Review: alcoholic heroine changes
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 14, 2013
24yo bartender in small Canadian town is having a hard time sexually resisting 26yo photojournalist Hero who she hasn't seen in the last 4 years. He's made a habit of coming into town and staying with her for sex and comfort and leaving without any communication until he comes back again. She wants to put her foot down this time and not be used by him. Hero is shocked by how different she's become but still tries to seduce her. She does give in but their relationship is no longer the same. How will her changes affect their relationship in the long run?This novella was short but full of content and meaning. Heroine battled addiction to alcohol and drugs plus her dysfunctional relationship with Hero, her sister, and her father. Hero battled with the trauma of his work as a photojournalist and the dysfunction of his family. Then add in heroine's child with another man and the town resident's gossip about their relationship and we have a chock full of content. But the author managed to put all these pieces together in a way that grabbed at me. Despite the many mistakes and issues Hero and heroine have, I saw their willingness to change and how much they did value each other. The changes heroine made set off changes in Hero and their relationship. Her inner strength and ability to survive her recent past gave way to a better romance for them. Sex was no longer a lust-fueled escape but an intimacy between them. Heroine's changes forced Hero to think about her and work at being with her. Finding out what she went through since he last saw her shocked him and shook him. It made him see how much value she had in his life.The details were not easy to stomach (i.e., drugged-out & drunken sex, suicidal attempt, other lovers in between for both, child neglect) but the redemptive work heroine has gone through and we see Hero going through somehow makes the bad easier to handle.Recommended.*ARC courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review.**A more detailed review is on my blog.