6 stars

Book Review — Awaken (A Spiral of Bliss #3) by Nina Lane

January 14, 2014 by Aestas · 5 Comments

“I love that you love me, professor.”
“I love loving you, beauty.”

Buy AWAKEN (Kindle)
Buy AWAKEN (Paperback)

5+ STARS!!

BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL!!!

A stunning conclusion to one of the most beautifully written and intensely passionate love stories I have ever read. Dean and Liv’s romance is simply breathtaking!!

What makes the story in this series standout among romance books is that it is about an already-married couple. It begins after the “happily-ever-after” where most romances end. Over the course of the past two books, we’d seen this couple survive heartache and tragedy together, and we’d also seen the pure, raw strength and limitless depth of their love for each other. And in this book, we saw their story come full circle. This book in so many ways is about healing, hope, and the beauty of knowing with all your heart that the love you feel for your soul mate is limitless.

The writing is perfectly detailed and deeply evocative. I honestly read this book as slowly as I possibly could — savouring each every word, and feeling every emotion to the max. Even apart from the story, just the reading experience alone is incredible.

The depth of emotion I felt for Dean and Liv was so powerful that I often would read for pages on end with tears in my eyes just because I was feeling so much.

Please note that this book is the continuation of and conclusion to the romance that began in Arouse and Allure. It follows the story of the same couple, Dean & Liv, and is not a standalone. I am not going to speak about the plot at all here because anything I say will be a spoiler. But what I will say is that I adored the direction that the storyline went in and honestly, I loved every single word of this book.

Awaken delivered everything I possibly want and more. I loved that I was never once frustrated with the plot — I mean, sure there were times when my heart was in my throat, but it was always in a good way. Looking back on my reading experience, I have only positive things to say and that’s rare.

The story was told in alternating POVs so we got to see both sides of the story. The pacing was excellent and I felt invested in each and every scene. Given Dean and Liv’s situation at this point in their lives, this book focused a lot on the balance of them healing themselves before being able to heal their relationship. But with the way it was written, I could feel their connection at all times.

It brought a smile to myself watching Liv find her inner strength. She’d always had it but seeing her grow more and more confident in herself was so fulfilling. I knew how far she’d come and I just felt so proud of her.

And Dean? Gosh, I can’t even describe how much I loved him. That sexy professor made my heart pound, race, flutter, and melt. If I had to pick only one book hero to bring to life, Dean West would be a top candidate. That man was just… wow. The way he loved Liv was honestly unlike any other hero I’ve ever read. He wasn’t just in love with her as a whole, he was also in love with every little part of her — each individual piece that made up Liv. He didn’t just see a perfect version of her, he saw all of her — her flaws, her beauty, her insecurities, her strengths… and he loved them all.

“My husband doesn’t just love me. He knows HOW to love me. He knows what I need and when I need it, sometimes even better than I do. He knows how to unfold all the tight, tough parts of me and smooth them out with the glide of his hand. He knows how to prove that he – and only he – understands ever crevice of my soul. He knows how to remind me that I am forever safe within his heart.”

He was sexy, chivalrous, a little kinky, a lot charming, and his powerful, primal need to protect Liv at all times melted my heart. I could feel it at all times. It came through in each one of his actions.

“I’m not going to apologize… Yes, I want to protect you. You’re my wife. I’d fucking kill for you, Liv, and if that makes me a possessive bastard of a husband, then fine. That’s what I am. I’m not going to change either. I love you too goddamned much.”

It also bears mentioning that these books are not just emotional, they’re also intensely erotic. SCORCHING HOT!!! I mean really — you will be fanning yourself for pages on end. Dean and Liv’s chemistry sizzled, it burned, it smouldered. It was palatable. But what I felt brought so much added depth to it all was that it was their LOVE for each other and the raw emotions behind every one of their love scenes that gave them such a strong impact. It was pure passion.

“I want to grab her and shove her up against the nearest wall. Rip her clothes off and fuck her until the earth trembles and the stars explode. Until the universe shatters.”

This book was filled with these powerfully charged moments that I felt so deeply that sometimes I would have to stop reading for a minute and just sit there letting it sink in. It beautifully highlighted each moment in the story that should be unforgettable.

“And, just like that, I fall wildly in love with my husband all over again…. He smiles, sliding his thumb across my lips, his gaze warm. Pleasure fills me at that look, so replete with love and tenderness that I’m reminded anew that together we can withstand anything.”

