Second-Chance Romance

Book Review – The Education of Sebastian (The Education #1) by Jane Harvey-Berrick

February 9, 2013 by Aestas · 253 Comments

“I love you, Caro. I want to make love to you. I want to make love to you forever.”

Buy THE SERIES SET: EDUCATION OF SEBASTIAN & CAROLINE (Kindle)

This book made my heart RACE. It was a captivating story of forbidden love. I’m still recovering from the huge cliffhanger ending and most definitely planning to go straight on to book #2.

I gotta say I was a little hesitant going into this one because of the huge age gap between the hero and heroine. For the record, Sebastian is 17 (4 months shy of 18), and Caroline is 30 and (unhappily) married. I kind of wavered back and forth a fair bit on it before deciding I should really just give it a shot and I pretty much just jumped in with both feet knowing nothing other than the fact that this one ends on a cliffhanger, but the sequel has a happy ending.

I want to say that the age difference was totally ‘fine’ but in truth it was almost fine. There were definitely moments where you really felt Seb’s age shine through but then definitely moments where you felt his maturity. There was no doubt though that they were definitely soul-mates, or “right” for each other. It was just their situation that was unfortunate.

I knew from very early on that Seb and Caro would be one of *those* couples I would just want to pluck out of their setting and put them on some desert island somewhere to live out their happy, peaceful, non-judged lives together. But.. *sigh* … that wasn’t going to happen.

There are a few things that made me more okay with the scenario. First, it is NOT a love triangle book. There is no actual wavering back and forth between two guys ever. Caroline is stuck in a loveless marriage to a military man 11 years her senior who she rashly married when she was 19 years old to escape being under her mother’s stifling thumb at home. There is no doubt from the start to the end of the book – she is NOT in love with both men. She is more just ‘stuck’ with her husband. He wasn’t a cruel man, but he was intolerable and insufferable and while he wasn’t directly abusive, the way he treated her was appalling to me and as such, I didn’t lose a moment’s worry over his feelings in the whole matter.

“He hated the way I dressed, the way I spoke, what I spoke about and the things that interested me to speak about… He wasn’t always an unkind man… we were just fundamentally unsuited to each other.”

The story follows Caroline – married to her husband who’s job as a medical officer in the military moved him around a lot. In the prologue, we see them move to a new base where she is introduced to the horrid wife of his new CO and their adorable eight-year-old son Sebastian. She feels badly for him growing up with such wretched parents and the become friends. Its beautiful and totally not creepy guys!! But when her husband is relocated yet again, she is suddenly forced to move again, leaving behind a distraught Sebastian.

Fast forward 9 years to the present day, Caroline is now 30 and they are moved back to that old base which is where she meets Sebastian Hunter – gorgeous, grown up, and carrying a serious torch for her. He’s truly loved her from since he was a kid and although she resists his advances at first, there is something between them… a spark. A spark she tries to ignore, but ultimately can’t.

“Sebastian, don’t let me keep you from your friends; I’m quite happy to sit here and watch.”
He shook his head and looked at me intently.
“I can surf anytime; I’d rather be here with you.”
I stared down at my notepad, unsure what to say, but absolutely certain that if I looked up I’d be caught in the net of his blue-green gaze. But I also needed to be clear.
“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that, Sebastian. I’m a married woman. It makes me… uncomfortable.”
I still hadn’t been able to look up….
“I really like you, Caroline,” he said softly.
I felt his hand touch my arm; he was trembling.
I had to look up. His face held such an expression of longing, mixed with anxiety…

Doing the math, she calculates that he must be 18 years old and they begin a relationship in secret at first. But only later does she find out that he is almost 18. Almost. Ohhh what a difference that one tiny word can make. Its terrifying and neither of them went into it knowingly but they are already too deep to pull back and so, despite trying to resist, they can’t help but continue to develop their relationship.

“I knew it was wrong: I knew it was right.”

“I had chosen – willingly, knowingly, deliberately. I chose love over law. And I didn’t care.”

Its a situation where Caro genuinely did NOT consider him a love interest at first. But he was into her. Like, seriously! And although she struggled at first with her feelings, the heart wants what the heart wants….

