Review: Loved every minute of this story!!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 19, 2014
Heat: SizzleRating: **** 4.5 out of 5 StarsWhat do you do when you're riding a high, experiencing all of life's wonderful gifts, and then everything is suddenly taken away. Suddenly, the world that seemed to hold so many possibilities seems mocking. You blink your eyes and nothing is as it was...you're drowning in your own grief. Some say HOPE can bring even the most desperate and lost souls back from the black hole, some say...Grace thought she had everything planned out just right. She moved to Vegas with her fiancé, was working her way up the ranks in one of Vegas' top restaurants, and was living life to the fullest. But things came crashing down one day when she came home to find her dreams had been poured out along with the empty medicine bottle that lay beside her fiancé. So her downward spiral began when she's became best friends with Vodka, and before she knew it rock bottom was only a few inches away.Logan keeps himself on a tight string. After partaking and witnessing so many disastrous things in Afghanistan it doesn't take much for him to snap and slip back into a state of rage, guilt, or even numbness. But after his own downward spiral he's finally figured out how to fight the horrible images of his past and how to keep his sanity throughout the day, and it doesn't involve a bottle anymore; his salvation came in the form of fighting.When Logan spots Grace one night struggling to keep it together, there's something about her sadness and despair that calls out to him. Despite his efforts of trying to stay away the pull is strong, he understands the demons that she's fighting and feels a need to help. Despite the rocky path he's experienced in fighting his own demons, Logan knows that if he doesn't help Grace it's only a matter of time before she'll be taken under. Together, Logan and Grace navigate the treacherous waters of acceptance, healing, forgiveness, and alcoholism. But can the love that has blossomed between them hold strong against the demons that threaten to destroy them?The Best Thing:This story was soooo great!First, the serious tone of loving and losing someone–whether it be a close friend, parent, or the love of your life–was well written throughout the book. Maya Cross cuts through all the make believe and lays out some of the ugly that comes along with grief and guilt. Second, the characters Logan and Grace were captivating. Their journey was exquisitely captured by detailing their experience of heartache and despair that they carried. (Logan's guilt for those lives that he was responsible for while fighting a war, and Grace's guilt and grief for not being there when her fiancé needed her most.) Witnessing the love that they found within one another–only to be challenged again and again by their demons–gave hope that not all of life's curve balls end the game. Third, was the electricity that seems to spark between these two whenever they were around one another. The chemistry was the perfect build, and when they finally got together they just sizzled. Lastly, the emotion that gripped me throughout their story is undeniable. The pain, the glimpse of happiness, the determination that was precisely woven into the personalities of these characters was perfect and thought provoking.The Worst Thing:While I loved this story, I couldn't help but to cringe and waiting for the inevitable–the crash between Logan and Grace. I hated knowing that at some point their relationship would be challenged to the degree of destroying each of them.Also, I wish that their could have been a little more detail about Grace's life/relationship before Logan. We get a glimpse that she was this outgoing, warm, and lively woman aspiring to be a chef, but that's about it. I got the feeling that she was so much more than her relationship with Logan and her addiction, but I never really found out.