The Day He Came Back Paperback – August 19, 2019

They fell in love, but had to hide it from his mother! She gets to Raven and they spend 10 yrs apart. Raven becomes a registered nurse. After her mom and Gavin's mother passes away, she ends up tending to Gavin's father when his dementia worsens. Gavin comes to visit his Dad from London where he lives and he's engaged. Raven needs to tell him the truth of their break up. Thank you Penelope for keeping me on my toes with this one!

I think that I read this book before, but it didn't show up as readed. This book was very sweet, emotional, and funny.

The Day He Came Back is a tour de force of longing and second chances. An adult story about true love and sacrifice. Yet it’s so much more. It doesn’t fit neatly into any little boxes. And everyone should read it. I was overcome by the stark portrait of choosing between selfish and selfless love, between family we’re born into, and the family we choose.TDHCB is a simple, stellar romance set amid an elegy on sacrifice, greed and the callous indifference of illness. You will fall for Raven, just as Gavin did, and this story will stay with you. Long after you’ve tried to move on, these lovely people won’t let you.The Day He Came Back is so full of soul. It pulses with need and brutal honesty, and it’s the perfect tonic to a long season of stories of redeemed bullies and immature jerks. Raven and Gavin are honest, devoted star-crossed lovers.Gavin Masterson is a prince among men. Gavin is the modern hero we need today, and in a sea of caricatures and nasty book boyfriends, he surfaces as the answer. The only man we need. He’s complicated, yet smitten and he knows it, his obligations weigh on him, yet he keeps himself and the readers above water, never pandering or compromising himself or his ideals. He expresses himself and while he’s patient, the story unfolds leaving no doubt that he knows what he wants, even if events beyond his control force his hand. And yet he is no heartbreaker. He’s a deliberate, careful lover and the bittersweet developments in this story make it impossible to stay away.What I liked most about Gavin? How Ward drew him, with so many dimensions, and yet he was always honest and committed, to everyone. It’s hard to write a man as smitten and not have him sound like a girl, but Ward gave us a real young man who grows into an incredible adult, full of love, and passion, longing and fear and vulnerability, altho he never came across as pitiable. Gavin moved me in every scene. I kept thinking to myself, true love is the family you choose, whelp. I love this story.Raven is the epitome of self sacrifice, and her journey from curious outsider to head over heels young love was thrilling and she is up there with my favorite young heroines. She had so much thrust upon her. And over and over she put everyone else on her back, choose their battles over her own. No wonder Gavin fell so hard. I can understand what happened, and the heartbreak was agonizing yet felt inevitable. How did Ward do that?God, my emotions were all over the place. Tears and laughter mixed equally because the narrative was freaking compelling, and it was fantastic. I can't say anymore, you’ll have to read the story, and I don’t want to spoil it, but Ward has a gift. She can weave a complicated world where we care deeply for everyone in the story, and the humanness she conveyed--even in the simplest of phrases--moved me.About that title. It was in so many ways, a perfect metaphor for Raven’s beats in this story. I feel like Gavin had many days and he came back over and over (I'm not giving anything away, I'm talking about the effect of the story). Gavin wanted Raven from the moment they saw each other. Their first scenes together are the perfect launch for their languid romance. There is great plotting and 'yell at your kindle' arcs that carry us through, even the brother and best friend find peace.Sigh, I could go on, I enjoyed this story so much. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves true love.

I love every book I have read of Penelope Ward's. This one did not disappoint as I laughed, I cried, I was cheering on and on the edge of my seat! Simply another great story! Thank you, Penelope.

I've read a.fair amount from this author and for the most part, enjoyed her books. Regrettably,, this is not one of them. If I had to sum it up in just one word...... Cheesy. I kept thinking to myself... is this really a PW book? Not only did it not seem like her typical writing style, but the wording was just....off. At first I thought it might be because the characters were 19 and 21 yrs old and it was an attempt at creating youthful sounding characters. However, ten yrs later and they still sounded the same. Basically, they fell into Insta love after a very short time together, had to stop seeing each other, he leaves for London. Ten yrs go by, he comes back (not for her), they side step each for a month, the truth comes out, they have a chat, he needs to think and returns to London. They don't speak for a month and out of nowhere he calls her and asks her to fly to London so they can talk. BAM...they go through the "I've only ever loved you" thing, decide to be together, THE END. Unfortunately, I couldn't connect to them, nor did I feel any love or romance, and honestly, while I'm not against men crying per se, it needs to be for a really good reason. Gavin's tears, however, just added another level of cheese.

The Day He Came Back has to be one of my favorite Penelope Ward books in a long time! Gavin and Raven's story just had something that the past few have been missing, and I just couldn't put this book down! One steamy summer ten years ago, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks fell in love with the rich son of the woman she was working for. I loved watching Raven and Gavin get to know each other during their summer together but my heart broke for them as well knowing so much stood in their way. The way these two bonded and the way their relationship grew was truly beautiful, and the way both of them was willing to give up anything and everything for the other was truly remarkable. I loved watching these two grow close, and them helping each other through good times and bad, and my heart broke right along with theirs when things came to a crashing halt for them.When these two meet back up ten years later, I could not wait to see how things were going to play out. I knew truths needed to be out before anything could truly work out for them, and both of them needed to let go of the pain they felt from the past, but I didn't realize how long it would take for them to get there. As much as Gavin and Raven changed in the ten years they were apart, they also stayed the same, and it's clear to anyone how knows them that their feelings are definitely still there. The angst in the second part of the book is off the charts, and I was rooting for these two to figure things out and finally be together once and for all, but there were times I really wasn't sure it was going to work. Both of these characters are stubborn and it frustrated me at times waiting to see who was going to give in first.If you're looking for an angsty romance, The Day He Came Back is definitely the book to pick up. You will fall in love young Gavin and Raven and then fall in love with them all over again in the second part of the book. Definitely pick up this book, you will not regret it!