“Please don’t,” I whispered. Bu there was no force behind my words.
He stood, still holding my hand.
“I love you, Caroline.”
He spoke softly, but the words were clear, spoken without expectation and with a little hope.

“I’m married, Sebastian.” …
“You don’t love him, Caro.”
My eyes darted to his. How did he know?
“I love you. I’ll… I’ll do anything, go anywhere … We’ll be happy.”
So, so tempting.

“We can be together,” he whispered. “Forever.”

But every single thing between them is forbidden. Its dangerous and there is this HUGE, intense, never-ending undercurrent of pure angst that over-shadows every single one of their interactions.

“Everything had a price: every glance, every kiss, every stolen touch. It seemed desperately unfair…”

I have to say, I pretty much fell in love with Sebastian from the first time he said hi to her on the beach. He was just SUCH a sweet, kind hearted guy. Just one of those guys that you couldn’t help but crush over – a totally gorgeous character, inside and out. My heart broke for his home life and he did seem a lot more mature than his years at times.

The writing style is captivating and had a beautiful feeling that just wrapped you into the story.

This book definitely had that 5-star spark. You know the one I’m talking about, right? The one that makes your heart flutter and have you completely involved in the story.

The author really made you FEEL all the things they went through – the jealousy and possessiveness, the worries and uncertainty, and their undeniable and passionate feelings for each other.

But there were also a few things that kept me from being able to give it a full 5 star rating. I didn’t like how much Caro let herself be under her husband’s thumb. I mean, it made sense for the story because if her marriage was solid, it would have thrown the story into a whole different ballpark but I just didn’t like how much of a doormat she was with him. Literally, he said jump, she asked how high. Although, in her defense, she did have a moment toward the end when she finally stood up to him that made me happy.

And I’m trying how to decide about the age gap. I have mixed feeling about it. First and most importantly, I acknowledge that they were right for each other. Okay, I said it. It was clear they were in love – you felt it, you knew it, it was undeniable. But…. I will say that there were times, as a reader, where it felt a little awkward – I don’t know, moments where his teenager-ness really came through that made me just squint my eyes a little and feel a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t the fact that he was young I had issue with but something about certain scenes made their age gap feel a lot more pronounced. And, I mean, I guess its an honest reaction because the fact of the matter is that it projects their feelings onto you – I mean, Caro had those feelings and went through a lot of anxiety over whether or not they should be together given their age gap so I guess it was really just drawing you into that feeling.

But yeah, there were definitely moments of “awkward” although kudos to the author for really making you ‘feel’ his age accurately. She didn’t try and dress him up as a man in a kids body. He simple was. a. teenager. A mature one. One who knew, without a doubt what he wanted, who he loved and where he wanted his life to go. This wasn’t one of those “perfect” situations where he’s young but its okay cuz he’s really a man. No. He’s really 17. He had a heart of gold. Was in love for absolute real. But, he was a teen. And she was 30. No sugarcoating it.

A few of you were asking me about this, so this book is definitely ‘adult‘ in terms of steam. There is a lot of sex and its fairly detailed so definitely not ‘glossed’ over.

I have to say though that I READ IN FEAR!!!! Seriously, I was freaked WAY the hell out at EVERY moment that they were going to get caught!! I mean, yes, they were careful (to a certain extent) but at the same time they were also just freaking LUCKY they weren’t caught earlier because they did a LOT of things that could have EASILY drawn attention had the wrong person been there at the right time. They really weren’t careful enough for my liking about hiding it so, as cute as they were, I spent half my time freaking out and it did detract a little from my connection because I was SO worried all the time.

“I want to walk on the beach with you and hold your hand and to not be afraid that someone will see us.”

Seriously, the hiding it, having to pretends in public that they weren’t ‘together’, all the stolen glances and fleeting touches, the HUGE looming threat of what would happen if they got caught – EVERYTHING just seriously had my heart in my throat and kept me on pins and needles for a good part of the book. I even had to put the book down a few times and go begging to people for reassurance, lol (yes, I’m a chicken, don’t judge me!!).

