Review: holy emotional roller coaster
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2014
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review....Hunter is a party boy, spoiled rich kid...typical does not care, entitled bad boy that takes what he wants and discards the left overs. He is beyond intelligent and has received a full academic scholarship to attend Harvard."I'd graduated high school and I lived in the guesthouse on my parents sizableestate. I had a fast, ridiculously expensive car, a hot girlfriend and a full rideto an elite college that I had absolute no interest in attending.I'd always been superior in my intellect and most of the time, it was a determentto my well being. It's what led me to lifestyle choices as I grew older. Thosechoices started with alcohol. By fourteen, I'd found a comfortable numbness withina blanket of a twelve pack or bottle, but, eventually, I grew bored with that as well.By the time I was sixteen, I'd progressed to drugs and girls in a quest to test theboundaries of a mundane existence."His mom and dad are stupid wealthy; so wealthy that when they found his brand new BMW in the bottom of the family pool their main concern was what the neighbors thought...As punishment they pack him up send him on their personal jet plane to spend the summer with his back woods redneck uncle. They strip Hunter of his credit cards, ipad, iphone, etc and off he went."My parents were typically to busy to pay attention to what I was doing with mytime. They looked to my grades as an indication of my progress and a scale uponto base their success in parenting.""Technically, I moved out of my parents house and into their guesthouse by the timeI was fifteen; they didn't notice until two years later."Once the jet lands, He is met at the gate of a private airstrip by his Uncle Bill and cousin Lily. Waiting for him in a beat up, rusted, old pick up truck. And is driven to a small, old, falling apart house that is tucked into the woods. Hunter is informed that he will be spending the summer fixing up the house."I was extremely unhappy about my parents decision to force me into exile. Whatwas I supposed to do in the middle of nowhere for three long months? This was tortureThere were parties I was missing and alcohol that would fall down the throatsof some other lucky bastard, while I was holed up in the middle of the woodsfixing s***. I didn't deserve this."Enter Ellison, the neighbor. She is a sassy little thing, that refuses to take Hunters mess and she gives as good as she gets."Her name was Ellison James...and she was the biggest bitch I'd ever met in my life.""Since the moment I met her, she'd acted like a raging bull, tackling me over dogsand throwing insults as fast as her tongue could form the sound. A spitting catwould of been more malleable than the headstrong blonde staring me down"She was everything Hunter never knew he wanted. But, she has no desire to get mixed up with the bad boy that will be leaving after the summer."I'm not a fling. I'm not some girl that's okay with having fun just forthe sake of the moment.""I'd met Ellison James, and I knew that just knowing the girl was going tochange my life forever."Hunter begins to wear Ellison down. And her challenging ways bring him to his knees. But, when Ellison's father gets sick, she insists that Hunter go ahead and go to college and be all that he can be. She pushes him away in an effort to set him free to succeed. Hunter finally has his ah ha moment, and as they say...the rest is history.Hunter gives up his full ride to Harvard to transfer to a local college near Ellison. He makes the decision to get his life together and seek the revenge Ellison needs, by finding a way to save people from the devastating death that took her father. He also gives up his parents money, and begins to carve a life of his own, chasing his destiny and his own dreams. And, in the process he continues to pursue Ellison while giving her the space that she needs."El..right now, you're obviously hurting and Im going to let you hurt alone. You saywhat you need to say. Pretend I'm not here. Pretend there's nothing to hear you.I'll take whatever load you can't bear and I'll carry it out of this room when Ileave. But d***it, I'm not going to leave you here alone to bear it by yourself.So cry or scream or hit me. You do whatever you need to do. We'll keep the lightsoff. You won't see me, but I'm here for you to use me."...killing my emotional well being, This story is so well written I feel like Iam in the d**n book...This book took me through all kinds of emotions. And i must warn you, you will UGLY CRY at the end. So, prepare the tissues ahead of time. And as the story of Hunter and Ellison's lives unfold, their loves blooms and grows. Their lives become a testament to the power of a good woman. And Ellison had such power wisdom and inner strength, I was in awe of her."Everybody has a story, Hunter, and that story will cause them to act in ways thatother people won't be able to understand. But, you give a person enough time,eventually, they'll open up, and it will all make sense.""Our lives are like books, Hunter. Each day is a new page- each year a new chapter.Just like books, our lives end; but our stories...those are never forgotten."And, let me tell you--- this was one story I will never forget.