Review: An emotional New Adult romance with a flawed heroine; Book 1
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 19, 2013
It's very rare for me to love a heroine more than I loved the hero, but Georgia really got me from the beginning. It's almost always the hero who captures my attention and makes the story happen for me, but here it was Georgia who dominated the story and made me feel. She's damaged and jagged, so young and lost, and you might say, oh, not another romance with a damaged heroine again! But Georgia is so much more than that, so much more than a device or a prop. Georgia is one special character, and I loved every imperfect piece and every tormented thought. I cared about her and wanted her to be well and whole.She's flawed and has deep issues, mental issues. She's an imperfect heroine whose life has gone sideways, but now she's trying to fix herself. She's done things in her past that shame her, things she regrets and wishes she could do over, or even completely erase. She's only twenty years old, just recently released from a mental hospital, but she's hoping to get better, to be better. And then, Ben walks into her life, the hottest star in the NHL, only twenty-four years old and used to winning and having it all. For Ben, life is not a struggle; happiness is not a struggle. He's very good at being normal and at being great, things Georgia is not very good at doing or feeling.Ben wants Georgia right away, from first glance, and she is also drawn to him, and what girl wouldn't be? Dark chocolate eyes and longish hair, not to mention the big, 6'4 hot hockey body, he's a sexy and sweet Canadian who might just be the guy to help put all of Georgia's broken pieces back together again, to slow and calm the chaotic thoughts in her head. I did think Ben acted a jerk a couple of times, and one time he really worried me that he was going to let me down. I had a whole lot of pressure sitting on my chest during that pool party scene, but he came through for me. And I could see how he was frustrated with Georgia and with her lack of disclosure, with her lack of completely opening up to him, but I was really on my heroine's side. It's very hard to open up and show someone the broken pieces of yourself, not when you think rejection and judgment might follow.I love that the story is told in first-person with an alternating POV, giving me what both Ben and Georgia are thinking and feeling. It felt personal and engaging. Also, I appreciated how Georgia was written. I think this issue of mental illness was done with care and sympathy. I think the ending of this story is realistic, and I understand it. And while it left me hopeful for Georgia, and for Ben, too, I must admit to feeling very emotional about it, even pretty teary over it, even worried over it. I'm feeling a bit of angst over what book 2 might entail for this couple, and I hope the author doesn't let me down with Ben. I felt romance and love here with him, and in the next book, as their story continues, I want to feel an all-out kind of love from Ben for Georgia. I need an unbreakable love for this broken girl.There are a few minor editing issues like some typos, dropped commas, and a couple misspellings. So, this is not a perfect read with a perfect heroine, but it was still a very good read for me, sweet and deep and emotional, and with some substance behind it. For very personal reasons, I felt Georgia's struggle to maintain a balance between happiness and sadness, between normal and not so normal. That struggle between the ups and downs resonated with me, and I truly empathized with her and all those rough and uneven places within herself. That heroine and her story hit home with me. I truly cared about Georgia and will read book 2 to see how her story continues as she is very much a work in progress.Book 2, The Chaos In Me, coming spring/summer 2013.