Blog Tour: Unconditional by Melody Grace {Review, Top Ten List,+Giveaway!}
Welcome to my stop on the Unconditional blog tour hosted by InkSlingerPR!
Today I am excited to share my review, a top ten list, and a giveaway with you all!
Unconditional (Beachwood Bay #3)by: Melody Grace
Publication Date: March 18, 2014
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by InkSlingerPR and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count:
Order Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes
My Rating: 4/5 stars
"I’ve spent my whole life chasing perfection: perfect looks, perfect man, perfect home. But in one brutal moment, I realized it was all just a beautiful lie…"
Carina MacKenzie is fleeing from her past. Picking up the wreckage of her shattered dreams, she seeks comfort in the only place she’s ever felt safe: Beachwood Bay.
Garrett Sawyer isn’t looking to be anyone’s savior. Scarred by old betrayals, he’s sworn never to put his heart on the line again -- especially not for a damaged, high-maintenance girl like Carina. But passion knows no logic, and soon, their reckless chemistry is making him forget his bitter vows.
Two damaged hearts. The hope of true love. As their passion blazes out of control, Carina and Garrett struggle to escape their legacies of hurt. But can you ever outrun the past? And when everything is on the line, can they trust enough to build a love that's unconditional?
*This book contains adult situations and explicit content. 17+*
Carina MacKenzie is fleeing from her past. Picking up the wreckage of her shattered dreams, she seeks comfort in the only place she’s ever felt safe: Beachwood Bay.
Garrett Sawyer isn’t looking to be anyone’s savior. Scarred by old betrayals, he’s sworn never to put his heart on the line again -- especially not for a damaged, high-maintenance girl like Carina. But passion knows no logic, and soon, their reckless chemistry is making him forget his bitter vows.
Two damaged hearts. The hope of true love. As their passion blazes out of control, Carina and Garrett struggle to escape their legacies of hurt. But can you ever outrun the past? And when everything is on the line, can they trust enough to build a love that's unconditional?
*This book contains adult situations and explicit content. 17+*
Ever since I read the epilogue to Unwrapped and saw Carina and Garrett's first interaction at Juliet and Emerson's wedding, I knew their relationship would be intense. They are complete opposites of one another and come from completely different worlds.... or so we think. It turns out the pair actually has some things in common: the pain of the past. I knew as soon as we met Carina in the first novel of the series that there would be more to her than meets the eye.
I love that this is dual POV, because I just feel I can get a much better read on both of my characters this way. Garrett is already mysterious, so it helped to get inside his head and see what he was thinking. Most of all, I liked reading about how HE saw Carina. He sees beyond the facade she puts up and sees her pain and anguish and understands those things all too well. Garrett is no stranger to pain, but where Carina hides behind her rich, posh lifestyle and wealthy fiance, he hides behind his bar and only using women as a release, never getting attached to any one.
I have to say I wasn't sure if I could like Carina, especially after all we'd learned about her relationship with Juliet. Carina begins the novel with a huge wake up call, after things with her fiance begin to escalate in a not so good way. I am proud of her for having enough sense to walk away from a bad situation before it got worse, despite all her doubts and insecurities. My heart broke for this girl as she has grown up being put down and told what is expected of her. Going back to Beachwood Bay brings so many revelations to light for her and she realizes she wants to mend her tattered relationship with her sister. Juliet holds a lot of resentment towards Carina and theirs is one relationship that cannot be fixed with a simple apology. Carina will have to work hard at building a relationship there if she truly wants one.
Her relationship with her dad on the other hand... oh that man made my blood boil. The things he says to his daughter and how he reacts to her telling him what happened with her ex fiance.... I would have freaked the heck out. He really shows his true colors and Carina is appalled that he would gloss over the cold, hard facts. It's no wonder Carina's self worth is shot to hell. Garrett steps in and ends up being the savior that Carina needs. He is tender and understanding and offers her his shoulder to lean on, knowing she has no one else. He also has this strong urge to protect her, to keep her safe. He believes in her and that is the push she needs to start changing her life and living for HER.
