Was I Ever Here: A Dark Romance Paperback – August 11, 2022

1st person/dual povSpice: 4/5THIS. MF. BOOK!The blurb drew me in. The cover had me extra curious. But the story absolutely slayed me!The way Naomi writes is mesmerizing, especially the way some of the thoughts run through the characters inner monologues. The way they are worded is so poetic and really hits you with the emotion behind it. I was hanging off of every single word just melting into a puddle on the floor with every turn of the page.The characters are wonderfully written as well. Sunny is so relatable and real that it was easy to connect with her quickly. The emotional state that she often finds herself in really hit home with me and had me pulling for her to overcome it. Byzantine.. well.. that man is a whole gorgeous contradiction and I am obsessed! He is completely opposite of what I expected him to be, especially after he was first introduced and the way he was described. He's dangerous yet safe, cold and distant yet warm and romantic. He's very dominant and controlling but the way he gives in to Sunny at times shows a side of him that is devoted to the woman he loves. And talk about seduction on a silver platter.. prepare yourself to be mentally kneeling at this mans feet because lord everything he says and does will have the temperature rising in the room! The chokehold he has on me is unreal lol!This love stretches across lifetimes and it is so tragically beautiful. Them finding their way to each other in the present will have you swooning, the flashbacks of their past will have your heart aching, and the way it all comes to an end may or may not have you sobbing into your t-shirt in the middle of the night to keep from waking up everyone in the rest of the house.Such an exceptional book to have as your first published novel! There is a tease at the next book she is working on at the end and I was hoping at least for the last half of this book that we would get that story eventually! So to say I am excited to be able to read that one is a major understatement! Based off of how good this one was I have no doubt that one will be outstanding as well!

I have been following Naomi Loud on Instagram for awhile and have had this book on my TBR since it came out, but for whatever reason I kept putting off reading it. I literally do not know what I was thinking because this was such a good read!The whole premise of loving the same soul throughout multiple lifetimes is what got me interested, because I wasn't quite sure how that was going to work, but Naomi crushed it and took the concept to a really phenomenal level. The near death experience Byzantine had, and the flashes of deja vu from Sunny helped get me to the point where it was believable, but I did find it hard to believe Sunny would believe him so easily. That could just be the skeptic in me, but I can see how it makes sense because they are soulmates.I also just felt everything for Sunny; her trauma, grief, and low self-worth were what kept me invested in the story because I wanted her to have a HEA, but I also wanted to see how it would be achieved. One of the things I truly appreciated was Sunny's recognition that abstaining from alcohol for awhile would be a step in the right direction when it comes to her working through her suicidal thoughts. As a sober woman who had the same thoughts when I was still heavily drinking, it is so important to me as a reader that this was mentioned because I found myself thinking, "girl, you need to cut back on the booze for a bit and not use it as a coping mechanism," and it was like my thoughts were thrown into the book.Also, I need to mention that Byzantine is right up there with Zade Meadows for me in the "psychotic but sexy" category and I don't want to unpack what that says about me as a person.I think the only reason I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is I did think the ending was too quickly wrapped up and I want to see more growth and healing from Sunny. Listen, I get this is a dark romance and, trust me, it was SPICY, but I want more substance with my spice.

"I am a collection of moments. Moments, I wish I could forget."I wanted to love this book because the blurb peaked my interest, but I felt like nothing ever really happened. I just wanted there to be more. I did like that the mental health aspect was more realistic than in a lot of books. It showed that it takes time to work through things. There isn’t any magical fix.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5🌶🌶🌶When I read the synopsis of this book, I was instantly intrigued.Soul mates who are continuously drawn to each other throughout each of their lifetimes. Always finding each other sounded so heartbreakingly beautiful.I was hooked after the first chapter and could not put this book down. Naomi's writing is beautiful and sucked me into Sunny and Byzantine's world. The plot was unique, and pacing and spice were flawless. I'm a sucker for a "Crawl for me" moment and Was I Here had one 🖤The character development for Sunny and Byzantine was excellent. I found Sunny to be such a complex character with her mental health struggles. Reading as she navigated through it was hard at times. Luckily, she had her best friend Lenix by her side.Byzantine was the ideal morally grey and possessive MMC we all love. Once he found Sunny, he was determined to make Sunny his, again.If you love dark romance with a unique plot, beautiful writing and an HEA. You need to read this.“Because I’ve loved you for lifetimes, Sunny. No matter what happens—whatever you do, I always find you.”

This book surprised me significantly.The characters are very developed and complex. It took me a while to connect with the story, the suffering of the characters is great, but all this makes redemption much more captivating in its essence.I've never seen a book like this that involves reincarnation, questions about life and death, and a romance that overcomes the darkest challenges of the human mind.An anthem to mental health.After 40% I just couldn't let go.The secondary characters are also beautifully constructed.5 ⭐️!!

The main story is beautifull, about sunny. Finding herself, but the Spice, its Just to much for me. And to distant/harsh from time to time... but this was my first dank romance and maybe this genre is not for me. Like i said, the main story is beautifull and its well writen

I loved this book it made me laugh it made me cry. The characters and their love story tugged at my heart and I saw a part of myself in their soulmate connection. I usually don’t like dual pov but this book has changed my mind. The characters and their close circle were well developed and I greatly enjoyed the world building as it felt gradual and natural not just thrown out all at once. I love a love interest that’s a tad obsessed with his girl if you’re like me you’ll definitely want to give this one a read!

I will openly admit I wasn’t sure if I was going to read this or not. When a book has a lot of hype around it, I get really anxious about whether or not I will enjoy it. And damn, I am glad I picked this book.It took me some time to adjust to Naomi’s writing style and get into this book. But I am glad I kept going. Once I got into this book, it was hard for me to put down. And I was waiting for Naomi to drop a JT Geissinger style plot twist.This book is strong with themes of mental health and reincarnation. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this before. I can’t think of any book that is like this. There are a few things that I felt were missing from this. But I love Byzantine and Sunny and I am so glad they got the HEA they deserved.