Review: One of my favourite reads for 2014
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2014
I HAVE A NEW BOOK BOYFRIEND!! *Sigh* Jordan Valentine, be my Valentine.... Please? I'm tempted to give this book no stars, only so I don't have share him. Yeah, I'm selfish like that. But that wouldn't be right at all because aside from featuring the current love-of-my-fictional-life, Tempt My Heart is a great, emotional read and the book-world could benefit from a kick-ass rock-star female lead. Admittedly, I was more than a little terrified before I started this book because I was afraid of the ugly crying that my buddy Erin told me was inevitable (and she was right, damn her) but I was hooked from page one. Why? Because the characters were spot on, their (dare I say it??) journeys were realistic and the story was the perfect blend of heart-breaking and heart-warming. That ugly crying I mentioned? Both happy and sad. Ugh, the feels.... I'm still experiencing little emotional aftershocks.Brittan McKenna met her soulmate - the love of her life - when she was just sixteen. Cane was her one-and-only and their future together was never in doubt. Until he left for Iraq and never came home... With her heart in pieces, Brittan did what she promised Cane she would do - she pursued her dream of becoming a rock star. Fast forward eight years and Brittan finds herself in rehab attempting to get back to the girl she was with Cane, the girl she was before her coke addiction nearly killed her. Everyday she misses the man she was to marry. She has built solid walls around her heart, because she will never fall in love again. Her heart is out of business. Jordan Valentine spies Brittan at a party and immediately notices the sensual singer. After a quick, hot interlude on the dance floor, she is troubled to learn that the man that made her flutter for the first time in years is also the guitarist for the band supporting her band on their upcoming tour. She never mixes business with pleasure and besides, her true love is gone...or is she just finding him?I don't think it's possible for me to have loved this book more. The structure and the flow of the story was so unlike anything I've read recently that I was initially taken aback by the progression of Brittan and Jordan's story. Where the ugly crying usually kicks in later in the book, Tempt My Heart had me on the verge of tears from almost the get-go. The blurb makes no secret of Cane's fate but that doesn't stop it from hurting - and it didn't stop me from hoping it wouldn't happen. It was so well written that I cared about these characters even before they were really, truly established. Brittan's struggle with losing the man she loved had my stomach in knots and my heart going crazy. I could imagine the pain and the never-ending guilt of being the one left behind and the struggle with how to make a new life without forgetting the old. Despite her personal flaws, Brittan was never an unlikable character. She wasn't weak - quite the opposite in fact. Her bravery blossomed as she learned how to hold on while letting go. I was firmly in her corner. Jordan *may* be the perfect man. His strength, his understanding and his dirty-talking/bad boy/cocky rock-star persona made him near irresistible. Without giving anything away, let me just say that his maturity in handling Brittan's past and his willingness to be whatever part of her future that she needed was unexpected but welcome. He wasn't a cliche. He was - he is - my fictional soulmate. And only because I think this book is too good to not be read am I willing to share him. Now excuse me while I run through another box of tissues. *Sob*This is a standalone novel, no cliffhanger.5 stars.