What I loved most about Dean & Liv, and what I’d always felt regarding them, was that there was absolutely no doubt that they were soul mates. Their chemistry, their connection, their desire, their longing, their need for each other… I felt it all. God. They were SO in love with each other, undeniable meant for each other — two halves of a whole. But naturally, as with most marriages I think, they had their issues to work through and their struggles to overcome. But I loved that I always had this strong feeling in my heart that they would make it.

This wasn’t a short book (none of them are actually) and a lot happened but there were no slows points at all. I fanned myself, swooned over and over again, and at times my heart nearly stopped, but the bottom line was that I enjoyed every single moment, every scene, and every word.

And my God. I have to say this again: The writing was exquisite. Just BREATHTAKING. Nina Lane has a gift with words and an amazing ability to make you feel every single scene she writes.

“…my beautiful wife. Wanting her is like breathing. Needing her is in my blood. And loving her will always be the beat of my heart.”

This is the kind of book that raises the bar. This is the kind of book that ruins me for all others. This is the kind of book that is the reason I fall into book funks because, after a book this beautiful, it’s like — how can anything compare??

“My white knight. My beautiful, strong, brave husband who loved me more than I ever knew it was possible to be loved.

This man would give me the stars, the moon, the sun. He has slayed monsters for me and alongside me. He’s battled through dark, tangled woods with me because he has never once wavered in his belief that we are meant to be forever. He would do anything for me. For us.

He’s a rare gift, my husband, perfect and flawed and completely, unreservedly mine.”

At it’s heart this is a story about a couple whose passionate, unwavering love for each other defied, survived, and held strong throughout everything life threw at it. A couple who worked everyday at their relationship. It was inspiring, believable, and beautiful.

“Some things will never change, Liv,” he says. “We’ll always fall asleep and wake up together. I’ll always make you coffee in the morning and teaser you about your bathrobe. We’ll always love each other to distraction, argue, hold hands and kiss and awful lot. And I promise you that no matter what, we’ll always have us.”

By the end, tears were just pouring down my face at the sheer beauty of the story. The ending was absolutely gorgeous and the very last words of the book are. just. perfect.

Bottom line, I can’t recommend this series highly enough. The depth of emotion just hits you so hard and builds with each book. I felt the passion and the healing and I understood the mistakes. I’ve honestly almost never read of two people AS strongly in love with each other as Dean and Liv — they had their ups and downs but WOW when you see the way it all comes together, it’s just breathtaking.

This book was perfection. Pure perfection!

5+ STARS!!

“You and me, professor,” I whisper.
“You and me, beauty.”

Buy AWAKEN (Kindle)
Buy AWAKEN (Paperback)

❤ THE “A SPIRAL OF BLISS” SERIES ❤

BOOK #1 — AROUSE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | My Review

Book #2 — ALLURE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | My Review

Book #3 — AWAKEN
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | My Review

“No,” I murmur against her hair… “We are not freakishly happy. We are not freakishly anything. We’re two people who love each other. We had a tough time. We worked it out because we want to be together. Because we can’t imagine being with anyone else. Because we don’t want to be.”

Book Review — Fighting Redemption by Kate McCarthy

December 4, 2013 by Aestas · 13 Comments

WOW. WOW. WOW.

Fighting Redemption was everything I could want in a story and more!! It’s an unforgettable story about a broken soldier’s undying love for a woman who’d always held his heart. I loved every word of this powerful, captivating and emotionally charged book. This is a must-read!! Truly breathtaking!

I just want to shout from the rooftops — READ THIS BOOK, EVERYONE!!!!

You will FEEL it with your whole heart.

I can almost guarantee that you’ll cry while reading (probably several times) because the story is truly heart wrenching but I promise you that it’s worth every tear and that you’ll be left with a smile on your face.

My eyes were already filled with tears from the very first pages. The prologue alone was all it took for me to fully connect and I knew right from the start that this book was going to be special.

“Even though we’ve never been together, you’ve always been mine, and even if I never get to keep you, you’ll still be mine.”

Ryan had dreamed his whole life of becoming a soldier. With a drunken father who beat him and fought constantly with his mother, he couldn’t wait to get away. Then Finlay walked into his life — and she was this gorgeous, shining beacon that called to his heart. But as much as he was in love with her, he couldn’t allow himself to have her because his whole life had been building towards the dream of getting out and away; of becoming a solider. And at 19, he left everything behind and joined the Army.

