Contemporary Romance

Book Review – Damaged Goods by Lauren Gallagher

October 8, 2012 by Aestas · 2 Comments

Buy DAMAGED GOODS for Kindle

4.5 stars

*happy sigh* Its the best feeling ever to find books that I love!! And this is one of them 🙂

This is not a traditional love story. Its about a male prostitute and a single mom finding love and finding a way to make a relationship work despite the difficulties of their situation.

Its wonderful, well-written, and swoony, with toe-curling hotness, a beautifully functional relationship, no stupidity and a very happy ending 🙂

I could tell right from the start that I was going to love it. The writing style was strong and flowed smoothly, I was smiling from the first page and was immediately drawn into the story.

Frustrated with the trials, tribulations, and complications of dating, single mom Jocelyn decides to take her friend’s advice and try an escort service.

“Once in a while… I just want a long night with a beautiful man who wants nothing more than to make me come and fuck me senseless.”

When Sabian shows up at her hotel room, he’s everything she could have wanted and more. Gorgeous, skilled, and basically, every woman’s fantasy. Thrilled with the experience, she hires him a few more times and finds herself quite drawn to him. But the real him, not just the part of him she’s paying for. One thing leads to another and as he starts to open up to her and shows her the man behind Sabian, the real him – Austin, they slowly begin to realize that on so many levels, they are perfect for each other… and so begins the dicey situation of dating an escort…

“Who do you want?” he asked. “Sabian or Austin?”

k, don’t judge me here but male prostitutes totally have a bit of a thrill to them… and one of them finding love is even better. I guess its something about the whole situation being a little taboo, not allowed, kind of an impossible situation to be in and also to start a relationship in… but the concept it just so hotttt!!!

“Growling in my ear, he said, “Do you want the gentleman or the caveman right now?”

I loved that the story didn’t feel over-the-top or fairy-tale perfect. It felt totally real. It was told entirely from Jocelyn’s POV and you felt right in her head. She was a wonderful heroine with a good head on her shoulders. It was refreshing to have a heroine that I never once wanted to throttle. In fact, there were many many situations where I was actually seriously impressed with the way she was handling things. Makes it much easier to connect to heroines when you actually an understand and sympathize with what’s going on inside their heads.

Sabian/Austin was just… oh my HOT!! I fell in love with him right from the first scene and I’d pretty much just sit there fanning myself through each of the bedroom scenes. But let alone the toe curling, mind blowing sex, the dirty talking, the sweetness, the intensity of what they had was just thrilling. And the whole slightly forbidden aspect of what they had just added to the thrill of it. The fact that what they were doing at first, the sex, was really happening, and yet it was in many ways fake, but with undercurrents of real attraction and desire… and then watching that lead to real desire, and real passion, real intimacy and real intensity… oooooo it was swoony!!

The more comfortable he became with Jocelyn, the more he began to show her the real him – the fun, sweet, artistic guy behind the suave, sophisticated, confident escort. He became so much more real, and as a reader, I got to connect with him on a more personal level seeing him tired from work, groggy in the morning, enjoying video games, nervous on a first real date, cooking food, having fun, just being himself.

But at the same time, I loved his approach to his job. He had no shame in what he did and made a really good case for it actually. I loved that perspective and what it said about him.

“It doesn’t bother you that you’re selling yourself?”
“I’m not selling myself,” he said matter-of-facile, “I sell a service, use my body to give that service… And afterward, I leave with as much of myself as I came in with.”

I absolutely LOVED how respectful Jocelyn was of Austin and his job and the process of curiosity she went through trying to figure it out and finally come to terms with it – asking about his job, trying to find out more about his life. She was inquisitive but never absolutely never looked down on him or judged him negatively for what he did.

And I loved that when they finally came together, nothing was rushed. No insta-love. No fairy-tale everything-falling-into-place perfection. They worked to create a functional, understanding relationship. What they had was unconventional and they had to write their own rules and figure out their own rhythm.

K, something I know a lot of you are going to be wondering about is: does he quit his job once they are together? and hear me out here cuz you probably aren’t going to like the answer. No, he doesn’t quit his job right away. Now, hold up, don’t run for the hills now that you’ve heard that, cuz I’m the kind of person that under pretty much any other circumstance would have hated that, but I can honestly say that I was actually okay with here. Honest. Well, okay, fine, so I wasn’t like ‘okay okay’ with it in the sense of I wasn’t jumping for joy, but at the same time, despite the situation being uncomfortable at times, it never ever felt like he was cheating on her, weird as that may sound.

