Monday, August 12, 2013

Review and Giveaway: The Mourning After by Adriane Leigh

Haunted by a painful past, Georgia Montgomery escapes the memories by buying a beach house on the North Carolina coast. She hopes a summer filled with sun, sand, margaritas and best friends will heal her, but when an unexpected visitor shows up, her past, present and future collide.

Georgia is instantly drawn to Tristan Howell, the bronze-skinned, golden-haired stranger with an easy smile and eyes the deepest shade of green she's ever seen. She tries to deny the depth of her feelings for him, but just like an addiction- one look, one touch, one taste is never enough. With Tristan she loses control of the lonely world she's constructed for herself and learns that moving forward isn't possible while she's still chained to the events of her past.

Before the summer is over friendships will be tested, hearts shattered and lives changed, and waiting for Georgia to find herself may destroy them all.


4.5 Star Review by Guest Reviewer Nicole Lorenzo

Georgia Montgomery tragically lost her parents when she was 12 years old. Almost every night she relives the horrific details in terrifying nightmares. Her boyfriend Kyle has always been a safe place for her, sheltering her from her pain and giving her a future to look forward to together. But as he secures his place as partner in a growing law firm, Georgia finds herself on the backburner, and she has come to the realization that she has been there for quite awhile. Deciding to do something for herself she buys a beach house in North Carolina, quits her job in D.C. and decides to spend the summer on the beach. Kyle stays behind to work but Georgia’s two best friends Silas and Drew join her for the summer. Drew brings along her newest boyfriend Gavin and also invites his best friend Tristan along.

When Georgia meets Tristan for the first time, she can’t deny the instant attraction she has to him. Even knowing the Green -eyed, sandy haired, sexy as sin, god like man is known as a ladies man she can’t help but be drawn to him. They start sharing morning coffee daily, gazing at the ocean, talking and sharing their love for the story Tristan and Iseult.  They start spending a lot of time together and what starts off as innocent flirtations turns into something so much more, and soon Georgia finds her heart torn in two. Kyle is her rock; he has been there from the beginning and knows all the sordid details of her past. But the last few years there has been a shift in their relationship. Kyle works non-stop with false promises that it won't always be like this. Georgia has been feeling dejected, and alone and Kyle’s disinterest in her beach house and failure to show when promised intensifies those feelings.  Despite this, she loves him, and feels immense guilt over her growing relationship and feelings towards Tristan.  With Tristan, she feels happy and at ease. He brings out feelings in her both emotionally and sexually she’s never experienced before. She starts to imagine what her life would be like with him in it everyday. But with his past as a ladies man Georgia is afraid of trusting him with her heart, for her heart has been through enough.
 

“I wanted to break myself in two. I wanted to give my heart to both of the men in my life. I wanted to give Kyle the part of myself that needed the safety and comfort of his arms, and I wanted to give Tristan the piece that craved the sense of lightness and happiness he made me feel.”

Tristan Howell is content with not feeling anything emotionally. He moves from one bed to the next, never staying in a serious relationship determined to not follow in the footsteps of his parents. After the latest mess he got himself into with women, Tristan takes his friend up on his offer to head to North Carolina and stay at a beach house for the summer. He finds himself knocked on his ass when he meets Georgia. For some reason she gets under his skin, and the connection they feel for each other is very strong and alien to Tristan. He thinks he just needs to get her out of his system, that once he has her, he can let her go, but that is not the case at all. He finds himself falling in love with her, but she belongs to someone else. He knows she has had a painful past, even though she won’t yet share it with him. Despite the fact that she has a boyfriend and a painful past, Tristan is determined to make her trust him and believe that they are meant to be together. Even though Tristan has guarded his heart carefully till now, somehow this girl has the power to destroy him. 
“I want you, all of you Georgia. And I want you to want me too. I know you’re with him, but he’s not here. He’s not with you, not really. And I am.”

Georgia has a decision to make; one she feels is impossible to do. Does she give up the safe haven that’s always been Kyle? The thought of never seeing Tristan again is unimaginable to her, but can she trust him to not shatter her heart? No matter what she does someone is going to be hurt, but she can’t have them both. 

“I f*cking loved him and I hated it. I hated him for making me love him. I hated Kyle for leaving me alone so many nights for so many years. And mostly I just hated myself for doing this to all of us.” 

The Mourning After is a story about, love, loss, friendship and trust. I thoroughly enjoyed every page, and couldn’t put the book down once I started.  I really loved the incorporation of the legend Tristan and Iseult into the story. My heart hurt for Georgia, she was through a lot and despite that she tried to be so strong. I was happy she stuck to her guns and bought the beach house, showing her independence from Kyle. Kyle was there for her, but not as much as he should have been and there are things that came to light that made me dislike him quite a bit. Tristan is a flirt and gorgeous and I don’t think any woman in her right mind would be able to resist his charms.  The love triangle between them is frustrating, sweet and heartbreaking. Adriane Leigh, is an amazing storyteller, I felt drawn into every page I read. There is a sequel coming soon and I cannot wait to see how their story continues.

  
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

3 comments:

How to Configure Numbered Page Navigation After installing, you might want to change these default settings: