Review: A Gem!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2014
Annabelle Hart doesn’t have the greatest self-esteem. She tends to settle more often than she should, and she very rarely fights back when someone wrongs her. But when her world comes crumbling down—her fiancé’s true colors coming forth—Annabelle finally speaks up and begins to live for herself. Caught in a whirl-wind romance she wasn’t expecting, Annabelle begins to find herself, only to have a bomb shell dropped on her that changes everything.This is a beautifully written story of heart-ache, new beginnings, and the fierceness of a mother’s love. Truth be told, I thought this NA novel was lovely from the very beginning, but it wasn’t necessarily setting itself apart from the many others I’ve read before it. That is, until Owens threw a kink into the story that I never expected; a kink that set this novel apart from all the rest, placing it in its own category of love and protection. And I loved it!The characterization is superb—all the characters, even the despicable fiancé, are extremely real and easy to relate to, given the shifting circumstances throughout the novel. Annabelle has some extremely difficult choices to make throughout the novel, and I must say, I don’t envy her at all. And while I might not have made all the same choices in the end, she is an extremely strong character that came into herself as the novel unfolded, and I really enjoyed her.Holden is, of course, extremely swoon-worthy, and I want him all to myself… Owens has indeed drafted the perfect man, and as he too picks up the pieces of his life, both his and Annabelle’s happily ever after dream is realized.