10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03
The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05
Someone starts shooting.
Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

This Is Where It Ends is an intimate account of what happens in a high school in Opportunity when a former student comes back and locks all his friends and teachers in the auditorium before he opens fire.

In the news, school shootings are far too common, and it becomes like a media circus, both while it is happening, and in the aftermath. This Is Where It Ends manages to tell the story of a school shooting from four different students’ point of view, three of them on the inside of the school, and one just outside, training for track instead of being at the assembly. The fact that the story is told in these different perspectives, each in first person present tense makes everything that unfolds very immediate, and it was easy to be swept into the action, feel the fear, and hope with all my might that things could somehow turn out OK in the end – even when it was very clear that it wouldn’t.

Only two of the four characters sharing the events were inside of the auditorium when they realized they were trapped there.  As soon as the shooter arrives, most of the people in the auditorium recognized him straight away, and even those who thought they knew him well were not exactly relieved. And once he started shooting, not completely at random, the terror increased among students and adults both. What really struck me was that in the midst of all the danger, Autumn came to life, she finally dared to tell Sylvie that she loved her, and that no matter what happened, Sylvie had her heart.

This Is Where It Ends only lasts for 54 minutes in story-time, but the action felt so tense I thought the same as Autumn, this had to take much, much longer. Between the bravery of many, the helplessness of others, I was deeply touched by this inside re-counting of a shooting. While I found the story to be very emotional, I thought it ended rather abruptly, even if the main story had a resolution, I couldn’t help but want to know what would happen to the survivors afterwards.

This is Opportunity, Alabama. Sane people don’t leave their homes when it’s white and frosty outside. We stock up on canned food, drink hot chocolate until we succumb to sugar comas, and pray to be saved from the cold.

Nothing can touch us. Not snow. Not even time.

Far and I both hold our breath. After what feels like forever, the footsteps move on. Whoever it was, they’re not out to get us. Not today.

A girl with regrets…
Sasha Cherlin died the night she let Nick Tate walk out on her for a life of crime. Her very essence was destroyed when they broke their promise to one another.

A man with remorse…
Nick Tate made his choice with her future in mind. He loved Sasha enough to know that leaving her behind was the only way to keep her safe.

A path to revenge…
Special Agent Jax Barlow understands the bond of love and he plans to use it to get justice. Nick and Sasha will do anything to rewrite their past. He’s counting on that to bring them down.

*I received a free ARC of Wasted Lust from the author in exchange of an honest and unbiased review*

Wasted Lust is such a complex story about redemption, finding oneself, the meaning of life, love, loyalty, friendship and closure. My feels were all over the place!

My Wasted Lust review:

What can I say, apart from Huss definitely did it again! She got me engrossed in Sasha’s story from the first sentence, and I was practically on the edge of my seat for the duration of Wasted Lust. Complex characters, most of whom I already knew both from the Rook & Ronin series and its spinoffs and from 321, I was so happy to meet Sasha as a woman, and also to see what Jax was up to, even if I never could have guessed at the deep secrets that surrounded him. Well written, with chapters from both Sasha’s and Jax’ perspectives, I was able to delve deeply into their thoughts, however, every time I thought I had something figured out, I was proved wrong. As usual. Huss is so good at throwing curve balls, creating unseen twists and turns, and making characters just different enough from what I’d expect that the only thing to do is to be prepared for the unexpected.

In Wasted Lust, we learn a lot more about the company, but in very indirect ways. And Sasha, who seemed to have it all so well together didn’t know what she really wanted with her own life, how to move forward, or even what kind of career she wanted. At the beginning of the story, Sasha got of a plane after participating in an archeological dig in Peru, and special agent Jax Barlow comes straight up to her to ask her some questions. From that first meeting, even while being confident that she will be safe, Sasha is definitely on edge, and Jax is happy to let her feel a little unsettled.

As always, I was mesmerized with the prose, the turns of phrases, and the way the characters were never completely uncovered. Huss is amazing in the way she spins her tales to make every single word potentially have a deeper meaning, and knowing that going in, I was ready to question everything! I loved how Sasha was capable of relying on herself, but I did find it a little sad that she didn’t contact Ford for help. Of course, she had been keeping secrets from him as well, so there were some present difficulties she couldn’t share with him without also telling him about the past… Sasha also always trusted her gut feeling, which helped her stay strong and slightly ahead of the game.

To make sure I don’t give anything away, I’m just gong to stop here… I have pages upon pages of highlights for my favorite quotes, so I chose a few from the very beginning. Don’t wait – go get your own copy of Wasted Lust right now, and just enjoy the wild ride, the amazing characters and the goose-bumps.