Six years went by as he trained, fought, saved lives, took lives, survived, and lived through hell but he never stopped thinking about the girl he’d aways wanted, who’d never been his but who owned his heart… and that he’d walked away from.

And then… he came home.

“For six years I fought every day not to think of you, and I lost, because every day you were all I could see.”

Honestly, I’m being very vague about the storyline here because there is so much more to it that I really think will be better enjoyed if you just discover it for yourself along the way.

The story unfolded beautifully. It was captivating. It began by giving us a heart-wrenching taste of the future, and then took us right back to the very beginning showing how the relationships intensified over the years and allowing us to fall in love with Ryan and Fin as they were falling in love with each other.

It was gorgeous but made my heart ache watching Ryan’s quiet, unspoken love for Fin grow throughout his childhood. I felt his longing so strongly and these built-up feelings were a huge part of what made everything so powerful once their love for each other was acknowledged.

I can’t even tell you how many different things I felt while I was reading this. The writing was effortless and enthralling and I felt like I was watching a movie of the events rather than just reading them. Every scene came alive in my mind as though it were happening right in front of me.

Everything in this story was just so emotionally charged. I felt every word of this book. My heart fluttered, raced, pounded, and even stopped. It was beaten, bruised, broken and then put back together.

It was just beat after beat of these hugely powerful moments and I’d stop every few pages to just let them all sink in. Sometimes I’d even go back and immediately reread a section because it had hit me so strongly that I just wanted to keep reliving it.

Ryan and Fin were true soul mates. I’m crying even as I write this because what they had — their connection — was just so. fucking. powerful. So often, I’d be reading a scene that wasn’t even sad but suddenly tears would be pouring down my face just from emotional overflow.

Here are just some snippets…

“I miss you. Each day hurts a little more than the last.”

And this…

“Fin. Look at me,” Ryan said firmly.
She lifted her eyes.
“Just one day at a time, okay?”

And ohh my gosh — this:

“I’ll love you longer than the stars that live in the sky.”

There was also one scene in particular that made me ugly cry. And by that I mean that I had to put my book down because I literally could not see the page through my tears. I was a shaking, sobbing wreck. But I loved every minute. Books that can pull this level of emotional out of me are the ones that stay in my heart.

The story took place over many years and was always moving forward but, at the same time, it always slowed down and took the time to highlight all the important, meaningful parts of their lives.

There were so many gorgeous visual moment that just stood out to me: the Black Hawk helicopter — Ryan holding his hand out to Fin — Fin cleaning his wounds in her bedroom — that moment when Jake asked Ryan if he was in love with Fin — the dance — that night — lying under the stars — the letter — ALL THE LETTERS!!!!! — the lawn scene — Brothers forever — the tarmac — …. pieces of this beautiful story just keeps playing over and over in my head and honestly, I don’t want them to stop.

Sacrifice, loyalty, strength, redemption, loss, love … This book had it all and more.

“Every piece of me is in here… My breath, my heart, my life. I won’t ever leave you if you keep that safe inside you.”

When I finished, I just sat there letting the story sink in, letting the tears pour down my face, feeling the journey — the heart ache, the loss, the happiness….

This is the kind of book that I spend all my time searching for. Reading this beautifully written and absolutely unforgettable story is an experience that will stay with me forever.

I highly recommend it!! In fact, I’ll just say — READ IT!!!!! You all should read this!! ♥

Rating: 5++ stars

** This is a standalone (Adult) romance with a HEA.

Book Review – Losing Hope (Hopeless #2) by Colleen Hoover

June 14, 2013 by Aestas · 787 Comments

❤ SPOILER-FREE REVIEW ❤

6 stars

Holy hell. HOLY. HELL.

I can’t stop living, breathing and feeling this story. Losing Hope was just absolute, beautiful perfection.

I thought I already loved Dean with all my heart, but now I love him more. So. Much. More. I now understand every part of him. Everything he experienced, I went through it with him. The bracelet… finding the letter… needing space… needing her. Finding her. Wow.

I felt this book with every single part of my heart and soul. I swear, it owns a piece of me now.

It. Was. Perfect.

So much of Losing Hope is new. It’s not just an alternate perspective, it’s actually a whole different part of the story entirely. But if you piece it together with Hopeless, you just get EVERYTHING.

Losing Hope took me through all the same emotions of Hopeless but they were magnified because every single thing that happened now carried the weight of the emotion you already knew from Hopeless PLUS the new emotions created by all the new things we learned in Losing Hope about Holder.

