Review: 4/5 stars: A sexy southern read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 5, 2013
Live for You by Marquita Valentine(Book #1: Boys of the South Series)Source: Author/ARC for a fair and honest reviewRating: 4/5 starsBloody hell this book was hot and rather than taking this read apart bit by bit I am going to approach it in the same way the author did, character by character.  Here we go boys and girls . . . .Cole: Bloody hell is there a sexier man alive in books right now?  Cole is hotness personified with his hard body, multiple tattoos (yummy!), ready to rumble (yes, I said rumble) at the drop of a hat attitude, his determination to make something more of himself and, his complete and utter devotion to his tiny little sister, Kelly.Cole has a s***-tastic life and he is trying like hell to hold on to what he has.  His father is gone, his mother is a pathetic excuse for a human being drug addict, he runs/owns a bar alongside his brother Parker, and he is trying to get through college all while raising his little sister.  Cole is a bad bet for any woman right now and he knows it; too bad his heart isn't listening to his head, huh?Violet: Violet has run for life straight back to her Nana's house in North Carolina and as far away from the press as she can get. Violet is America's country music sweetheart right up until the moment she is involved in a horrific car accident that she caused as a result of driving while drunk.  The press knows the basics but Violet knows the details.  The press can never and will never know the details because some things are just too painful to share with anyone else let alone the whole damn world.  For Violet, the only way she can process and deal with everything is to disappear to a place she knows she is safe and she is loved no matter what she has done.  Violet needs to heal and she certainly doesn't need a man complicating matters; too bad her heart isn't listening to her head, huh?Cole and Violet: Together these two are molten hot and from the very beginning their attraction to one another is undeniable.  Logically they both know they have no business whatsoever indulging in the attraction but their hearts have totally different plans.  Cole sees Violet for who she is at her core, not the celebrity, press-enhanced version.  Violet sees Cole as the strong, dependable and caring man that he really is rather than the super-tough guy faade he presents to the world.  If the two of them can deal with all their collective baggage and some of the baggage that belongs to others in their respective lives, they just might have a shot at real and lasting happiness.The Bottom Line: My only reservation about this book is the fact that I felt like I had missed something in a couple of spots.  I even flipped back a few pages to be sure and didn't find anything I had missed so my single reservation comes in the form of a few weird/awkward transitions.  Beyond that, I am hooked on this book!Marquita Valentine has made it abundantly clear to me that I like broken characters.  Not the whiny, I won't ever get over myself and move on kind of broken but the Cole and Violet kind of broken.  Cole and Violet are survivors and even in their darkest moments - both independently and together - they know they will be able to pick up the pieces of their respective lives and move forward.  There is no looking back for these two and I respect their determination and will to achieve happiness.  These are strong characters that have been dealt a heaping pile of crap by life and are trying to get through it as best they can.  The sex scenes are straight up hot, the other characters are sufficiently interesting and, the dialogue is both appropriate and smooth.  Overall, I am a bit smitten with Cole and am certain I am going to be continuing my love affair with the Boys of the South series.  