“There’s sex, and there’s… this.” He met my eyes. “Just being with someone like this. This isn’t something that can be bought or sold, and I couldn’t manufacture it for someone no matter how much they tried to pay me for it…. That’s why I’m here tonight. Because I need this. And here, with you, is the only place I can get it.” He swallowed hard. “Or give it.”

“Just remember one thing: regardless of how anyone chooses to define what I do for a living, I’m not selling what I’m giving you. If this isn’t something you can handle, I’ll understand, but I swear to you. I’ve never given this to anyone. I wouldn’t dream of selling it, even if I could.”

They really highlighted, SO clearly, the difference between ‘sex’ and ‘intimacy’ – between having sex in the clinical sense and having sex in the romantic/meaningful sense. And the truth of it is, I totally understood the way they handled it. It wasn’t easy – I mean, its an impossible situation to be in. And they worked through everything you’d imagine people in their situations to deal with in an adorable, understandable and functional way!! Seriously, nothing makes me happier in a book than a functional relationship 🙂

And of course, there is a beautiful HEA (and epilogue). I will say, I could have totally want a leeeeetle more at the end. But still, I loved it and if you haven’t read this, its definitely one to add to the top TBR list 🙂

Buy DAMAGED GOODS for Kindle

CASTING:

Sabian/Austin: Click here and here
Jocelyn: Click here
Austin & Jocelyn: Click here

Book Review – Seducing Cinderella (Fighting For Love #1) by Gina L. Maxwell

October 7, 2012 by Aestas · Leave a Comment

Buy SEDUCING CINDERELLA (Kindle)

This was a yummy 3 star read for me.

“Heart. Any fighter can win against any odds if he has more heart than his opponent.”

It was short, predictable and more-than-a-little cheesy, but still, it was cute and had a fuzzy HEA.

Reid is a highly successful, smokin’ hot MMA fighter. He works hard at his job, is dedicated and right now does not have the time to be injured. Which is what leads him to Lucie. Lucie works as a physical therapist. She’s a cute, clumsy bookworm who is utterly infatuated with another doctor at her clinic who won’t give her the time of day and lacks the confidence to do anything about it. With Lucie desperate to go out with her doctor love and Reid desperate for more time around Lucie, he offers to move in with her so that she can give him around the clock physical therapy and he can give her “hands on lesson[s] in Seduction 101” *rolls eyes with a smile* … hmmm… I’m guessing I don’t need to spell out where this all going, riiiight?? 😛

“Maybe the best way to teach you how to seduce,is to let you feel what it’s like to be seduced.”

There are a lot of “picture perfect” things about this book… I mean, its got “Cinderalla” in the title… its a little fairy-tale over the top perfect – cute and clumsy girl meets fuckhot tattoed filty rich bad-boy-with-a-soft-artistic-side fighter… moves in with him instantly… just can’t resist the chemisty etc. But at the same time, if you just approach it as a fun, light read then its pretty cute.

I did really love that Reid wasn’t just pure fighter – he cooked, painted, sculpted etc. He wasn’t afraid to show all his sides and it only added to his hotness! Seriously, I need to find me some more MMA fighter guy books!

“Because when I make you come for the first time I don’t want you holding back. I want to hear every hitch of your breath… Every moan… And I won’t be satisfied until you scream my name.”

The sex is hot and there’s a fair bit of it. There were several moments where I wanted to slap or throttle both of them but the ending is all wrapped up in a little bow and there are no surprises or twists to the story.

I liked it, but I found it very easy to put down and I prefer my stories with a little bit more depth. But if you are looking for something light, short, with steam and a HEA, then this is might be the book for you.

Buy SEDUCING CINDERELLA (Kindle)

Book Review – If I Were You (Inside Out Trilogy #1) by Lisa Renee Jones

October 5, 2012 by Aestas · 4 Comments

Buy IF I WERE YOU (Kindle) – full reading order below

*** Note: This book is now part of a completed series. At the time I read it, this book (the first of the series) was the only available book and so my frustration that you’ll see in the review is due to the fact that it was a great book, with a ton of mystery but it left me hanging with a lot of unanswered questions and the other books weren’t available.

