Wish You Were Here by Jess K. Hardy [Review]

Wish You Were Here (Bluebird Basin #3) by Jess K. Hardy
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: July 11, 2025

Bluebird Basin
1. Come As You Are
2. Lips Like Sugar
3. Wish You Were Here - Paperback | Kindle

Jess K. Hardy
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

She thought she could forget him. He’ll never stop trying to prove she shouldn’t.

Davis Thompson had never been so happy or so in love as she was with Kevin Lowes. Until his relapse shatters their world. After finding him at his lowest, in a moment that will haunt her forever, she’s convinced he not only chose drugs over her. But he chose another woman too. Now she’s trying to rebuild her life, wanting desperately to move on and figure out who she is and what she wants without him. There’s only one problem: Kev is returning to Bluebird Basin.

After a brutal rebab stay, Kev is determined to recommit to his recovery and win back the only woman he’s ever loved. But when he realizes the depth of the pain he caused and the secrets Davis has kept to protect him, he wonders if it’s too late. More broken than he’s ever been, Kev finds unexpected healing while working with a wild mustang whose invisible scars match his.

But Bluebird Basin is a small ski hill, and as Kev and Davis continually cross paths, old wounds reopen and sparks reignite. Davis doesn’t know if she can trust Kev again. And Kev must confront his darkest fears and deepest regrets if he wants to prove to her that a second chance with him is worth fighting for.

Thoughts on Wish You Were Here: OH MY GOODNESS this book killed me dead. It was ridiculously emotional and I couldn't stop once I started. Just...so good.

We met Davis and Kev when Madigan brought his sober living men to the mountain to help keep the lodge running. Davis is now Mad's stepdaughter (Ashley and Madigan FOREVAH!) and Kev has backslid a bit since he and Davis started their intense romance. Unfortunately, Kev's relapse was a punch to the gut to Davis and she's blaming herself in a big way. In other words, not only is Kev working to get himself back to the place he needs to be in, but Davis is also dealing with all sorts of guilt she needs to face before they can move their relationship in the right direction.

Oh my goodness, everything was just SO MUCH (not in a bad way) with these two. They were deeply in love and Kev made a choice that affected both of them in big ways. The thing was that Kev couldn't pinpoint what triggered his relapse and he was terrified he'd go down that same path again because of it. Meanwhile, Davis was holding onto anger at her father for what he had done to the sober living men and guilt at what she thought was her part in Kev's relapse and the pain at what she saw the night it had all happened and just a general sense of being adrift when she used to see her path so clearly.

Things I loved so hard:

• Kev's work with the horse. Just everything about that hit me in the feels.
• All the guys finding ways to support Kev and Davis in their own ways.
  
• Kev's love of romance novels (and the guys being both horrified and intrigued by some of what he was reading).
• Davis wading through her options with school and the lodge and Kev - it's hard to see what needs to be done in the moment and she had to get real about what she wanted and what she didn't want in her future.
• ALL the background characters - Mad and Ashley and Maude Alice (with her frequent user discount at the local hotel) and the sober living guys (dudes supporting dudes! YES!) and Cole and Mira (love those two) and Murphy.

There was a lot going on in this book and some of what they were through was tough to read, but IT WAS SO GOOD. So good. Just yes. Give me all the Bluebird books and I'll be forever happy.