In all my time as a Los Angeles paramedic, I’d never taken a loss personally.
Not until America’s most beloved rockstar died in my hands.
Plagued with guilt, I stupidly watched over his wife from afar, only for some messed up form of karma to throw me into her life without me ever being able to turn back, because Hannah Moore was far too good for the likes of Hollywood, and it turned out she needed saving, too.
Allowing us to grow closer through a trauma she didn’t know we shared was a dangerous game to play, but when she looked up into my eyes, begging me to stay, I forgot all the reasons why I should go.
I forgot everything else existed but her.
Especially that, in Hollywood, the truth always came out in the end, and when mine did, I’d no longer be the hero she needed, but the nightmare she wished she’d never fallen into.
With that cover and that synopsis - this was going to be a shoo-in for me. I could feel it. I just knew it. There is nothing more exciting than adding a new-to-me author to my circle of reads. I'm super sad, super upset....or super mad at myself because I couldn't get past a few hurdles in this one to actually get to the crux of the book.
I was looking forward to this book. I saw the cover and loved it. I read the synopsis and was extremely excited. All the hoopla and hype that surrounded it made me more intrigued - but I think that is where I went wrong. I think I set myself up, and should have waded a little slower into the waters. I am the type to ask opinions - just as any reader is, but I am usually reading an early copy so I don't feel like I need to meet someone's expectations with regards to how they felt vs how I felt. This one I didn't sign up to tour, so I read it on KU. Man, oh man, it just didn't work for me and I'm legitimately sad.
I am merely saying this didn't work for me. ME. I felt like the male POV was contrived and overly emotional in a way that just made it feel fake. I didn't even like the way he all but stalked Hannah - which is weird coming from me, because I like a man that goes after what he wants!!! That's one of my "oh yeah" moments and this time, it wasn't hitting me like it really should have.
I like a strong male voice in my books. The kind that is confident and exudes strength. I don't like to read a weak man, or a man that is too soft and I think that's where Logan sat for me. He was just a little too whiny for me and it really just turned me off. He showed some good parts in the beginning that gave me a smile or three, but the over-dramatics of both characters really soured me. Again, it's supposed to read as an emotional story, I get that. We lost a husband. A father. An idol. A patient. I totally get where this was supposed to go. It just didn't work for me because nothing felt genuine and that really stifles my emotions when I'm trying to connect with the characters.
I think the biggest realization that this was going to be overly dramatic in all the "give me attention" ways was when Hannah repeatedly reminded me as the reader about the emotions that she was feeling or was supposed to be feeling - instead of setting up the story with this narrative in the forefront, and then allowing me to feed on it. I don't need the therapy notes about how every little thing goes down. I just didn't need that. I also raised an eyebrow at the fact that she passed out from a "panic attack" and that was apparently normal. As someone who suffers pretty bad, I've been hospitalized from them a handful of times and have been rocked to my core - I totally get it!! I do. Even the descriptions she gave for the noodley feeling your body goes through after an attack were spot on, but I have never passed out and that felt a little overly dramatic given the situation at hand. I am not saying it won't happen, but it's highly unlikely. It just didn't line up for me. Or when there was a "queue" of people behind her when we call them lines over here. Or the fact that Logan could just easily move her to the passenger seat without regard for there being a center console - like she was a 25 lb child - "up and over, there ya go!" No. I know I sound like I'm super picky...I mean, I am - but I'm not. It's when things start to pile up that I find myself nitpicking. The snowball effect takes hold and that's when I know I need to step away because I won't be able to enjoy the book for the love story being told, only seeing the issues I'm having with words and descriptions.
I desperately wanted the Hero to find redemption.
I desperately wanted the heroine to find love again.
I desperately wanted to fall in love with these characters because the plot was there...
This could have - should have - worked for me. I believe that whole-heartedly, so maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind. SOO, maybe this will be picked back up later. I sit here and see all these glowing reviews and I wonder why I couldn't look past all these little issues to get to the good part. I want to pick it back up. And to be honest, this is the first book I've genuinely wanted to put down, walk away to collect myself - only to come back and continue reading. That's my hope. So this is a hold spot...for now.
~BEE
*KU read for me*
~MEET VICKI JAMES~
Vicki James is a teenage girl stuck inside a much older body, and she refuses to grow up because that’s just boring. With a ridiculous obsession for Rocky, Jax Teller, and Jamie Fraser, all she wishes to do is introduce the world to unforgettably flawed yet lovable characters like them.
Vicki currently lives in Yorkshire, England, with her husband and two sons. Having had a strong passion for stories from a young age, she credits her love of literature to her Grandma Bess who taught her that you don't need a lot of money to travel to different worlds, experience new places and live a thousand lives. When she’s not listening to music or writing, she’s usually at the gym pretending to workout.
~CONNECT WITH VICKI~
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