Life is strangely unpredictable, you never know where a day could bring you, I am aware of it, came to expect it after a while. But to think there will come a day where I would feel gooey over a fictional Neanderthal, would be a far stretch even for me. Yet here we are...

5 stars for originality.
5 stars for execution.
5 stars for the emotional impact.
5 stars for the sheer joy I got from reading it.
5 stars to Yasmine....because of reasons. (she knows them)

Hell I'll toss enough stars in there to light up the sky, this is how I feel at the moment.

Ehd, I just simply call him Eddie, and he is an Eddie, the sweetheart. He is just so lovable, and I thank the author for that. His thoughts were simple, honest, pure, and most of all believable. His loneliness was touching, heartbreaking even in his simple desire to belong to a group of people again. Everybody can relate to that, and I have to admit that I thought of the bravery needed to face ever day alone, not knowing will he ever meet another soul. When he finally did, the sheer fierce determination to never lose her was staggering.

Ok, there weren't any swords, there weren't any massive fires, i might have embellished slightly(a lot), so sue me! There were moments in this book where the sheer TRUE manliness of Eddie would send all the usual 'Alpha Males' running back to their mommas.

The writing was so effortless and gripping, that it took me over 50% of the novel before I've even thought about why Beth was truly there. I was simply that immersed in the story from page one. When I did, though, i had a feeling of such foreboding, thinking this couldn't possibly end well. The story was too sweet and promising, and i just don't know how i would feel if there was some sort of tragedy in the end. It was so easy for me to connect with the characters that I could already see myself sobbing like an infant, snot flying everywhere if one of them died or left unexpectedly.

We are all very happy it didn't happen...trust me. :D

I don't know what i expected, but that ending seemed to be what true love is all about. Their dedication, their family, their time spent together, just left me with a feeling of warmth and contentment.

A lot of authors seem to waste a helluva lot of time, trying to make their characters seem fluent, natural and relaxed. They try so hard it translates to the pages, you can see the effort, that comes from somebody trying to anticipate what people would like to hear, instead of doing what feels right. And this, all of this just felt right.

This novel makes the top five in 2014, and I am glad it's December so there is a full year of reading material behind me, so when i say it's one of the best, it really means something.

It sat on my TBR for ages, and i must admit, I forgot about it. So if you are like me, shift your ass and read this. You won't regret it.

I am done! Done, done, done with this novel. I am hugely disappointed with Hoover.

THIS IS NOT OK!

I hate when authors use other people's illness to build up their main character. It's wrong on so many levels, it's completely disrespectful and insulting. Hoover inadvertently says it's ok to lie to people if they are sick, it's ok to treat them differently because of it. It's ok to set them apart. That has another name, too..

Let's talk about Maggie, Ridge's sweet girlfriend who is sick with a terminal illness. Came to the point where she got so sick and had to be taken in to hospital, where Sydney finds out about her. I FLIPPED OUT!

So this is the reason why Ridge is so hell bent on staying with Maggie, she's sick. And we are supposed to say what? Awww Ridge you're a guy and a half! Living with the woman you are falling in love with and lusting over, but not being honest to the sick girl because of your guilt trip. Well here's a news flash: Maggie is a person, Maggie is not pathetic because she's sick, Maggie deserves the same consideration you give to the other cheating bastards in this story. She is used as a backdrop to highlight Ridge's maturity, her illness a cliché tearjerker that is supposed to enhance the angst in this novel. Low blow.

Ridge is placed up on a pedestal because of his choice of not leaving a sick girlfriend behind, no matter how he truly feels about her, because he RESPECTS Maggie.

If he really respected Maggie, and her illness he would have been honest, and given her the benefit of a doubt that she can think for herself. What do you think Maggie's choice would be? Would she like to be in a relationship with a dishonest cheating asshole, that is only staying in a relationship with her because he feels guilty, and he believes that's what's expected of him? Or do you think that she deserves enough RESPECT to make her own choices in her life, and to maybe find somebody that's not lying to her face because of imagined obligations? Here's a quote:

She sighs and turns her head, looking straight up to the ceiling. “I’m fine. It was just an insulin issue.” She turns back to face me. “You can’t baby me every time this happens, Ridge.”

My jaw clenches at “baby me.” “I’m not babying you, Maggie. I’m loving you. I’m taking care of you. There’s a difference.” - oh really? What about all the touching, all the kissing, all the messaging with Sydney? All the lyric writing, and singing?

Loving you? Taking care of you? UP YOURS RIDGE!

Just how do you think that poor Maggie would feel if she knew the truth? Would it make her happy to know her boyfriend thinks she's so pathetic because she's sick, she doesn't deserve to be treated equally? That all of his lies, and taking care of her comes out of his inability to deal with HIMSELF in this situation, to know he's not moving on with his life because he couldn't live with himself if he did. And finally after knowing all that, realizing that no matter what he says, this is not even remotely about her, it's all about him. Wow what a man, what a keeper, what a fucking hero.

Ridge knew he was attracted to Sydney when he moved her in. If he wanted to do the right thing, he would have helped her find a place to stay. Sydney knew she had the hots for Ridge, and after she found out he had a girlfriend, she should have done the respectable thing and pissed off. Ridge and Sydney are Tori and Hunter. Double standards? Hell yes, and I HATE DOUBLE STANDARDS! And the rest? What kind of message is Hoover trying to send? 

