Review: On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

 

5 Stars!!!

WOW. SO DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!!! Beautiful, real and moving.

It’s been a long while since I finished a book the same day I started it, but I did with this. I couldn’t put On the Island down! Even though I was meant to be doing work at home, this past weekend. I was THAT hooked!!

 

 

Sometime last year, I saw many 5-Star reviews for this book, and I added it, just waiting for the right time for when I was in the mood for a Blue Lagoon type of story.

I have to admit, though, I felt a little bit concerned about how I would feel about the huge age difference between the characters, which caused me quite a bit of discomfort, before I started, as I try my best not to discriminate. I shouldn’t have worried, though - or doubted my Goodreads friends who loved this - as author Tracey Garvis-Graves does an excellent job of building and unfolding this touchingly beautiful story of a 30-year old teacher and summer tutor, Anna Emerson, and 16-year old cancer survivor, T.J. Callahan, who become stranded on a deserted, uninhabited Maldivian island when their seaplane crashes.

Anna and T.J. are stuck on the island for quite a few years and they go through many harrowing hardships, together, and quite a few seriously life-threatening ones. As they both fight for survival, battling hunger, thirst, the elements, boredom, missing their families, predators and disease, they form an understandably close bond.

As T.J. turns from boy to man, through trusting each other with their lives, hopes and dreams, relying on each other, mutual respect and affection, and feeling as if they would spend the rest of their lives alone on that island, their relationship eventually develops to another level. They realise how they wouldn’t have survived if not for having the other and how happy they make each other.

A debut novel? No way! This was WONDERFUL! Ms Garvis-Graves draws the reader in and doesn’t let go. The alternating first person point-of-views gives the reader valuable insights into, and a strong sense of connection to, both characters as one is transported onto the island with them. The incorporation of certain global events also made the story feel more grounded in reality and my heart broke again recalling that particular moment in time.

On the Island began as a self-published ebook and Ms Garvis-Graves has now sold the foreign rights to it to more than 20 countries. I understand the movie rights to it have also been sold. Very excited for the movie and I hope the makers do it justice!

I loved both Anna and T.J. Both of them, for their tenacity and determination. Anna, for her understanding and care for T.J.; how she treated him as an equal and not a child. T.J., for his maturity, strength, pragmatism, honesty and just his utter sweetness. Having battled death a number of times, T.J. knew what he wanted, and he wanted Anna. What starts as a boy’s crush and friendship turns into so much more, over the years, and while Anna battles to do right by T.J., she is surprised by how this young man makes her feel valued, wanted and respected as a woman as she never has before.

On the Island is such a beautiful love story, which would never have developed under different circumstances. But how would the real world treat their love and how would it survive off the island?

Okay, there were a few things that seemed just TOO convenient, like Anna’s suitcase, with quite a bit of soap and shampoo supplies, a first aid kit, etc. washing up on shore from the plane wreckage. Of course, it could also be realistic, depending on the current patterns around that island. Considering how much of the things from the plane wreck did wash back up on the island, I’ll go with that scientific explanation! Yes, I’m showing my geekiness and also my willingness to suspend disbelief. LOL Considering all the traumatic things that Anna and T.J. go through, I was very happy for all the things that washed up to make the primitive life on the island just that little bit easier for them and assisted in their survival. :-)

I learnt what an "atoll" is - a coral island (or islands) that encircles a lagoon partially or completely - and how Maldives has many of them.

Malhosmadulhu Atoll seen from space. 

"Fasdutere" and Southern Maalhosmadulhu Atoll can be seen in this picture.

So beautiful!

The epilogue brought tears to my eyes and I had a big grin on my face, in the end. This is definitely a keeper.

I LOVED IT!