This is Holder’s story. You need to understand just how much I mean those words. This is HIS story. This isn’t just Hopeless from Holder’s POV, this is his story during Hopeless, his story before Hopeless, and his story apart from Hopeless.

We see a lot of his past – it’s heart breaking and devastating but we live it with him. I went through everything with him. I felt his anger, his loss, his fears. When he fucked up, I cringed. When he was happy, my heart overflowed.

You know, it’s funny ‘cuz you think you know a character. I mean, after reading the whole of Hopeless, I really felt like I knew him. But now I’m just realizing that there was so much more going on. And I loved that it didn’t change him, just… I guess connected me with him more.

There were times when I had to just stop and read a single sentence over and over again because it was so beautifully written. There were scenes that gave me full body chills – from head to toe. There were moments where I just closed my eyes and sat there sobbing, letting the emotions sink in.

I read Losing Hope as slowly as I could because I just didn’t want it to ever end. I was WITH the characters every single step of the way. Totally connected. Totally involved. Totally absorbed in every aspect of the story.

I didn’t just read this book, I lived it.

I have to say that in all honesty, even though I knew all the twists from reading Hopeless, each one of them hit me as though it was the first time in Losing Hope. Probably because it wasn’t as though I was just re-reading them, I was actually re-experiencing them through Holder’s eyes. And I loved that there were new twists too – things that were going on with just him personally that took me by surprise in the most wonderful way.

While so much of this book is just completely new, even the scenes that are the same as in Hopeless feel SO special when you read them because a) they are just awesome scenes to relive period, and b) the slightly different angle on them gives them just enough of a twist to make you fall in love with them all over again.

Colleen Hoover’s talent for writing vivid and effortlessly beautiful stories is astounding. The level of emotions conveyed in each chapter just took my breath away over and over again. She has a gift for bringing everything to life with her words and can write even the simplest scene in such a way that the words just sink right into your heart.

Pain. Devastation. Love. Loss. Hope. Losing Hope. Finding Hope. Closure. This book has it all.

When I was finished reading I just sat there hugging my book, letting the emotions sink it, letting the tears flow, and letting myself just FEEL.

This is a must-read for every fan of Hopeless. It truly completes that story.

I can’t wait for the world to really meet Dean Holder ❤

6 stars – A must read of 2013!

Book #1 : HOPELESS

If you haven’t read Hopeless yet, it is currently available, can be read as a standalone and I’d highly recommend bumping it to the top of your to-read list!

“And once again in my new world full of heartache and lies, this hopeless boy somehow finds a way to make me smile.”

Kindle | Paperback | My 5-star review

FAVORITE QUOTES from LOSING HOPE

“What are the chances that the only two girls in my life I’ve ever loved… I’ve lost? It’s killing me piece by piece every single day.”

❤

“Thirteen years. I’ve been looking for her for thirteen years… I’m not sure that I’m ready for her to remember me yet.”

❤

“It’s causing my hands to shake and my heart to pound and my chest to ache because all I want to do is wrap my arms around her and hold her and thank God we finally found each other again.”

❤

“If I could trade lives with her I would do it in a heartbeat, just so she’d never have to feel what it is she’s feeling right now.”

❤

“I’m scared if I kiss her too soon, it’ll feel like every other kiss she’s ever received. She’ll feel nothing. I don’t want her to feel nothing when I kiss her. I want her to feel everything.”

❤

“I let everything I’m seeing sink in because this is what I want to remember the most. I want to remember exactly what she looks like the second she hands over a piece of her heart.”

❤

“Fuck all the firsts, Sky. The only thing that matter to me with you are the forevers.”

❤

❤ HUGE SIGNED GIVEAWAY from COLLEEN HOOVER ❤

Open Internationally. Void where prohibited. Must be over 18 to enter.

If you choose to win HOPELESS, you will get your copy immediately.
If you choose to win LOSING HOPE, you will get your copy in Oct, 2013 when the paperbacks are released.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

❤

Book Review – This Girl (Slammed #3) by Colleen Hoover

April 30, 2013 by Aestas · 549 Comments

“I love you. I’ve loved you since the second I laid eyes on you and I haven’t stopped loving you for a second since.”

Buy #1 SLAMMED (Kindle) <—– start here
Buy #2 POINT OF RETREAT (Kindle)
Buy #3 THIS GIRL (Kindle) <—– that’s this book!!