If you were to read it now though, you’ll be able to just read straight though to the rest of the series 🙂

_________________________

NONE OF MY QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED!!!!

and I literally mean none of them *lip quiver*

I feel a little cheated… I mean, it was a really good book – it totally hooked me into the story, made me care about the characters, got me all hot and bothered, and filled my mind with approximately 4 hundred bajillion questions and theories and then… left me hanging!!!

O_O

I don’t really know what to say. I feel like I know about as much now as I did at the beginning of the book 😐

“People arent always what they seem… The art does not always mimic the artist. You never know the real person until you slide beneath their surface.”

The story follows Sara, a high school teacher whose passion in life is art and ends up getting possession of a storage locker that belongs to a mystery woman named Rebecca, whose journals Sara finds and reads. The journals are erotic and mysterious telling the story of Rebecca’s spiral into a relationship with a dangerously sexy and controlling Dom.

The story is addictive – draws you RIGHT in. Its a deliciously thrilling and dangerously erotic mystery with a dual storyline going on between the current day life of Sara and the life of Rebecca as read in her journals.

These are the beginning lines of the book:

“Dangerous.
For months I’ve had dreams and nightmares about how perfectly he personifies the word. Sleep-laden, alternate realities where I can vividly smell hi musky male scent, feel his hard body against mine. Taste the sweet and sensuous flavor of him — like milk chocolate with its silky demands that I indulge in one more bite. And another. So good I’d forgotten there’s a price for overindulgence. And there is a price…. It started out as any other erotic adventure with him. Unpredictable. Exciting. I barely remember how it all went wrong. How it took such a dark turn.

See what I mean? You kinda just need to know more!

The more Sara discovers about Rebecca, the deeper and darker the mystery gets. New journal entries lead to more questions which in turn lead to a plethora of possibilities.

Since the last journal entry was rather ominous, Sara decides to try and find Rebecca, but, having no idea where to start, she goes to the art gallery where Rebecca worked as a starting point. There she meets the gallery manager, Mark Compton, who is sophisticated, powerful, controlling, arrogant, and alluringly sexy who offers her Rebecca’s job while she is ‘away’. On the same day, Sara also meets one of the famous artists whose work is displayed at the gallery, Chris Merit – he’s a rebel, tattooed, doesn’t play by the rules, gorgeous, raw, mysterious and with a dark side that he keeps trying to warn her away from. Drawn to him and intrigued by the gallery manager, Sara slips deeper and deeper into Rebecca’s world. And the more she is drawn into the mystery of unraveling Rebecca’s life, the more her own life starts to entwine with hers.

This book was HOT – those journal entries were scorching!! I can see how some people have compared it to Fifty Shades. I wouldn’t compare it personally, but it definitely had Fifty-ish vibes in certain places but the story stands completely alone. The relationship that Rebecca talks about in the journals is a BDSM one with some mystery guy. We can suspect who he is, but honestly the evidence could point in any number of directions so we don’t really know.

And the heroine made some choices and decisions along the way that I didn’t fully see as being understandable, so that did disconnect me here and there from the story a little, but I just tried to be understanding and so it wasn’t a huge deal but I still did go ‘hmmmm’ a few times…

I totally loved the hero (or, rather, one of them? again, I’m not really sure). He had that delicious flawed aspect with just the right amount of mystery to him to make me love him and yet wonder about him.

“Be warned, Sara. I’m no saint. If I take you upstairs, I’m going to strip you naked and fuck you the way I’ve wanted to since the moment we first met.”

The ending is a HUGE cliffhanger. Literally the story just stops at an “omg” moment… I will say that I’ve never been fond of cliffhangers and I think I would have been more fine with this one had I had a few more questions answered (or any for that matter). Either way *sigh* yes, I will totally be going on to book 2…. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!!!!!

I have a feeling that when I finish reading all the books in the series, these may end up on my favorites list, but for now, I’m just a frustrated mess…

*runs off to find herself a guaranteed HEA book*

Rating: 4 stars. First book of a series.