Especially as I got closer to the end and I KNEW there was this giant brutal cliffhanger, I. Couldn’t. Take. It. As it got closer to the end I was freaking out more and more. It was helpless feeling where I knew it was going to end badly and there was absolutely NOTHING I COULD FREAKING DO ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!! I just had to keep reading. And dreading what was to come. And just seriously… F U C K !!!!

I didn’t cry at the end but my heart was in knots!!!

I feel utterly wrapped up in Seb and Caro’s story and good or bad, there is no WAY I’m stopping now! So I am absolutely going straight on to book #2 which I have been assured has a HEA!! Thank GOD!! cuz…

“You are my world, Caro,” he said.
“And you’re mine.”

*heart clench*

Rating: 4 – 4.5 stars. Book 1 in complete book duet.

Read my review of Book #2: The Education of Caroline

Buy THE SERIES SET: EDUCATION OF SEBASTIAN & CAROLINE (Kindle)

Book Review – Butterfly Weeds by Laura Miller

January 16, 2013 by Aestas · 8 Comments

Buy BUTTERFLY WEEDS on Kindle

4 – 4.5 stars.

I need to be clear on the rating first. To me, it was a 4 star book that pulled 5 star emotions out of me. The hero was a 5 star hero. The heroine though made 3 star decisions. Ok, on to the review.

WOW. I don’t even know where to start on this one!

I. SOBBED.

S O B B E D.

Seriously, guys. Ugly tears at the end. That LETTER!!! *wipes tears*

Like I actually spent 10 minutes curled up in my husband’s arms crying.

Ok, first off, don’t be freaked out. Its technically a HEA in that they spend the rest of their lives together, but it was a long and rough journey to get there.

Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Ok.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I loved it in so many ways but I disagreed with a lot of the heroine’s actions. My heart completely and utterly BROKE for the hero over and over again. But at the same time, maybe it felt very … real? *deep breath* Its hard to judge.

Basically, Will and Jules had known each other since they were kids. As teens, they fell in love and were together for several years until college when their long distance relationship made their relationship harder to maintain and Jules decided she wanted a break…. over the next decade, they went their separate ways – occasionally connecting, occasionally intersecting. Will was and always had been madly in love with Jules. She was always his forever girl. The “one” for him. She just couldn’t see it…. it took them a decade of heart ache and missed opportunities but they did eventually find their way back together – to where they were always meant to be.

Its weird but this book felt very… real, in some ways. I feel like the mistakes were ones that have probably happened a lot in the world. But still. I’m sorry to say that I just strongly didn’t agree with the heroine’s decisions and actions. She was not annoying, not a bitch, nothing like that. She was actually very sweet and kind hearted. But she was just SO incredibly indecisive and, honestly, just plain dense for not realizing the beauty and preciousness of what was right in front of her with Will – of what she walked away from. It got to a point where it was really making me mad (and very sweary). Every decision she made was just wrong wrong WRONG!!! One of them in particular even made me have to put the book down for a bit afterwards to calm down before I could continue.

My heart HURT just SO much for Will. Literally, I felt mine being ripped to shreds right along with him. Seriously, the PAIN was almost physical. He was just SO sweet, and kind, and perfect, and just so TOTALLY in love with her!!! God. Just broke. my. heart. seeing what she kept doing to him (however unintentionally).

He’s a singer – not like a rockstar per say, but he ends up getting pretty famous and throughout the years, she hears his songs on the radio. He’s always called her his butterfly. Look, here’s a song snippet *SNIFF*

Now you’ve come back home
Tell me you’ve carried me with you
That you’ve held me close
Tell me you’ve missed me
Or that I’m not crazy for waiting cause
Of all the butterflies that chose to stay
I’m in love with the one that got away

And yet STILL she’s unsure?? :/

This book was really one of those that just reached right in and squeezed my heart. I cried a few times during the book – just a little – but, at the end, I SOBBED so much!!!! Ugly Tears. Like throat hurting, heart aching, out of breath, can’t think ugly tears!!! It was just SO freaking BEAUTIFUL what he did for her!!!! Totally solidifying all my thoughts of how utterly PERFECT Will was. Think The Notebook style ending… not exactly the same but similar. *sob sob sob*

The progression of the book though is very unclear. It starts out present day in the first chapter. Then in the second, without being marked, it skips back to when Jules and Will were teenagers and falling in love. From there the story moves chronologically forward only, catching up to the present day and going beyond. BUT! The time progression is unclear and unmarked. Sometimes there’s less than an hour between chapters, sometimes its a few weeks or months or years. There is no indication and you kind of have to figure it out as you go that I will say that it threw me a little and just you should know so that you go into it expecting it so it hopefully wont throw you too.