I happened to hear this song the very next day after reading this, entitled Moments, written by the very talented Ed Sheeran, and sung by One Direction. It’s become T.J.’s song to Anna for me. :-)

Moments:

One of my favourite quotes:

‘Anna:
In February, I woke up from a nap. A bouquet of flowers gathered from the various bushes and shrubs scattered around the island lay on the blanket beside me, a small length of rope wound around their stems.
I found T.J. down at the shore. “Someone’s been checking the calendar.”
He grinned. “I didn’t want to miss Valentine’s Day.”
I kissed him. “You’re sweet to me.”
Pulling me closer, he said, “It’s not hard, Anna.”
I stared into T.J.’s eyes, and he started to sway. My arms went around his neck and we danced, moving in a circle, the sand soft and warm under our feet.
“You don’t need music, do you?”
“No,” T.J. said. “But I do need you.”’

 

Review: The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred


4.5 out of 5 Stars

(Image from http://home.howstuffworks.com/sweet-gum-tree.htm.)

“Growing up in the Crowley Ridge area of Arkansas, I paid little attention to the sweet gum trees except to admire their brilliant colors during the fall. And maybe to laugh when the Judge cursed each time he ran the lawn mower over the hard burs they produce, the tiny missiles banging against the house or car with a loud thunk and denting the lawn mower blades he kept so carefully honed.

It wasn’t until I was a grown woman that I realized the true nature of the tree. A sweet gum tree is the chameleon of wood, its corky exterior hiding its inner ability to imitate anything from cherry to mahogany. But its real value, one unrealized by most people, is its deep red heart, steady and strong. They see only the pale fibrous wood, easily warped, that surrounds the core.

Like the town of Morganville saw Nick Anderson…”

You know when you are just in the mood for something emotional, heart-aching and angsty? No? Oh, maybe that’s just me, then! Haha! Well, I get in those moods, and am definitely in one, now, which is what made me decide to pick this one up.

The Sweet Gum Tree was a gripping, sweet and heart-breaking story by Katherine Allred, with a well-developed cast of realistic characters set in a small town in Arkansas.

I loved the symbolism of the sweet gum tree in this love story between Alix French and Nick Anderson, which could definitely be considered “epic”. I loved both these characters, though there were moments they both exasperated me and made my heart just ache.

The story began when Alix was 8-years old and Nick was 10. Feisty Alix decided she was going to “save” outcast Nick, son of the drunken salvage yard owner. She invited him to the church picnic and lent him her treasured Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books, not realising it would spark a chain of events that would lead them through decades of love and pain.

Alix and Nick’s love story had moments of the brilliance of the heart-warming autumn leaves of the sweet gum tree, but it also bore the prickly, wintry burs of the hurts they caused each other.

( I title this "The Burs of Winter". Photo taken on 28 August 2012.)

Through the weathering of the seasons of Life, at the core, though, Alix and Nick's love stayed strong, and they managed to forgive each other. I was thrilled when they finally got their happily-ever-after.

The reason it was not quite 5-Stars for me, though, was my frustration at the assumptions and misunderstandings that abounded. I, as the reader, could see things a mile away, and it vexed me, somewhat, that the characters couldn’t. Though, you know the saying of being too close to something? It made sense for these characters to behave and react the way they did; it’s just that due to certain things in my own life, right now, the characters’ actions quite upset me.

Also, there were times when the emotional roller-coaster almost bordered on the melodramatic, for me. There's a fine line, sometimes, between a truly emotive story and a melodramatic one, and it can depend on our mood at the time how we feel about something. This was just an "almost" for me. For the most part, it was absorbing and truly poignant and emotional journey.

Despite that, I certainly couldn’t put this down and Alix and Nick’s epic story will certainly stay with me.

"He always was someone. Because the core of the sweet gum tree never changes. Like Nick, the deep red wood stays true to its nature. Strong, and steady, and pure."

Recommended.

My friend Wendy had a perfect and delicious image of Nick in her review. *sighs* Oh, Nick, Nick, Nick... I adored Nick!

Link to Wendy's review here.


COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: I do not hold the copyright to the images used in this review, except the one that bears my copyright mark under "Jayne Michellane". The images are posted to add visuals to the review and for fun. If any of these images are yours and you would like me to remove them, please let me know, and I will do so as soon as possible. If I can identify the copyright, I will do so.



