Lovin' los libros

 

 

I can't even believe I waited this long to pick up a Samantha Young book! I have four other books of hers sitting on my bookshelf... UNREAD! This clearly needs to be remedied! This book was serious hell on my emotions and I am still feeling a little battered and bruised upon finishing. I really enjoyed Young's writing style and I completely fell for the characters. I felt every emotion Alexa did and my heart ached, soared, and swooned so much that I still feel out of sorts!

 

I loved Alexa's character. She's feisty and stubborn and I admired her tenacity. She refused to let herself be dissuaded from seeking out Caine, even despite his ugliness and hatred to her in the beginning. In him she sees a kindred soul and that is what initially draws her to the sexy, gorgeous, distant man. She is a still human being with feelings though and whenever Caine hurt her or rejected her, I wanted to cry for her. (Ok, I did for real a little bit.) Once the two act on their attraction to one another, she refuses to let him push her away. She sees that he's a good man who hides behind his asshole façade, but he won't let himself believe that, which is why he tells her he can't be the guy for her and that they will only ever be temporary.

 

Caine was such a hard character for me. I loved him but I wanted to hate him at the same time. I didn't like how he hurt Lexie and how he would act so possessive of her only to get her hopes up and then push her away, making her feel miniscule. It took me awhile to warm up to him, after realizing that he is using his anger as a defense mechanism, keeping everyone at arm's length. There are few people Caine truly lets in, one of them being Effie, an adorable old lady that lives in the same apartment building as him. She is very much Team Lexie and encourages her not to give up on Caine. I loved the relationship she and Lexie formed, and seeing all of them together really warmed my heart. Caine is definitely an alpha male who hates relinquishing control and has a serious possessive streak when it comes to Lexie. I love how he would go all caveman on her and she would just stick it to him. She wasn't afraid to go head to head with him and that is one of the things he is so attracted to. She doesn't let him intimidate her and even when he pushes her in the beginning she is determined to prove he can't break her. Caine is a man who has had everything taken from him and has worked hard to achieve the level of success he has today. He is self- sacrificing and it hurt me to see him feel he didn't deserve Lexie's love. Caine definitely brought the swoon though. Even when he was breaking Lexie's (and my) heart, I still had hope for him.

 

I was really surprised by how much I loved this one, because I generally have a lot of issues with these kinds of back and forth relationships. I was so immersed in the storyline and the characters and I guess I just wanted them to work past all of their issues more than anything, so that didn't kill the vibe for me.

 

They have great tension together though and their scenes are so passionate and intense! I loved seeing Lexie bring Caine to his knees. He is a great lover and they just can't get enough of one another. As temporary as Caine wants their affair to be, there's no way they could ever be that with the way they crave one another so desperately.

 

I enjoyed the storyline about Lexie and Caine's families and how they played such a big role in their lives. Their parents have made a big impact on their lives and even though their stories are tragic ones, I did like seeing how Young connected the two in this way. It added another level of depth to the story that I really appreciated.

 

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this one and I'm feeling a bit bereft now that it's over. The epilogue had me grinning from ear to ear though and I love how everything wrapped up. This book gave me all the feels and I can't recommend it enough because you don't want to miss the love story this one has to offer. Love is not easy and it's isn't always pretty- sometimes it's hard and you have to fight to get the ending you deserve.