By: Jessica Sorensen
Published By: Sphere
Released : Available Now
Details: Paperback from library, 404 Pages
RATING: 4.5 KAYDEN STARS!
Blurb: Goodreads
Callie knows Kayden is going back to his dark place and desperately wants to save him. But that means admitting her own painful secrets aloud. The thought of breaking her silence terrifies her - but not as much as the thought of losing Kayden forever. Can she convince him they can make a fresh start together - or is she already too late?
Lose yourself in the New York Times bestselling sensation that is enchanting readers everywhere - discover an addictive story filled with unforgettable characters, intense passion and heart-stopping romance.
BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:
I think about how breakable she is and I glance down at my wrist,
thinking about how easy I break myself.
Wow! This book stole my heart. Kayden got in my head and my heart ached for what he has been through. What all the characters are going through. Kayden stuck out that little more with me in this installment.
I slam my hands against the wheel as the car inches forward and angles to the side. I’m losing control over everything -- over how I feel, and it’s going to end up killing me.
The thing is I’m not sure if I’m terrified about that or relieved.
“My father stabbed me.” And just like that, I’ve shattered the box inside my heart and it fractures into a thousand jagged splinters.
This review will be told through a lot of quotes. Jessica writes it from her characters mouths better than I can say it.
When you think this book is taking its time to get the story across, it is all for a reason.
Jessica doesn’t rush the reader with her characters and the build up of the release, of their inner demons.
Kayden is a beautiful character, we get to see inside his mind and listen to his fears and understand what he has lost from such a young age.
That’s because they escaped during the storm and were gone for the tornado. “I’m not a child.” I rotate onto my side and close my eyes. “I’ve never really been a child.”
I loved his shrink. The man is wise and he dropped everything to help Kayden, once Kayden wanted to be helped.
“I’m nineteen years old and everything that’s done is done. There’s no point in trying to save me. Who I am and what I do is always going to be.”
“I’m not trying to save you,” he promises. “I’m trying to heal you.”
He asks, “Do you think you deserve love?”
“I already told you I don’t even know what it is,” I mutter and he waits for me to divulge more information. What does he want from me? To tell him that my dad beats the shit out of me? That my mom’s a drug-addicted zombie? That the only exchange of love I’ve ever gotten is from Daisy and that felt about as plastic and as fake as things can get.
Callie has such a little butterfly of a personality. She flutters with her emotions, her fragile little wings keeping her floating.
Callie and Kayden may have been a coincidence to start with, but they became inevitable.
He’s looking at me, and I mean really looking at me, and there’s this connection, this understanding that we are two people who have been fractured, not by ourselves but by someone else and we’re doing everything we can to not shatter to pieces.
He holds me for what feels like forever, nuzzling his face into my hair. At some point it starts to snow, but we don’t move. We are frozen in a moment neither of us wants to leave.
We watch them discover each other and help each other. They have a bond.
She quickly shakes her head. “No, because I don’t want to believe that you have all that pain trapped inside of you...I know how much pain it takes to go that far... to want to hurt yourself.”
There’s this mind-blowing moment when I realize something. Someone understands me.
I suddenly get it. Kayden can’t love me because he doesn’t understand love. He understands pain and hurt and disappointment, but not love.
“Is everything okay?” I ask her.
She brings her bottom lip into her mouth and shakes her head. “No.”
I fight the urge to touch her. “What’s wrong?”
She releases her lip and slides to the edge of the seat. “I don’t know who you are.”
My jaw nearly drops to the ground. “What?”
She lets out a shaky breath as she swings her feet out of the cab. “I don’t know who you are. Not really, and it hurts.”
I take a few long strides and grab hold of her waist. Her body goes rigid, but I quickly kiss her head and whisper, “Relax, it’s me.”
She nods at the sound of my voice and her shoulders unravel. I inch closer to her until my chest is pressed against the back of her head, and then I circle my arms around her waist and pull her securely against me as I maneuver us through the crowd. I make sure to keep my elbows out so no one can get close enough to touch her and when we finally break out of the crowd and into the table section we both take a deep breath.
Seth, simply love his patience and understanding and acceptance. He really is a bonza guy. He brings humor and wisdom to his character.
When I look at Luke, he seems perfectly fine. He shrugs and then sticks his hand into the glove box and pulls out a tape labeled Let’s Get High. “Whatever,” he says and feeds it into the tape player. “As long as I’m the guy in the relationship, it’s all good.”
Seth rolls his eyes. “Whatever, you’d totally be my bitch and you know it.”
He offers me a smile as he leans into me and whispers, “I think that Luke’s been through something that makes him more understanding and accepting than the average person. And I think that sometimes people misinterpret understanding and acceptance and make it into something that it isn’t.”
He has a sucker in his mouth and I wonder where he got it from but I don’t ask because with Seth sometimes being confused is better than understanding.