THIS IS ME SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS !!!!!

THIS. BOOK. IS. PHENOMENAL.
I’m laughing. I’m crying. I’m shaking.
It was perfect. Every single line was perfect.
Beautiful. Heartbreak. Breathtaking.
Unputdownable.
Pure. butterflying. gold.

6 HUGE STARS!!!

Books like this are the reason why I love reading.

Colleen Hoover has outdone herself. She managed to take a story that we love and retell it from the hero’s POV while still making every single word of it feel new, fresh and powerful.

Yes, technically it’s a retelling of Slammed from Will’s POV but there is SO much more. There are new scenes, added story lines, and even a epilogue that is guaranteed to make your heart squeeze. Not one word of it felt repetitive.

Reading this book was like taking a beautiful walk down memory lane. It’s been over a year since I read Slammed and Point of Retreat. Those two books are one of the reasons I started blogging. Slammed was actually the first book ever that inspired me to write anything about it. At the time, it was only a small review paragraph where I tried to convey my love for the story but it was something. The depth to which those books hit me was unlike any other book I’d read at that point. I “felt” the story with every single part of my heart and soul.

But before starting This Girl, I didn’t have time to reread either of them and I wondered if I’d be able to connect to it as strongly as I did to the first two. But can I just say that barely 10 lines into the book, every, single emotion that the original books had instilled in me came flooding back. My heart clenched. My throat closed up. I was right back there. Right. There. In this beautifully crafted world, surrounded by the characters I’d come to love with my whole heart.

There is something simply magical about reading a book that revisits characters you are already in love with. EVERYTHING just has so much more weight. It’s like the best possible kind of reunion imaginable.

Do you need to re-read Slammed and Point of Retreat before reading this? No. But you do need to read them at least once first? For sure!

Without spoilers, I want to tell you a little about this book. The whole book is from Will’s POV. I know it’s being called “Slammed from Will’s POV” but it is so much more. It actually takes place after Point of Retreat and is a continuation of their story in that respect. But, a major part of the book, is Lake asking Will what his perspective was on a lot of the things they went through together, and asking him things about himself that neither she nor us (the readers) knew.

And because when you read this, you’ll already know the general story, something as simple as this line can just make your breath catch:

“I cross the street, unable to take my eyes off the girl in the U-Haul.”

And then, finally, after the alternate story of Slammed has been caught up, Will and Lake’s story progresses even farther ((cue the squeeling)) including an absolutely perfect, utterly beautiful, heartwarming epilogue that literally left me smiling, crying and shaking.

“She doesn’t speak, but she doesn’t have to. I know in these moments when it’s just her and me and nothing else, that she truly, soul-deep, loves me.”

I could NOT put this book down. It was riveting, captivating, and I was so wrapped up in the story that I didn’t even notice that I literally read until the sun came up. I wanted both to rush through it and yet also to read it as slow as possible to savor every and every world. It absolutely consumed me.

This book was perfect from start to finish. It captured that heart-fluttering power of first love told from the POV of one of our favorite book heroes. Everything was just so emotionally charged – the flirting, the introduction, the crushing, the chemistry, the sheer, raw, passionate intensity that just rolled off the page. Like I said, perfect!

“I can’t remember feeling this way since… well, ever. It’s new. It’s scary. It’s exciting. It’s nerve-wracking. It’s calming. It’s every single emotion I’ve ever felt balled up into an intense urge to grab a hold of her and never let go.”

There are also new slams!! A few of them actually. And ohhhhh my are they ever beautiful! You know, I’ve never been into poetry, for some reason I just can’t seem to get into it, but the slams in this series are just so POWERFUL that you can’t help but “feel” them.

For those of you who have yet to start this series, you should know that there is a reason that Colleen Hoover is getting the acclaim she’s receiving right now. Everything about her writing – the story, the style, the characters, is simply breathtaking. The sheer level of raw, powerful EMOTION that exists in nearly every line of this book is just overwhelming. I loved every minute. Her words speak straight to your soul.

“I suddenly don’t care where we are or who might be watching us. I have to kiss her. I have to.”

I laughed, I cried, and sometimes I laughed through my tears. And when the FULL understanding of the title hit me, I can’t even describe to you what I felt. Just. WOW.

My 6-star book list is reserved for those few books that, from start to finish, go above and beyond. That grab a hold of my heart so strongly that a year later, I can just pick the books up and the emotions are right THERE. That tell a story that is so beautiful, real, original, and powerful that it leaves a mark on my heart that I know will be there for ever.