CASTING:

There are just so many characters to cast in this that I’ll just leave you with this shot… I think it compliments the book quite perfectly –> Click here

___________________________________________

** COMPLETE SERIES READING ORDER **

All the books are out now! Click the cover to purchase 🙂

Book review – Reflected In You (Crossfire #2) by Sylvia Day

October 3, 2012 by Aestas · 26 Comments

Buy REFLECTED IN YOU for KINDLE (Amazon)

6+++ stars!

SQUEEEEE SQUEEEEE SQUEEEEE SQUEEEEE!!!!!!!

THIS. BOOK. WAS. ABSOLUTELY. UTTERLY. PERFECT.

I loved every, single moment of it!

If I had custom ordered this book straight from the deepest book desires of my heart, it could not have been any better.

Gideon Cross (oooo even his name gives me shivers) and Eva Tramell are one of my TOP favorite book couples ever. It was absolutely beautiful to watch a couple who were just so messed up but who wanted, with every fiber of their beings and every corner of their hearts, to do everything in their power to make their relationship work. Who were willing to sacrifice anything for each other. Who were willing to apologize. To never give up. To try again. And again and again and again until they made it work. Together.

Absolutely beautiful!!!!

The strength of their attraction, desire and need for each other is palatable. You can feel it rolling off the page. It hits you every single time. Its scorching. Consuming. Riveting. Intoxicating. But lust isn’t enough to make a relationship truly work. In order for their love to have the room to properly and healthily develop, they have to learn to trust each other. And that truly is what is at the heart of this book. Trust.

With a couple with as many issues, hang-ups, and fuck ups as Gideon and Eva, yes, I admit it was sometimes frustrating to read through their problems. But the thing was, despite some of them being irrational and over-the-top, I sympathized with both of them about their insecurities and worries. Everything they felt, I understood. Sometimes it was painful, but always understandable.

They were not perfect people. They both had secrets. They both had a lot to learn about how to trust each other, find safety in each other, heal each other, save each other… and in doing so, find a way to save themselves.

But as messed up as they both were, they worked through EVERYTHING!! A couple after my own heart. **SQUEEEE**

“I didn’t know I was looking for anything until I saw you.”

Gideon is the epitome of a complex, tortured, flawed, and mysterious hero. But my dear God does he make my heart (and my panties) melt!!! I swear, flaws and all, that man is pure perfection to me. I absolutely adored everything about his character. Everything.

And we get a lot more insight into him- into his secrets, his nightmares, how he became so rich, what he felt when they first met. For a story told entirely from Eva’s perspective, we do learn a lot about him in this book.

Eva is one of my favorite heroines as well. Never once have I wanted to throttle her. She, just like Gideon, is seriously flawed and scarred by her past. She has real insecurities, jealousies, worries, but I sympathized with them all and loved her spirit, her dedication and her decisions.

As a couple, they were just so functional!! Watching them work so hard at their relationship, where no matter what went wrong, letting nothing tear them apart… it was inspiring, heart warming, and beautiful.

This book put my heart through a delicious ringer. It made it race, flutter, melt, burn, freeze, drop, pound, stop… It broke my heart and it healed my heart. I loved every minute!!!

Let me tell you though, in this book, Gideon will test your trust, patience and faith in him to the absolute limit. He asks for Eva’s trust, but as the reader, I felt for her SO strongly that it was MY trust I was putting out there. I realized before all the drama started that I had a choice and a decision to make: Did I trust him? Or didn’t I?

I realized that I loved his character enough to trust that he wouldn’t ever betray her… I was patient with him way past the point where I’d have lost patience with any other character. But again, and again, and again I trusted, he tested, I waited, I trusted and he tested some more. Serious props to Ms. Day for putting me RIGHT in the heroine’s mind. When you feel for what a character is going through with all your heart, that’s a sign of absolutely brilliant writing.

Please please please… if you are going to read this and hit that point where you think you are going to lose faith in Gideon, just hang on. Trust me, the ending is worth every moment of heart ache!!!

He caught me to him, his arms banded tight around me. His face pressed into my throat. “Where do we go from here?”
I held him. “Wherever this takes us. Together.”

I can’t tell you how absolutely happy the ending made me!!!! Seriously, I felt like I could fly!!

“I am obsessed with you, angel. Addicted to you. You’re everything i’ve ever wanted or needed, everything i’ve dreamed of. You’re everything. I live and breathe you. For you.”

