February 2015, Piatkus, 419 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Content: some violence, strong adult relation scenes, strong language, some humour, tissues needed
Summary from Amazon (Piatkus website down at time of scheduling this post)
The explosive, emotional, standalone new story from the NYT bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series
Alexa Holland's father was her hero-until she made a shocking
discovery. Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different
direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets.
But when she meets a man who's as damaged by her father's mistakes as
she is, Alexa must help him.
Caine Carraway wants nothing
to do with Alexa's efforts at redemption, but it's not so easy to push
her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of
her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw
them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and
all-consuming affair.
Only Caine knows he can never be
the white knight that Alexa has always longed for, and when they're on
the precipice of danger, he finds he'll do anything to protect either
one of them from being hurt again . . .
Nayu's thoughts
As ever
what appealed to me the most about the premise of Hero wasn't the
romance but the life Alexa leads. Intrigued by what the mystery
surrounding her and her father, at first I couldn't fathom why Caine
would hate her when he (presumably) barely knew her. Let's just say
it was a big bombshell, one which I thought Caine was a teensy bit
ridiculous over as it wasn't Alexa's fault in the slightest! No one
should be blamed for any member of their family's transgressions, but
unfortunately Alexa was judged.
She,
however, is persistant in finding ways to show Caine that she isn't
at fault, it's nothing to do with her. The tragedy is frequently on
both Alexa and Caine's mind as they not only work together but
develop a vague relationship which is more than they care to admit.
My personal thoughts always are no romantic relations before
marriage, because of the heartache and uncertainty it any other
romance causes which is seen in Alexa's guilt/hurt when Caine
inevitably pushes her away. However, due to his position in his
business he was sometimes a total gentleman, spoiling Alexa in a way
she did deserve.
Enough on
the main stars, now onto their friends! Until a mega unexpected plot
twist I liked Alexa's grandfather a smidge, as he did care about her
but, as the twist reveals, my mind soon changed and in polite Nayu
terms her is a moron and a nitwit by not standing up for the issues
close to his heart more. As with everything in life his role is
complicated.
The one
person whose role isn't complicated, who I'd have to tell that lemon
meringue pie isn't my kind of pie but I love cherry is Effie. Dear
Effie is a matchmaker, who sees what Alexa and Caine don't see, who
helps them communicate better, and who is plain funny.
Oh, before
I forget, the rating is because some of the plot was predictable,
which I like in a story like this, and there's the intense romance
parts which I skipped over to the next chapter. There is a whopper of
a twist near the end which makes everything dangerous, exciting, and
really heightened my reader happiness level. All in all a fun read.
Find out more on Samantha's website.
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