“He’s not going to let anything happen to you, Callie,” Seth says in a soothing voice that steadies my nerves. “And neither will Luke and I. You have three strong guys. You’re not alone and you don’t need to hide anymore.”
“You’re the best friend in the whole world,” I say, holding back the tears as I open my eyes. “And I mean that.”
“You think this is the one? The one to cure me of my fear?”
“No, I think you’re the one to cure you of your fear,” he says, waving the dress at me. “This will just look really good on you and it matches the shoes.”
Luke, we see so much more of him and yet, we need to know so much more. Looking forward to him and Violet.
Jessica certainly knows how to bring a realistic story about broken characters who make you stop and think. I felt like I understood much more about why a person cuts themselves and what the total impact is on a childhood that has lost its innocence.
A compelling read.
I look forward to , The Destiny Of Violet & Duke.
“Come on Eileen,” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, blasts out from the speakers.
“I’m nineteen years old and everything that’s done is done. There’s no point in trying to save me. Who I am and what I do is always going to be.”
“I’m not trying to save you,” he promises. “I’m trying to heal you.”
He asks, “Do you think you deserve love?”
“I already told you I don’t even know what it is,” I mutter and he waits for me to divulge more information. What does he want from me? To tell him that my dad beats the shit out of me? That my mom’s a drug-addicted zombie? That the only exchange of love I’ve ever gotten is from Daisy and that felt about as plastic and as fake as things can get.
Callie has such a little butterfly of a personality. She flutters with her emotions, her fragile little wings keeping her floating.
Callie and Kayden may have been a coincidence to start with, but they became inevitable.
He’s looking at me, and I mean really looking at me, and there’s this connection, this understanding that we are two people who have been fractured, not by ourselves but by someone else and we’re doing everything we can to not shatter to pieces.
He holds me for what feels like forever, nuzzling his face into my hair. At some point it starts to snow, but we don’t move. We are frozen in a moment neither of us wants to leave.
We watch them discover each other and help each other. They have a bond.
She quickly shakes her head. “No, because I don’t want to believe that you have all that pain trapped inside of you...I know how much pain it takes to go that far... to want to hurt yourself.”
There’s this mind-blowing moment when I realize something. Someone understands me.
I suddenly get it. Kayden can’t love me because he doesn’t understand love. He understands pain and hurt and disappointment, but not love.
“Is everything okay?” I ask her.
She brings her bottom lip into her mouth and shakes her head. “No.”
I fight the urge to touch her. “What’s wrong?”
She releases her lip and slides to the edge of the seat. “I don’t know who you are.”
My jaw nearly drops to the ground. “What?”
She lets out a shaky breath as she swings her feet out of the cab. “I don’t know who you are. Not really, and it hurts.”
I take a few long strides and grab hold of her waist. Her body goes rigid, but I quickly kiss her head and whisper, “Relax, it’s me.”
She nods at the sound of my voice and her shoulders unravel. I inch closer to her until my chest is pressed against the back of her head, and then I circle my arms around her waist and pull her securely against me as I maneuver us through the crowd. I make sure to keep my elbows out so no one can get close enough to touch her and when we finally break out of the crowd and into the table section we both take a deep breath.
Seth, simply love his patience and understanding and acceptance. He really is a bonza guy. He brings humor and wisdom to his character.
When I look at Luke, he seems perfectly fine. He shrugs and then sticks his hand into the glove box and pulls out a tape labeled Let’s Get High. “Whatever,” he says and feeds it into the tape player. “As long as I’m the guy in the relationship, it’s all good.”
Seth rolls his eyes. “Whatever, you’d totally be my bitch and you know it.”
He offers me a smile as he leans into me and whispers, “I think that Luke’s been through something that makes him more understanding and accepting than the average person. And I think that sometimes people misinterpret understanding and acceptance and make it into something that it isn’t.”
He has a sucker in his mouth and I wonder where he got it from but I don’t ask because with Seth sometimes being confused is better than understanding.
“He’s not going to let anything happen to you, Callie,” Seth says in a soothing voice that steadies my nerves. “And neither will Luke and I. You have three strong guys. You’re not alone and you don’t need to hide anymore.”
“You’re the best friend in the whole world,” I say, holding back the tears as I open my eyes. “And I mean that.”
“You think this is the one? The one to cure me of my fear?”
“No, I think you’re the one to cure you of your fear,” he says, waving the dress at me. “This will just look really good on you and it matches the shoes.”
Jessica certainly knows how to bring a realistic story about broken characters who make you stop and think. I felt like I understood much more about why a person cuts themselves and what the total impact is on a childhood that has lost its innocence.
A compelling read.
I look forward to , The Destiny Of Violet & Duke.
“Come on Eileen,” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, blasts out from the speakers.
Michelle