This book did that.

Soul deep, guys.

Just, butterflying perfect.

Rating: 6 huge stars.

Casting: This is how I see Will.

♥♥♥♥

♥♥ READING ORDER + BOOK INFO ♥♥

These books should absolutely be read in order.
Each of the books in this series got a 6 star rating from me.

Book #1 — SLAMMED
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2 — POINT OF RETREAT
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #3 — THIS GIRL
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

♥♥ LISTS ♥♥

And, it goes without saying that THIS GIRL
has been added to my list of Best Books of 2013

Book Review – In The Stillness by Andrea Randall

April 12, 2013 by Aestas · 7 Comments

“I love you so much, Natalie, and when I get home I’m going to keep loving you until you tell me to stop. But don’t, please. Don’t tell me to stop.”

6 HUGE STARS!!!!

So far, I’m calling this the best stand-alone book of the year!

In The Stillness blew me away. A painfully heartbreaking, emotionally charged and beautifully crafted story of love, loss and healing.

YOU ALL SHOULD READ IT!!!!!!

I have to admit, when I first heard about this book, I was a little scared to start. It had a lot of dark and painful themes – namely that the heroine was a cutter. But from the few people I’d talked to who’d read it, all I heard were incredible things.

What convinced me to start though was finding out that it was a second-chance romance (one of my favorite kinds of love stories) and also honestly, just the sheer, raw, emotional reactions people were having to it peaked my curiosity to no end. I just *had* to see what it was all about.

My gosh, was it just mind-blowing. The writing was flawless and just so raw and honest, with perfect pacing and a beautiful flow to it that fully conveyed every emotion the heroine went through.

The book’s blurb really doesn’t tell you what the story is about so I’m going to ‘set up’ the story a bit for you so that you can get a feeling of what it’s all about:

Back in college, Natalie and Ryker fell in love. Truly, madly, take-over-your-life deeply in love. But after 9/11, he was sent off to fight. And when he returned, his body was in tact but what he’d gone through had left him with a severe case of PTSD.

“His body came home, but his soul had been devoured in the firefight of a godless desert.”

Situations escalated and some lines were crossed and they broke up. A decade later, Natalie finds herself in a marriage she never wanted, with kids she never planned on having, straying further and futher away from the life path she always dreamed of. She feels trapped and utterly miserable. Each one of her hopes dreams have come crashing down and every turn in her life has taken her further and further away from happiness until it just pressed in from all sides and became over whelming. And so she cuts.

Cutting for Natalie was a release from the pain of her life. I may not have been able to relate to Natalie on a personal level but I certainly understood her. She was in a dark place. Utterly and completely unhappy with her life, and yet stuck with it. With responsibilities and duties that tied her down in a way that made her feel utterly trapped, and thus fueling her unhappiness. It was a never ending cycle. Or, more like a spiral actually, that pulled her deeper and deeper into the darkness. Cutting was her way of finding control and finding release. It wasn’t right, or healthy, but it was her coping mechanism.

“I feel like a caged animal, rabid with need for freedom that was stolen from me.”

And then one day, out of the blue, she sees Ryker again. I won’t tell you any more, but just know that I loved every single line of this book.

The story is told in told in a mixture of flashbacks and present day story lines. The writing is just so fluid. There are no wasted words, no extra fluff. And despite the fact that it jumped back and forth in time, the segments were arranged in such a way that I was never once unsure of what was going on and the pacing and flow of the story was such that I there were no interruptions in my connection to the characters. You could just feel it in every scene that a great amount of thought, time and research had gone into the creation of this book.

I loved the kind of love that Natalie and Ryker had. Ryker was just it for her. You know? They had the kind of love that just makes you shake. Cry. Laugh. Ache right down to your soul. It was an irreplaceable love. The kind that, once taken away leaves a hole that no other person can ever fill.

“I love you for a reason, Natalie. You’re mine and I’m yours.”

I can’t tell you how strongly I felt their love and their pull towards each other. It wasn’t because of epic swoon or anything. Their lives were just an imperfect mess of wrong turns and yet STILL the sheer strength of their pull towards each other was just overpowering. Natalie’s best friend summed it up perfectly:

“You two had something special — it’s the circumstances that were shitty.”