Like I said earlier, I had several issues with heroine’s actions and decisions but the hero was darn near perfect (in a good way). My heart just went right out to him in so many ways. And this book absolutely pulled 5 star emotions out of me. There are very few books out there that have made me full-out sob. This is one of them.

If you’re looking for a book that’ll give you a good cry, this is absolutely it.

It was a pretty quick read – I read it a few hours. The writing style is beautiful and really pulls you emotionally into the story.

Rating: 4 – 4.5 stars

Buy BUTTERFLY WEEDS on Kindle

READING ORDER

Butterfly Weeds — Kindle | Paperback
standalone novel

My Butterfly — Kindle
alternate POV – optional to read

Book Review – Forever My Girl (Beaumont #1) by Heidi McLaughlin

December 27, 2012 by Aestas · 33 Comments

4 – 4.5 stars.

Forever My Girl is a beautiful YA rockstar romance about the heartbreak of mistakes, the power of forgiveness, and the hope of a second chance at love.

I’ll be perfectly honest, when I first read the blurb for this book, I squeed right out loud. I mean, a second-chance rockstar romance? What’s not to love?

Here’s the blurb, I’ll let you fall in love with it all on your own:

I was never supposed to be a rock star. I had my life all planned out for me. Play football in college. Go to the NFL. Marry my high school sweetheart and live happily ever after.

I broke both our hearts that day when I told her I was leaving. I was young. I made the right decision for me, but the wrong decision for us. I’ve poured my soul into my music, but I’ve never forgotten her. Her smell, her smile.

And now I’m going back.

After ten years.

I hope I can explain that after all this time.

I still want her to be my forever girl.

Seeeee?? *clutches heart* Now you can understand why I just HAD to read it!

“I gave up on their dreams and the life we had all planned out. And now I was heading home to face the music.”

By the time I was 3% into my read, I was already choked up. There was just so much emotion! There is a tragedy that occurs back in Liam’s home town, a death of a close friend, and I just have to give serious props to the author for making me utterly heartbroken over a character I had never even met! I totally felt the hole that his loss had left in his loved ones’ lives. It really helped connect me very early on in the book to the characters and draw me right into the story.

With Liam now being the tattooed, motorcycle riding, bad boy, rockstar that he was, I wanted to know what made him originally decide to leave his forever girl behind and never look back? He was clearly still 100% in love with her after all these years and never forgot her or was able to let go, so what could have pushed him to leave?

Despite the fact that I could fathom why he’d have left in the first place, I really respected that he didn’t just thunder back, demanding to be back in Josie’s life. I loved how understanding he was of her new life despite still being completely in love with her.

With Josie, I wanted to see how she’d react to him. She was put in such a difficult situation of not knowing why the love of her life walked away with no warning and completely cut off ties from her and was then faced with the reality of him not returning and was left to move on without him.

“Hey, Jojo?” he yells.
“Yeah,” I yell back.
“I’m going to marry you someday.”
I thought for sure we’d spend forever together. I thought our love was one of a kind. I would almost be okay if he had met someone else and fallen in love, but he didn’t. He just left.”

I loved seeing the way she dealt with his return. I loved how she didn’t just fall over him the second he walked back into her life – that she made him earn his forgiveness and his place back in her life. I felt like her struggles were real and relatable… and there are other pieces to this story that I don’t want to mention because they are slight spoilers but I really felt for everyone involved and for their struggles at figuring out how how to move forward.

I liked that none of the characters were fully perfect and that given the huge mistakes of the past, I liked that their lives didn’t just magically fall back into place. The rekindling of their relationship was never rushed making the story feel a lot more real.

“Her tear streaked face is beautiful. I want to wipe away her tears. I want to take the last ten years and erase them.”