View all my reviews

REVIEW: Rainshadow Road (#2 Friday Harbor Series) by Lisa Kleypas

4-4.5 Stars

WARNING: "Thesis" ahead! LOL

‘“Do you think it will make good wine?”

“Probably not,” he said, and laughed.

“Then why have you gone to so much trouble?”

“Because you never know. The grapes might turn out to reveal some attributes of the wine that you never expected. Something that expresses this place more perfectly than anything you could have planned. You have to…”

As Sam paused, searching for the right phrase, Lucy said softly, “You have to take a leap of faith.”

Sam gave her an arrested glance. “Yes.”

Lucy understood all too well. There were times in life when you had to take a risk that might end in failure. Because otherwise you would be haunted by what you hadn’t done…the paths you hadn’t taken, the things you hadn’t experienced.’”

Leap of Faith…

Lisa Kleypas is one of my favourite Romance authors. Her writing is lyrical and full of detail and imagery. After writing Historical Romance novels for over 20 decades, she took a leap of faith when she wrote Sugar Daddy, her first contemporary novel.

Sugar Daddy wasn’t what I expected of Ms Kleypas and it didn’t completely work for me, as I felt that in her search for an authentic contemporary voice, she ended up sacrificing the romance for the story of a woman’s journey, and it became more Chick-Lit. That being said, there were some absolutely beautiful quotes in it and I loved the characters, and I appreciated it more on second read. Ms Kleypas then went on to write two books in the Travis series that I LOVE SO MUCH (Blue-Eyed Devil and Smooth Talking Stranger) and she became more comfortable in her contemporary voice. Through the Travis series, she gave me so many amazing quotes and she gave me Hardy Cates, and Jack and Gage Travis – such strong, sexy, unashamedly masculine characters… who are on my book boyfriend list! Booyah! ^_^

With the Friday Harbor contemporary series, Lisa Kleypas is taking another leap of faith - into Magical Realism. It is very different from the Travis series and is more along the flavour of Emily March's Eternity Springs series, though not exactly.

The introductory novella to this series, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor, left me feeling all warm and fuzzy and thinking of savouring homemade cookies as I enjoyed gazing at a rainbow over the Friday Harbor. It was a magical novella, even though there was no overt “magic” in it, but was sprinkled with the magic of Christmastime, imagination, hope and love, set against the backdrop of the beautiful and magical setting of the San Juan Islands, Washington.

Rainshadow Road…

In Rainshadow Road, the magical elements are more obvious. Lisa Kleypas sets the scene with these opening paragraphs:

“When Lucy Marinn was seven years old, three things happened: Her little sister Alice got sick, she was assigned her first science project, and she found out that magic existed. More specifically, that she had the power to create magic. And for the rest of her life, Lucy would be aware that the distance between ordinary and extraordinary was only a step, a breath, a heartbeat away.

But this was not the kind of knowledge that made one bold or daring. At least not in Lucy’s case. It made her cautious. Secretive. Because the revelation of magical ability, particularly one that you had no control over, meant you were different. And even a child of seven understood that you didn’t want to find yourself on the wrong side of the dividing line between different and normal. You wanted to belong. The problem was, no matter how well you kept your secret, the very fact of having one was enough to separate you from everyone else.”

The dysfunctional family…

Lucy’s sister’s illness set the Marinn family along a dysfunctional course with their parents letting Alice have whatever she wanted, while piling responsibility and expectations on Lucy, and leaving her feeling insecure regarding love.

While Alice was in hospital, Lucy was watched over by a neighbour, and admiring the neighbour’s glass ornament set Lucy along the path of deciding to be a glass-maker. There, began, her fascination with glass and discovering she had a magical gift of turning glass into something living, like fireflies or butterflies, when she was feeling strong emotions.

I think it’s great that Lisa Kleypas wants to push her boundaries, try new paths and expand herself as a writer. It’s an admirable trait. But has her leap of faith into Magical Realism succeeded? What did the magic add to the story?

