Review: Messed with my mind but I liked it!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 18, 2013
Oh, wow, this story just ripped my heart out! Who'd have guessed that an illicit romance surrounded by lies, anger, bitterness, and hopelessness could run so deep that it would fracture the couple's lives irreparably if it were to crumble?  For the record, I'm not usually a fan of stories about cheating spouses, but this is definitely one that wormed it's way into my heart and will be on my mind for a long time to come!The tale of Sebastian and Caroline's affair really takes the reader on a journey of discovery with these characters.  Sebastian, the young and naive 17-year-old who fell for Caroline as a young boy and grew to love her with his whole soul, is thrust into manhood by a relationship that, simply put, shouldn't be. It was against the law, it was amoral, and it was a terrible foundation for them to start from.  I wasn't sure what to make of the situation as the story was unfolding; an innocent and sweet 8-year-old boy enjoying special moments with a beautiful teenage girl, only to grow up and want her in a much different way as a young man.  I think under normal circumstances the whole situation would have turned me off completely, but somehow I was drawn in and couldn't tear myself away.  These characters truly had completely screwed up childhoods, with parents who essentially loathed their existence, and I think deep down I just wanted them to be the ones to heal each other.  Sebastian for one had me completely besotted, he was so beautifully innocent to the ways of women but so desperately needed Caroline. I just loved him and how incredibly sweet he was down to the core, and I swooned when he became the sexy and confident lover. And Caroline, though she drove me mad at times, had never known true love until this young man came into her life.  They both opened each other's eyes to what it meant to be loved, in a way.There were moments in this story where I was so frustrated I could scream, I must admit.  Caroline's life with her husband made me angry because of what she put up with, and she let people walk all over both her and Sebastian when I wanted her to be strong and stand up for both of them.  She's an educated, grown woman and was capable of doing the right thing and getting a job to support herself when push came to shove, so it bothered me when she acted 'stuck' in her life.  At the same time, though, she had married her husband at such a young age out of desperation to get away from a mother who hated her, so part of me was so sad for the misery she endured in her marriage, too.  I was really back-and-forth on my feelings for Caroline at any given point, but in the end I wanted her to have a chance to be happy.I love that we get to see so much of the time progression with this story.  Nothing is rushed, nothing is cut out to get to the point, and so we get to see what glues these characters together through real day-to-day life.  And yeah, a big part of that time was sex, which there was a lot of...a LOT. But it was so sweet and passionate that I was just happy they were able to share that.  There were some scenes that lagged a bit, but overall I was happy to get the chance to experience more of their time together.  I was lost in Sebastian and Caroline's world, and the heart-wrenching  ending has left me feeling numb. I will need to read the sequel very soon because there's no way I could leave their story unfinished, but this was definitely a story unlike any other that I thoroughly enjoyed!