[Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway] Twisted Perfection by Abbi Glines

 

(Check out the rest of the tour stops HERE)

 
Title: Twisted Perfection (Perfection #1)
Author: Abbi Glines
Release Date: April 20, 2013
Goodreads

Life outside of her house was a new experience for Della Sloane. The dark secrets of her past weren’t something she ever intended to share with anyone. They would never understand. No one would ever get close enough to find out. There was always a chance she’d go crazy sooner than they expected…

Woods Kerrington had never been one to be attracted to fragile females. They seemed like too much work. He wasn’t in it for the work just the pleasure. A night full of naughty fun had been exactly what was on his mind when he’d laid eyes on the hot little number that didn’t know how to pump gas and needed some help.

What he didn’t know was she was as fragile as they came.
The carefree girl who spoke her mind and didn’t care what the world thought of her was more breakable than he could ever imagine…

THOUGHTS:

I love Woods. I don't think I've expounded on it enough when I reviewed Never Too Far, but I really do. He's protective, a gentleman, and a good guy to boot. Through reading about Blaire and Rush's story, a part of me just wanted to scream at Blaire to give Woods a chance because he was that amazing. He cared about Blaire without expecting anything in return, and he was the best friend he could be to her when she need one. In hindsight, I remember wishing for Abbi Glines to write Woods his own book, because wow, this is a character I would love to read more about (and I'm sure I'm not the only one!). So yeah, I bet most of you can imagine my reaction when I got an advance review copy of Twisted Perfection...

My god, just when I thought I couldn't love Woods more, Glines proved me wrong. We were already privy to some aspects of Woods' character with the way he interacted with Blaire in the past, but given the fact that we're inside his head this time around, you just learn a lot about him. And to be honest, I loved what I learned. Woods seems like your typical good-looking, rich snob but there's so much more to him that meets the eye. His life may seem perfect, but it's not. His father has been controlling him all his life, and in order for Woods to assume a higher role in the family company, he must continue to let his father pull the strings. Initially, Woods is content to do so, but this all changes when he meets Della. Now, Woods is in a constant state of indecision - should he abide by his father's wishes, or should he actually do what he wants?

That's what makes Della so different from the other girls Woods has dated. She challenges Woods to stand up for himself, to fight for the things he believes in. On the flipside, it is because of meeting Woods that Della finally figures out how to live, after having been cooped up all her life. At first, I wasn't that convinced that Woods and Della's relationship would be anything but physical, but they were quick to make me believe otherwise. The instant connection was there - it was apparent from the getgo that they could talk to each other about anything, and it was soon made clear to me that both Woods and Della wanted each other irregardless of all the baggage from the past and the obstacles of the future .

Truth be told, I didn't quite like Della as much as I liked Blaire. It was difficult for me to fully grasp her character - at times she seemed like a strong, independent woman, but there were moments when she acknowledges that she was starting to be dependent on Woods. Though she is not afraid to speak her mind, sometimes she is just fragile and scared beyond relief. However, I have to admit, because I couldn't quite understand Della, that just makes me want to read about her more.

I thought that this novel would be a stand-alone, but after that major cliffhanger, I'm obviously wrong. I'm actually glad that Glines is continuing Woods and Della's story because there's so much more to explore. While both characters have already come to terms with their past, their future is in no way secure because there's still a lot they both have to figure out. Moreover, given Della's background, her character development is in no way complete. As early now, I'm already salivating for the sequel!

Rating: 4 Stars

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway] Sweetest Taboo and Tainted Love by Eva Marquez

 

Title: Sweetest Taboo

Author: Eva Marquez
Release Date: October 1, 2012

Goodreads

Isabel Cruz was fifteen years old when she met Tom Stevens. She was 15 when they started dating, and 16 when she lost her virginity to him. By the time she turned 18 and went to college, everything had fallen apart.