The Magical Realism…

I pondered this book and ruminated on my review, for a while, as I had mixed feelings when I finished it, and ended up re-reading Rainshadow Road. Like Sugar Daddy, I’ve come to appreciate it more on second read, and after initially considering rating it 4-Stars, I’m thinking it's maybe more of a 4.5 Stars read, for me.
So what did the magical moments add to the story? This was a question I had in the fore of my thoughts as I re-read it. As a result, I began to notice that the moments when Lucy’s magic manifested itself was when she was feeling particularly strong emotions, and the thing that the glass would transform into were symbolic, and meant to help Lucy to see something see needed to in that moment. Like the fireflies that symbolised an unassuming insect becoming beautiful, light in the darkness, or the butterfly that symbolises change or a new phase. It gave Lucy a focus or insight in those moments, to channel her emotions into something transformative.

These were my thoughts on second read, but this is what Lisa Kleypas had to say in an interview on this book, that I read, recently:

'For me, magical realism allows the heroine to have revelatory insight. It underscores emotions that are already present, and signals her transition to new directions.

To me, it's more that Lucy has repressed her negative emotions since childhood, because her parents constantly emphasized that it was wrong to feel resentful, jealous, or envious. She gives those feelings expression through art and through the magical quality of the art. We all know that being able to express deep emotion can literally save a person's life, and suppressing emotion can kill you both spiritually and physically. That's where the magic comes in: once expressed, Lucy's emotions becomes visible, a part of the material world.

Isn't that beautiful? It's unfortunate, though, that it wasn't so evident or meaningful to me, at first, and I think many readers have questioned what the magic added. There have been mixed reviews on this one.

But there is more to what the "magic" added...

Lucy and Sam…

When Lucy’s boyfriend, Kevin, dumps Lucy for her sister Alice, Lucy feels Alice has taken away something else from her and has finally crossed a line. This story explores Lucy’s reaction to this event, and it sets a change in motion to the Marinn family dynamics. But it is also this event that brings Lucy into Sam Nolan’s world.

Sam, who also came from a dysfunctional family, of two alcoholic parents, is a fascinating mix of rugged good looks, and hot geekiness. He has a penchant for funny geeky T-shirts which make for some entertainment.

Lucy’s magic, which made her feel set apart from others, was an aspect that connected her to the gorgeous Sam Nolan, a vineyard owner and winemaker with a special talent all his own. Sam was the first person Lucy ever shared her secret with, and vice versa. This shared belief in magic allowed Sam to finally believe in the magic of love.

Because of his family history, Sam doesn’t believe in love and long-term relationships, but he does believe in casual relationships prefaced by honesty to the woman that this is all he could offer. And this is all Lucy wants after what Kevin and Alice did to her. That is, until Lucy and Sam connect on so many more levels than either thought possible. They must both learn to take a leap of faith: Lucy, to trust someone to love her, and Sam, to trust himself enough to love someone.

The Romance…

Lucy and Sam’s banter was wonderful and the progression of their relationship from friends, to casual lovers, to more, was realistic. But I’m afraid to say that while I really enjoyed Rainshadow Road, I felt it somehow lacked a little bit in Lisa Kleypas' trademark romantic “magic”, for me, and hence, it was not quite a 5-Star read. I can’t definitively say what the missing ingredient was, just that I felt something was missing.

The Tension…

‘When the plastic was discarded, Sam paused at the sight of a bruise on the side of her knee. He traced the edge of the dark blotch, his touch so light it was nearly imperceptible. His head was bent, so Lucy couldn’t see his expression. But his hands went to the mattress on either side of her hips, his fingers digging into the bedclothes. A deep tremor went through him, desire splintering through restraint.

Lucy didn’t dare say a word. She stared fixedly at the top of his head, the span of his shoulders. Her ears were filled with the echoes of her heartbeat.

His head bent, the light sliding across the dark layers of his hair. The touch of his lips was soft and searing against the bruise, causing her to jerk in surprise. His mouth lingered, drifting to the inside of her thigh. His fingers tightened until he gripped the covers in handfuls.’

*shivers*

Oh, yeah, some great tension here! 