They knew what they were doing. Ridge is a cheating, pitiful asshole, and Sydney a self-absorbed hypocrite. I had enough of this shit.

One thing that I can say I loved about this book – the cover.

The rest is well.....Tijan.

I have read a lot of her books in the past, and I have to say she is tragically repetitive. What blew me away in her first novels, disappointed me in the rest, because she seems to use the same ingredients for each and every novel she writes. Considering that she wrote quite a few, you wind up with the same old routine, but different costumes. It gets old real quick.

Her preferences are creating deeply traumatized female characters in some form of social isolation. That social isolation can be real, with the character having limited friends, or self-imposed with the character's perceived disentanglement from society due to past issues that affect her current mental state. Tijan also uses the character's history to portray emotional maturity that reaches above normally expected standards in a younger group of people. That on it's own is nothing new, and often used, because our past defines us all, but what Tijan doesn't allow are the same standards for her supporting characters.

The heroine, in this book that would be Taryn, interacts with a large number of supporting female characters, and all of them are found lacking in some way. Taryn often observes conversations and social situations, then provides inner monologue dissecting the reasoning behind the behavior of those characters, and even if it's not outright mockery, the observations often point out need for social acceptance and romantic happiness in a condescending kind of way. The emotional maturity doesn't stretch out the supporting female characters, even by the way of common sense, as they are often portrayed as shallow, promiscuous and petty. Even the closest friends and family in the main character's inner circle often display cruelty, selfishness and willful lack of understanding. All of that is carefully layered with the purpose of setting the main character apart, and proving just how different, and by her way of understanding better she is then everybody else.

With all the females portrayed (and effectively eliminated as competition, both mentally and physically) as catty, overly feminine (in a bad way), immature or simply stupid, we are left with a need find a balance for Taryn. That balance comes in the shape of our leading male character – Trey.The male character shows acceptance of our heroine trough intense sexuality, and serves as a focus to sharpen the uniqueness of the heroine. Since Taryn is a league of her own, it is only natural that she gets the alpha male specimen of the entire possible cast. The rich, beautiful, womanizing, i-don't-give-a-shit-about-anything, unrepentant bad boy, that won't be tamed by any woman. Except our leading lady, but that is to be expected, as she is the only one female in a 200 mile radius, armed with an IQ that's higher then the current room temperature.

Second signature Tijan's focus is obsession with social status. But it really didn't work in this particular book. Taryn gets involved in unmasking of a drug lord, solving a murder and kidnapping, then follows up with her own criminal activity. All of this is set in a high school environment, where the food chain is mercilessly displayed of having life changing impact. Tijan's leading characters, purposely or not, always wind up on the top of the IN crowd, getting respect and often steam-rolling over any competition. The depth of character, emotional maturity and the aim of accomplishing strong individuality in Taryn clashes with juvenile descriptions of school hierarchy and how desperately important they are. When in fact, they are not. Social grouping happens everywhere, but in Tijan's world it's often portrayed as the second most important thing after the life experiences of her leading characters. In 'A whole new crowd' that created a feeling of kids playing adults (especially when Trey said to Taryn that he was expected by the entire school to deal with her after she insulted the 'top' crowd) that didn't allow the reader to appreciate the dangerous story she tried to tell.

All in all, this was a different type of novel for Tijan. I was recommended this novel with the promise that Taryn is tamer as a character, and that it doesn't have such a desperate feel that follows her other novels. In a sense, that was true, but still, I expected more.

Opening Line: “Emily Marshall was in the bathroom. No not the bathroom the head."

Originally published in 1995 this was a pretty good light romantic suspense, nothing remarkable and not one of my favourites but definitely still enjoyable -except maybe for all the crying but I`ll get to that later.

Emily Marshall is a high school teacher in a rougher area of sunny Florida. While on a date with her new wealthy boyfriend she inadvertently discovers that he's quite the entrepreneur; importing and exporting the very drugs that she's seen destroy some of her students. Calling it a night Emily heads to the nearest police station, willing to do anything to keep those drugs from hitting the street.

The police choose to set up a sting, and as much as Emily hates the thought she's going to have to continue to "date" her drug dealing boyfriend for a while. They do however offer up one of their own to protect her, posing as her brother to potentially gain access to the yacht where all the deals seem to be going down. Seems simple enough but that's when things get interesting because wouldn't you just know it Jim Keegan is the officer assigned to go undercover. Jim from seven years ago Jim, Jim that broke her heart, Jim that she's never gotten over.

Detective Keegan is a typical Brockmann hero; all sensitive and tortured, still nursing a broken heart over his sweet Emily and full of remorse over how he left things the morning after they first made love (that was a bad move). He's also hosting some ghosts from the past and doesn't feel that he deserves love, having left Emily to protect her from himself. Initially I liked Jim but about halfway in his character changed and he became so screwed up and emotional that he was just plain embarrassing to read. Brockmann's heroes always cry but Jim managed to take the sensitive man-tears to a whole new level, come to think of it even the bad guy shed a couple within this story.

The suspense is quite good though (a ticking bomb on a boat always assures some fun times) while it does remain more romance than anything else. And the Florida setting was fantastic, a nice bit of escapism (for a snowbird like myself) with loads of action on boats and the clear blue seas of the Gulf of Mexico. Emily plays the bitterness card a little too long for my liking but I guess when your love interest is busy freaking out, running away and crying you've got a right. Cheers
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Opening Line: “She didn’t belong here”