Author: Nyrae Dawn
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: July 2, 2013
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
From Goodreads:
Can love save them?
After her father commits a crime that shatters her family, eighteen-year-old Delaney Cross is tired of pretending everything is alright. Packing up her car, she sets out to find the people her father hurt. Her search leads her to places she's never been--and into the arms of Adrian Westfall.
To the outside world, Adrian is a sexy, charming ladies man. But his playboy persona is just an act. Secretly his soul is tortured by a memory too painful to share. Only Delaney seems to see through his façade to the real man underneath. And for the first time in his life, Adrian feels he can begin to open up about his past.
Together, Adrian and Delaney share a passionate, carefree love they never expected to find. Yet both still harbor their own secrets. When the dark truth is finally revealed, will it bring them closer together, or tear them apart forever?
My Thoughts:
I was really skeptical that the author could pull off Adrian as a hero. After reading Charade I just could not see how he could be anything but a pot smoking player who partied all the time. I mean really, how could anyone turn Adrian Westfall, of all characters, into a hero?
After finishing this book, I can safely say that Ms. Dawn did it.
And I liked that she didn't hide Adrian's past. She made it clear that he had that past; the past of a guy who partied, smoked too much pot, drank way too much and wanted women for one thing, sex. There was no way that Adrian could just suddenly be some perfect hero after all that. And he wasn't. Adrian continued to make mistakes in this book. He continued to be a clueless ass at times. But he also had a damn good reason to be.
And that reason shattered me.
There aren't too many books that I can say this about. Most books I read and sure there is some angst and in some cases I might even shed some tears. But this. Oh this was so different. By the time the climax occurred in the book and what had been building throughout the narrative exploded I was already near tears. But when the truth came out, a truth that even I did not see coming, I was left sobbing. And not quiet tears. No. These were ugly tears and it actually hurt.
Not only was the story that touching and poignant that I couldn't control my emotions, it also brought home that everyone grieves in different ways and that sometimes people nearly destroy themselves before they finally see the light and climb out of that hole. And sadly, there are times, people don't climb out at all. We all have experienced it, or will. Grief is something none of us can escape. And in both Charade and now Facade, Ms. Dawn explores how love can be the antidote for that pain, if we let it. In Facade I wasn't prepared for the truth that Adrian let Laney, in on. The truth that had been keeping him locked inside himself for four long years. I was so shocked it broke me, and like Laney, I wanted to throw up. Losing someone the way Adrian did is hard for anyone. But losing someone who was connected to Adrian the way Ash was, well that is just is unfathomable and terrifying, both at the same time.
I cannot say this enough but of the NA books I've read so far, this author is by far one of the best that I've read. And in actuality, she has climbed up onto the top of my favorite author list, without regard to genre. her writing, her voice, the development of these characters and the narrative in which they live, is truly fantastic. The third book is due out in January of 2014 and I will be snapping that up to find out if Maddox finds his happily ever after.
If you want a book that is well written and has a complete story that will touch your very heart and soul, I recommend checking out this series. You don't have to read the first one (the about Cheyenne and Colt) but it's just as good as this. And yeah, I cried in that one too. But it was a different kind of crying in Charade. In this book the tears weren't for the inevitable happening. No, in this one, it was for the senseless loss that Adrian suffered and how badly I wanted to fix it all for him.
Have you read this book or the first in the series, Charade? What did you think of the heart shattering truth we find out from Adrian? Were you as surprised as I was? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts on this book and/or series.
Here are the purchase and info links for the book: Facade (The Games Series) via Amazon
/Facade (The Games Series) via BN / Facade (The Games Series) at Goodreads
*I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*
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