I enjoyed the writing style. The story was told in alternating POVs with flashbacks here and there. The transition between POVs was smooth and the flashbacks were very well integrated. Seeing both sides of the story helped connect me to both main characters and given the complicated situation they were in, it was really well done. And the story just had these few lines here and there that just hit you right in the feels. Total heart clutch moments! I didn’t ever cry but I got all chocked up more than once!

“I want every part of you in my life, Jojo, when you’re ready.” “I’ll be patient… You will be mine again.”

I read the whole book in one sitting (about 3 hours). I didn’t want to put it down and it was one of those book where the pages just flew by.

The genre kind of rides the line between YA and NA. There is one sex scene towards the end. Its not closed door, but not very graphic either. There are, however, a few beautiful kisses scattered throughout the book and, if you read the story, you’ll see that an earlier bedroom scene wouldn’t have really made sense anyways.

We’re also introduced to a wonderful network of friends, family and band members each with their own heartaches and stories that I’m sure will be featured in the upcoming books.

The story is wrapped up in a happy ending. I did feel it was just a tad rushed, but at the same time, everything that needed to happen for your heart to rest easy happened, so you are left satisfied.

“I love you, Liam.”
“You’re forever my girl.”

This book had so many things I love in it – an emotional second-chance love story, a bad boy rockstar, a smart heroine, a strong ensemble of supporting characters, and a wonderful story.

It was a great debut novel! I’m definitely a new fan of Heidi McLaughlin and am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Casting: Liam and Josie –> Click here and here

** SERIES READING ORDER **

Book #1: FOREVER MY GIRL — Kindle | Paperback – Liam’s story

Novella #1.5: MY EVERYTHING — Kindle | Paperback – Nick’s story

Book #2: MY UNEXPECTED FOREVER — Kindle | Paperback – Harrison’s story

Book #3: FINDING MY FOREVER — Kindle | Paperback — Jimmy’s story

Book #4: FINDING MY WAY — Kindle — prequel (Liam)

Book review – Back To You by Priscilla Glenn

November 17, 2012 by Aestas · 98 Comments

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Buy BACK TO YOU in Paperback

5 stars!!! A top favorite of 2012!

Oh my God. Oh my God. OH. MY. GOD.

Guys, you all HAVE to read this book!

Its a beautiful, believable second-chance friends-to-lovers story that was both heart breaking and heart warming, with an uplifting, satisfying ending that left me clutching my heart, with happy tears in my eyes and a smile on my face 🙂

I loved it.

“Right back to him. Always to him.”

I started this book late last night after a long day at work and it kept me glued to my kindle until I finished it at 3:30AM. I couldn’t put it down!! My heart was just SO wrapped up in the story and so connected to the characters!

This is the best-friends-to-lovers story about Michael Delaney, an angry badass badboy with a tragic past, and Lauren Monroe, the straight-lace good girl who saw through his facade and into his heart.

“His face, like everything she knew about him, was purely contradictory… He was too lovely to be menacing, but too intense to be innocent.”

Eight years ago, when they were still in high school, was when Lauren first saw Michael. Everyone treated him as though he was dangerous, with a constant stream of angry, violent outbursts, a string a suspensions, and an all-round rebellious attitude, people were afraid of him. But something about his demeanor called to Lauren. She was inexplicably drawn to him, seeing something in him that no one else did. They became best friends throughout the rest of school until something happened that tore them apart leaving her heart bruised without answers.

Now, eight years later, Lauren has just started a new job teaching a kindergarten class and the last person she expects to see is Michael. The rush of emotions and memories that flood back when she sees him shows that there is still something deep between them, but Michael needs to win back her trust, and Lauren needs answers as to what tore them apart. And together they find that no amount of separation can change the depth of their feelings for each other.

“It suddenly felt like there was a magnet in her chest, like some unforeseen force was pulling her toward him.”

The smoothly flowing writing style beautifully depicts the depth of the story. The author perfectly captured the emotions of her characters and projects them onto you. You feel them as though they were yours.

The story is told in a mixture of past and present day story lines. Starting out with the present and intermingling it with bits of where Lauren and Michael’s story began 8 years ago. There are alternating POVs with an initial focus on Lauren’s but with just enough of Michael’s to keep us strongly connected to him on a more personal level.

