Four Years Later (One Week Girlfriend, #4) by Monica Murphy
Romance Contemporary/NA
E book, 304 pages
February 25, 2014
Bantam

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote:
I miss you.
I think about you all the time.
I dream about you.
I lied to you and I’m sorry.
I was embarrassed
Ashamed.
I want to earn your forgiveness but I don’t know how.

Owen, Fable’s younger brother, was seen intermittently throughout Drew and Fable’s rocky romance. Now all grown up and in college, Owen is experiencing his own problems when drugs, late night partying, and low grades threaten his football career. He needs a miracle and quick.

His savior?

Chelsea. A straight laced, A+ student whose overachiever nature and lack of funds has her tutoring in her spare time. When she first meets Owen, she is bowled over by his gorgeous looks and hot body but knows deep inside he could never be interested in someone like her and throws a bit of attitude at him.

Owen isn’t used to a girl not making a play for him. As he gets to know Chelsea, he realises that for her, he’ll get clean and straighten up his act. She makes him want to be a better person. But there are people out there who need Owen to stay just the way he is. People who will do whatever it takes to keep him under their influence…even if it destroys him in the end.

Those who are familiar with  Monica Murphy’s uber sweet and sexy romantic couple Drew and Fable from One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend are also familiar with the hero of this book.

Owen Maguire.

I loved the interactions we had with Owen in the first two books of this series. Met as a teenager (around 14 years old), Owen was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Living with his mother and sister, he was already predisposed to substance abuse as his mother is a drug user and alcoholic. Fable tries to keep Owen on the straight and narrow but her own life was up in the air at that time and she was being pulled in many, many directions. Owen is a wild teenager and Fable has her hands full. At the end of Second Chance Boyfriend (book #2) and through various novellas, we see Owen & Fable’s neglectful mother is out of the picture and Owen is now living permanently with Drew & Fable.

Four Years Later picks with Owen four years later. An engaging heavily character driven new adult that bring us the story of a much beloved character. Seamless writing flows effortlessly as Murphy sets up the plot elements and begins her story of love, loss, redemption, and forgiveness. Humorous at times, Four Years Later doesn’t sugarcoat our protagonist’s problems, nor does she make it an emotional fest of epic proportions. Our hero and heroine both have to work towards their happily ever after, facing their problems head on.

Owen is in college; playing football and living with his best friend, Wade. Being the big man on campus only causes problems for Owen as he is smoking pot, drinking too much, and falling into every available bed. When his extracurricular activities interfere with his studies, Fable steps in with his coach and guidance counselor, and lays down the law. Straighten up or else. Owen needs a tutor and to lay off the drugs and alcohol or he will lose his place on the team and fail school.

Chelsea is the perfect match for him. A prodigy who knows how the harsh demands of life and family can weigh you down. She is his seemingly his direct opposite but her own issues mirror Owen’s in ways. Not looking at Owen with star struck eyes or as a future meal ticket, Chelsea (Chels) gets to know Owen and from there learns there is so much more to him then what he shows the world. I really enjoyed that she doesn’t hold back her opinions from him. She holds him accountable for his words and actions. Rather like his sister.

Murphy does a fantastic job of getting into Owen’s head and sharing his thoughts and emotions. He isn’t this wonderful man child whose perfection lights the night sky. He has issues. Issues from his childhood that have followed him into adulthood. He makes mistakes and does stupid things. Regardless of his bad decision making skills, there is an innate goodness to him that shines through. He cares…perhaps too much which is what gets him into most of his trouble.

As the story progresses, the romance and the main conflict build slowly, outlining the tension and fear our couple live with everyday. Owen struggles, trying to keep everything separate and compartmentalized, only to lose it all when his past and present collide and all his secrets are revealed. Owen is forced to do some serious soul searching to decide if he does indeed want a life beyond the expected.

A cast of appealing secondary characters helps to round out the story. Angels and devils who whisper in Owen’s ear, each one trying to set him on the course they approve of. The ending comes at a sedate pace; a foregone conclusion though some nice surprises in the aftermath.

Four Years Later was a delight to read and Murphy does justice to the young man who as a child, won her reader’s hearts.

RATING: B

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