Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Everything Changes
AUTHOR: Melanie Hansen
SERIES: Resilient Love #1
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 235 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 14, 2020, 2nd Revised Edition
BLURB:
Two battle buddies. One fateful deployment. Two vastly different sets of wounds. One friendship changed forever.
A childhood in foster care taught Carey Everett to hold tight to what he has. Enlisting in the Marines gave him purpose, but a life-threatening injury ended his career—and took his leg. Now fully recovered, Carey’s happier than he’s ever been. He has a fulfilling job, a chosen family and, best of all, a cherished friendship with Jase DeSantis, the platoon medic who saved his life.
Despite Jase’s heroism in combat, he’s haunted by his actions overseas. Playing music with his band keeps the demons at bay, but it’s a battle he’s starting to lose.
After a week of sun and fun in San Diego, Jase and Carey’s connection takes an unexpected turn. With change comes a new set of challenges. For Jase, it means letting someone else into his deepest pain. For Carey, it’s realizing love doesn’t always equal loss. In order to make their relationship work, they’ll have to come to terms with their pasts…
…or risk walking away from each other for good.
REVIEW:
Everything Changes was updated in September 2020, and as author Melanie Hansen states, “the basic story remains the same, but it’s approached in a very different manner. Rewritten from the ground up, and re-edited, this book is definitely one I can be more proud of.” I read the original so let’s see how this edition stacks up.
I love a romance between two strong men; military men are perfect. Add in two of my favorite tropes – hurt/comfort and friends-to-lovers – and it’s a win. Jase and Carey met during their deployments to Afghanistan where they became close friends and Jase developed a fierce crush on Carey. But Carey is straight. As a Navy medic, Jase saved Carey’s life when a grenade exploded, but Carey still lost a leg below the knee. Following a grueling stay at Walter Reed Hospital, Jase surprised his friend by showing up to help with his recovery.
In the present day, the men continue their strong friendship. Carey has a very fulfilling life living and working with amputees at Hope Ranch in Colorado, a camp for wounded veterans. Jase is now the front man in a rock band trying to make it big, and an EMT living in San Diego. As combat vets, they both struggle with their war-torn pasts, Carey as an amputee and Jase with PTSD.
The story begins with Carey visiting Jase in San Diego where he shows up at a club where Jase’s band is performing. The conflict starts while Carey is staying at Jase’s place while on vacation. Jase is still harboring his crush – more like love now – and Carey is starting to notice his own non-platonic reactions toward Jase, such as dick twitches, lol. He lies to himself about his attraction. He loves Jase but is struggling to understand if he’s in love with him. He also doesn’t want to risk their friendship by getting involved. But his dick keeps twitching!
Jase is your best friend, not your “I’m suddenly bi-curious” experiment. Explore this with someone else – someone whose friendship you don’t need like you need air.
Jase’s PTSD plays a significant role in their journey, also, and comes between the two men. I would’ve enjoyed having Jase’s EMT work shown on page and how his PTSD impacts his job.
I didn’t care for how the many snippets of memories – not quite flashbacks – were slipped right into the text. I wish they would’ve been italicized, perhaps, to delineate them from the present day narrative. The memories were useful and welcome, but they did pull me out of the story briefly while I determined if they were past or present thoughts.
When comparing the two editions, I feel the emotions ran deeper and the story was more complex in the original. However, there’s fewer extraneous scenes in the second which makes it more cohesive. For example, there’s a woman Carey becomes involved with in the original and that storyline is completely eliminated, for the better. One of the central conflicts is gone, too. Thank goodness Carey is no longer struggling with his sexual identity. Overall, I think the re-write is successful and I prefer it to the original. I did miss having an epilogue, though. I’m all about the epilogue. I like Jase and Carey and the energy they have between them. They are both more likable this time around. It was nice to revisit this couple. In a wonderful surprise, Trevor and Jessie from Ms. Hansen’s Point of Contact are a new edition to this book.
Everything Changes, originally published in 2015, was Ms. Hansen’s debut novel. In the intervening years, and eight books later, it’s easy to see how the author has grown and her writing has become stronger and more articulate. I enjoyed reading the new version quite a bit and recommend it.
RATING: 
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