Even If It Breaks Your Heart – ARC review

Even If It Breaks Your Heart
by Erin Hahn
Release Date: February 6, 2024
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Standalone
Number of Pages: 314
Source: ARC from NetGalley
YA Romance
Ages 13 and up
CW: grief, cancer,
terminal illness, abandonment
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A heart-buckling ride of a romance by beloved author Erin Hahn, Even If It Breaks Your Heart is about two teens finding out that sometimes, the hardest part of discovering what you want is getting the courage to pursue it.

The only thing keeping nineteen-year-old Case Michaels together after the death of his best friend, Walker, is a list Walker left behind of things he wants Case to accomplish in his absence. So far, though, Case hasn’t even been able to continue riding bulls in the rodeo circuit, something he’s done his entire life, balking at the thought of competing without Walker by his side. But the list? Case is determined to follow it to the letter– and he follows it all the way to Winnie Sutton.

Eighteen-year-old Winnie Sutton just wants to keep her family together. She graduated high school early to work long shifts at the Michaels family ranch so she can support her younger siblings and a father who’s more than happy to let Winnie fill the responsible parent role. If she sometimes sneaks out to ride the horses herself and forget about life for a while– well, that’s no one else’s business– until the day she crashes headfirst into Case Michaels. Case sees her riding skills and immediately ropes her into competing for the ranch and becoming his friend.

Winnie and Case couldn’t be more different, but Case can’t help but be inspired by Winnie’s badly-hidden passion for riding and competition. And there’s something about Case that makes Winnie want to try grasping onto a dream for herself, whether that’s a shot at a rodeo trophy, the annoyingly handsome rancher’s son who won’t leave her alone, or maybe both.

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While I enjoy all of this author’s writing, I especially love her YA romance. When she transitioned into writing some contemporary romance, I was afraid we wouldn’t get any more of the magic she seems to have with this genre. I’m so glad she went back to her writing roots on this one. It’s everything I hoped for and more.

Winnie is phenomenal. Without getting too deep, I can tell you that the way she is written is so realistic and it twisted a knife in my gut over and over. Yet, once Winnie found her people and learned she could lean on others, she was able to find joy and happiness. Not that she wasn’t happy on a day-to-day basis before, but there was too much on her shoulders for her to ever truly relax into happiness.

I love the journey Case takes in this book. He’s such a good person, but he’s in the depths of intense grief so doesn’t always act in the best manner. At least not in the first few chapters. Case not only pokes his head out of his cloud of grief, but he learns what it means to live with that grief and continue to a happy and healthy future.

As much as I love romance, the friendship Winnie and Case develop before the romance is special. I was so happy that wasn’t lost after they admitted and acted on their feelings. The story of Case and Winnie is central to the book, but friendship is a huge part of it all. Not just between the two of them, but with others who help them both realize they are not alone. Beautiful.

5 stars

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**