This book spoke to my heart. You know the kind of story where, if it says, “Michael grinned”, it makes your heart feel full? Yeah, its that kind of book 🙂

I literally would just read scene after scene with my hand over my heart either smiling or near tears. Parts were sweet, parts gave me shivers, parts broke my heart and parts put it back together so beautifully that I forgot everything but the happiness.

I loved that it was a much deeper friends-to-lovers story than the usual… they were friends but with something so much deeper than that – a connection that that kept drawing them together in every way.

“I always knew I would fall in love with you,” he said softly, “But you were never supposed to love me back,”

Lauren was a wonderful heroine. She was a straight up, no-stupidity, honest, kind, intelligent and deeply understanding character who made me totally sympathetic to everything she went though.

And Michael, I fell in love with right from the start of the story. Like Lauren, I felt drawn to him. The mystery, his pain, the kind heart that was hidden behind the layers of hurt just melted me <3

I love these second-chance stories where the characters get a chance to make things right again by finding a way to build new, positive memories over the painful ones and find a way to heal and build a beautiful life together.

“…I never stopped loving you. Not for one second.”

I was so emotional for the last 20% of the book. You know that constantly-near-tears, brimming-with-emotion feeling? I had that! So much heart-break, heart warming, and healing, with an achingly beautiful love scene and a wonderful epilogue.

I love stories that have some heart ache in them as well as happiness because sometimes, its through the pain that you can come to appreciate more fully the beauty that life and love have to offer. Not that it is necessarily needed to appreciate it, but those who have gone through it know how lucky they are to have that love. Michael and Lauren knew it. It was absolutely beautiful!

Its got a bit of both a YA story (their past) and an adult story (their present). There is steam, but its more emotionally descriptive than blatantly graphic.

Fans of AL Jackson’s books will definitely love this.

**little note because I know some of you will be wondering about this: there is no cheating in this book. There is a whiff of a love triangle at one point, but it doesn’t go anywhere or get developed into a source of angst so your hearts can rest easy.

I am utterly floored that this is a debut novel. It is absolutely one of my top favorite books now!

Everyone should add it to their to-read lists 🙂

Thank you to the author for offering to send me a copy to review!

Buy BACK TO YOU on Kindle
Buy BACK TO YOU in Paperback

THIS BOOK MADE MY LIST OF “BEST BOOK OF 2012″!!!

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

September 28, 2012 by Aestas · 12 Comments

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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.

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

5 – 6 stars!!

Buy CREED (Kindle)

** SERIES READING ORDER **

Note: Each book can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple

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

#2 — CREED
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

#3 — RAID
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book Review – For You (The Burg #1) by Kristen Ashley

August 23, 2012 by Aestas · 3 Comments

“Since I was three, there’s never been a day when I wasn’t in love with you.”

Buy FOR YOU on KINDLE (Amazon)

Woah! What a roller-coaster of a book!! It went from creepy to intense to hot ‘n’ steamy to sweet to sad to beautiful… it had twists and turns and a story built in layers forward as well as dug in layers backwards…. quite the ride!! And I loved it!

So the back story that you go into this book knowing from the blurb is that Alexander Colton and Febuary Owens were always meant to be together – they were together growing up, together in high school, everyone knew they were destined for each other… but something happened and Feb left Colt. No one knows why, but now, 20 years later, the story begins.

Right from the start, the tone of this book is grittier, more intense, and more serious than some of KA’s other series (especially considering it starts off at a chilling, grisly murder crime scene at Feb’s bar that Colt, now a cop, comes to investigate), but its still pure, brilliant KA writing that sucks you right into the world. I love that her writing style is just so familiar to me, its like coming home to start one of her books – such a wonderful feeling. LOVE!!

At the scene of the gruesome murder, the reader is introduced to Feb and Colt and their shared and, at the time, unknown history. As the reader, we know that whatever happened to them years ago was heart breaking and sad, but we don’t know exactly what it is.

Its clear that, throughout all the years of separation, neither Feb nor Cold have let go of their feelings for each other, but at the same time, aren’t able to give into them, leaving you wracking your brain trying to figure out what could possibly have ever come between a couple so clearly meant for each other.