I felt like I was on a constant emotional overflow. For the final half of the book I read alternating between crying and having a lump in my throat. My eyes were never dry and often tears were just pouring down my face. It was just one emotional hit after another. There were times when I had to stop reading for a minute or two, simply because I couldn’t see the words any longer through my tears.

“I love you so much, Natalie, and when I get home I’m going to keep loving you until you tell me to stop. But don’t, please. Don’t tell me to stop.”

Everything about this book was realistic, raw, and never hid the truth from you. I honestly can say that I do not have a single complaint about this book. Do I wish I could take away the pain of their lives? Sure. But would I change a single word of this book? No.

Something which was very important to me in this story and that I admired in Natalie was that despite all the pain, depression, and misery she was feeling in the inside, she never once let that seep into her relationship with her kids. She may not have wanted to be a mother, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a good one. She was kind, sweet, patient and loving to them. Always. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting that of her going into the story, and I was pleasantly surprised at that side of her. To me, what that proved more than anything was that she wasn’t truly messed up, she was just dealing with an overwhelming amount of sadness and needed an outlet. But the fact that she kept her outlet contained to herself spoke volumes about her as a person. At least in my eyes.

I honestly could not put this book down. Not even for a second. It was the kind of story that sucks you right in and makes you want more. The story was constantly moving forward, with no slow spots. It build in layers giving you more and more pieces of the story until everything made sense and everything came together.

Everything about this book broke my heart. But in a good way, you know? I just had to believe that out of the horrible mess of their lives, there was some room, some hope for a happy ending.

And it did have a happy ending. You really got the feeling that they had gotten to a good point in their lives where from that point forward, they’d be able to rebuild and heal together.

I will say though that despite my giving it a 6-star rating, I would just LOVE if the author would write an epilogue one day. Not like a whole chapter, and not even more of the story at that point, but I would have loved a glimpse into their lives maybe a few months, or even a few years down the road. I mean, I know in my head how it would have all played out, but it’s something I would have loved to read in her words.

That being said, the book was just PHENOMENAL. Seriously. One of the best I’ve ever read. I adored it with all my heart and it’s earned itself a special place in both my heart and on my favorites shelf.

I feel it’s the kind of story that regardless of whether or not you can relate to it, there is just no way that you won’t feel it deep down to the very bottom of your heart.

I highly, highly recommend it!!

Powerful. Painful. Raw. Emotional. Beautiful.

6 stars.

PURCHASE LINKS

Book Review – Reckless (Thoughtless #3) by SC Stephens

March 5, 2013 by Aestas · 226 Comments

6 HUGE STARS!!! (spoiler-free review)

WOW!!! I can’t breathe. Can’t think. Reckless just blew me away!

It was BRILLIANT!!! An utterly delicious, addictive, angst-filled, heart-felt EPIC rockstar romance!

I swooned, I laughed, cried tears of happiness and tears of angst, my heart raced, was tied up in knots and, at times, just stopped entirely. I truly can’t say enough good about it.

I could NOT put this book down. I read it in one sitting staying up through the night until I finished around 7AM. I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough. It was completely engaging. I felt like I didn’t even want to blink. Literally my world ceased to exist for the duration of the read.

Just as with the first two books, SC Stephens’ smooth flowing, addictive writing style reaches right into your heart and wraps you up in the story. I was 150% invested in EVERYTHING that happened. Every single part of my heart was completely involved in the story. I was there. Right THERE. From the first page till the last. (and even now… I can’t let go yet. I’m still “there”)

Given the happy ending of Effortless, this book starts off with a blissfully peaceful, almost dreamy feel to it. After all the roller coaster they’d been through, it was so wonderful to see Kellan and Kiera have a moment to enjoy the happiness they so well deserved.

But the life of a Rockstar is neither smooth nor private and the road ahead of them was rocky and bumpy as the band skyrocketed to fame and got sucked into the scrutiny of the spotlight and the uglier side of the industry.

“Making an album, going on tour… am I making a mistake? … All I want is a quiet life with you,” he continued. “What I just signed up for… isn’t exactly a quiet life.”

Wondering how to comfort him – when I often thought the same thing – I reached up… “Kellan, your life will never be quiet, no matter what you do.” … I placed a hand on his chest and looked him square in the eye. “You belong on a stage. Its what you were born to do.”

I have to say that I’ve always understood where Kiera was coming from in book #1 even though I found it frustrating. I felt that she grew as a person in book #2, but it was in this book where I really felt her maturity hit home. Some of her decisions and actions were just SO self-less that I honestly found myself even thinking at time that, if I was in her shoes, I probably wouldn’t have been able to be as self-less and understanding as she was.