As I said earlier, Garrett and Carina have an intense relationship. They did not get off to a good start at all at the wedding. He thinks she's a stuck up ice queen and she thinks he's just a womanizer. They come to a truce of sorts and he lets her stay in the spare bedroom of Emerson and Juliet's beach house. However, holy chemistry. These two definitely have it! Garrett definitely drove me a little nuts, as he is torn between what he wants (her) and what he knows he should be for her (a friend). Even though he lets Carina in (both physically and mentally), he is still apprehensive about his past. He thinks he's too damaged to truly be what she needs and give her what he wants.
"You fucking consume me, Carina!"
He's running scared. He's afraid of being hurt again, only this time he doesn't know if he would survive it.
We get to see some familiar faces in this book, aside from Juliet and Emerson. Brit and Hunter make an appearance and while I loved Brit in her book Unafraid, I found myself irritated with her in this one. I understand that she has a tough shell and letting people in isn't her forte, but once Carina proved that she wasn't as vapid and awful as she once was, I was expecting Brit to give her a break. Brit is fiercely protective of her loved ones and while I admire that, I kept waiting for her to make peace with Carina.
I was quite surprised by the epilogue of this book, as it gives us a completely new POV of the person that will be in the next book, Uninhibited. I didn't see this coming, but I have to admit I'm definitely interested in these two. Because that epilogue? HAWT.
Overall, I really enjoyed Unconditional and I like that Grace was able to take such a not very well liked character and really peel back her layers to expose her true self. Garrett was the perfect person to balance her out as he understands her on a level others couldn't. As always, I can't wait to see the direction Grace takes the series next!
TEN THINGS GARRETT THINKS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CARINA:
1. She thinks she needs to get all dressed up to look good, but she's the most beautiful first thing in the morning, in one of my shirts with no make up on.
2. She's so good at pretending everything's OK, she's got everyone fooled- except me.
3. She has the most beautiful singing voice I've ever heard, but she's too scared to share it with anyone.
4. She loves her sister, Juliet, more than anything in the world.
5. Carina comes off like a stuck-up ice-queen at first, but when you get to know her, she has such a loving, kind heart.
6. She'll make a great mother one day.
7. She went through a lot in her childhood, and it's been hard for her to forgive herself and let it go.
8. She's full of great ideas, like how I can improve business at the bar.
9. She refuses to think of herself as a victim, and let other people's decisions define her.
10. Her kisses could stop the world spinning round.
Melody Grace is the USA Today bestselling author of UNBROKEN and UNTOUCHED. A small-town girl turned SoCal beach-lover, she spent years with her nose in a book before deciding it was time to write them for herself. She loves bad boys, good books, and pistachio-flavored ice-cream.
8 comments
This sounds sooo good and has me even more excited to get started on this series! I really need more time lol. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI love this series SO much Teresa! :) It's one of my favorite NA's!
DeleteWonderful Review Jess! Dual point of view is my favorite, because I like reading both main character's perspectives. The chemistry between these two main characters sounds hot! I love that Carina's character redeemed herself in this story, and had a lot of character growth! I love that Garrett saw through her facade. Great guest post as well! I love that Carina has a big heart beneath her "Ice Queen" image, and that she doesn't let other people define her!
ReplyDeleteLindy@ A Bookish Escape
Thanks Lindy! Yes dual POV is a must for me lately! Carina definitely caught me by surprise and I'm so glad there was more to her than we originally thought!
DeleteOh wow, it took me forever to realize who Carina was. And I am not surprised their dad is still a jerk. And yay for a wedding! So glad you enjoyed this!
ReplyDeleteYes! Her name was originally Brianna, but she changed it. I did really enjoy it. I'm a big fan of this series.
DeleteGreat review! I haven't seen or heard anythign about this series, and I like the sound of it! I also love dual pov's! You can really get inside characters' heads that way! This one just sounds like a really enjoyable read!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Magen! I love this series so much! I highly recommend it! Especially if you're at the beach! :)
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.