Review: This story has it all....
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 1, 2013
Grace Clearwater is living a life with two pasts: one is dominated by a horrific event Grace has had to overcome in order to have any semblance of a normal life and the other....the other is a past of which she has no knowledge. As Grace works very hard to live an orderly productive life despite the trauma she has suffered, forces beyond her control are working in the background to rock the world she has painfully shaped for herself."What is wrong with being quiet or a little on the shy side? It's a demeanor I use as a mask to hide myself from a world I don't feel like I fit into.  In one false move the life I've so carefully constructed could crumble, leaving me vulnerable and exposed." ~GraceAuthor Nacole Stayton has spun a very twisted  web for Grace's story aptly entitled A Graceful Mess.  I was most impressed by the author's ability to tell a very complex story without my ever reaching one of those "what the heck" moments when I have to start reading back through the book to figure out what's going on.  I love Grace's courage and all she has achieved for herself against all odds.  She is a character that you will want to have a HEA, but the author makes her work for it."If I learned anything from my past, it was that the moments that should have defeated you sometimes fuel you to move forward." ~GraceParker Porter, on the other hand, is a man who has everything. The worst thing that has happened to him (besides a cheating ex-girlfriend) is being coerced into going into Porter & Sons,  the family private investigation business when he'd really rather run a gym.  Parker has been hired to tail Grace by someone from her past, but he gets more than he bargained for when he feels an instant attraction to Grace  and the cat and mouse games begin."It feels natural.  It feels good, and for a while it fills my fix. Not only is she my new case, but she is now my addiction." ~ParkerThis story has it all:  good guys and bad guys, a snarky BFF, a swoon worthy new book boyfriend....it even has a lovable dog!  There are steamy fun and games in the bedroom and out, secrets galore revealed at every turn and general mayhem throughout the book....in other words, A Graceful Mess!  And best of all, there is an ending that comes out of nowhere without leaving the reader dangling from a cliff.