by JESSICA RUBEN
I have no intention of finding happily-ever-after.
At least, not anymore.
Fighting for my country was an honor,
returning home is a curse.
My demons need to be fed.
How else can a shattered man stay afloat?
When a wild night in Las Vegas with the sexiest woman I've ever met turns into hell, she attaches to me as though I'm her savior.
But what happens when a woman hangs her hands on broken glass?
She bleeds.
Well, darnit. The cover worked. The synopsis worked. But man, the writing and characters just didn't work for me. Many different factors and scenarios came into play determining if I was going to continue on with this book, or if I was just going to call it quits. DNF'ing this book wasn't an easy decision because I wanted to desperately read it, but it didn't work for me for so many reasons. I quit around 35% and then skimmed the remaining of the book, but focused on a few parts that caught my eye - hence the DNF review.
I think the biggest problem I truly had overall was the heroine. There was something (many things) I did NOT like about her. To begin - girl was needy. Seriously needy. Her need for love and acceptance definitely didn't match her inner poisons about what she just went through with Slade either. Add in the fact that she was so wishy-washy on not only the choices she made, but her behavior as well. Some of her actions made me shake my head. With no rhyme or reason to back up her very adamant decisions, she just felt disingenuous. I also didn't enjoy the mental recaps and conclusions she jumped to. Oh dear, her conclusions. It's called communication and at 30+ years old, you should know how that works by now. All the questions she asked herself? Why!? It kind of felt like Ruben was setting me up for scenarios and drama while being force fed thoughts and emotions, instead of allowing me to make up my own determinations and allowing the words to take me on a journey. I like to feel my way through a book, not be led by dangling not-so-subtle clues in front of me.
Here was my biggest pet peeve about Lauren. If she was suuuuch good friends with Eve, why all the secrets? That part made absolutely ZERO sense to me and it frustrated me beyond belief. Best friends share everything and the so called secrets she was keeping from her were ridiculous. Why hold onto those? Seemingly simple but very important discussions you would have with your best friend, but for some reason, she held back on them. It was very frustrating because all it did was add unnecessary drama to the story and more mental discussions and conclusions in Lauren's already fickle mind. She was definitely a different person with her own quirks, but those secrets were not logical on any playing field. At all.
Slade's issues were definitely heavy ones given the life he led and the horrors he lived through. I refuse to take away from that aspect because I have zero experience with it, but I will say that part was harsh and eye-opening. I felt his struggle in the very beginning when he was home alone and in bed. Adding more trauma to his already taxed psyche didn't help matters, and I don't like the route he traveled to 'better himself'. Aside from that, Slade didn't 'read' very hardcore, heavy, manly. His voice had a very feminine ring to it, unfortunately. He said all the right words, but it didn't sound that way. So, I'm not sure if that made me wrinkle my nose up at him or not. I didn't not like him, he just didn't have the grrr factor I like in a man of his position. I wanted to read his story, but I just couldn't get through it.
I definitely had a hard time with the internal monologuing done by both characters, and I can't deny that was a bit of a drag for me. I know that there should be some inner thought processes we should be privy to when reading a book, but I felt this was way overdone.
I felt very disconnected and torn away from not only her character, but the entire storyline too. I wasn't as immersed as I thought I would be given the drama and action unfolding on the pages before my very eyes. There were so many mentally and physically conflicting actions that it made it hard for me to reconcile my feelings with what was happening in the book. It's safe to say that this book and the writing style didn't work for me.
BREATHING MOMENT: There is nothing MORE frustrating than jumping into a spinoff or a "standalone" in a series, only to find out they spoil some parts of the previous books in it. Why must authors do this? Why even give anything away from the previous books that was NOT integral to the story at hand? Because finding out Vincent was in a coma and Lauren was there to help Eve out....oops. Did I spoil that? Yeah, that's exactly what the author wrote in this 'standalone'. So if she's going to spoil it, why read it? I am very upset about this because I bought RISING to read. I will still read it, but now I will be expecting the drama to unfold that leads to him being in a coma. If I sound bitter, I'm sorry. But I am. Don't claim it as a standalone when you are going to drop clues that aren't necessary to the entirety of the story you are currently telling.
~BEE
I think the biggest problem I truly had overall was the heroine. There was something (many things) I did NOT like about her. To begin - girl was needy. Seriously needy. Her need for love and acceptance definitely didn't match her inner poisons about what she just went through with Slade either. Add in the fact that she was so wishy-washy on not only the choices she made, but her behavior as well. Some of her actions made me shake my head. With no rhyme or reason to back up her very adamant decisions, she just felt disingenuous. I also didn't enjoy the mental recaps and conclusions she jumped to. Oh dear, her conclusions. It's called communication and at 30+ years old, you should know how that works by now. All the questions she asked herself? Why!? It kind of felt like Ruben was setting me up for scenarios and drama while being force fed thoughts and emotions, instead of allowing me to make up my own determinations and allowing the words to take me on a journey. I like to feel my way through a book, not be led by dangling not-so-subtle clues in front of me.
Here was my biggest pet peeve about Lauren. If she was suuuuch good friends with Eve, why all the secrets? That part made absolutely ZERO sense to me and it frustrated me beyond belief. Best friends share everything and the so called secrets she was keeping from her were ridiculous. Why hold onto those? Seemingly simple but very important discussions you would have with your best friend, but for some reason, she held back on them. It was very frustrating because all it did was add unnecessary drama to the story and more mental discussions and conclusions in Lauren's already fickle mind. She was definitely a different person with her own quirks, but those secrets were not logical on any playing field. At all.
Slade's issues were definitely heavy ones given the life he led and the horrors he lived through. I refuse to take away from that aspect because I have zero experience with it, but I will say that part was harsh and eye-opening. I felt his struggle in the very beginning when he was home alone and in bed. Adding more trauma to his already taxed psyche didn't help matters, and I don't like the route he traveled to 'better himself'. Aside from that, Slade didn't 'read' very hardcore, heavy, manly. His voice had a very feminine ring to it, unfortunately. He said all the right words, but it didn't sound that way. So, I'm not sure if that made me wrinkle my nose up at him or not. I didn't not like him, he just didn't have the grrr factor I like in a man of his position. I wanted to read his story, but I just couldn't get through it.
I definitely had a hard time with the internal monologuing done by both characters, and I can't deny that was a bit of a drag for me. I know that there should be some inner thought processes we should be privy to when reading a book, but I felt this was way overdone.
I felt very disconnected and torn away from not only her character, but the entire storyline too. I wasn't as immersed as I thought I would be given the drama and action unfolding on the pages before my very eyes. There were so many mentally and physically conflicting actions that it made it hard for me to reconcile my feelings with what was happening in the book. It's safe to say that this book and the writing style didn't work for me.
BREATHING MOMENT: There is nothing MORE frustrating than jumping into a spinoff or a "standalone" in a series, only to find out they spoil some parts of the previous books in it. Why must authors do this? Why even give anything away from the previous books that was NOT integral to the story at hand? Because finding out Vincent was in a coma and Lauren was there to help Eve out....oops. Did I spoil that? Yeah, that's exactly what the author wrote in this 'standalone'. So if she's going to spoil it, why read it? I am very upset about this because I bought RISING to read. I will still read it, but now I will be expecting the drama to unfold that leads to him being in a coma. If I sound bitter, I'm sorry. But I am. Don't claim it as a standalone when you are going to drop clues that aren't necessary to the entirety of the story you are currently telling.
~BEE
~MEET JESSICA RUBEN~
Jessica Ruben lives and works in New York City, where she spends her days dominating in the court room as an attorney. Come nightfall, she writes romances centering on gorgeous alpha males and the intelligent women who love them.
Jessica is an insatiable reader, and will devour a few books a week without batting an eyelash. Books have always been her drug of choice, and she has no plans on detox anytime soon. She has three wildly delicious children and a husband who, for reasons unimaginable to her, loves her brand of crazy.
~CONNECT WITH JESSICA~
ARC REVIEW
AFFILIATE LINKS
DNF REVIEW - NO GIVEAWAY
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