Craves The Angst: REVIEW - AFLAME (Fall Away #4) by Penelope Douglas:

TITLE: Aflame
SERIES: Fall Away
SERIES PLACEMENT: #4
AUTHOR: Penelope Douglas
AGE GROUP: New Adult
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2015
PUBLISHER: InterMix
FORMAT: eBook
PAGES: Approx. 262

MY GOODREADS REVIEW LINK
RATING: 5 Stars!
CLIFFHANGER: No
HEA: YES!

BOOK BLURB:
The tables have turned. Now I have the power—and it’s his turn to beg…

Everyone wants to be me.

Maybe it’s the sway of my skirt or the way I flip my hair, but I don’t care. Even though their attention is the last thing I crave, I just can’t stop. I dominate the track, the speed rattles my bones, and the wind and the crowd screams my name.

I’m her. The girl driver. The queen of the race. And I’m surviving—something he thought I’d never do.

They all talk about him. Did you see Jared Trent on T.V? What did you think of his last race, Tate? When is he coming back to town, Tate?

But I refuse to care too much. Because when Jared does come home, I won’t be here.

Tatum Brandt is gone. I’m someone new.

5 “Challenge Accepted” Stars!

Everything I Wanted... And More!

The Review:

Two Words. ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!

This author... how can I possibly express the amount of “feels” she can pull out of me. I can go from happy to sad to every spectrum of feeling in between during one of her books. Jared and Tate have been through so much on their road to happily ever after and this book was a wonderful, exciting and intense conclusion for not only them but for all the characters we’ve come to love and adore.

Simply put... this book was spectacular and I loved every minute of it!

Story/Characters...

At the end of Falling Away, we see Jared and Tate go their separate ways and though it was painful and totally unexpected, after reading Aflame and understanding Jared’s mindset, it was necessary. Jared didn’t know who he was without Tate. He wanted to be his own person, someone he could be proud of and he needed to find himself in order to be the man he needed and wanted to be for Tate. This book comes after all that discovery with enough of a back story through flashbacks to get the full picture of what happened during their time apart... and it’s all in dual POV!

When this books starts, Tate and Jared are in different places. The once unsure Jared is now a man and fully in control of his life, but yet he’s still missing a puzzle piece. He may have found himself, but he’s lost his other half.

The once confidant Tate is still resolute in what she want to be but her heart is floundering and she too, is incomplete. She may know where she’s heading but she’s no longer sure of what she’ll find once she gets there.

Tate is trying to move on from the abandonment she feels from Jared. I never once disliked Tate or thought she was in the wrong for trying to move past the pain. She was hurt and didn’t understand why Jared needed to be away from her to find himself. I also felt Jared deserved a little challenge in getting her back after all he’d put her through and all the pain he’d caused her. You know they love each other and they will eventually be together but there needed to be that challenge, not out of vengeance or retribution on her part but because without the struggle, there wouldn’t be the sweet perfection that follows.

These two had more demons to conquer in their journey and thankfully they both realize they aren’t complete if they aren’t together. This author did a brilliant and amazing job getting us there with them.

I also really loved seeing all the characters revisit in this book and rally behind these two to put their family back together. That’s what they had all become. Family.

The Wrap Up:

Watching Jared win back his girl and watching Tate surrender was beautiful, angsty, heartbreaking, heartwarming, intense, dramatic and fun. And totally HOT! It was everything I thought it would be and more! I loved that the author addresses two things in their reunion. Jared promises to never run again and Tate promises to fight for their love. That shows just how much they’ve grown over the years.

I’m going to seriously miss these characters from Fall Away lane but I’m delighted and astounded at how their lives are forever bonded and all of them found their HEA!

............Just SOME of my Favorite Quotes............

Quote Spotlight...

“I exist as I am, that is enough.”

Quote Spotlight...

“You want to play?” he charged, biting out every word so only I could hear.

“Challenge accepted, Tatum. This time I don’t want you hurt,” he continued, his breath falling over me as he got in my face, “and I don’t want you small. I just want you. Do you hear me?” He jerked me into his body. “It will be my ring on your finger and my kids in your belly someday.”

Quote Spotlight...

“Tatum Brandt is my fucking food,” he growled. They all knew it in high school, and not a damn thing has changed.”

Quote Spotlight...

I’m never letting you go again, Tate,” I whispered, almost desperate. “I’m your friend forever, and if that’s all I get, then that’s what I’m taking, because only when you’re here” - I took her hand and placed it on my heart - “do I feel like my life is worth a damn.”

Quote Spotlight...

Nothing feels right without you. Not school or home,” I cried. “Everything is just giving me enough air to get to the next day without you. I never stopped being yours.”

Quote Spotlight...

I only lived in her orbit, and I would die there, too.