SYNOPSIS:
When Katie Harrington becomes engaged to
Branson Stone she believes her life is right on track for all her dreams to
come true.
However, flashes of a life she never lived
haunt her—leading her to discover a past that has been purposely erased from
her memory in order to protect her from horrible truths.
The look on her fiancés face as she retells
everything she remembers about being a victim of human trafficking will forever
be etched in her mind. Instead of catching and comforting her, he lets her go.
Retreating to the family’s cottage in the Outer
Banks for the summer, Katie’s heart begins to heal. She succumbs to the allure
of a dangerously handsome local, Aidan Romero. But as soon as Katie begins to
let go and move on with Aidan . . . Branson finds her.
Now Katie is torn between two lives—facing her
painful past with Branson, or moving on with Aidan and keeping the secrets
safely buried forever.
REVIEW:
Eleanor Green did a fabulous job with her debut novel. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the title,
but after reading the synopsis I was immediately interested in reading this
novel. This book deals with a very
serious subject matter, human sex trafficking.
This is something that occurs every day in the society that we live
in. I think Eleanor handled the subject
matter very carefully and shined the light on something that we thought could
never happen to anyone we know. Katie Harrington never had it easy. Her parents were drug addicts and she was sent to live in foster care at the age of 7. The foster home that she went to live in wasn’t any better then what she was living in. Her foster parents were abusive. Katie met Ally when she went to live in the foster home. She was three years older than her and Katie looked up to her. She looked to her for guidance. Ally was the big sister she never had. Ally and Katie need to get out of their foster home. Ally comes up with an idea that they runaway to California to pursue a career in modeling and acting. Katie was only 13, Ally was 16. Ally trusted the wrong people and the two of them ended up being a victim of human trafficking.
The only problem is, Katie doesn’t remember any of this. Katie only remembers growing up with her grandmother. Gram was her best friend. All of her childhood memories included her Gram. While in college, the nightmares began. Katie had no idea what they meant. At times she would have visions of things. Were they memories or just things she possibly saw on TV or in a movie?
Katie
meets an amazing man named, Branson.
Branson is what every girl dreams of.
He is good looking, charming, respectful, loving, supportive, gentle,
patient, and successful. I could go on
and on about how great Branson is. I
absolutely LOVED Branson.
Branson
and Katie hit it off immediately. The
two of them are both focused on their soon to be careers and look forward to a
future together. Katie thought
everything was perfect. The nightmares
seem to be getting worse, they are more vivid.
Katie begins to put together the pieces of the puzzle together and she
discovers the life she had prior to going to live with her grandmother. Katie is shattered when she knows the truth
of her past. How can she tell Branson
what she knows now? Will Branson look at
her differently? Will Branson be
supportive with this new revelation?
Katie
struggles with what she founds out. Does
she even know who the real Katie is? How
can Branson love her when who he fell in love with, may not really exist? When
Katie tells Branson, it is as if he was hit with a boulder in the chest. How did she expect him to react to this
news? He needed time to process all of
this. He just found out the woman he is
in love with, intends to marry, was repeatedly brutally raped and beaten for years when she was a
teenager. He is livid. He wants to kill the men who hurt her. Maybe he didn’t react the way that Katie
wanted him to, instead, he sat there like a zombie trying to absorb the
information he was just told.
Katie
feels rejected when Branson doesn’t say anything to her, and she runs. She leaves and heads to a family friend’s
vacation home to help heal her shattered heart. Katie is struggling with the feelings she has
for Branson. He is the love of her
life. He holds her heart. Will she be able to move on? Will she be able to mend her broken
heart? Aidan seems to think he can help
her heal. Aidan just so happened to be
at the same place at the same time that Katie was. Was it a coincidence? Was it planned? Katie enjoys Aidan’s company. She enjoys spending time with him, but is she ready to move on from Branson? Could
Katie move on and allow herself to love someone else? Would she always love Branson? Could she love Aidan? When Branson learns of Katie’s whereabouts. Branson is going to fight for her. He is not going to let her go. Branson vows to love Katie.
“I’ll always fight
for you, you’re worth fighting for.” ~ Branson”
“After it was over
you said. I was worth it – worth fighting for.
You didn’t fight for me this time, Branson. You gave up on us so easily. It hurt…you really hurt me.”~ Katie
Did Branson really give on Katie or was Katie led to believe
he did? Could Branson and Katie get past this?
Could Katie trust Branson again? Will Katie choose Branson? Branson loves Katie unconditionally, and he
has envisioned his future with Katie.
“My love for you has
only grown stronger after hearing about the hell you endured. You are strong, brave, and…you’re mine.” ~
Branson
Katie is torn
between the two men. Will Katie choose
Aidan? Will Katie tell Aidan about her
past? Will Katie choose to live a life
of lies with Aidan? Does Aidan want the
same future that Katie dreams of? Will Katie
sacrifice her dreams for Aidan?
“So you’d rather live
a lie with someone you barely know, than live in truth with me?” ~ Branson
“I fell in love with you. I want your past, your present, and your
future.” ~ Branson
Decisions, decisions, decisions. Katie has some decisions that
she needs to make. Will she make the
right one? Will she follow her
heart?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. To know the life she was forced to live for
three years, my heart broke for Katie. Katie
was stronger than she knew she. She
was a survivor. Katie wasn’t a mean
person, she was so full of life. She deserved to be happy. To get the happily ever after.
This review was prepared by Heather. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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About
the Author:
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About
the Author:
Eleanor Green resides in Tennessee with her
husband and two children. She enjoys the things everyone else does—reading,
writing, cooking—but is also an adventure seeker.
Terrified of cats, passionate about hot tea,
allergic to being cold.
Still left on her bucket list: getting lost in
Italy and being invited in for dinner by a sweet family, eating a scorpion, and
swimming with the dolphins.
Eleanor also writes under the name Lisa Poston
Murphy.
Connect with Eleanor:
Awesome! Thank you so much for the wonderful post and review! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
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