Kellan… well, Kellan Kyle was just perfect. Sex on a Stick, God’s Gift to Women… and also just one of those most lovable and swooniest guys you’ll ever read about whose back story and desire to be loved just made my heart ache for him. He is easily one of the best book heroes EVERwritten.

As a couple, they still had their issues but they had gotten SO much stronger. They had been tested, they had made their mistakes, and they had learned their lessons. But now their new-found strength was put to the very ultimate test as the pressures of fame and stardom came at them from every side. They had a lot working against them but… love conquers all, right?

I have to say though that, for me, the ANGST in this book topped both Thoughtless & Effortless. No. Freaking. Joke. There was this one particular issue that spanned from about 29-37% that just made my heart sink, drop, stop.. seriously, I could BARELY handle it. Holy freaking fuck. It made me cry tears of angst. No book has EVER made me cry tears of angst before. I’ve cried tears of sadness, heartbreak, betrayal and more but crying just ‘cuz the angst was so strong that I could barely handle it was definitely a first!

But, to offset the heart-wrenching angst, the romance was also back in full swoony force. On more than one occasion, Kellan’s words and actions made my heart clench and just brought tears to my eyes. The depth of his love for Kiera just rolls right off the page. You feel it so strongly. And you know Kiera felt the same way.

Never once did I doubt their commitment to each other – no matter what they were put through.

“I love you too, Kiera. Just you. You’re my always.”

This book really makes you consider the price of fame. At what point do you say no? Where does the line get drawn? There were so many time where truly I was just ready to say fuck fame – it just wasn’t worth this heart ache. The plot honestly pushed me to the very edge of my comfort limits and even a bit beyond. But I loved that they didn’t make the same mistakes twice. Lessons were learned. And that’s life, right?

I really have to commend Kiera on her whole attitude towards Kellan’s fame though. Seriously, she couldn’t possibly have been more supportive, more understanding. And my heart went right out to Kellan for trying with all of his heart to keep his girl’s heart safe while still following his dreams.

“I will always love you, Kellan. Your heart is safe with me.”

Kellan pulled me into a hug and let out a long, shaky breath as he held me. “Promise?” he whispered.

I squeezed him just a little bit tighter. “I promise.”

To soothe your worried hearts, I’ll say that I honestly never once actually worried for their relationship. It was what they had to go through that gutted me. This book is not about cheating or separation. Keira and Kellan spend the majority of it physically together in fact. What this book is about is testing the strength of their bond and the struggles of maintaining a relationship while under the spotlight.

“Never again. I don’t care what’s at stake. I don’t care who I have to let down. I won’t ever do that to you again. You… or me. I’m done playing their game.”

I loved that this book took the time to also focus on the other relationships. Anna and Griffin get their fair share of page time as do the other band mates, but my favorite side story line was the one between Kellan and Denny. I don’t want to say anything specific about it ‘cuz those interactions are ones you should experience for yourself but twice they brought me to tears. I was SO impressed and happy with where SC Stephens took their story. Seriously, touched my heart right to the very core.

She also took the story to places I never thought she would.. I mean she took Kellan Kyle and she….. gah! ok – lips are sealed. But seriously, around 80% I just had this huge “Holy shit. That did NOT just happen!!” moment! Still – like I said, I loved every minute of it… even the moments that made my heart stop.

But I did read the final 15% with my heart just filled to bursting with happiness, and I this huge smile on my face with happy tears in my eyes.

“I love you. I would do it all over again if I needed to. I’d go back to the beginning for you.”

By the end, I felt elated. I was emotional but my heart was completely satisfied and I can assure you that the ending is just PERFECT!

And I officially have the world’s biggest book hang over. EVER.

There are so many INCREDIBLE moment, lines, and scenes from this book that will be forever imprinted on my mind. I was thinking about mentioning some here but instead I’m going to just encourage you all to go read this amazing story and discover them for yourself. I’ve been re-reading a few of them while putting this review together and now have tears in my eyes. Seriously – LOVE LOVE LOVE this book, this journey, these characters… this story raises the bar and is one that will stay in my heart forever.

I don’t pull out the 6 star rating very often but this whole series truly deserves it. Any story that can take over my life so completely and make me fall in love with the characters so strongly needs that extra star. Above and beyond. That’s where this book went.

♥

MY CASTING: