Quick review for a quick read. Dude, I haven't felt so completely conflicted after reading a book in a long while, as far as emotions are concerned. I don't think this book started off on the strongest note, but it had its moments which carried it forward, so it kept me reading. This is one of those stories where I absolutely hated the characters, but I ended up liking the story. (Figure that out.)

Gilly is a woman who's not exactly a model for self-control. She's very flawed - put at her wits end with patience in a life that she should otherwise be thankful for (according to her). Her screaming kids who don't give her a moment's worth of quiet, her husband who seems to be away too much - she longs for having moments to herself and to just get away from it.

In a twist of fate, things get complicated really quickly when a man holds her at knifepoint with her kids in the car. Now this scenario could've gone many, many ways, but Gilly's able to get her kids out of the car and she ends up having a chance to escape. But she doesn't. And I'm like "Woman, what are you doing? Go!" (Which is a very palpable, understandable reaction if this were the kind of story where you're following someone who is in a race for your life/survival situation.)

This is not that kind of story, however. I think it's actually far more messed up than that, considering Gilly doesn't get away from her captor the very moment she has the opportunity. On one hand, she almost welcomes her quieter state of captivity (like WTF?) and yet at the same time she genuinely wants to go back to her family - but it's all twisted up in her head. That's how you know that the two of these characters are more alike than one would think - and that's something that's established from almost the get go. What happens is a steady steamroll of two character studies that feel genuine but at the same time off-putting. Gilly's life expansion is something of a deterioration based on her relationship with her family and her own insecurities. Todd, her captor, is a desperate man who somehow felt he would do one last thing to keep himself from going to prison, but ended up screwing himself over after a series of one tragic events after another in his life. I'll admit there were moments I felt for Todd given what happened to his family and his time in the foster system and his genuine lack of any reliable feminine figures in his life. So he has this confliction of holding on to Gilly because she represents something that pulls him but repels him at the same time.

The scary thing to me is that I could actually see some things that occur in this book happen in real life. It's not a romance - far from it. It's a twisted tale, and I think I realized just how much given the 0-60 the story takes as it marches towards the end. There are lighter moments in the book between the interactions of the characters, but they're tentative and fleeting. I thought the first twist towards the end involving Gilly was brilliant, because it made sense and I wasn't expecting it at all. (Though given the signs, I should've known. I keep wracking my brain like "Rose, you should've seen that coming, the signs were THERE, for crying out loud." Nope, I didn't.) Second twist, to me wasn't that great and I felt like it was undermining given Todd's situation (like his life wasn't already messed up as it was, plus the reveal just felt like it came out of almost nowhere and contrary to something that was presented as fact in the story.).

Third twist just turned this book into morbidly dark territory for all it was worth. I think the "Precious and Fragile Things" that are referenced in the title might be the fragile hold these characters had onto so many aspects of their life and psyche.

This was a good book - didn't like the characters but really appreciated the story. At the same time it was hard to read - some parts in good ways but others I think the execution could've been a bit better.

 

P.S. I blame this book for getting "Precious" by Depeche Mode stuck in my head.  It fits better than one would think.

Overall score: 4/5 stars.

Opening Line: "This was the life she'd made."

 

I am rapidly reaching the point with Megan Hart that if she were to write a phone book I’m pretty sure I would read it because she’s just that good at making words beautiful. She also manages to put those words into exactly the emotions and private thoughts I assumed I was alone in having while weaving and layering together an achingly thoughtful story. And here with Precious And Fragile Things I’ve learned that she can hold my attention without the erotica too. Because this was so not erotic, it wasn’t even in any way a romance, in fact it was kind of disturbing. Yet in the end I would have to say that it was also amazing, because its lingered with me for days now.

 

 I’ve never read anything like this before, (which I seem to say with each of Hart’s books) 99% of this takes place within a secluded, snowed in, mountain cabin and its here within those 4 walls, in a simple character study that we watch two very different yet equally damaged souls bounce off each other. By all rights this should have been boring and tedious read yet because of Hart’s gifts as a writer I was left utterly entranced.

 

Gilly Solomon is exhausted. Mentally and physically burnt out from the endless cycle of looking after her house, her husband, and her two young children. All she dreams about is a couple of hour’s peace, a break from the constant crying children, menial tasks, and endless demands to her time, someone to look after her for a change. Gilly’s at a breaking point the night a man jumps into her Suburban, holds a knife to her throat and tells her to drive. She isn’t thinking clearly when she manages to get the children out and she’s definitely lost it when they stop for gas and Gilly doesn’t run….

 

 

Now she’s stranded in a remote cabin with a dangerous knife wielding stranger who can’t release her because he fears going back to prison and she’s only got herself to blame. Time however forges a bond of sorts between the captor and the captive and as the snow piles up around them and the days turn into months she learns that her kidnapper -Todd is not the lunatic she first believed. He’s but a man shaped by his horrific past much in the same way Gilly is.

 

 

The tension throughout this is palpable by the end though the suspense was killing me because I had absolutely no idea how this was going to play out, and I knew there couldn’t really be any kind of conventional HEA. All I will say about “that” is I was VERY surprised by what did happen and my only disappointment in this book lies here as well, as I would have liked more details on the …afterwards. Cheers people.

 

 

Precious and Fragile Things - Megan Hart Have you ever wished for a break from it all; the kids, the dog, the husband, and day to day tasks that if you don't do them they wouldn't get done? I know I certainly have. Between the errands, the whining, the bickering and the husband who disregards her opinions and never listens to her or even makes the attempt to understand her, Gilly finds herself carjacked and kidnapped by a man who doesn't really have much to lose or really live for. Trapped in a cabin during a brutal winter Gilly refuses to back down from her desire to reunite with her family who she grows to appreciate, even with their annoying nuances.


The author surprisingly had me feeling sorry for Todd with his background. I was shocked at the ending even though I knew it had to happen; the romantic in me wanted their journey to go down another path. There was no sex in this book which was the first for this author for me-- usually her books are HAWT!, but even though it was not what I was expecting, I'd still recommend it. I feel like I need to clarify that this is a love story. Todd does fall in love with Gilly and although she does end up caring for him, this book captures the ultimate love between a mom and her children.


The reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was I would have liked to see snippets of Seth and Gilly's kids at home intermixed in the chapters. Did they miss her (of course they did)? What about the reuniting? It is summarized nicely with an epilogue, but of course that's months following her disappearance.

Ya' know, I don't know what I think about this book. I will def. read more by this author, yet, I almost think this book can be shorter than what it is. I must also say that I feel sorry for the kidnapper in this book that had he had the chance to do it over again, he would have selected a less whiney and bitchy victim. I really did not like the main character in this book...AT ALL!

Despite the ignorant and/or stubborn booksellers that continue to place Precious and Fragile Things in the romance section, to the frustration of Megan Hart and her many fans, this is NOT a romance. Instead, this is one of my favorite erotic romance author’s first forays into general fiction.

Right out the gate, it becomes clear that Gilly is a woman on the edge. She’s running errands with her 2 young children in the backseat and her inner dialogue is hilarious. What she says to her children and what she wants to say to her children are vastly different. At home, she has a husband, Seth, who loves and desires her, but he doesn’t help enough with their children and he keeps Gilly on an extremely tight budget. And maybe that frustration is why sex with her husband, lately, has felt more like a chore. For Gilly, there’s no greater pleasure than a few solitary evening hours in her home, when her family is asleep.

After Gilly ushers her children to safety in the midst of a carjacking, but later remains in the car, even after her abductor, Todd, has clearly given her an opportunity to escape, you know you’ve never read about a woman quite like Gilly :) She is confident that someone will eventually come and rescue her, so she enjoys the quiet in the secluded hunting cabin with Todd. The sleeping in. The not taking care of kids & husband. Todd is even cooking for her. Taking care of her….They are playing board games…Todd wants Gilly to like him…and slowly, they begin to share information about their respective lives. It’s a nice change of pace, despite the fact that he’s dangerous and unpredictable and took her at knife point…

Once Gilly begins to miss her family and realizes that Todd has no intention of ever releasing her, she realizes the gravity of her mistake. Despite the ups and downs of Gilly and Todd – the hurting…and the being nice – going both ways, a tension remains because Todd wants her to stay, and Gilly wants to leave.

I found myself rooting for a good outcome for everyone. Especially after learning about Todd’s horrific, tragic upbringing. Another GR review gave an obvious hint, and sadly, that took away some of the impact of the “reveal” when I read this, so I will just conclude by saying this was a moving story I won’t soon forget. I will gladly follow author Megan Hart for any future general fiction releases.