Review: 4 Freeing Stars!!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2014
"I hate you. You made me hate myself. I'm disgusting."Wow, this was not an easy book to read! Right out of the gate, we follow Ryan, as a boy, through some incredibly difficult experiences. WARNING: This book deals with topics involving rape and pedophilia.Ryan is abused by his uncle repeatedly for three years of his youth. And, as the reader, you don't just read his flashbacks as an adult to all of this...no, no.. you experience it right along with him and it HURTS!! It completely inhibits his transition into adulthood. He has a child, a failed marriage, a job he feels enslaved to, and a whole lotta hurt going on inside of him every day. He contemplates suicide. He is completely and totally broken.When his best friend Mason comes to visit, he accompanies him to a party where he meets Mason's date Stella. Ryan is immediately attracted to Stella; Stella is attracted to Ryan; Ryan is also having mixed, maybe sexual feelings for his friend Mason; Mason is having mixed, maybe sexual feelings as well for his friend Ryan...hmmm, what else? Oh, and Stella is Mason's domme! I think that about covers it! Basically, there is hot sexual tension ALL over the place!!This book really ended up not being what I was expecting, however, I liked what I got instead. I was expecting a hot, dark, erotica BDSM novel and, while there are some components of those things here, it's really not what the book was about. It's primarily a story about a man overcoming abuse and finding love and acceptance.We mainly get Ryan's POV for most of the story, although we do get Stella's a bit at the end. I loved Stella as a character. She was strong, feisty, and extremely confident. She is able to give Ryan exactly what he needs to help pull him from the depths of his own personal hell. I liked Ryan too but I struggled with him at times. He is very broken for most of the book and it was heart breaking to read. Mason is his hottie, actor, best-friend who he has mixed feelings for; friendship vs. physical attraction. I LOVED the um... sexy time scenes between these two and wish there were more of them....oh, how I wish there were more! But otherwise, I kinda found Mason to be a bit selfish at times.The sex scenes are HOT and there are LOTS of them...and oh holy moly the bonus scene at the end...THANK YOU for that, Margaret...really!!This is a short read but an incredibly intense one. Your heart will break for Ryan about a hundred times. But there were also many parts of the love story that were sweet and uplifting in a way I totally wasn't expecting.I loved the ending and I loved how the story came full circle. This was my first read of this author's but it definitely will not be my last!