Review: great start to a new series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2013
Brynn has suffered abuse from her husband Carl for five long years, so that her sister would be fed and safe. Bryn and her sister grew up poor with a mother who spent all her money on alcohol instead of food. So when Brynn met Carl and he started to take care of Marie Brynn's sister and Brynn, she thought she was in love and agreed to marry Carl and leave. After a particular bad beating Carl comes home with jewelry for Bryn and she knows this is her ticket out.Frightened but determined Brynn leave and takes her sister with her. Now on the run Bryn knows she has to get as far away from Carl as possible and New York sounds like the right place. When Bryn and Marie land in New York they make their way to a woman's shelter and finally it looks like Brynn and Marie's life is not only looking up but falling into place. When Brynn and Marie visit a restaurant she see's a man that she find very attractive but when he gives her his number she knows that she isn't ready for any man. So when she see's him again and she embarrasses herself she knows her decision is correct and that she needs to focus on her and Marie's life.When the shelter offers Brynn a job at the restaurant she saw the hot green eyed man she almost turns down the job but instead accepts. Now Brynn see's Blaze all the time he works as a firefighter just down the street, the more she see's him the closer they grow. Till Brynn agrees to a date. It become obvious fast that Brynn's feelings for Blaze are growing stronger the more time they spend together  and Blaze makes it known that he cares a great deal for Brynn and Marie. As Brynn's new life moves forward Brynn's ex husband makes it known that he won't go away easily and that he will never forgive Brynn for leaving. With Brynn and Blaze falling in love Brynn has to trust Blaze to not only love but to help keep her safe.This was a really good story, the beginning of the book was very powerful and accurate. We see what Brynn lives through with Carl not only the physical abuse but the mental abuse and we see how powerless Brynn feels. Shannon doesn't gloss over the ugly and that is part of what made this story so good. We also get to see the struggles Brynn faces learning to love and trust herself and to believe that she is worthy of love while second guessing not only what Carl told her but what her friends, Marie and Blaze tell her now. Blaze was an amazing hero, he loved Brynn with a passion but also knew he had to handle her with care because of her past.Not only did Shannon Callahan spend time developing Blaze and Brynn's characters but she put as much time into Marie which really showed in this book. I love that we get an epilogue(ahh an author after my own heart), and I love love love that this will be a series with different main characters in each book(see I told you she was after my heart). The writing was good and I'm excited to see how this author grows with her other books. She has me intrigued and wanting to see where this series gowns. So I will definitely be reading the rest of this series. Book two will be about Lana who is very briefly mentioned in the book but is in the epilogue, and book three will be about Marie, Brynn's sister(I'm interested in seeing if Marie is still with the guy she ends up with at the end of this book). I really hope Terry gets his own book, he really has me curious and I wanting his story.