Review: Heartwarming story full of second chances, forgiveness, and sexy romance. This is a great addition to this emotional series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2014
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Heartwarming story full of second chances, forgiveness, and sexy romance. This is a great addition to this emotional series.Opening Sentence: Scientists say that we’re all made of pieces of stars.The Review:Rachel Mattson likes being known as the flirty party girl that just likes to have a good time. It’s easier for her to hide her past from everyone that way. No one knows that shortly after high school she was in a bad accident that left her in the hospital for months. No one knows that her long time boyfriend was driving the motorcycle that crashed and then broke up with her, shattering her fragile heart. She has been careful to not tell her college friends too many details about the past and her hometown friends very little about the present. But this summer Rachel is heading home to help her mother and there is one person there that she can’t hide from.Kai Nakos has been in love with Rachel ever since he helped nurse her back to health after her accident. She was so strong and Kai found that the more he was around her the more he felt himself falling. But Rachel had just got her heart broken and wasn’t ready for another relationship. So after Rachel healed they went their separate ways and Kai hasn’t seen her since. Recently, his life hasn’t been going so well. He just got fired from his job and has no desire to finish school. He finds himself back home for the summer and runs into Rachel. Sparks fly and there is major attraction between them but Kai doesn’t want to tell Rachel how he truly feels in fear that she is just looking for a good time. He doesn’t want to destroy their friendship now that she is finally back in his life. But can Kai settle for just being Rachel’s friend or will he put his heart on the line for the women he loves?From the first time I met Rachel I was always intrigued by her story. Basically, all I knew about her was that she liked to party, had a thing for jocks, and just liked hooking up with guys and not committing to them. She seemed like such a free spirit and didn’t care what anyone thought, which was so opposite of what she was really like. It turns out she has been really hurt in the past and going away to college was her way of starting out fresh. She has kept her two worlds separate but the past always has a way with catching up to you eventually. I could easily sympathize with Rachel and while I didn’t agree with all of her life decisions, I felt I understood why she made them. I thought that she was a very likeable character and I was glad I got to read her story.Kai has spent the last few years of his life in limbo. He didn’t really have any direction or any idea what he wanted to do with his future. When he runs back into Rachel and all his old feelings resurface it helps him begin to see how much he has wasted his life. With his good looks and rocker persona, Kai has never had a hard time getting girls until it came to Rachel. His relationship with Rachel is full of passion and steam. But their communication skills aren’t the best. I loved watching Kai go from being a lost boy to becoming a respectable man. He was the perfect love interest for Rachel and I really enjoyed watching their relationship develop.Whisper to Me was a sexy new adult story full of heart and hot romance. With engaging, realistic characters and passionate filled moments, this is sure to please all contemporary romance fans. In romance books it is so important to feel emotionally connected to the characters because there is usually not much else driving the story, and Lee is spectacular at making you feel everything. She knows how to create characters that are so easy to love and care about, which is not always an easy thing to do. Also, the pacing and tension in the story was spot on. I have been a big fan of this series from the start and while all books can easily be read as a stand-alone, I do recommend you start from the beginning to get the full effect of the stories. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series and honestly pretty much anything else Lee decides to write. I would highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a great new adult read.Notable Scene:Her arms, which had been hanging limply at her sides, came up to grasp my shoulders, as if I were her anchor. She was breathing heavily into my neck, and I felt her tears slide onto the skin at the base of my throat.My fingers trailed down her back to grasp her waist, and I could feel how lean she was. Not as lean as she’d been in the hospital. This was shapely, sexy, all-woman lean. My fingers rested on the sliver of bare skin that had become exposed when she’d raised her arms to embrace me, and I relished the softness there.Her head moved to the crook of my neck, and I felt her shudder, so I drew her even closer, my fingers sliding up her bare back in an attempt to comfort her. The next moment I felt a tentative brush of her lips against my skin. Right above the neckline of my shirt. I became perfectly still, wondering if I’d only imagined it.But then she trailed her soft lips across my neck to my throat as I swallowed roughly. It felt so damn good that I couldn’t help the groan that escaped my lips shortly thereafter.I grabbed hold of her shoulders and pushed back to look into her eyes. There was alarm there at what she’d done, certainly. Like her body had been on auto-pilot and she couldn’t stop herself. Yet there was something underneath as well. Need. Passion. Desperation.FTC Advisory: Intermix/Penguin provided me with a copy of Whisper to Me. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.