me again.”
Ronin: “I’m going to stick my hard-on in your mouth later, if you don’t stop saying stupid shit like that.”
I liked Ronin’s dirty mouth. I knew I’d miss it when he broke up with me in approximately thirty minutes, but I didn’t say that.
Evelyn: “I don’t think my feelings are overboard. They’re mine. You can’t tell me how I’m supposed to feel about shit! Okay?”
So we slipped. We fell …
Evelyn: “Roe … don’t say it,”
I whispered. He loved me. And I loved him. It had never been said, but it was always there. He pulled back enough to see my eyes, a ghost of concern sliding across his face.
Evelyn: “It’s too late.”
I eased his concern with a little grin, feathering my fingernails down his back.
Evelyn: “It’s too big for words now. Don’t belittle it with a four-letter word. It’s too intangible. Too undefinable. Don’t ever tell me what you can show me.”
Lila: “They were talking about your wood, Ronin.”
Lila smirked from around her spoon.
Grandma: “Yes. Benedict would’ve been proud of all your wood.”
Grandma nodded. I bit back my grin.
Evelyn: “Ronin is good with wood. And he definitely has a lot of it.”
Lila choked on her spoon. Ronin shifted me on his lap, so I could feel his wood.
Ronin: “I do my best. Evelyn likes it hot, so that requires lots of wood.”
I loved how my mom and grandma were oblivious to the innuendos of the conversation while Lila looked ready to pee her pants in the kitchen. My lips hurt from biting them so hard.
Grandma: “Your grandfather was the same way. He used to pack so much wood. But sometimes he’d forget to cover it, and it would get wet. Of course it was always my fault. He’d make up some reason why I distracted him; therefore, it was my fault the wood didn’t get covered and ended up wet.”
Ronin: “I can see that,”
Ronin said like his mind wasn’t just as far down the gutter as Lila’s and mine.
Ronin: “It’s quite easy to get distracted and forget to cover the wood. If I’m honest, my wood has been wet quite often.”
Mom: “And it matters if you’re burning softwood versus hardwood,”
Mom added. This conversation wasn’t happening. Was it? How the hell did we let it get so far? My stomach ached from containing my laughter.
Ronin: “It really does.”
Ronin nodded.
Lila: “She’s terrible. Right? The worst skier in the world.”
I coughed a laugh.
Ronin: “Yes, she’s pretty bad, but I don’t care. I swear to god her willingness to try, for me, put her on this unreachable pedestal in my eyes. She’s fucking amazing.”
Love at first sight, destiny, or any fictional shit like that kept a safe distance from my existence. Then one day … Evelyn literally walked into my life, took a seat, and gave me this grin that I felt. Yes … I felt her grin. And while I had a gift—a curse really—for feeling things, a grin was not my usual superhuman sensation. I knew … I just knew I was in trouble—all from a grin.
Ronin: "That day in Vancouver, it felt like so much more than a stop along my way. It felt like I had arrived.”
She glanced over her shoulder. I nipped at her lower lip.
Ronin: “That’s the thing about you, Evie … I had no idea I was waiting for someone until you arrived.”
Ronin: “Evelyn is a horrific skier, but she tries.”
He slid his hands along my neck to keep me focused on him.
Ronin: “It doesn’t matter. She’s going to marry me. She said as much the day we met.”
Ronin: “Evelyn’s going to marry me. Maybe not until her mom is better. Maybe not until Lila and Graham are married. But she’s going to marry me. She’s going to have my babies.”
How did he make it so public and incredibly intimate at the same time?
Ronin: “Right, Evie?”
he whispered. An unexplainable warmth wrapped around my body.
Evelyn: “Probably.”
I smiled.
Ronin: “Probably …”
he echoed just before kissing me.
Ronin: “I promise to find you in every life … in every universe.”
I smiled, blinking the snow from my eyelashes. Ronin grinned.
Ronin: “I promise to carry you down every mountain.”
Everyone chuckled at Ronin’s humor. He squeezed my cold hands.
Ronin: “And shelter your heart, keeping it warm and safe next to mine in this life … in every life … and every universe.”
Evelyn: “We should have called them earlier. They’re going to miss it.”
Ronin: “Maybe. But we won’t miss it. At least I’m not going to miss it. I don’t know what your plans are.”
Life was about breaths and heartbeats. A smile. A wink. The squeeze of a hand. Sunrises and sunsets. The rest … it was all extra.
I would fight for him. And he would fight for me. There would be truths. There would be lies. Never perfect—always forever.
Lila: “I’m glad.”
Lila tipped her head back in the beach chair.
Lila: “I feel responsible for your happiness too.”
Ouch … That felt wrong. A gut punch of reality. Was that how it sounded when I said it to her?
Evelyn: “Wow …”
I exhaled a breath of reality.
Evelyn: “That’s not good. How did I not see it until you said it back to me? Being responsible for someone else’s happiness is a lot of pressure.”
Lila rolled her head to the side. I couldn’t see her eyes behind her glasses, but I imagined them filled with deep thoughts.
Lila: “Thank you,”
she whispered.
Evelyn: “For what?”
Lila: “For finally seeing that.”
She straightened her head again.
Ronin: “I took time off work, but my dick never takes a vacation. He’s always hard at work.”
Evelyn: “I see. Dick is quite the competitor. I’m not going to lie … I like good, stiff competition.”
She grabbed Dick. (Yes, his official name was born in that moment. A fitting name without pretense or too much pomp and circumstance.) I narrowed my eyes.
Ronin: “And I like it when you give me the world’s biggest boner as our spawns climb out of bed to make their way to—”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Ronin: “Us.”
I sighed.
Evelyn: “I’d better go. Sorry. Hate to leave you hanging.”
She released me and winked.
Ronin: “Bobbing,”
I grumbled.
Ronin: “You’re leaving me bobbing. I’d prefer it to hang. But it won’t at the moment.”
Evie giggled, unlocking the door and shooting me her evil angel smirk.
Evelyn: “He’s such a dick.”
Ronin: “The biggest one ever.”
I, too, had an evil smirk.
Evelyn: “Fact.”
She opened the door.
Lila: “Maybe bad people are perceived as being bad when in actuality they’re brutally honest. And good people are in fact the liars we can’t truly trust."
Ronin: “Trust is hard. It comes in many forms. We trust the people we love to be honest, but we also trust them to protect us. What happens when the two are at odds?”
He swallowed hard, but refused to blink, refused to release a single tear.
Graham: “You married the wrong guy.”
Oh, Graham, Graham, Graham …
Evelyn: “No. I didn’t. You fell in love with the wrong girl.”
Fuck my life. Really, if sitting in a closet close to midnight and getting stood up by a vibrator wasn’t the lowest of lows, then I don’t know what could have beat it.
Lila: “I didn’t enjoy it,”
she gritted between her teeth.
Graham: “You orgasmed.”
Lila: “If I give you a blowjob before slitting your throat, is it still murder?”
We weren’t unbreakable. I just needed to believe we weren’t unrepairable.
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