Review: 4.5 Unbelievably Sexy Stars </
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 19, 2013
The ending to Undescribable left my heart completely split. Samantha faces a devastating loss while at the same time she and Slade finally confess all the feelings they both have kept inside. My heart fluttered at how responsive Slade was to be at Sam’s side. But boy am I glad we received more of their story in Unbearable. Book 2 picks up right from the emotional ending of Undescribable. Sam is more shattered than ever; torn between sorrow and guilt. Losing someone is beyond difficult to deal with. Shantel Tessier does an exceptional job portraying the emotions one battles with—Stages of Grief. Where Undescribable ended with Sam overcome with anger/disbelief, most of the beginning of Unbearable the guilt consumes Sam.”I will forever regret my actions and selfishness.” She wipes her eyes again.“No one can love someone as selfish as me,”This pity party she throws is justifiably understandable and heart aching to witness. Sam had left her mother behind following high school in pursuit of her dreams of college and a future. When we first heard things about her mother in book 1 I was completely on Sam’s side, her mother sounded awful, then secrets unravel and your heart can’t help but break for Sam. She had been kept in the dark for so many years, she had ignored her mother felt unloved for so long; yet to discover the extent of her mother’s love too late to reciprocate her feelings and or to rebuild their relationship.While Sam is a broken mess, Slade is at a complete loss of what to do, being new to the whole boyfriend act. But damn for someone so inexperience in that department, Slade is a strong, reliable, compassionate, shoulder for Sam to lean on. Although this man had me sexually frustrated for the first portion of the book, I didn’t find myself annoyed yet I respected the heck out of him. Sam is numbed by her regrets and pain, so she tries desperately to get Slade to have sex with her to “make her feel something,” Slade isn’t fooled"I know sex will take her focus off of things, but I don't want to temporarily fix her emotions. I want her to grieve in her own time, even if that means me just holding her in my arms every night as she cries."Swoonattack right? The only downfall I had was Slade lack of communication with Sam when it came to turning her down for sex. She was already in a vulnerable state, and the constant turn down evokes all sorts of insecurities in Sam. In addition, Slade is a helluva sexy protective alpha we already knew that, he craves being in control in and out of the bedroom; however his need to take care of Sam influences a lot of fights between the two. There are many times his actions (packing up her old house, moving furniture, etc) is thoughtful and helpful then over times he comes off a tad suffocating. All he wants is to prevent Sam from feeling anymore pain which just has you “Awing” out loud but him trying to dictate her working arrangement has you shaking your head and standing behind Sam 100% “You tell him girl!”Slade isn’t the only who tries to put Sam in a bubble, her best friend Courtney is full of concern for her friend but goes about it the wrong way which causes her and Sam to clash. All the secondary characters are back full force in this book. Shantel does an amazing job using Micah and Josh as a comedic relief those two men are freaking hilarious yet mature at the same time. Holly was already on my Awesome Gal Pal radar but after this story I have to have her as bestie!! She and Sam form a stronger connection in this book and eventually all three Holly, Courtney, and Sam become the Terrific Trio of bffs. We are also introduced to a new deliciously enticing, mysteriously intriguing, tatted hotness of a man—Tate. Shantel definitely succeeds in meshing in Tate, making his presence known, while being sure not to steal the spotlight from Slade and Sam’s story but embedding him in the back of your mind “He has to get his own story” constantly goes through your head.The beginning-middle does progress slowly but then our kick ass strong independent Sam pulls herself out of her rut and realizes beating herself up isn’t the way to live. Things get leg squirming hot, steam fogs up your kindle screen; Slade and Sam finally get on the same page. He can see she really is trying to move forward. Holy panty wetting, this man’s mouth *I’m drooling too much to form words*”Wake up and come for me….I want you to spend all day today remembering that I Fed you senseless.”*Hands raised* Um can I be woke up like that? Screw alarms I want Slade Long to wake me up!!Things haven’t been simple for Slade and Sam, so it should as no surprise that just when things seem to sailing that road blocks appear; blocks in the form of Slade’s whorish past. Sam amazes me, she is aware of the playboy past of Slade’s and she learned to accept it. Jealousy doesn’t rear its head often from her, and if it does she deals with it maturely in my eyes rather than going all “B fit” she gets over it quickly and if she not Slade helps her get over it“I love when you’re like this…All pissy and needing me to remind you where your place is.”“Where’s that?”His eyes lock on mine and they look hard. “Wherever I want you,”</b></i><i> he says blandly and it turns me on even more. “On your knees before me. Flat on your back underneath me. Or on all fours as I’m behind you.”Now don’t get the wrong idea, Slade doesn’t solve everything with sex (even though this man is amazing in bed) he also uses his heart melting words to reassure Sam of his feelings”The only thing I have ever done right when it came to woman was fall in love with you.”Secrets continue to plague the couple as do threats. Also, there are people from both Sam and Slade’s past that do not want to see these two happy. Both Slade and Sam keep things from one another, Sam more so. There were many fights that could have been avoided if these two communicated better; however, both so worried about the other they put the safety and sanity of the other before their own.Shantel Tessier keeps you on edge from midway through to the ending. Her writing continues to blow me away. The emotions are described with such perfection you yourself experience what the characters feel. Not only do you see growth from both Sam and Slade but the progression of their relationship is realistic. Their love truly does have battles to conquer; portraying the complexities of a real relationship. Nothing comes easy for these two, life can be unfair, people can meddle, but as long as you have love it’s all worth the fight. But their tests are far from over, your heart swells with joy for this couple toward the end, then BAM a person from left field comes out to play leaving you with anxiety of what is come in book 3. I NEED Uncontrollable now please Shantel! Patience is not a virtue I have mastered. I definitely recommend this series. I cannot wait to see how Slade and Sam’s story ends. These two deserve nothing less than a HEA!**Received ARC in exchange for honest review**