Secondary characters…I don’t want to talk about Alice, Kevin or Lucy’s parents except to say, “Grrrrrr!!!”

I really liked Justine and Zoe, Lucy’s good friends who own the Bed and Breakfast called Artist Point, and Duane and the Hog Heaven bikers. Sam’s bulldog, Renfield, was adorable! It was really great seeing Mark Nolan and Holly again but I felt that when Maggie was in a scene, she didn't feel really present, to me, which made me sad as I loved her with Mark and Holly in Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor so much. I was sad to see Alex’s decline

Renfield

Final thoughts…

The Travis series is grittier and with sexy alpha heroes. The Friday Harbor series is more lyrical with a mixture of magic and realism, and more beta heroes. While I've enjoyed the first two stories in this new series, it hasn't reached the love I have for the Travis series.

That being said, I’m really looking forward to Dream Lake, because tortured Alex Nolan and the curvy and lovely Zoe, and the effects her amazing cooking has on him, has already piqued my interest in this one!

REVIEW: Lover's Leap (#4 Eternity Springs) by Emily March

5 of 5 Stars

This book had one of my favourite quotes quoted in it:

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."

~ Washington Irving

It is no secret that I have fallen under the Eternity Springs’ spell, and WOW, I just loved Lover’s Leap!

I’ve been waiting for Sarah Reese’s story since I “met” her in Angels’ Rest. I had sort of expected Sarah to end up with the handsome Sheriff Zach Turner, even though I realised that it was clear that Sarah wasn’t quite over Cameron Daniel Murphy, the “bad boy” of Eternity Springs, a “no good Murphy”, father of her daughter, Lori, and whom she hasn’t seen since they were both teenagers.

Sarah Reese - Businesswoman, Single Mother, Amazing Baker

Twenty years later, Sarah and Lori have won a two week trip of a lifetime to the AMAZING country of Australia. Am I biased? Why, but, of course! LOL

Unfortunately, as Sarah and Lori were about to head off on their Great Barrier Reef tour, who do they run into on a boat halfway across the world? Well, none other than sexy, green-eyed Cam Murphy!

Cam has beautiful mountain green eyes, which Lori inherited.

Despite the wonderful holiday they had up until that moment, Sarah and Lori flee Australia to return home to Eternity Springs after they shockingly come face-to-face with Cam and his son Devin. Both Sarah and Lori were hurt to see Cam with a son almost Lori’s age.

Cam was equally stunned to see Sarah and Lori, and was wounded that they ran away from him. He decides to return to Eternity Springs, the town that brought him pain and unfair judgment, the town which turned their backs on him when he needed help, because he wanted to right his wrongs and make-up for all the years he missed with Lori. In the process, he realises that he isn’t over Sarah.

I loved seeing Cam and Sarah’s second chance. I didn’t have a high opinion of Cam, before I read this book, for leaving Sarah to raise Lori all alone. I ended up loving Cam, though, and really felt for him as I saw his side of the story. Cam’s demons run deep. I ached for him and Sarah, and was cheering for them to work things out and have their HEA.

As per the previous Eternity Springs books, though, we get a closed door to Cam’s and Sarah’s love scenes. So, I just had to use my imagination with sexy Cam.

Mmmmmm.... ^_^

I also ached for Lori. It was a difficult and emotional situation for all involved. I loved how understanding Devin was about Cam wanting to know Lori.

One thing that I’ve come to realise after reading this book right after Give Me the Slip under the author’s pseudonym of Geralyn Dawson (which is connected to Gabe Callahan of this series), is that this author’s characters can really go for the jugular when they are expressing their anger. It’s something I find difficult to read. In this case, it didn’t come from the hero or heroine, as it has in other books, but from their daughter, Lori. While I understood that Lori was having a really difficult time, her incredibly hurtful words made me cry for Cam… and Sarah. Even in anger, how could Lori say such things to her mother, who had done so much for her? And Cam was really trying hard to make-up for all the lost years… My heart just broke for him for what Lori said and because he had believed he was unworthy of Sarah and Lori.

