Review: Engages all of your senses....I want more!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 13, 2013
Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.Have you ever tasted Mexican chocolate? It is sweet, with just a bit of spice to it. That is EXACTLY what Serenity Falls is like. This book really just hit the spot for me as it was incredibly well balanced between the sweetness of a new, developing emotional relationship, and the heat and passion of a sexual relationship.Kenleigh is a nineteen-year-old soon to be college sophomore who is still dealing with the aftermath of a family tragedy, seven years after it happened. She has a strong sense of survivor's guilt and has shut people out for years. She has a personality though, that people just gravitate towards and they want to get to know her and open up to her. After years of dealing with depression, her legal guardian, aunt Brenda, gets her involved in a program working with therapy horses. It is there she finds a connection with the horses and a way to heal and to begin to develop meaningful relationships with others. Now that she is in college, she is heading to Serenity Falls to spend her second summer as a counselor at a horse camp that works with children with emotional and physical disabilities.Wes is a bull-rider in his mid-20s, coming back to the family farm after dealing with his own demons by way of alcohol abuse. He's led a nearly rock star existence, but seeing a close friend's near-death experience and a short stint in the poky lead him to think twice of his destructive ways. He heads home to help out with the summer camp his parents operate, waiting to meet Kenleigh, whom his mother has told him so much about.Serenity Falls could have easily been a very predictable New Adult romance, however it wasn't. There were several plot twists that I thought I saw coming, but thankfully, the authors steered it in a completely different direction. It wasn't until the last 10% of the book or so that the major dramatic element was introduced and boy did it hit you like a truck! At that point I was so sucked in that I didn't want to put it down because it had me so charged with emotion I just had to know what was going to happen!One of the most amazing things about this book is Ms. Aleman and Ms. Poch's use of descriptive language. They literally engage all of your sense when it comes to describing what is going on in the story. I've been lucky enough to have spent a couple of summers in Texas so when they talk about the scent of honeysuckle in the evening breeze, I know exactly what they are talking about and I am taken to that place. Even a scene describing a bowl of chili with its peppers and spices put me IN the scene. Their way of storytelling is VERY effective!Now, back to that sweet and spicy....oh, Wes. He is a swoon-worthy alpha male if there ever was one! Of course, as an alpha male he has the requisite ripped body and masculine good looks, but he is also incredibly sweet, and thoughtful. He truly is the best of both worlds, especially when it comes to the love scenes. Yowza, they're HOT. Just the way he commands the situation is such an incredible turn on, yet so unlike how he is outside of the bedroom. He's definitely a hearts and flowers kind of guy, but then he turns around, and behind closed doors he has this:"And just so you now, not tonight, but eventually, I'm going to bend you and break you and mold you in so many ways that you will not be able to tell me where I begin and you end." Wes thrusts forward as he fills me to the hilt, and I gasp from the intrusion. "But tonight, we're going to do this nice and slow."I mean, really...oh my! Where do I sign up?Serenity Falls is hands down five stars. It was a quick and easy read and it just had the right amount of everything. The characters were believable and likable, and the relationships were expertly crafted, so you really got a sense to the depth between each of them. I look forward to seeing what else Ms. Aleman and Ms. Poch have for us next!