Review: Love Ryland
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 22, 2013
This is the follow up of The Edge of Darkness.  If you haven't read The Edge of Darkness - DO IT!  But please do not read this review.....Okay so when I first when I got to read this I was all over the place jumping for joy!The Grace in Darkness starts off right where The Edge of Darkness ends.  Lost and confused Ryland is trying to understand why Araya left him.  Broken and angry Ryland is pushing away everyone in his life with his bitterness and anger.  He is different, almost like life isn't worth living without Araya and doesn't seem to care about anything anymore.  Ryland was different and not the happy go lucky, romantic, sweet, kind, generous Ryland I fell in love with in The Edge of Darkness.  I wanted my Ryland back.  After the betrayal that he went through with his family and the broken heart he suffers from losing her left me feeling lost and alone and very sad!"You're being really selfish, Ryland.  Look, I get why you're upset, I really do.  You loved her, I get that.  You wanted to take care of her but whether I helped her that night or not, she was going to leave and there was nothing you could do to stop that.  At least nothing short of keeping her here against her will and that's what you would have if you convinced her to stay....."Araya is even more beautiful in The Grace in Darkness - if that is even possible.  After deciding to finally live her life and become more independent she has this new glow to her - this new light.  Her confidence is gradually getting better and she is finally doing something that she used to live for - dancing.  Being without Ryland isn't easy for her but she knows that she needs to do this for her and she will never stop loving him.  Seeing how this character has grown from the very beginning to where she is at in this book is amazing.  On many occasions Araya had me feeling proud because of the amazing things she was accomplishing."I'll take my chances.  I'll take that stupid girl and hide her so far away from you that you'll spend the rest of your miserable life looking for her.  She thinks it's dark where she lives now, she has no idea.  I'll be her worst nightmare in the darkest parts of her world and she'll have you to thank for that, son!"Okay let me just say 1 thing real quick - I HATE J.D. with a flippin passion...When I think of him my mind starts wondering of all the horrible things that he deserves.  I would smile with pleasure if I saw him get hit by a car!The love that Ryland and Araya have for each other nothing can keep them apart and Ryland will stop at nothing to have Araya back in his life and let her know that she can do whatever it is she wants to do.  He won't hold her back from anything - he loves her and wants to spend the rest of his life showing her just how much she means to him."Don't you get it, Araya?  You are my life now. I meant it when I said that you saved me.""We saved each other, Ryland.  We saved each other."Oh the hummingbirds are back when those two get together again.  It's like life is the way it should be.  Ryland is my Ryland again and Araya is glowing more than ever now and it's absolutely breathtaking to follow them on their journey.  They can't take their hands off each other - they need the warm of each other's bodies like they need air to breathe and oh boy did I enjoy getting a bit of sexy time with those two.So now they are back together right - and you expect roses and sunshine and fairytale endings, right?WRONG!Life isn't easy for them because J.D. won't back down and Melissa throws us a curveball I never say coming.  It was a whopper that had me questioning what the fudge was going on.  One minute it was like oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the next minute - What the heck just happened?".....You told the police that you had an emergency...actually you told him you were speeding because your brother called you for a family emergency.  So what was the emergency?"After everything Ryland and Araya had already been through I wanted it to stop!!!! I wanted them to finally have their happily ever after - but we all know J.D. and doesn't he always get what he wants?  Will Ryland and Araya get their happily ever after?  Does J.D. stay true to his world and take Araya away from him again leaving her forever trapped in her own darkness?I can't begin to tell you what this duo has done to me, there has never been another story like this and I felt invested in their story and I wanted to know how it ended.  It was a crazy, beautiful, emotional, journey and I am so amazed by this author.  I will forever be a Melissa Andrea fan and I can't wait to read more of her work!  Amazing job hun!