Book Review – Fall From Grace (Mad World #1) by Christine Zolendz

4.5 stars

“Please, Grace, whatever it is you’re going after, please try and find it here with me. I will try my best to be the man that you need me to be.”

I totally loved this book!! It grabbed a hold of me and I didn’t want to put it down for a second!

The sexual tension, the banter, the twists (this is a paranormal romance), the one-liners, the characters – so much awesome!

Reeling from the death of her brother, Grace goes home to her best friend who drags her out to a bar where she meets Shane – a deliciously gorgeous, tattooed, rock god guitarist/singer who, despite his man-whoring reputation, she can’t help but feel intensely drawn too.

But Grace has a secret. One that now only her best friend knows and despite how much she feels drawn to Shane, she’s has to hold back because she is searching, and has been searching for the whole of her existence, for the love of her life. Her angel she was once torn away from.

I went into this book blind. I took a trusted friend’s advice who told me to just read it and not try and find out any of the twists or tidbits in advance and I am so glad!!! (lol, so my review is spoiler-free)

Shane was pretty much the perfect recipe for yumminess and, just like Grace, I couldn’t help but be drawn to him. Despite how he seemed on the surface, there was so much depth to his character which came out in little bits an pieces as the book went on. I fell reeeally hard for him. He was like a delicious blend of Travis and Kellan mixed in with a bit of a tortured soul. Pure yumminess <3

“…I want you to tell me what I need to do to be a good enough man for you.” *swoooon*

I did really love that despite swooning pretty heavily over Shane, Grace had no desire to be another notch in his bed post and held her ground waiting for what she felt was right.

“…do yourself a favor, don’t bother trying to mess with my head, it’ll be a waste of your time. I won’t sleep with you. Just treat me like one of the guys and we’ll get along just fine…”
He blinked and hesitated… Then a devilish smile crept across his face, “Who said I wanted to sleep with you? You’re just one of the guys, I don’t do guys…Although, I have to admit. You are the sexiest guy I’ve ever met.“

But because of this situation, the sexual tension between them is INTENSE!! It sizzled. You felt it. My heart was racing. I couldn’t stop reading!! And the banter was brilliant – the digs, the ribs, the teasing…

“Please, save your breath, because you might need it to blow up your date later.”

I loved how subtly the paranormal aspect of this book built. For the first half of the book just reads like a regular contemporary romance but while dropping little hints and clues along the way leaving you wondering and guessing and then when it hits and the twist is revealed, I swear it gave me chills. More than once. I totally loved the concept and the way it was presented!

And it wasn’t just the twist that built up – there was so much more to the story that even on its own was thrilling – the music, the intensity of the chemistry between Shane and Grace, that undeniable pull… add that to a wonderful group of side characters and you have yourself a really fun read.

The music aspect of this book was phenomenal – the scenes where they played, both on and off stage, gave me shivers. Both Grace and Shane play guitar and sing and seeing them in their music element just magnified the UST between them to pretty epic proportions!

I’ll admit, I did go through some some moments of frustration with the heroine but they weren’t enough to detract from the story.

There is sort of a hint of a love triangle at the beginning of the story – but don’t worry, it doesn’t go anywhere 🙂

And okay, so it wasn’t the most phenomenally edited book ever written – yes there was an inconsistency or two and yes there were a few noticeable errors, but who cares?!? Personally, if the story is strong enough, I’m totally happy to overlook those errors. So yes, they were there, but I easily overlooked them and kept reading. I’ll just say though that with a proper edit, this book could easily end up on my fav’s shelf!

The book has kind of got a little bit of a Beautiful Disaster/Thoughtless feel to it with a paranormal twist. Its not quite the same as them but you’ll definitely see the similarities if you read it.

While this book has no sex in it but I didn’t miss it even for a second. I wouldn’t call this book ‘tame’. The sexual tension is so steamy that that alone had me fanning myself!! and I hear that book 2 takes the steam to the next level so… SQUEE!!

The ending was intense and with a cliffhanger like that, I am soooooooo freaking glad the second book is out now!! *runs off to go get it*

*** These books are only $1.50 each on Kindle!! See links below.

** SERIES READING ORDER **

Book #1 — FALL FROM GRACE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2 — SAVING GRACE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Alternate POV novel (same story as first 2 books) — SCARS & SONGS
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback