Review: This book was FUH-REAKING HOT!!!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is about people who are jaded from their pasts but find a way to cope and heal through one another. Natalie is fresh out of high school and on graduation night she walks in on her boyfriend Bryson cheating on her with a girl named Sara who has always been after Bryson. After that night, Natalie decides to leave home in South Carolina to start fresh in Miami, Florida with her best friend and wild party girl, Harper.On the drive into Miami, Natalie nearly runs an extremely mysterious and wildly attractive man over with her car. She thinks nothing of it but later that night she runs into him again at a club and finds out his name is Nolan. After a wild night that leaves Natalie extremely confused, she and Nolan continue to run into each other and find it difficult to stay away from one another despite the red flags that are signaling Natalie to avoid him.They have a strange chemistry that draws them together the more they see each other but they both also have separate issues with relationships. Nolan has commitment issues and after being cheated on by the person she thought she loved and trusted the most, Natalie is afraid to open up to anyone ever again and give her heart away. Despite their jadedness, the strong attraction between Nolan and Natalie creates a sexually charged relationship in which they both begin to discover that they can make exceptions to their protective rules."I was always told that love comes during the right time. At times, I didn't believe in love and at times, I swore I would never fall again. But he's changed my mind."First off, let me just say that the love scenes in this book are FUH-REAKING HOT!!! I've read many steamy novels but only a select few have made me blush reading my Kindle in public or feel the need to run a cold shower. All I have to say to Shanora Williams is well done!I liked Natalie a lot although it seemed like she was ALWAYS crying throughout the entire book. I'm glad that they weren't sad and miserable tears the whole time but I felt like her emotions were a loose cannon at times. She had some crappy things happen to her so it's understandable, but those tear ducts were on serious overtime with her! I was pleasantly surprised to read that even though she was a HUGE crier, that she also channeled her emotions into her poetry. I thought the poems incorporated into the storyline were very well written!Nolan was an extremely sexy character and one I would be thrilled to add to my "Book Boyfriends" repertoire (you can never have too many right?). I sort or wish the author had gone into more depth about his relationship history and the reasoning behind his commitment turmoil. At first I wasn't very sure how believable of a character he was or if he could be trusted with our heroine's heart but he  seemed to prove himself in the end. I really wanted more about his story though! Maybe it was his smoldering grey eyes or the panty-dropping smirk but he was a very appealing character that I could do with more of!I completely despised Bryson! I felt myself just wanting to scream at him or punch him every time he opened his mouth to express an excuse. I think his reasoning for cheating on Natalie was complete bull! He was the ULTIMATE selfish, jerk, ex-boyfriend that we all love to hate but hey, I guess someone's got to do it! I won't even get started on Sara but she definitely put the "RASH" in TRASH! I did a little happy dance when Natalie rubbed her success in Sara's face in the grocery store. It was a "you go girl!" moment.The ending to this book was good but I think I would have felt a better sense of closure with the characters if there had been an epilogue added to it, perhaps somewhere down the line from the where the last chapter finished. I felt like I got my closure with the characters to an extent but the conclusion to this story for me seemed slightly open-ended and I wanted to know more about what ultimately happened with each of the characters. Maybe there will be a second book? Here's hoping!"This love was hard to control.This love was hard to keep hidden.This love was hard to go through with.But this love was going to happen one way or anotherbecause it was completely and utterly hard to resist."All in all, this was a complete package book chock-full of drama, angst, sex and some jealous punches thrown here and there. I would definitely suggest this one to readers for their TBR list!