"This read was super sexy with two main characters who had explosive chemistry and the story was so well told, I just couldn’t put it down ..." - Craves the Angst
AUTHOR: Fiona Cole
AGE GROUP: Adult
GENRE: Erotic, Romance
RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2017
PUBLISHER: Fiona Cole
PAGES: Approx. 372
COVER DESIGNED BY:
Najla Qambar Designs
BLITZ COORDINATED BY:
Foreword PR & Marketing
COPY PROVIDED BY: Author
MY GOODREADS REVIEW LINK
RATING: 3.5 Stars!
CLIFFHANGER: No
BOOK BLURB:
Shame. Panic. Desire. Dominance. Disgust.
All feelings that I was familiar with from the age of sixteen. That's when I met Ana. The girl next door who became so much more.
Until her, I was alone in the dark desires that I didn't understand, that I couldn't reconcile.
My best friend, she accepted me. Helped me see that there was no shame in the things that we both craved. Her submission was a drug, my dominance over her a high that I'd never experienced. When we were together, I was at peace for the first time in my life.
But it was too good to last. Our own guilt over our feelings, of our appetite for pain and pleasure, destroyed us.
I was convinced that all I needed was a chance, just one more chance to overcome my shame, and Ana would be able to trust me again.
If only it were that easy.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: Shame Me Not is an Erotic, Romance written by Fiona Cole. I was gifted a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review through Foreword PR & Marketing.
3.5 “normal is overrated” Stars!
The Review:
Wow, what a ride! From beginning to end, this read had me consuming the pages in a rush to get to the exciting conclusion of Ana and Kevin’s story. I HAD to see how their story ended. Some parts I LOVED. Some parts I didn’t, which I’ll explain below. But through all the growing pains, indecision, awkwardness, sexiness, intensity and miscommunication, I found the journey to be totally worth it. This read was super sexy with two main characters who had explosive chemistry and the story was so well told, I just couldn’t put it down until I got to the last page!
Story/Characters...
Sixteen year old Ana Montgomery has just moved to Cincinnati from Nashville, with her mom, after her parents divorce. Being a sophomore in high school was hard enough, but add on being the new girl in a small Catholic school with desires that some might not consider normal, she fears making friends will be hard to do.
That is until she meets her next door neighbor, Kevin Harding, who immediately brings her into his social group.
There’s an instant attraction between Ana and Kevin, but both of them needing their friendship more than “something more” and both of them thinking their dark desires may disgust the other, they decide to keep it at a friends-only relationship.
Until one day Ana discovers Kevin’s dark secret and realizes they are the same as her own.
That one discovery starts a years long journey of self discovery, confusion, miscommunication and absence, but one thing that holds strong throughout the years and distance, is their friendship. And I LOVED that!
I enjoyed this read so much. I was hooked from the moment Ana and Kevin were introduced and I connected with them both immediately. A sex scandal rocked their high school a couple of years before and Kevin, being the son of a senator, feared his penchant for rough sex would be discovered, destroying him and his family like the scandal did with one of his peers. So he hid his desires and swore to try and ignore it, thinking there was something wrong with him. He didn’t want anyone to think he was disgusting, especially being raised in a Catholic school, where being a deviant was considered wrong and abnormal.
Ana, who also harbored dark desires, tries to date the “normal” guy, and even tried to have a normal sex life, but it never fulfilled her. She, too, thought she was alone, but once she discovers that her best friend and the boy she’s always crushed on, also desired those things, she decides maybe there’s hope.
Ana and Kevin had amazing chemistry together, even while they were discovering and exploring who they were as teenagers. It was sweet and exciting and I loved how the author really showed their progression into adulthood.
They journey through their young adult life together, suffering all the trappings of teenage life but also with this extra thing that set them apart from their peers. Watching them find themselves and navigate through life was so well written and you could tell the author really poured her heart and soul into the feelings her words invoked in the reader.
But...
My only real dislike was with Ana’s character. In the beginning, she was strong, helping Kevin accept himself, accept that he wasn’t a bad person for needing the things he needed and allowing them to self-explore together. After one heartbreaking argument, she leaves behind her best friend and spends the next four years trying to be someone she’s not. Though it was never really explored in the story, that one argument I think broke her fragile strength. It made her hesitant to be herself and to tell her partners what she really needed. After she reconnects with Kevin, it takes years and one more term of absence for Kevin to break through Ana’s walls and convince her she’s not a bad person and that their brand of normal is okay. I hated her indecision. She thought he abandoned her, but she also abandoned him. And then she kept wavering back and forth, thinking she NEEDED to be “normal” to be accepted, but there was Kevin, who she loved, and who loved her, waiting in the wings, accepting of everything she was and of what they could be together. Watching her spend years trying to talk herself out of being who she really was, and watching her reject Kevin over and over, was so freaking painful ... and it made her look weak. But I did love Kevin’s persistence. He spent years waiting for her, watching her waver back and forth, knowing she didn’t trust him, watching her go through other relationships she thought were better for her than him. But he loved her. He loved what they were together. He loved her as his best friend, as his “something more”, and he was determined to take care of her. He knew he broke her trust but boy do I think the consequences outweighed the crime.
Like I said, Ana frustrated me.
The Wrap Up:
All in all, this read was a beautiful, erotic tale of two young people who were on a journey of self-discovery and who had trouble accepting themselves but ultimately won that battle with patience, love and understanding. I wasn’t always a fan of the character choices, but with brave, intelligent, sexy writing and a story that will remain with me for a long time to come, I can honestly say I enjoyed this read.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR...
Fiona Cole is a military wife and a stay at home mom with a degree in Biology and Chemistry. As much as she loved science she decided to postpone her career to stay at home with her two little girls and immersed herself in the world of books until finally deciding to write her own. Where You Can Find Me is Fiona's debut novel and will hopefully be the first of many.
Connect with the Author...
The author is giving away...
✦ Signed Paperback of Shame Me Not
....
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