**PS. If you haven’t read book 1, BARED TO YOU, yet, do be sure to start with it. This is a continuation of the story that started there, it is NOT a standalone.

CASTING:

Gideon –> Click here
Eva –> Click here

*** CROSSFIRE SERIES READING ORDER ***

BARED TO YOU (Crossfire #1)
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

REFLECTED IN YOU (Crossfire #2)
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

ENTWINED WITH YOU (Crossfire #3)
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

CAPTIVATED BY YOU (Crossfire #4)
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

ONE WITH YOU (Crossfire #5)
More info coming soon.

Book Review – Down To You by M. Leighton

September 29, 2012 by Aestas · 13 Comments

“Did you think of my lips when he kissed you?… Do you still want me? Because if you do, I’m all yours.”

Buy DOWN TO YOU (Kindle)

This seems to be the “it” book of the moment and now I know why!

Down To You is a wonderful, addictive read that will have your heart fluttering, have you fanning yourself, with just the right amount of angst and a really cool twist… oh, and twins, REALLY HOT, panty-melting twins 🙂

Hmmm, I’m getting ahead of myself here…. k, about the panty-melting twins. Olivia is an accounting student who has moved back to her home town to help her now-single dad out on their family farm. The last thing she’s looking for is another bad-boy relationship. But not long after she moves, she meets Cash Davenport, the bike riding, club owning, seriously HOT, tattooed bad boy who wants her in his bed. Like now. He’s “cocky, sexy, charming. Untamed. Rebellious. Heartbreaker.” And despite her resistance to his charms, she can’t help desperately wanting him…

“You’ve never ridden a motorcycle before?”
“Nope.”
“What kind of bad-boy girlfriend are you?” I ask in mock dismay.
“Evidently a terrible one.”
I swing onto the bike…
“Nah, you just haven’t met the right bad-boy.”

**swoooooon**… but wait! It gets better… The next day, she meets Nash. His twin brother. Yes, twin! As in, identical, GORGEOUS, swoony, and drool-worthy. He’s the good boy, “incredibly handsome, charming obviously intelligent, successful, grounded” – the complete opposite of Cash and the kind of guy she really should be in a relationship with. Unfortunately he’s dating her rich, snobby cousin Marissa who she’s living with, but it doesn’t stop them from being seriously attracted to each other.

“I feel like all of a sudden, my life is a train wreck. And most of the wreckage revolves around two guys. Two guys that, for totally different reasons, are tearing me up inside. Two guys I want. Two guys I can’t have. Two guys I can’t stop thinking about.”

She wants them both. They both are in her head, in her heart and they both make her crazy for them. And they both want her just as badly.

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of love triangles. I like knowing who ends up with who right off the bat and I’m not fond of characters wavering back and forth but, for whatever reason, maybe it was the great writing style, or the drool-worthy characters or what have you, I LOVED it in this book. Completely LOVED IT!!!!!

And you know, the funny thing about love triangle books is that usually, even if I like both guys, I always know which guy I want to end up being “THE” guy. You know?? But, with this book, I absolutely did NOT have a favorite. I wanted them both. Completely. Equally…. Seriously, no joke, I could. NOT. choose!!!!!!

“But it’s your rule.”
“I’ll break it for you,” he whispers.“

lol, and as usual, best friends really just give the best advice 😛

“Every hen house needs a cock, but only the special hens can handle more than one. Try ’em out then pick one and stick with it. You’re not old enough to play with two toys at once. That’s cougar territory.”

So… which one does Olivia choose?? You’ll have to read to find out!

And don’t try and find out in advance… its worth the surprise. There’s a really cool twist! I usually go into books knowing some basic spoilers (like who ends up with who, that kind of thing) and with this one, I went in blind (I was trying to be brave and fearless, its a work in progress) but I am SO SO SO happy I didn’t know. And that’s saying something coming from me. So for those of you who are wondering about it, take my advice and don’t go sniffing about for any details… Just read it!! Enjoy the yummy ride!

The story sucked me in and had no slow spots. I’ll admit, there was a moment or two that made me squint an eye skeptically at the page and go ‘hmmmmm’, but nothing that pulled me away from the story.

