Review: Another great read by Elizabeth Lee!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2014
Where There’s Smoke by Elizabeth Lee- 4 stars (I always look forward to Elizabeth Lee’s work, because she knows just how to give the one-two punch with characters that are completely captivating and a storyline that is smoking hot sexy.  With this first installment of the Jameson Sisters series, she wows us with characters that jab at the heart and a story that draws you in for the good, the bad, and all those parts in between that make you glad you grabbed this one to curl up to!Ryland and Piper had a connection that went beyond their young years, and despite how they didn’t necessarily match up on paper, none of that mattered.  She was the bad seed, he was the boy destined for great things in life.  That is, until one freak accident turned everything upside down and Piper made a choice that would put all of that into question.Ryland Roberts…oh, how I fell in love with this man from the moment his thoughts came into view on my iPad.  There’s just something about him, he’s that perfect combo of tender but utterly sexual, with that hidden awkward boy from his past somewhere deep down inside.  Seeing both his younger self, where he was nervous and just feeling lucky to be in Piper’s presence, to his more experienced and mature self, where he was still just feeling lucky to be in her presence but was just so much more a man…yep, he did me in!  He loved Piper with all his virgin first-love heart, and it was so awesome that we got a flashback sneak peek into those moments.  They were each other’s first loves, first times, and first true trusted friends, and when Piper left because she thought it was best for everyone…well, it was the wrong decision for her to make, but for all the right reasons.You can always count on Elizabeth Lee to give her heroines that edge that sets them apart from the rest, and I love that.  Piper isn’t a wallflower, or the sweet girl who made some bad choices. No, she’s a rebel, she’s a fighter, and she’s selfless (cue Katy Perry’s “Roar”), and she rocked!  She was a victim of crappy parenting on both sides, and your heart just aches for this girl.  Even though you want to throttle her for believing everyone would be better if she left, you had to admire her strength as she took the harder path in order to (or so she thought) make it easier for everyone else. She saw herself as the weed that soiled everyone else’s garden, and it was so sad to see her so down on herself.  Ryland was the only one who could reach down into her very soul and slap some sense into her, and it was because they were just that damned good together in every way.The romance between Piper and Ryland wasn’t the only storyline going on here, and as Piper’s family drama unfolded and her past with Ryland came to the forefront, there was hardly a dull moment.  Piper and her sister not only faced the loss of their mother, but also a stepfather who will make your skin crawl.  My stomach was in knots, and though there were some aspects of the backstory that I could have used a bit more of, I still found myself drawn in at every turn.  Ryland and Piper’s story was an absolute treat to dive into for the weekend, and it gets a huge thumbs up from this reader.  Can’t wait to read her sister’s story next, it’s sure to be a heartbreaking page-turner, too!