Review: Love the intensity of Garrett and Carina's relationship!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2014
Ever since I read the epilogue to Unwrapped and saw Carina and Garrett's first interaction at Juliet and Emerson's wedding, I knew their relationship would be intense. They are complete opposites of one another and come from completely different worlds.... or so we think. It turns out the pair actually has some things in common: the pain of the past. I knew as soon as we met Carina in the first novel of the series that there would be more to her than meets the eye.I love that this is dual POV, because I just feel I can get a much better read on both of my characters this way. Garrett is already mysterious, so it helped to get inside his head and see what he was thinking. Most of all, I liked reading about how HE saw Carina. He sees beyond the facade she puts up and sees her pain and anguish and understands those things all too well. Garrett is no stranger to pain, but where Carina hides behind her rich, posh lifestyle and wealthy fiance, he hides behind his bar and only using women as a release, never getting attached to any one.I have to say I wasn't sure if I could like Carina, especially after all we'd learned about her relationship with Juliet. Carina begins the novel with a huge wake up call, after things with her fiance begin to escalate in a not so good way. I am proud of her for having enough sense to walk away from a bad situation before it got worse, despite all her doubts and insecurities. My heart broke for this girl as she has grown up being put down and told what is expected of her. Going back to Beachwood Bay brings so many revelations to light for her and she realizes she wants to mend her tattered relationship with her sister. Juliet holds a lot of resentment towards Carina and theirs is one relationship that cannot be fixed with a simple apology. Carina will have to work hard at building a relationship there if she truly wants one.Her relationship with her dad on the other hand... oh that man made my blood boil. The things he says to his daughter and how he reacts to her telling him what happened with her ex fiance.... I would have freaked the heck out. He really shows his true colors and Carina is appalled that he would gloss over the cold, hard facts. It's no wonder Carina's self worth is shot to hell. Garrett steps in and ends up being the savior that Carina needs. He is tender and understanding and offers her his shoulder to lean on, knowing she has no one else. He also has this strong urge to protect her, to keep her safe. He believes in her and that is the push she needs to start changing her life and living for HER.As I said earlier, Garrett and Carina have an intense relationship. They did not get off to a good start at all at the wedding. He thinks she's a stuck up ice queen and she thinks he's just a womanizer. They come to a truce of sorts and he lets her stay in the spare bedroom of Emerson and Juliet's beach house. However, holy chemistry. These two definitely have it! Garrett definitely drove me a little nuts, as he is torn between what he wants (her) and what he knows he should be for her (a friend). Even though he lets Carina in (both physically and mentally), he is still apprehensive about his past. He thinks he's too damaged to truly be what she needs and give her what he wants."You f****** consume me, Carina!"He's running scared. He's afraid of being hurt again, only this time he doesn't know if he would survive it.We get to see some familiar faces in this book, aside from Juliet and Emerson. Brit and Hunter make an appearance and while I loved Brit in her book Unafraid, I found myself irritated with her in this one. I understand that she has a tough shell and letting people in isn't her forte, but once Carina proved that she wasn't as vapid and awful as she once was, I was expecting Brit to give her a break. Brit is fiercely protective of her loved ones and while I admire that, I kept waiting for her to make peace with Carina.I was quite surprised by the epilogue of this book, as it gives us a completely new POV of the person that will be in the next book, Uninhibited. I didn't see this coming, but I have to admit I'm definitely interested in these two. Because that epilogue? HAWT.Overall, I really enjoyed Unconditional and I like that Grace was able to take such a not very well liked character and really peel back her layers to expose her true self. Garrett was the perfect person to balance her out as he understands her on a level others couldn't. As always, I can't wait to see the direction Grace takes the series next!