Unforgiven by Elizabeth Finn

Arc provided by author in exchange for an honest review

5 of of 5 Tearful Stars

Unforgiven is one of the most emotionally driven, gut wrenching stories that I have ever read.    It is a tale of pure anger, raw hatred, sheer guilt and unconditional love. 

One night of fun changed the entire course Bailey Trent’s life. In a single moment, she has lost friendships, severed relationships, suffered unimaginable losses, destroyed families and broken hearts.  Her life, which once held a bright and promising future, is now consumed by grief, sorrow and hopelessness.  One mistake cost Bailey Darren Cory, a boy she adored for years.  And in that one moment, Darren’s feelings of love for Bailey turned to utter hatred.  I can’t go into details as to what destroyed their lives. I won’t spoil how the plot unfolds. The beauty in reading Elizabeth Finn’s masterful tale of two broken hearts lies in the journey from the revelation of Bailey’s transgressions, to placing the broken pieces of their lives back together.

Unforgiven has an interesting story line.  Following the point of views of both Darren and Bailey from their pasts to there present day life.  Each flash back explains the events in their current lives. 

Their Past - Dare and Bay’s relationship is filled with true love and friendship.  Having difficulty expressing their feelings, they play a WORDS game to voice what's in their hearts.  Bay loved Dare for as long as she can remember.  Dare does have feelings for Bay, but is so afraid of ruining their friendship. They are cute together, happy and fun loving …yet, can these two be destined to share a life together?

Present Day 

We are first introduced to Bailey as she tries to rebuild her life.  She lives a lonely and miserable existence in a small town with only her mom and her best friend by her side. All others loathe her.  At one point I wanted to scream…GET OUT, LEAVE, and MOVE ON.  But, I believe Bailey needed to stay in order for her to heal…. to atone for her sins and to deal with her guilt.  With out closure, there is no future for Bailey.  My heart goes out to her, Bailey’s actions were purely accidental and were not done out of malicious intent.  Her story made me teary. 

"I hate you, I really and truly hate you....
But...I still...Stay.
Convince me not to hate you because...
because hating you is the end of me."

Darren is a cruel, hateful person, but has a legitimate reason.  From where he stands, Bailey’s heinous actions were responsible for all his bitterness and changing the entire landscape of his life.  Darren's character reminds me of “two-face”.  On one side, he abhors Bailey and takes every opportunity to make his feelings clear.  On the other, he can’t let go of his love for her, begs her to stay just when she found enough courage to pick put and move on to start her life some where else.  Bailey is the key to freeing his pain.  But he just can’t figure out how to let her in.  Darren’s conflicts nearly tear him apart, taking Bailey with him.  Her presence is a reminder that he is capable of love and not solely driven by venom.  

But, UGH!  I wanted to smack him with my kindle for most of the book!  He was the most infuriating character. 

In between all the angst and conflicts are some of the most erotic loves scenes I’ve ever read.  Darren, you are so masterful and very talented with your fingers, dude.  And oh…I’ll never, never, ever look at my electric toothbrush the same way again ;)

"Incredible...Stunning...Intelligent. Sweet. Loving...Arousing. Consuming. Exceptional...Forgiving"

"Can I tell you a story? About a little girl who had a crush on a boy once - a very, very special boy.
 ...But that little girl made a mistake - the most unforgivable mistake and she destroyed the
only man she'd ever loved and had ever wanted to love."

"You will always be my world"

I truly enjoyed this story and seeing how these two broken souls try to find their way back to each, other as friends and as lovers.  Darren and Bailey move on from the past and learn to forgive one another in hopes of finding a future together.  Reading their story touched my soul.  This book is a definite MUST READ!

Worth the Fight by Vi Keeland

4.5 out of 5 TKO stars

ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review.

Elle James, a lawyer, is stuck in a dead end relationship with William Harper. William, a good friend she met during her college days, is also a lawyer. Somewhere along the line, their friendship became sexual, but lacked sparks and fireworks.  Feeling trapped, Elle's life has become so routine, and her “sex-once-a-week” booty calls with William are no longer satisfying. Regardless of how mundane Elle’s life is now, it is prefect in comparison to her past.  Surviving an abusive childhood has left Elle troubled and scarred.  In order to endure the horrors, Elle is guarded and keeps her secrets locked up tight.  Nonetheless, she will continue to coast through her life on autopilot, suffocating…but always hoping for the circumstances in her “perfect” life force a change.

Elle

“I’m a character in my story, going through the chapters of my life as if it was written by an imaginary person, when I should be the author.”

What change does troubled girl like Elle need to spice up her life?  I’d say meeting a hot MMA fighter named Nico  “The Lady Killer” Hunter would due.  Enter Nico, a new client and a hot as hell, sex-on-legs, tattooed hard body. YUM.  One look at him seems to wake Elle up from her perpetual slumber.  He is drop dead gorgeous, possessive and total Alpha.

Nico:

"...I want you to give yourself to me.  I want you, Elle. All of you."

     

 “Sexy, Sensual. Rough.  All man.” 

The sexual energy between these two is off the charts.  I fell in love with Nico’s character immediately.  He is as gentle, loving and vulnerable as he is rugged. Got to love a dirty talking growler who thanks a girl after each wham-bam ;)

"...I want my smell on you. In you. So that the whole God damn world knows you're mine."

Nico, like Elle, has a barely survived a tormented past. He is a broken man who feels culpable for a situation which was totally out of his control.  Struggling to work past the anguish of his last fighting match, Nico is training (psychically and mentally) to once again enter the ring.  But, tensions are running too high and Nico can not seem to work through the catastrophic events which altered his life forever.  Instead, he emotionally shuts down from his family, friends and his relationship with Elle becomes strained and eventually crumbles. 

“Elle, run while you have the chance.  You can’t fix me.  I’m not some project for you to take on like charity. You’re better off with someone who is more like you.”

Discovering she is deeply in love with Nico, Elle fights her own demons and realizes the only way to get him back is if she shares her dark secrets, tearing down the walls she built to protect herself.  Revealing her painful past with Nico would make him realize they have so much in common.  Opening her self up is the only way their relationship can survive.  And when those walls come down, they free themselves of guilt and pain, and a whole new life lays ahead of them - one filled with happiness and joy.

“...I made peace with it, Babe.  And you gave that to me.  I only wish there was something I could give you back that meant as much as what you did for me.  But there isn’t one thing big enough to call it even.  So if you’ll have me, I want to spend the next fifty or sixty years trying to repay you…saying thank you every day.  Because you, lady, are all I need.”

“When we met, we were two injured souls.  Both keeping the real out of our lives for fear of what we might find.  But nothing could have kept us apart.  I never believed in destiny...Until I met you.  You’re it for me, Babe.  I didn’t even know I was missing something until I found you, but now I don’t know how I got through a day without what you’ve given me.  You’re my soul mate…  You’ve filled all the cracks in my heart and made me better.  I never thought I’d say this after what I went through, but I’m the luckiest bastard on this earth.”

Vi Keeland writings me laugh, scream and cry while experiencing the love story of Nico and Elle.  I truly enjoyed reading this story from alternating POV’s. Worth the Fight is definitely worth the read.