Blog Tour Stop!! Review and Giveaway: Tension by R.L. Griffin

Tension (By a Thread #2)

by R.L. Griffin

Release Date: 6/26/13

The Stella who emerges from the rubble of the bombing in Montana is a woman full of conflict. She knows she should be grateful that she lived when others didn't, but after waking in the hospital as a celebrity, complete with a new moniker, she's bitter and distrustful, questioning everything in her life. She's unsure of her friends, her new boyfriend, and her job. In addition, a face from the past reappears and threatens to take the one good thing in her life.

Stella attempts to deal with the new scrutiny of her life with her usual sense of humor, but she's filled with a new emotion that she tries desperately to hide: HATE. Her recovery is hastened by her determination to find the man who turned her into a walking scar. She's going to kill him; she needs to kill him.

Stella isn't alone. She has her close friends and her dog, Cooper. Will their support be enough to help Stella accomplish her plan, or will this endeavor be her undoing?

My Rating: 4 Coffee Cups!!

Let me start this off by saying if you haven't read By a Thread yet a) what are you waiting for, it's currently 99 Pennies on Amazon!! and b) you probably shouldn't continue on with reading my review. There really is no way to not give out spoilers on the first book. Sorry! 

Ok, onwards. Tension picks up pretty much exactly where By a Thread left off. Stella is recovering after her gunshot wound which scarred more than just her physical body. This book seamlessly flip-flops between what is Stella and George's present and the time she spent in the hospital. Her recovery is slow and arduous. She wakes up in the hospital to her life story flashing on all of the news stations, paparazzi outside of her door and the new nickname "FBI Beauty". She is determined to recover, yet the bitterness and hate in her heart for all who had a hand in the Montana bombing is eating her alive. More specifically, Jamie's hand in what she went through. She has no idea how everything led to the one moment of her being shot and if she does have one certainty, it's that she wants vengeance. 

“It seemed like there were two separate people growing out of this injury: the one that wanted everything to be okay and the one full of rage who wanted to rip shit down and tear it apart at the injustice of it all.”

George is a rock for her during this time. Stella opens her heart almost completely to him. I say almost because she keeps from him the fact that it was Jamie that actually shot her. She doesn't want him to see the dark in her; the desperation to kill Jamie for what he did to her. First with the destruction of her heart when she believed he was dead and second with the destruction of her body when he shot her. Stella ends up reaching out to a somewhat unlikely ally- Jesse the Atlanta Falcons football player she had a one night stand with. Although they are only friends they form a tight connection. She sees a person she can be 100% honest with. Someone who expects absolutely nothing from her. Jesse turns into this book's version of Patrick and helps to fill the hole that he left by lying to her. 

I LOVE Patrick. I see what he did, and I understand why Stella's beyond pissed but I will ALWAYS have a soft spot in my heart for Patrick. And the lack of Patrick and Billy in this book made me a little sad I've got to say. But while Patrick and Stella's relationship suffers her and George's just gets stronger. And I love seeing that. Despite the obstacles of her friendship with Jesse (which obviously he isn't a fan of), the press that will not leave her alone and the family tensions they thrive. He's not a stupid man (he was a journalist for goodness sake!) so he knows that she's keeping things from him. He isn't thrilled about it, but he gives her space and understanding knowing that when she is ready to open up she will. He learned awhile ago not to push her.   

“You alone, made me realize that maybe I can be put back together. That I could possibly be happy. The realization that you could be happy with me is almost too much for me to fathom.”

 There are a lot of happenings in this book. A lot of action. A crap-ton of questions answered and new questions asked. And the ending?!? Oh my shit that cliffhanger gutted me!! Pick it up!

  

Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Tension-By-A-Thread-ebook/dp/B00E9CXTQ2/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Tidbits on the Author: 

R.L. resides in the Atlanta area with some cool dudes: her husband, son and two dogs.  She was born and raised in the South.  She attended Georgia Southern University and moved to Washington, D.C. to intern in the United States Senate during the impeachment trial.  Falling in love with the city, she went to law school at American University, Washington College of Law.  By A Thread is R.L.’s second book, but is the first in a series of books. 

Ways to Stalk Her:

Website: http://www.rlgriffinauthor.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rlgriffinauthor

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rlgriffinbyathread

Goodreads Author: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1254833.R_L_Griffin

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