I loved seeing Nic and Gabe Callahan and their kids and what wonderful friends they were to both Sarah and Cam.

I ADORED Mortimer, the Boston Terrier, and dubbed “The Boston Terrorist”! Of course, if I had a dog like that, who ran amok all over town, I’d probably be pulling my hair out, too. LOL I loved Cam so much for taking Mortimer on!

Mortimer, "The Boston Terrorist"

Awww...Poor Mortimer!

Image credit: Jessica's (bleunoko's) photo of her dog, Rylie,
initially posted on lolcatz.
Awesome photo!

Once again, the magic of Eternity Springs, or more precisely, the beauty of the surrounds of Eternity Springs, some of its amazing citizens (including the four-legged ones), and mostly, the blessed Celeste Blessing, work their healing touch on these broken hearts.

THANK YOU, Emily March, for another moving Eternity Springs story and for another adorable dog character! Mortimer almost stole the show! ^_^

I’m looking forward to Jack Davenport’s story in Nightingale Way, next! I’m also looking forward to Zach Turner’s story, which I hope will be in the near future, as I really loved how he was with Cam and just what a great guy he is. I’m eager/curious/anxious for his HEA.

Credits:
- My Sarah – Carla Gugino
- My Cam – Greg Vaughn

Eternity Springs Reading Order:

1. Angel's Rest - My Review Here
2. Hummingbird Lake - My Review Here
2.5 A Callahan Carol - My Review Here
3. Heartache Falls - My Review Here
3.5 Mistletoe Mine - My Review Here
4. Lover's Leap
5. Nightingale Way - To be released 28 August 2012.

REVIEW: Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley (eBook)

4 of Stars

Sweet Dreams didn’t just have “Moist Factor Five Hundred”, for me, it had the “Turn Around Factor”.

In fact, it even made me feel like I was doing the Twister!

Why do I say this? Weeelll…. I was initially quite drawn into this story DESPITE its editing issues.

Yes, this book has overly long/run-on sentences; under-use of commas and full stops; over-use of parentheses; and some non-linear time lines. If you are a reader who can’t get passed this, then this book is not for you.

Despite noticing all these issues, though, it really didn’t bother me because, as I said, I was drawn into the story. It’s been said before, but I concur: Kristen Ashley is a great storyteller and has great characterisations. Her characters seemed so real. In fact, that is really where my main issue arose (which I’ll explain more later).

The story is written in first person POV of Lauren Grahame, a newly divorced 42-year old woman from middle class suburbia in search of “Nowheresville”. Lauren used to believe in “something special” but her cheating husband changed all that. She no longer expected “special” and wanted to escape into a nothing place, never thinking that Carnal, Colorado, a small biker town, would ever be home or where she would indeed find “special”.

Lauren was an extremely likable and relatable character. She is sweet, caring, gets along with almost anyone, a hard worker, classy, but she's also insecure, and well, can be quite impulsive and reckless.

I want to say THANK YOU to all my Goodreads friends who first encouraged me to read it and also to “Hang in There” with this book! The story was well worth my time despite pushing some very personal buttons.

Now, on to the hard part… What were my personal buttons? Hmm…Well, it was Tate Jackson who pushed them. It is something that upsets me to talk/write/think about, but to fully explain my issue with Tate, I feel I need to share.

I wasn’t just annoyed with Tate. I was MAD at him. The introduction to Tate isn’t the best. Though, that wasn’t even my main issue.

Tate is bossy and controlling. Yes, he’s an alpha male, and maybe at a different point in my life I might have been less upset by this. Recent events, though, made me really angry seeing this behaviour in Tate. My dad has always been the “boss” of the family. But in the last few years he has developed a brain condition that is causing his motor abilities to degenerate, such that a man of only 65 can’t walk without the aid of a walker, and it will just get worse. What really breaks my heart, though, is what I would have formerly seen as just protective behaviour by my dad, has become over-possessive and controlling behaviour. This behaviour has always been there. It is just so much worse now. It is such that my mum can’t even speak to me on the phone without him needing to be present, because he is paranoid she is planning to run away with a young lover. This is not the case. My mum is faithful and does everything for him. He is constantly bossing her around and she isn’t even allowed to sleep with her back to him because then her “body language” is all wrong. I love both my mum and dad and it really breaks my heart. I feel all teary now just thinking about it.

Also, Lauren’s nickname for Tate was “Captain” and my dad was a ship’s captain and everyone calls him that, even mum when she’s talking about him to others.

Anyway, these feelings about my dad is something that’s very difficult for me to deal with, and seeing Tate’s controlling and bossy behaviour (as well as some annoying repetitions in text)…well…I needed to step away from this book, for a bit. I was almost considering "DNF"-ing it.

I decided to re-read an emotional favourite of mine, The Bronze Horseman, because I needed to hurt. I needed to cry, without necessarily thinking about my mum and dad.

After I released some of these emotions, I decided to go back and continue Sweet Dreams and I was completely sucked into the story. I can completely understand now how my GRs friends couldn’t put this one down.

Only several pages in from where I stepped away, I was met with this scene below. It made a big dent in melting my heart.

“And he cradled it, the cat’s lower body resting on his forearm, the cat’s tail gliding across his bicep, the cat’s front paws straddling Tate’s wrist and the cat’s head resting in Tate’s big hand.”

Tell me that an image something like this doesn’t melt your heart, too? Aawwwww..…

Although, Buster looks more like this:

I LOVED Buster! She was a real present character. Being owned by a cat, myself, her behaviours were just soooo adorably cat, to me. ^_^

Back to Tate...In the end, in spite of Tate still being such a jerk, at times – especially, when he’s pissed off or because he is just being his “bossy” self – I ended up loving him. Tate does some very thoughtful and sweet things, in his very Tate way. He doesn’t make my Top heroes list, but as my friend Jill said, he is an “unforgettable hero”.

I like how Lauren argues with him. She doesn’t take it lying down…well, sometimes she does, if you know what I mean . ^_~ *snickers*.

I know that Tate will still do things to frustrate and annoy me – we all have people like that in our lives, and yet we still love them – but he’s a good man and he and Lauren really do bring out the best in each other. I love how he spoiled her, how he made her see what “special” is, and taught her to see herself through his eyes –YOWZA! If only I’d had “treatment” like that for my anorexia and insomnia! *fans self* LOL

See, I’m writing about him like he’s REAL! Kudos to Ms Ashley on characterisation!

Also, there was an amazing and interesting cast of "secondary" characters! Loved Shambles and Sunny, Betty and Ned, Jim-Billy, Wendy, Krystal, Wood, and Laurie's family!

I was kept on the edge of my seat with the suspense elements.

I even enjoyed reading about what Lauren was wearing almost every day; but then again, I like clothes, as does, it seems, Ms Ashley, from what I read in the “About the Author” portion of the book

So, for the “Turn Around Factor”, I’m giving this one 4 Stars.

Tate…He can be such a jerk, but he has his oh-so-sweet moments, and, man, he’s gorgeous!

“He was tall, maybe taller than he seemed in the parking lot or maybe he just seemed bigger in the bar since his shoulders were so broad. But his hips were lean and his legs were long, his thighs obviously powerfully muscled and I could tell that through his jeans. His dark brown hair gleamed even in the dull light of the bar. It was thick and it was clear he washed it and let it fall where it lay for the part was natural and not straight, it was swept back but some fell around his temples and curled a bit around his ears and at the back of his neck. His eyes looked dark. I couldn’t tell the color but there were sun lines emanating from the sides that were attractive. His brow was heavy; his nose wasn’t perfect but it was straight with a slight bump at the top of the bridge that made it interesting; his cheekbones were cut and his jaw was strong. His skin was tanned in a way where I knew he didn’t get that color lounging by the pool and he was wearing faded jeans, black motorcycle boots and a heathered-gray-blue, long-sleeved, skintight, thermal Henley.

He was beautiful.”

Tate looks HOT in a Henley....

....And without one. ^_^

He's a badass biker and bounty hunter...

...And he's a yummy playmate in the pool