This hadn’t been an ordinary love, though. Not a love between two dear friends, or even high school sweethearts. This had been the most taboo sort of love there was: a relationship between a student and her teacher. Isabel started her high school career as a normal student, but set her sights on Tom Stevens as soon as she met him, and pursued him with an intense – and sometimes reckless – fascination. When he finally approached her after swim practice and told her that he shared her feelings, it was the start of a forbidden and dangerous relationship.

Join Isabel as she makes her way through this dark love story, hiding from teachers, lying to her parents, and defying the authorities to make a life with the man she loves. Watch as she discovers the wonders of love and romance, and the terrible betrayal of jealous friends. And cry with her when she learns the hard truth about life and the people in her world.

 

Title: Tainted Love (Sweet Taboo #2)

Author: Eva Marquez
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Goodreads

Isabel thought her life was on track – she was doing well in school, moving quickly toward her future, and deciding who she wanted to be. Best of all, she’d reunited with Tom, the love of her life. But it doesn’t take long for her history – and his – to
start catching up with them, presenting a range of uncomfortable questions. Does he really love her? Are they meant to be together? And what exactly has he been doing in their time apart?

THOUGHTS:

It seems like taboo relationships are everywhere in pop culture these days. As a matter of fact, one of the central storylines of one of the most popular TV series geared towards teens and young adults, Pretty Little Liars (which is based on a book series, I might add), focuses on the relationship between Ezra and Aria - a teacher and his student. Moreover, this particular pairing has a lot of fans and supporters likewise. Why might this be, you ask. It's a taboo relationship - how can people support it? Simple. It's obvious to me that Ezra is not even the least bit predatory towards Aria. He treats her with love, respect, and is mindful of her wishes. Despite of the fact that their relationship is taboo, it really can't be denied that they have powerful feelings towards each other.

That's the way I felt about Tom and Isabel.

I'm not going to lie - Tom and Isabel's relationship is considered morally wrong by society in many levels, and I myself did cringe a few time while reading both novels, but I see that they feel something strong and powerful towards each other. However, it was hard to ignore the fact that Tom is more than twice Isabel's age, and that he is also married and has two children. As much as I tried to like and respect Tom as a character, I just couldn't. The fact that he has a family was hard for me to gloss over - I do firmly believe that love can happen between two people despite of how old they are, but it was difficult to me to understand how Tom can have no remorse over his cheating. Also, I did find him to be rather hypocritical when he was so judgmental of Isabel kissing another guy.

That's one thing you have to really ponder while reading series - it cannot be denied that Isabel and Tom care for each other and have intense feeling towards each other, but is the feeling really love?

Despite of my misgivings towards the character of Tom, I enjoyed the flow of the story. For majority of these two novels, I never saw Tom and Isabel as two people having an illicit and forbidden affair - I considered them as two people in a relationship going through problematic times - and I believe that this is a testament towards Marquez' strong writing. I had no problem at all reading these novels - I finished both one after the another as a matter of fact, and I think most of you will feel the same way. Usually, most written work about taboo relationships deal with the forbidden aspect, but Marquez actually had the relationship of Tom and Isabel develop, and that was something I found to be amazing and commendable.

I consider Sweet Taboo to be a particularly strong novel, but I was a bit disappointed with Tainted Love. While I'm sure that a lot of readers appreciate being able to know Tom's thoughts, I found them hard to read, mostly because I found them uninteresting. I don't even know why - perhaps it's because I never connected with him as a character? It also bothered me that Isabel's maturity was somehow regressing, and that she was involved with another professor, while attempting to maintain a semblance of a relationship with Tom. It kind of makes you wonder whether or not she really loved Tom, and I can't deny that I truly felt bad for Tom for the majority of this novel. Here he is pining for Isabel every minute of everyday while Isabel was off dilly-dallying with some other guy. I'm not exactly sure how Marquez will finish this series, but hopefully the third book is better than the second.

If I were you, I'd give this series a shot. Marquez drops a bomb in the foreword of Sweet Taboo that will make the readers see the novels in a different light, and as I mentioned, her writing is just excellent, and I can't wait to read more of her work.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway