by Beckie Stevenson
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance
Published on: 7/19/2013
“How did you even get here?”
I blink at him, confused by his question. “We live here.”
“You live here, in these woods?”
When Kaiden stumbles across Serena Scott while hunting in Sorrow Woods he thinks all of his birthdays have come at once. Finally, the girl that’s haunted and intrigued him and his parents for the last fourteen years is standing in front of him.
And she’s alive.
Serena should have known that he would shatter her life into a thousand pieces. It wasn't because of the gun, or the tattoos that snaked around his arm, but because he was the first boy that she’d ever set eyes on.
He wasn’t just any boy either; he was Kaiden Matthews.
He wasn’t just any boy either; he was Kaiden Matthews.
He was dark, dangerous and strangely alluring.
And he was beautiful.
Serena’s life as she knows it is destroyed after Kaiden drops his bombshell. As the consequences of his actions begin to penetrate through into her life she vows to stay away from him, and while she might have been in his past, she refuses to be his future.
Kaiden knows that in order for either of them to salvage anything from the mess he’s made he needs to make sure the secrets of his past stay hidden, but as they start to rebuild their lives they find themselves stuck in a whirlwind of secrets and confessions that could threaten to break their already fragile relationship.
And he was beautiful.
Serena’s life as she knows it is destroyed after Kaiden drops his bombshell. As the consequences of his actions begin to penetrate through into her life she vows to stay away from him, and while she might have been in his past, she refuses to be his future.
Kaiden knows that in order for either of them to salvage anything from the mess he’s made he needs to make sure the secrets of his past stay hidden, but as they start to rebuild their lives they find themselves stuck in a whirlwind of secrets and confessions that could threaten to break their already fragile relationship.
My Rating: 4 1/2 Coffee Cups!!
This book took me by surprise. In the best possible way. I had never read anything by this author before, but after reading the blurb I was intrigued. And my curiosity paid off.
This is not your typical story. It's actually almost like two stories to be honest. And the fact that it shifts back and forth between Serena and Kaiden's POVs supports that. The first part of the story lets you into Serena's life. You meet her in the woods and see her day to day life. Serena is almost a contradiction. She is 16, but she has so many responsibilities between taking care of her 7 year old sister Elodie while her mother is away for weeks at a time, to taking care of their home in the woods. She is strong and caring and intelligent. But then you see how sheltered she is from the real world (to the point that she's not even entirely sure of what country she lives in) and you realize that she is also VERY naive, and in some aspects almost child-like. And this is how Kaiden stumbles upon her. Literally. Their first meeting is interesting in that she's never seen anyone besides her sister and her mother before (besides in her books and magazines) let alone a guy and you can tell from Kaiden's demeanor and inner dialogue that he knows her. But despite his knowledge of who she is (which you don't necessarily find out right away) he is utterly captivated by her. She captures his attention. She is so completely different from any girl he's ever met before (even if you were to take away the whole born and raised in the woods factor) and he wants to get to know her. Which is exactly what he does. And Serena has no objections. Both her and Elodie pick his brain about the outside world and give him a taste of their world. And Serena begins to build a friendship with him. And then it's all smashed to smithereens.
“I stare at him and the way his clothes make his face look paler and his eyes two shades darker than when I last saw him. He doesn't seem real. How can a boy look so magical and interesting, yet utterly terrifying at the same time?”
This is where the second part of the story comes in. It is all revolving around the after effects of Kaiden's tragic revelation. After that Serena's world turns completely upside down and you watch her strength in trying to pick up the pieces and put herself back together. And Kaiden's role as the instigator, he becomes a friend and the rapidly growing feelings between the two of them serve as a salve for her broken life.
“Ssh," he almost whispers. "I heard you Serena." He snakes his arm around my back and roughly pulls me into him. "I get that I scare you and that you don't really like me. I understand that's how you feel, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to accept it.”
I am purposely trying to be vague, because that fact that I didn't expect it to play out the way it did was one of my favorite parts about the story and I don't want to take that away from any future reader. I also discovered that this was Beckie Stevenson's first novel, which totally blows me away. But I will say after this I am pretty sure I will pick up anything that comes off of her fingertips.
Excerpt:
Kaiden
FOUR HOURS LATER, when the sun is at its highest in the sky and all of my bodily fluids have been sweated out of me, I find myself hiking up a mountain behind Serena, while trying not to constantly stare at her toned ass. The trees are scarce up here now, and I still have no idea where it is that we’re going.
After breakfast, I spent an hour telling Elodie and Serena where in the world we live and about the different ways people go about their days. I still can’t believe that they have no idea how normal people live. What sort of person keeps children hidden away like this?
“We’re here,” says Elodie, interrupting my thoughts. She pulls all of her clothes off until she’s standing in nothing but her faded grey panties.
I look around and see nothing but the valley below us and the sky above us. “What do you mean we’re here? I thought we were going to the lake?” I ask, confused.
Serena smiles and peels her black sundress over her head. I wasn’t expecting her to do that, which is why I don’t avert my eyes. Underneath her black, strappy dress, she is wearing a tiny black crop top and a pair of black panties. She pulls off her shoes and stands stock still, staring at me.
“You’re not going into the water like that are you?” she asks, not answering my questions.
My eyes are travelling all over her body. I can’t believe the way it looks, as if she goes to the gym every single day. It’s not manly muscle but slender, womanly curves and defined muscles that stare back at me. I look down at my clothes and shrug. I pull my jeans and socks off, peeling my t-shirt off over my head. I leave my boxers on.
“Are you going to tell me where this lake is?” I ask again.
Serena wraps her fingers around my wrist and pulls me across the rocky ground until we’re at the very top of the mountain. I step forward and see a huge body of water below me. I look back at Serena and feel my heart jump into my throat when I see Elodie sprinting past us, launching herself off the side of the mountain. Serena laughs.
“You’re not too scared to jump into a little lake, are you?” she teases.
I shake my head but don’t look at her. I’m too busy watching Elodie plummet through the sky before slicing through the water. I don’t breathe for the entire four seconds that Elodie is under the water, not until her head bobs up and I see her hand waving at us.
“Come on, wimpy boy.”
I turn back around and watch as Serena does exactly the same as Elodie, except instead of just jumping, she dives cleanly through the air. She’s only under the water for two seconds before she bursts back through the surface and grins at me. I don’t know how far the drop is, but it’s more than I’ve ever jumped before.
Still, I can’t stay here so I take four steps back and run as fast as my body will carry me off the edge. The warm air whips across my skin as I drop through the sky. The water is getting closer and closer to my feet. I can’t remember what to do. Do I point my toes? Yes, I must or else I’ll break my feet. Should my arms be close to my side? I have just enough time to make myself as streamlined as possible before I feel the coolness of water on the tip of my toes.
My whole body plunges into the freezing cold water, stealing my breath away. I kick hard until my head surfaces, and then I pant and cough the breath back in my lungs. The shock of going from boiling hot to freezing cold is too much. My chest aches and my eyes sting.
“There he is,” says Serena, laughing as she swims up to me. “Are you alright?”
I nod and cough. “I think so,” I rasp.
“He’s not like us,” says Elodie with a grin. “He’s not used to it.”
Serena treads water directly in front of me. The water drips off her hair and down her face. I want to touch her and see what her skin feels like in the water. Before I can reach out to her, she kicks out and swims away from me.
I shake my head, sending droplets of water flying out around me. I shouldn’t be thinking about her like that anyway. I keep forgetting that I’m supposed to hate her. I rub my face with my hands and spin around to see where they’re swimming to, but I can’t see anything except water.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to keep up with them. I’ve never met anyone else in my life that can swim or run as fast as these two.
“To land,” says Serena. “Keep up, wimpy boy.”
I wish she wouldn’t call me that. She wouldn’t think I was a wimpy boy if she knew all of the horrible shit I’ve done over the years. My parents certainly wouldn’t call me a wimpy boy. I think about my Dad and what he would say if he could see me now. I smile as I think about the look on his face.
MY WATCH TELLS me that we’ve been swimming for over two hours. I think back to my swim sessions at school when I used to be able to swim a mile in an hour. Despite the fact that I’m going faster than ever before, Serena is still miles ahead of me. I can feel my muscles aching, even though I’ve had years of soccer and track training. No wonder Serena has a body like an athlete. When we finally arrive on land, we walk for ten minutes until we find a pool of water that Serena says we can drink from. I flop down and gulp it as if it’ll run out. When my belly is full and I can’t physically drink any more, I lie down on top of the dry grass, staring at the water that’s sparkling against Serena’s skin. She turns her head, snaps her sizzling green eyes onto me, and smiles. And in that instant, I can’t help but think that she’s slowly starting to melt my cold, hard heart.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1gH4xEk
AUTHOR BIO:
Beckie's real name is Rebecca, but she get’s called (and answers to) any of the following…Beckie, Bek, Becca, Rebecca, Pip, Pippy or Stevo.
Beckie is the author of 'Sorrow Woods,' the 'Existing' series and 'Noah and Me.'
She is due to publish more YA, NA and Adult novels in 2015/16.
She lives in Staffordshire, England, with her partner and two children.
Beckie likes putting music on in the house and dancing around like a mad woman.
When she isn’t playing with her children, doing housework, dancing around the house like a mad woman, walking, cycling, reading or writing, then she can be found working in an investment bank. Or sleeping.
Twitter: @BeckieStevenson
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BeckieStevensonAuthor
Instagram: BeckieStevo
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