Some of my favorite Wasted Lust quotes:

I. Am. A success. “I moved on,” I tell Agent Jax. But I know it’s a lie. And he knows it’s a lie. Because even though I’m the toughest girl you will ever meet – I am the killer of killers, for fuck’s sake – just on picture of just one man can take me back to the moment I realized… I lost. I lost everything.

My father is dead. Mother dead. Grandparents, dead. Home gone. And Nick – the one thing I held onto after the Company took my childhood away and turned me into a murderer – left me behind. Left me all alone.Because only a Company kid can understand what I am. We don’t walk the edge, we live on the other side of it.

Granted, her partners – all other Company-trained assassins – helped. But without this one girl they wouldn’t have gotten very far. No. The demise and fall of the Company was a product of Sasha Cherlin’s loss, anger, and heartbreak. Note to self. Do not cross this girl. 

Sasha is a living, walking ghost.

This book counts towards the COYER scavenger hunt item 58 – read a book by an author with three names.

Carolina Cold Fury star Garrett Samuelson never wants to miss out on a single minute of fun. Whether he’s playing hockey, hanging out with friends, or walking the red carpet with a new date on his arm, he lives every day to the fullest. When he meets Olivia Case, he sees someone who’s exactly his type—confident, sexy, smart . . . his next fling. But the more he pursues her, the more Garrett shares a side of himself that other women don’t normally get to see.

Olivia has been keeping a secret. While Garrett lives for the next thrill, Olivia’s not sure she’ll live to see the next day. She’s undergoing treatment for some serious medical issues, and she doesn’t have time for a relationship with no guarantees—especially one with a hot-as-sin womanizer who won’t take no for an answer. But as she gets to know the real Garrett, Olivia can’t help falling for him . . . hard. To reveal the truth would mean risking everything—but you can’t score without taking the tough shots.

Garrett is a very hot read, but there is a lot more going on than Garrett and Olivia. Between the hockey-games, the romance and Olivia’s secret, it was quite a ride!

My Garrett review:

In Alex (Cold Fury Hockey #1) Garrett was known as Alex’ best friend, the guy who was always flirting, changing girls every time he went out, and never becoming serious with anybody. When he first met Olivia, however, he was completely mesmerized by her, and even more so because she bluntly turned him down, after laughing at his dirty jokes. When Sutton told him to stay away from his cousin because she had enough stuff going on in her life, he only became more interested in her.

Olivia was wondering if she shouldn’t have taken Garrett up on his offer, though, especially once she arrived at work the next day and told her best friend and boss about him. Stevie said he’d never turn Garrett down, ever, and that Olivia should definitely start living a little. Knowing she had just been diagnosed with cancer spurred Stevie on rather than calming him, and when Garrett showed up in their flower shop, Olivia relented and said yes to a date. A date with a sexy hockey-player seemed like the perfect thing to get her thought off of the cancer, and on to more fun things.

After just one date, though, Garrett knows he wants to see Olivia again, she’s so different from the girls he usually go out with. First of all, she’s not obsessed with hockey, or how much he makes, or trying to get him to get serious. It’s as if because he can sense her reluctance he needs more. And so he does get more – and he’s so upset when he finds out about her cancer because he would have been there for her even more.

He turns out being a really considerate and lovely guy, and I loved reading about this other side of Garrett. Olivia never tried to tame him or make him change, but once he truly fell for her, no other woman made him interested in the least. There was still quite a lot of hardship in this story, though, especially because Olivia thought it might be better if she broke things off with him after a few months, so that he would suffer less later on if she died.

Written in dual point of view from both Garret’s and Olivia’s perspectives, and in first person present tense, the story moves forward at a nice pace, showing the love, devotion, doubt and fright they are both feeling at times. When they are together in the bedroom, the sheets are on fire, and I had a hard time putting the book down even for a few minutes to feed the kids, or help them with homework!

Some of my favourite Garrett quotes:

“But,” Stevie adds on with seriousness. “I do believe a sweaty, naked night with Garrett Samuelson is the perfect place to start.” Maybe he’s right. Maybe I need to break out of my comfort zone and really start living my life as if every day is my last. Because frankly… that could be a true statement.

She’s thrown down a bit of a challenge for me, and while an easy conquest is fun for the most part, it can get boring. I don’t mind having to work toward my goals, and getting Olivia Case into my bed has become one of my main priorities at this point.

Yes, that is a major, major event because Mr. One-Night Stand is going in for the request for a second date. And I’m nervous as shit, because I don’t know if what I’ve shown her tonight would warrant her wanting to see me again.