Review: *****5 -Rip Your Heart Out- Stars***** Jenn@Bookworm Betties
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2014
*****5 -Rip Your Heart Out- Stars~this review contains minor spoilers~Women everywhere want their happy endings and happily-ever-afters. That's what I want. I want the boom box over the head of the guy playing the song for the girl he loves. I want my Say Anything moment. Is that really so much to ask?Well, this book took me completely by surprise and let me tell you, that does not happen very often. I was expecting some angst, and there was plenty of that, I was not prepared for the gut-wrenching heartache, extreme frustration or the smokin' hott steam. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this was a debut novel for this author, she has definitely entered the scene with a bang.My life plan-or rule, rather-is simple: no relationships. Relationships can only lead me down the dark path of heartache, loneliness, and self-pity. I am not going to let myself feel the pain of loving someone who doesn't love me back. To be told time and again that I am not enough is not an option for me anymore.Samantha Cole has spent years having her heart trampled on and she's had enough. From divorced parents who can't be bothered with her, to boyfriends who can't stop cheating on her-Every. Single. One of them. So, she comes up with a new life plan, it's simple really, no relationships. Ever. Period. That's the only way she knows how to protect her heart. Sure she's lonely, and horny, but she's safe, from men at least. Everyday life...not so much. After graduating from college, her life begins to unravel before her eyes and she's left with nowhere to go. Her best friend Jenny invites Sam to come home with her to Napa Valley and stay at her family's vineyard. She can work there and stay as long as she needs to get her life back on track. Upon landing in California, she meets Jenny's brother Ben face to face for the first time.My eyes travel up his arm shoulder, neck, lips, before finally landing on his eyes. They lock onto his-so hauntingly beautiful. They've seen love and loss. But I also see something else. Maybe it's hope or longing, I'm not sure, but I know that I want to find out.She's only ever seen pictures of Ben and talked to him on the phone before now and that was enough to spur on some fantasies. But nothing prepares her for the real thing. He just may be the one guy she'd be willing to throw her rules out for. There's just one problem...For most of my adult life, Beth was it for me-there was never anyone else. She's still as much a part of me today as she was yesterday. I know I need to try and move on. I just don't know how. She was my world for so long....Ben Foster is no stranger to loss and heartbreak, for two years he's closed himself off from women and distanced himself from the prying eyes of his family. He knows it's time to move on and make some major changes in his life, he just doesn't know how. Ben has always liked Sam, though he's never met her, but she has been a great listener the few times they talked on the phone, never pushy or judgmental, just there if he needs her. But nothing prepares him for the havoc she plays on his senses when they come face to face for the first time.She's the first girl that's stirring my insides up-making me feel something. It's been a long time, and I cautiously welcome it......I smile at her, and it's a genuine smile. It's the kind that I haven't been able to give in a really long time. And she smiles a beaming one right back at me. I'm hooked.She's bringing to life feelings in him he hasn't felt in a long time and he doesn't know what to do about it. He wants her, he enjoys being around her, but he can't seem to move beyond his past. Sam is drawn to Ben like no other and that only grows stronger with time, she knows he's hurting and she wants to help heal him, if only he'd let her. But Ben has mastered the art of running away and his constant flights only remind her of her own insecurities of not being enough and her fear of opening up. Can two shattered souls really heal each other, or will their pasts forever be in their way?I've been walking around with my heart split in two for so long that I didn't think it would ever be whole again. Sam could put my heart back together. And it's freaking me the hell out.This book tore me in so many different directions. I loved all the 80's references being a HUGE 80's girl myself. Sam's inner-lusting Cracked. Me. Up. I'm dying to know what's going on with Jack & Jenny. Ben's past wrecked me but he also frustrated the ever-lovin' hell outta me with his 'king of mixed signals' crap. I got it, really I did-kinda, to a point, but it still drove me nuts and made me sad for Sam. I laughed, cried often, and drooled throughout the whole book. The epilogue turned me into a blubbering idiot. Once again, I have to say, a truly fabulous debut Ms. Kelley, I CANNOT WAIT to read more from you.I want the home I always envisioned for me-the symbol of what a home should be. Home that fills you with happiness, passion, tenderness, craziness, heartache, joy, and love. As long as your home is with the one you're meant to be with, you can do anything. To share your mind, body, and soul with your home-your forever, your person-then everything falls into place.