Review: 3.5 Romantic Stars!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2014
I thought A Graceful Mess was a sweet and enjoyable read, with a strong aspect of love (and not just romantic love), and the inspiring message of overcoming personal pain and finding triumph over those who have hurt you.The start of the story is a prologue where we first meet the main character, Grace. All of a sudden, it's about seventeen years later. Grace has just graduated from college, and she has a fun and carefree summer ahead before she starts law school. She meets Parker Porter at a bar and is instantly attracted. And the attraction is definitely mutual. Except, Parker has a huge secret. He's in charge of a private investigation firm, and his new client is the biological father of the woman he wants in his bed. This dude is playing with fire. Doesn't he know that no secret stays hidden forever? I liked Parker, but I didn't love him.However, I did love Grace. I thought she was such a strong character. She has gone through some painful, painful experiences. And she doesn't even know she's adopted and that she's known her psycho ex-boyfriend a lot longer than she thought. Because of her suppressed memories, she doesn't figure it out until her parents give her Brody's journal. Everything hits her at once, and she doesn't know what to do with it all. It pushes her into a potentially dangerous situation. Tragedy befalls everywhere, and Grace realizes that life's too short to be angry. So, she forgives her father. And she forgives Parker, because he saved her when she was doing everything but living. Just like she made Parker feel alive again.The relationship between Parker and Grace was Hot. Explosive. Sizzling. The chemistry between the two of them was electric. However, I wanted more. I wanted more depth, more emotions, more time for them to explore their insane attraction. This was an emotional story, yes, but I thought the emotional connection between the characters should have had more time to develop.I liked how the book ended, but I wish Grace had explored her relationship with her biological father. I felt like that part of the story-line was so underdeveloped, and then tragedy struck. It was too easy how that happened. And I wanted more of that subplot. I thought it was an important part of the story.I'd definitely recommend this read. It's all about forgiveness and healing, and most importantly, about what it means to truly love someone.