Review: *****5 -Incredibly Unique- Stars*****
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 10, 2014
*****5 -Incredibly Unique- Stars*****~this review may contain minor spoilers~Home.There was no home for me anymore. I was a leaf in September, dying on a tree limb and ripped from the branch by a gust of air, and I was swirling aimlessly in the wind.That was a wild, emotionally intense ride filled with sex, brutality, and a wide range of characters from different walks of life and a cornucopia of different personalities. I'm not gonna lie, parts of it were hard to read and you may not always like the lead character-but she is honest with herself. She may not always even like herself, but she owns up to who she is and being in her head is sometimes uncomfortable. With the amount of books I read, even before I started blogging, it's rare for me to stumble across a unique storyline, but Julia Bramer has certainly delivered one and she has done it beautifully. I have very few complaints, but I will get to those later.after Mikel, I'd quickly learned the “love conquers all” concept was bulls***. I'd abandoned love for simple, honest sexual gratification, and I'd hardened my heart against any further disappointment, my youthful zest for life tempered in every way after him.Haley Hanson is a fresh face and kind of naive eighteen-year old girl when she leaves home to follow her dreams of becoming a photo-journalist. She has passion and a plan with the whole world at her fingertips when she meets Mikel Garro, a famous soccer player in Spain, and falls in love. Her plans change a bit as she works Mikel into her life, but she loves him with all she has and will do whatever it takes to be with him while honoring his dreams and still pursue her own. But when her first love is callously ripped from her fingertips with little care for her heart, it changes her. She swears off love forever and simply floats from man to man, using them solely for the purpose of sexual gratification. Her career takes off further than she ever could have expected but as the years go by she barely even recognizes the woman she has become. Sex & the perfect money shot are all that makes her feel alive while under a constant haze of alcohol, but it isn't until she meets the Mohammeds in Egypt that her life comes crashing down on her and shes forced to re-evaluate the way she has been living her life and the reasons behind the decisions she has made. Self-discovery is not always pretty and in Haley's case, it can be quite brutal.I was insatiable. I knew it, but I couldn't help myself. Sex and photography made me whole and gave me a bit of happiness, and I pursued both as often as I could, greedily and without regret.There are so many times in this book where you have the strong desire to look away, some of the events Haley lives through will impact you in many different ways, but it is important to  keep reading in order to fully understand where she is coming from. You may not always agree with her, and you will not always like her, but you will understand her and grow to love her for all of her flaws. There are a lot of sexual encounters in here, in all kinds of settings, and even though the circumstances are sad and depressing, I have to admit there was some extremely hott scenes- some of my favorites involved a two-way mirror and a man named Jack. Sooo hott. I do have a couple of minor complaints. First off- I am all for forgiveness, don't get me wrong, I have never been a fan of holding grudges, but there is something to be said for making someone work for it just a bit. There was a situation is this book that was pretty much the catalyst for the way Haley's life turns around that was forgiven is less than a page-really in a matter of a few sentences and I would be lying if I said that didn't frustrate me more than a little bit. The ending also seemed a bit rushed and it ties into the whole quick forgiveness thing. It happened, then it was over, and there are still so many unknowns. Maybe an epilogue would have helped me gain a little closure, as it is, all I can hope for is maybe there will be another book? Either way, it was still a fantastically raw and gritty story that will have me furiously one-clicking the next book this author comes out with. She has definitely earned a fan in me.His silky voice and mesmerizing chocolate eyes awakening my libido, and although I didn't know it at the time, my love for him would change me forever.Jenn @ Bookworm Betties