Review: 5 stars for the first part, 3 for the second
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2013
Nick and Holly have been friends since college, but they can't be so close anymore because Nick's girlfriend - and later wife - can't stand Holly.Holly works in PR and he's living dangerously. Since his last relationship finished for the delight of gossip, he's entered a downward destructive spiral. Nick, who took care of Holly when they were at college, follows him from afar, but he can't stand watching Holly's destructive behavior. He flies to L.A., keeping it a secret from his wife, and takes Holly back to New York with him, helping him build his life again. When Holly is finally on his feet, Nick has to face the end of his own life in every aspect and Holly is the one who has to rescue him.The book was PERFECT until the 60% of it, that is until the tables were turned. Up to that moment the authors built anticipation, uncovered the demons of their protagonists, suggested a co-dependency that skirted the dominance/submission territory. It was all very subtle and mind blowing. Then there was Nick's crisis and two things happened: First, I had the impression the two halves of the story were told with less heart and in a more stylistic way, the similarities between Holly's earlier predicament and Nick's present situations were too symmetrical, even in their differences, because Holly had to fight addiction while Nick had to fight a sort of apathy. Second, the dominance/submission element becomes more apparent, it's spelled out, and suddenly it's the most important dynamics in their relationship. So, when at the beginning Holly kneeling and kissing Nick's feet, while asking for forgiveness for his bad decisions, was hot and shocking in a good way, later it became almost void of strength, because it missed the initial urgency.Also I couldn't understand why Nick decided to marry his bitchy wife. He clearly tells that he consciously made this decision, and to me it's the decision of a weak man, not of a dominant personality. All the relationship with his wife smelled wrong, she was the one dictating the rules of their relationship, he accepted to let Holly go. It's true that he later did anything to help Holly, but keeping it hidden from his wife was another sign of weakness. It was Caroline, the wife, who prompted him to change his life and refocus. What I wanted to see was Nick going to Caroline and tell her he was choosing Holly for once, because it was the decent thing to do. Bottom line: I didn't like Nick so much, and I didn't believe his strength.It's one of the most believable friends-to-lovers story, it was built on great premises, but the great tension wasn't kept high till the end of the book. It's 5 stars for the first part and 3 for the second part, so it's 4 stars overall. Recommended though, it's a beautiful story.