It Starts with Us

It Starts with Us – Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us became a worldwide phenomenon, and readers were left wondering what happened next for its heroine, Lily Bloom. It Starts with Us answers that question, picking up shortly after the first book ends and focusing on Lily’s chance at a new beginning.

Lily, now divorced and the mother of a baby daughter, is running her flower shop in Boston and trying to build a stable life. One day, she unexpectedly runs into Atlas Corrigan, the boy who was her first love when they were teenagers and who has since become a successful chef and restaurant owner. Their feelings for each other are still strong, and they finally have a chance to be together.

But moving forward is complicated. Lily shares custody of her daughter with her ex-husband, Ryle, and she must manage his reactions carefully, knowing how quickly his jealousy and anger can flare. She wants to protect her daughter and herself while giving her new relationship a chance. Atlas, meanwhile, is dealing with problems of his own, including an attack on his restaurant and the reappearance of his estranged mother, which leads him to discover that he has a younger half-brother who needs help.

Told in alternating chapters from Lily’s and Atlas’s perspectives, the novel is warmer and more hopeful in tone than the first book, celebrating the healing power of patient, respectful love.

It Starts with Us is a must for readers who loved It Ends with Us and should be read after it. It contains references to domestic abuse and sexual content.