Review: Beautiful and Passionate
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 5, 2014
It’s not very often the first thing I do when I close a book is send an author an email. But that is exactly what I did with this book. This book took my breath away. Two amazingly beautiful and flawed characters struggling to make it through each day find hope and strength in one another. It touched my heart and broke me into a hundred pieces all while making me cling to each word in front of me. It put my heart back together and made be believe in the strength in love. This is a powerful story that is steamy and full of love. This is a book that made me want to stop what I was doing and tell twenty people about it instantly. It grabbed me and shook me up and I left me perfectly content in the end.Grace lost her way. She lost her hope. She lost her future and her career and was one step away from being homeless. But someone was there watching out for her. Trying to help her gain her footing and help her find her place again. But this isn’t going to be an easy road for her. She has felt the greatest of loss. She has felt the strongest of grief. She has lost herself in the bottle. But she has a chance now to make her life whole again. She can’t go back to the way things have been going for her. She has to move forward if she wants to make it through it all.But the world seems to be against her and it only takes one memory to send her spiraling out of control again. But there is something about him that makes her want to take the step forward. Something… but what it is…Logan is perfectly content with his life now. He has learned how to deal with the struggles of his past. He has learned to fight past the demons. He was given his second change. But of course that makes life to easy just to get beyond the demons, especially after she walked into the bar. There is something about her that Logan just wants to help, to comfort, to make better. He knows there is so much more to her than that rough exterior. But who is he to help? Every day is a battle for him. A fight to struggle through. Everyday he faces the battle. But what is it about her that makes him want to be that much stronger, to want to fight that much more?These are two of the most tragically flawed characters and they find so much strength in one another. But could that be their downfall? Could they need each other to survive that much? What happens if something in the universe shifts or is thrown off balance? Would they be able to survive without each other?There is so much depth in the two main characters in this book. I found myself struggling with them, for them. I wanted them to heal one another. I wanted them to find their strength not only with each other but for each other. I wanted them to have all of their dreams come true. And though that makes me feel a bit like a child wishing for a happily-ever-after, I couldn’t loose hope for them. I didn’t want to. I saw the struggles, the battles they fought within and I wanted nothing more than to seem them become the victors in their story.This book had me gasping for air, struggling to breath, believing in something so much bigger. This book gave me hope, love and I found myself laughing, crying and struggling right along with the characters. Wanting so much more for them. But it wasn’t just the characters.This book touched on a few serious issues. Though Logan and Grace had very different circumstances leading them to a common place at the bottom of the bottle, they bought fought their way back. Logan did it with the help of a family friend, Grace did it with the help of Logan. But the big thing is that they found their way back. It wasn’t a traditional route but it was the strength they each needed to get to where they are.It’s hard for me to tell you this is a light read, because it wasn’t. It will make you take pause and really think about the cards you have been dealt in life. It may make you stand a little taller and prouder or it may make you cower to see some of your bad habits unfold in front of your eyes. But one thing it will do, is touch you. I know it did for me.Now this seems like this is a super serious review and this book is going to be a depressing read, it’s not. Yes, I admit there are serious issues at play and there are serious incidents that happen in the book, but it is a smoldering hot book too. The sexual tension in this book is amazing. Two people struggling so much with their own issues, they are pushing one another away in the attraction department. But when it all explodes around them…whew!This book is not only well written, but it is a beautiful and passionate story. It is a hot steamy romance full of angst and desire. It was gripping and heartbreakingly beautiful and I just wanted to read more and more of their story. Maya Cross has written such a great story and really touched my heart. Five fabulous stars and I cannot wait for more!