And about the twist, I’ll say that I didn’t see it coming. I thought it was a possibility, but I dismissed it (silly me!) … If I think too much about it, I’m still not 100% sure how the timelines would all match up and all but its fiction, right? And its hot, sexy, fun, engaging fiction with a story and characters I loved so I’m just not gonna dissect and analyze things too closely. Bottom line, it worked. And I did love the twist. It was perfect for the story.

Guys, the sex scenes in this book… seriously… I”m not kidding here, H.O.T. Like I think I need to go back and reread some of those scenes… wow! They are definitely adult – this is not a YA or NA read!

And yes, the book did end on a bit of a cliffhanger… but I was actually totally fine with it. I honestly found it to be more of a lead-in to book 2 than anything – in fact it was very similar to the cliffhanger in Fifty Shades Darker. One where you felt like the main couple was fine, but there were still bad guys out there…. Don’t let it stop you from reading the book.

But that being said, pleeeeeeease Ms. Leighton, can you please please please release book 2 soon?? *begs* I want MORE!!! 😀

**Edit: just heard from the author that she’s hoping to get book 2 out for early 2013. SQUEEE!!!

I highly recommended this book!! Everyone really has to meet the Davenport twins. Go go go!!

Rating: 4.5 stars!

Click covers to purchase books (Amazon links).

Book review – Creed (Unfinished Heroes #2) by Kristen Ashley

September 28, 2012 by Aestas · 12 Comments

Buy CREED (Kindle)
Buy CREED (Paperback)

5 stars!!! (maybe even 6)

“Born to love you, baby… Die lovin’ you, my Sylvie.”

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I loved Sylvie. I loved Creed. Their story broke my heart and despite adoring it, emotionally, it ripped my heart out. It was a heart wrenching, tragic, BEAUTIFUL love story about survival of loss…

But you know, the most tragic stories of loss make for some of the most heart warming and MEANINGFUL reunions -every moment of good becomes unimaginably precious. Full. Earned. Treasured…. that what this story is about.

“I’m not what you want, Sylvie, I get that because its the same for you as it is for me. I’m not what you want ’cause I’m what you need.”

When Sylvie was six and Creed was eleven, they met in the woods one night – both trying to get away from the misery wrapped up in their homes. Over the years, their bond is forged and cemented – they helped each other, sheltered each other, supported each other, fell in love, made plans to get away. But on the night they were supposed to leave, Creed never showed. He just disappeared….. Cut to present day, sixteen years later, Sylvie is working for Knight’s business in the security department. When there is a breach, he calls in Creed – not knowing of their connection. Suddenly faced with the man who abandoned her so many years ago and forced into a situation where they have to partner up for a job, Sylvie has no choice but to deal with the past she’s been trying to put behind her… But it all leads to one very important question: Why did he abandon her? What could have happened to make him never show up?

Let me tell you , I was feeling really betrayed and hurt by him at that point. All I could think about was how on earth could he abandon her after everything they’d been through together and promised each other, and not communicate for sixteen years… I couldn’t think of a single reason that would honestly justify that. I went through a period of extreme HURT and betrayal while I was reading. My heart ached. It was a physical pain. I felt ill. It was the strongest hurt I’ve EVER felt from any of KA’s character’s actions.

I was desperately wracking my brain to come up with ANY reason for what he did…. The closest feeling I can describe to what I felt here was how I felt while reading The Sweet Gum Tree. In a word: intense and painful.

But then the reason came out as to why he never showed and it hit me SO hard. Tears were pouring down my face. It was a tragedy of epic proportions. I didn’t think KA would go there, I honestly didn’t, but she did and my heart is still hurting when I think about what happened to him.

It took Creed and Sylvie up until about the half way mark to sort out their past, but once they did, they became functional to an extreme with an intense chemistry and H.O.T.N.E.S.S. off the freaking charts. I mean SERIOUSLY hot. Think make-up sex, but a million times hotter because its making up for sixteen years of heart ache.

I loved Sylvie!!! In a word, she was badass! As one of the protection enforcers for Knight’s business, its literally her job to kick ass. She was just totally one of the guys – an Alpha female not to be messed with . She read, acted and talked exactly like one of the KA men – except with a decidedly feminine twist. I love it!! She took care of herself, no one controlled her. In many ways, she was the female version of Creed.

