It's Only Ever Been You by Rachel Chamberlayne: Book Review

 **ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own. 

The Book

They say time heals all wounds, but some wounds have left scars that refuse to fade for Genevieve Wright.

Despite their rocky beginning, Brandon and Evie Wright found their happily ever after. But when a very beautiful reminder of Brandon’s promiscuous past pops the bubble oftheir newlywed bliss, Evie must confront an insecurity that’s rooted in her childhood—her fear of abandonment.

After all, Brandon left once before. What makes her think he won’t do it again?

It’s Only Ever Been You is a fade-to-black/closed-door companion novella to Brandon and Evie’s stand-alone Christian romance novel, It’s Always Been You. Physical intimacy between a married couple is implied.

The Author

Rachel is a Christian romance writer who lives in the heartland with her husband and bouncing baby boy. With a Bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing, Rachel loves crafting love stories that will make you swoon, sigh, and give you all the butterflies. When she's not daydreaming about her book characters, you might find her reading, writing poetry, or spending time with her family.

Book Review

It's no secret that I love a good romance and seeing a couple fall in love and get their happily ever after... but as anyone who has been married for long knows, it's after those moments that the real work begins and true love stories are forged. So, seeing a married couple who are healing and fighting for their marriage, there's just something really beautiful about that. Especially when it's a couple I've already fallen in love with. If you've read Brandon and Evie's story in It's Always Been You, you know they've had their fair share of struggles already... and those insecurities certainly won't disappear overnight. It's Always Been You stole my heart, becoming one of my top reads of 2025, so I was very excited to catch up with them in It's Only Ever Been You. I had high expectations for their follow up novella, and it didn't disappoint. As someone who struggles with anxiety and so many insecurities myself, I found myself relating to Evie in so many ways... I felt her emotions through the pages and found myself tearing up throughout the story... but what I loved most of all is that through all the struggles, it always pointed right back to God. Rachel's stories are not your typical Christian fiction. They're gritty with imperfect characters who make mistakes and struggle but strive to live out their faith all the same. Theirs is a story of forgiveness and healing... and I absolutely loved everything about it. 

It's Only Ever Been You is a closed-door Christian romance with fade to black and implied intimacy within a marriage and no language. It is a follow up novella to It's Always Been You and readers will definitely want to read that one first to get Evie and Brandon's full backstory. 

You can purchase your copy here: https://amzn.to/4gOzaZZ