Naturally, of course, there is a way found for Feb to end up moving in with Colt (completely platonically, of course, *nods seriously*.. for protection. *continues nodding* mmhmm.. we all know where this is gonna lead now don’t we? *grin*) and one thing leads to another and soon they are on their way to an adorably swoony reunion <3

I loved how this story highlights that if the love is pure and real, no amount of years of separation will ever really dull it. Totally beautiful concept.

“There’s no words to explain how big it was, what Colt and I had, or how much it hurts when something that big in your life is swept away, or how empty that place is that he once filled, or how impossible it is to find something to fill it…“

The more Colt and Feb came together, the more I began to squee and sigh over them, but remember that throughout it all there is the under current of mystery with not knowing who the killer is, and with waiting to figure out what happened in their past.

But once things start to build for them, oooooooohhh boy does the HOTNESS begin!! Nothing like a build up of 20 years to make the sex fan-yourself intense!! And once Alpha Colt has claim to his girl, his pulls out all the swoony, bossy, possessive stops while at the same time making my heart melt and go awwwww 🙂 I just loved seeing the two of them come back together again *dreamy sigh*

“Your mother doesnt fuck around,” Colt remarked.
“I hope you didn’t have anything in there that was precious.”
Colt looked at her and said, “The only things precious in my life breathe.”

*swoon* freaking LOVE that line!!

The psycho murderer in this is “without a moral compass” and just totally way-the-freaking-hell creepy in a deeeeeeply chilling way – making me alternately shudder and go ewwwwwww. This one is actually smart, disturbed, who has thought out what they were doing. Have I mentioned creepy and chilling yet?? The murders are very interconnected, personal and now the cover of the book makes sense to me *shudder*

The story is told in alternating POVs, but it was Colt’s POV that was the most interesting to me because he was not only trying to solve the murder, but was also trying to piece together the puzzle of his and Feb’s past and trying to understand how, somehow, the murder and those events might be tied together.

Of course, I won’t tell you what it is, but I will say that my heart was POUNDING when the explanation comes out! Its told from Colt’s POV and you experience the shock and realization as everything clicks into place for him. Its huge!! I just love moments like that in books!

The wonderful thing is that once the muck and turmoil of the past was finally figured out, it left Colt and Feb open to go for what they both really wanted all along – each other 🙂

“Romeo and Juliet, say they didn’t die but Juliet got pissed and took off. Everyone would know it was Romeo and Juliet, would always be Romeo and Juliet, even if later Romeo hooked up with Nancy. No one ever heard of Nancy, doesn’t even sound right, Romeo and Nancy. Everyone knows Romeo’s meant to be with Juliet. Even if Romeo loved Nancy, Nancy would always know she was never Juliet.“

I actually really loved that neither Colt nor Feb were perfect characters. Yes, in a perfect world, if they made perfect decisions, then the decisions they made in their past would have been different. But they both fucked up. They both paid the price. They both knew it, admitted it. And they were both ready to move on and not dwell in the past, but to live in the present. I really admired that about both of them and I love that they had a second chance at their love.

“Then in my ear, he said, “I remember everything about you and I remember all the reasons why I loved you. Never could forget even when I tried… Who knows, baby? We had all that time together, I coulda got used to it, learned to take it for granted.” His arms gave me a squeeze. “Now, that’ll never happen.”

And I just can’t say enough how much I JUST FREAKING LOVE Kristen Ashley’s writing style!! I think she could make a scene about paint drying riveting (not that I’m at all comparing this book to that, just saying that she works magic into her words). Her writing style totally connects you to the story, and the characters, no matter what is going on in the scene.

The book didn’t make me cry ever although I did get a little chocked up twice near the end, which, as usual, left me smiling, awww-ing and grinning… there wasn’t an epilogue in this book but KA writes the best endings and this was was no exception.

An amazing start to this series… I cannot WAIT to get to book 2 since everyone is RAVING about it!! *squee*

**oh and can I just throw a shout-out out to the character of Graham Reece who was only in a few scenes of this book but TOTALLY made me SWOON!!! I am SO looking forward to his book (which is the next book in the Colorado Mountain series). YAY!

Rating: 4.5+ stars!!