Review: Hurricane Lily
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 15, 2013
Rebecca Rogers Maher's Hurricane Lily is an emotional and realistic love story between two very unlikely lovers. It is not a typical romance but the growth of the characters and the story's resolution make it a worthwhile and satisfying read.Scarred by a traumatic childhood, Lily Sawyer is emotionally fragile. She has retreated to the safety and familiarity of her childhood home in Cape Cod, but her innumerable fears force her to allow carpenter Cliff Buckley into her life. Lily is wary of letting anyone into her sanctuary so she keeps her contact with Cliff to a bare minimum.Although he has a successful business, Cliff is full of seething self-righteous anger toward the wealthy who makes up the bulk of his clientele. Unfortunately for Lily, he has a preconceived dislike of her based on her social status and her reserve fans the flame of his simmering resentment.Slowly, Lily relaxes her guard around Cliff, and they form an uneasy friendship that slowly turns physical. The attraction between them is explosive and their sex scenes are hot. However they both maintain an emotional distance and they continue to keep secrets from one another.Hurricane Lily is an angsty, edgy novella that is mentally and physically exhausting. Both characters are difficult to like for part of the novel and their anger about certain issues is extreme. Cliff and Lily do eventually become likable and sympathetic as they look beyond their respective prejudices, get out of their own heads and begin to see one another objectively.Hurricane Lily is a well-written novella with two characters who ultimately managed to win me over despite a few early reservations. Definitely a romance for readers who don't mind highly flawed protagonists and an incredibly realistic storyline.I received a complimentary copy for review.