IT'S LIVE!
Releases March 19th
I hate you. I heard those words so many times from his mouth that they lost their meaning. His “three loving words” is how I mockingly referred to them. It didn’t bother me, though, because I hated him, too.
He was gorgeous, with dark tousled hair, full lips, a strong jaw, and a body deserving of a magazine cover. He was rich and cared for his mother deeply. On paper, he was the perfect husband. The problem? He was my husband.
I dreamed of a fairytale love story for as long as I could remember. I dreamed of a boy to fall head over heels for me and treat me like the sun rose and set at my feet, especially after living in the shadow of my perfect sister and never feeling good enough for my family. When I decided to earn my parents’ love in a dramatic fashion, I’ll admit that I never imagined marrying him would end up part of the bargain.
The kicker? Enzo Faust didn’t want to marry me, either. And yet, here we are, a man that I both fear and loathe is my “I do…for better or worse.” I just didn’t anticipate that it’d be more ‘worse’ than ‘better.’
I’m Paige Stiles, and here’s my story.
So, this is my first DC Renee story.
But it won't be my last.
We have Paige Stiles, who has always felt like she's living in the shadow of her older sister Nora, who seems to be the apple of their parents' eye. Not sure exactly why though, we never really get to see what makes Nora so special to their parents.
Enzo Faust is the son of longtime family friends; apparently he's gone off the rails and living a debauched party playboy lifestyle, which in turn has Daddy Dearest one unhappy camper.
During Paige's high school graduation party, a debt is called in and that debt is what sets the stage for what ends up being Paige's and Enzo's wedding. Obviously neither one of them is anywhere close to be happy about the turn of events, but that is just the tip of the iceberg for their marriage. Paige won't say exactly why she made her decision, and Enzo's hatred of her and the situation continues to escalate. How much can Paige take before she breaks?
Even though I've never been in the situation that Paige grew up with, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have gone to the extreme she did in order to gain notice of my family. I mean, that's really taking one for the team. But I will give her props that she handled it the only way she knew how, and that proved just show strong of a young woman she is, even if she didn't see it in herself.
In regards to Enzo, you will find yourself wanting to nut-punch him for the first 60% of the book. I mean damn, I've never read a character who is a bigger ass than he is (except once, but that person wasn't a main character). There are moments throughout the first half of the book where you get to see glimpses of the person Enzo really is, but then he'll turn around and become such a jackass of epic proportion you might find yourself needing a neck brace from the whiplash effect of his personality changes. There are a couple of instances in which Enzo does nice for Paige but she doesn't realize he is the person behind each individual act.
The pivotal moment in their relationship occurs when Enzo manages to rescue Paige from a situation that quickly spiraled out of control; her reaction is a verbal meltdown of the only thing she wants in her life. That's when Enzo finally recognizes what he's suspected all along about Paige and what she really needs and deserves. And that is when we see the man Enzo really is, and my heaven it is such a wonderful thing to observe. Too bad that Paige is always quick to assume the worst, but given her history, I can understand why she has those knee-jerk reactions. I was especially impressed when those people who mattered to Paige were trying to convince her to hear Enzo out, because these were the same people who were giving him the side eye throughout the majority of the book, which probably should have been the clue that Paige should have paid attention to. But if she did, the ending might not have been as sweet (and possibly injury-inducing) as it was. And I loved how much Enzo paid attention and what he did for their 5-year anniversary, that was absolutely beautiful.
The epilogue was a great wrap up of the story and how well everyone stayed in contact with each other, even that many years into the future.
ARC provided in exchange for honest review.
DC Renee has been writing all her life, from
cheesy poems in elementary school (i'll share an example just so you know how
cheesy: Flowers are my favorite thing; they usually bloom during spring. Pink,
blue, yellow and green, so many colors that I have seen...etc.) to short
stories and monologues, and eventually fan fictions for Days of Our Lives.
It was thanks to that superbly encouraging fan fiction community that DC found
the courage to publish her first book - Let Me Go. It held fast in the top 100
Best Selling Contemporary Romance Fiction Novels on Amazon for over a month,
going as low as the top 20's. Naturally, she loves to read, but she also likes
watching hockey, dancing for fun, and loves her family.
Hosted by:
No comments:
Post a Comment