I loved that they saw eye to eye, stood toe to toe – badass to badass. Sylvie is Creed. Creed is Sylvie. They were born for each other. Made for each other. I loved that even through unthinkable tragedy and years of separation, the love that they’d had since they were children never faded. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

“I loved the man under me in a way that wasn’t just mean to be. It wasn’t a way we were born to be. It was in a way that needed to be.“

Creed melted my heart. I fell really hard for him and just fell deeper and deeper in love as the story went on. He was a tortured badass whose life and heart was tied to Sylvie. When he came back into her life and found out the truth of what had happened to her, it killed me and yet melted my heart how much it hurt him and how strongly he was devoted to working towards replacing her bad memories with good ones, determined to do everything in his power to put their lives back together.

I’ll say that there was a point where I was pretty furious with him and even to this moment, I still don’t agree with a series of decisions that he made after they were ripped away from each other (you’ll know what I mean when you get to it). Its not even that I can understand what he did, cuz honestly, I can’t. But its ok. I recognize that he’s not perfect and I can accept him as such. The circumstances were horrific, tragic and I’m not going to judge how people react in those situations… it still doesn’t sit fully right with me, but that’s ok. You don’t love someone cuz they are perfect, you love them flaws and all… and I can say that I completely, 100% LOVE Tucker Creed. Flaws and all.

Their story is told in present day with flash backs to their past filling in the blanks and answering the myriad of questions that their present day story leads to. I loved how we never got the whole thing at once… we got little snippets here and there that piece together their story… it was really powerful and built up from when they were kids to that fateful day when Creed never showed.

Creed and Sylvie were just two amazingly wonderful people who life had dealt and unthinkably horrific hand of cards. But they were survivors. Reading this story just made me SICK to my stomach, thinking about the lengths that people in this world will go through to steal happiness from others…

They were strong before, but the joint trauma of having gone through what they were made to go through makes them closer than you can imagine. Its about the point of how when you meet that person that is The One, even if the world comes crashing down, there is nothing that can erase those feelings.

“For over twenty-seven years, every day, every minute, every second, I’ve loved you, Tucker Creed.”

When you have precious in your life and are willing to do anything and everything in your power to fight to keep it but have it wrenched away form you, have to live without it – with the ache of it missing from your life. That’s what makes it so that when it’s back, there is not one minute, not one second, not a breath that isn’t precious, priceless, full.

“ You need me. You won’t stay away and you won’t let me go because, baby, you can’t breathe without me.“

I cried a few times throughout this book, but by the end I was crying so hard I could barely see straight. Happy tears of course 🙂 The end killed me in a wonderful way. It was an BEAUTIFUL, PERFECT, GORGEOUS, AMAZING, INCREDIBLE ending… just WOW.

I’m tempted to give this one 6 stars. It was THAT good.

“You’re my world, Sylvie. Always have been. Always will be.”

Lol, funny side note… my husband heard me crying from the other room and came in and took one look at my face and went “Jeez, baby, you do this for fun?!?” hahahaaa I sorta tried to smile and wailed out a pretty pathetic “yyeeeeeaaaaahhhh”

Let me just say that there are a lot of incredibly gifted and talented authors out there, and I mean a LOT. But NO one can write badass like KA does. She truly is the reigning queen of badass.

And speaking of badass, there were some great cameos in this book – namely from Knight and Hawk (yes, Mystery Man Hawk). I really warmed up to Knight in this book. Like REALLY. To the point where I absolutely freaking ADORED him. I loved his relationshipip with Sylvie – how deeply protective he was of her and how much she meant to him. “Bottom of my soul.” *cluthes heart* … I struggled with his book a lot but in this book, I loved seeing how much he had grown, changed, adapted. It was beautiful and heart warming…. and when Hawk (and his gorgeous dimples) make a fantastic, if brief, appearance for the final 90% craziness, I could barely contain my squees 😀

CREED was just a gorgeous, beautiful, intense read. One of KA’s best. I’m writing this a day after having finished the book and my heart is still full to the brim with my love for Sylvie and Creed. Their story was emotional exhausting and deeply satisfying.

I started my review with this line, but I want to end it with it as well. I think its one of the most beautiful lines I’ve ever read. If that doesn’t convey the depth of their love, I don’t know what can.