4 Stars!
Review by Nicole Lorenzo
Arielle is a young Navy wife who is stationed in Hawaii with
her husband Brody and her pet tortoise Swanks. She works part time at the gym
with her new friend Macy and does burlesque dancing on occasion. Her short
marriage is failing, but no matter how badly her husband treats her, Arielle
feels like it’s her cross to bear for marrying him in the first place. She
doesn’t love her husband, not like she’s supposed to, and every minute she
spends with Brody she feels her self-worth slipping away and her former self
disappearing all together. The only time Arielle feels confident is when she
steps on the stage at her Burlesque shows. There for at least a little while
she can pretend to be someone else.
“…we
all have different masks we wear and personas we take on. We all have sides of
us that we don’t want anyone else to know about because if they did, they might
think us weak or easily manipulated or even vulnerable. But, whatever it is
that we are trying to keep hidden can easily be brought out by the right
person, be it good or bad.”
While dancing her
latest show Arielle meets a bunch of Navy guys who are out celebrating for a
buddy’s bachelor party. One of them is McCrary, and they share this instant
connection that Arielle thought only occurred in her romance books. Being
married she enjoys some harmless flirting never expecting to see him again.
Imagine her surprise when she runs into him while on a girls' night out with
Macy. There is definitely no denying
their attraction to each other and it just makes Arielle realize what she’s
missing in her marriage. After having an amazing night out drinking and dancing
she says goodbye to McCrary and goes home to be belittled and talked down to by
her husband. Even though she knows the way Brody treats her is not right, she
feels she deserves it, or does she? A night out with a virtual stranger had her
feeling more worth and more alive than ever and Arielle realizes that maybe
life has more to offer her after all. With some encouragement from Macy Arielle
finally decides it’s time to speak to someone about her situation and she makes
an appointment with a JAG officer on base.
“I
doubt I will ever see him again, but I hope somehow the universe lets him know
that he has become my saving grace.”
At first McCrary didn’t recognize the teary eyed woman in
front of him in his office but then he realizes it’s the girl he can’t get out
of his head. When he met her the first time after her show he was left
speechless. She was gorgeous and captivated him with her every move and then
again out at the bar he was left disappointed when she left and he didn’t know
if he would ever see her again. Now here she sits in his office. She is married
and wants a divorce. McCrary is a JAG officer but doesn’t normally take these
cases, but because it’s her he is making an exception. He realizes by her
mannerisms that there is more to her story than she’s letting on and he gets
enraged with the idea of anyone mistreating her. When her husband steps over
the line and takes his abuse to the next level McCrary knows he will do
everything in his power to protect her even though spending time with her like
this could ruin his career. They wind up running into each other frequently and
these run ins turn into planned meet ups and soon they wind up spending all of
their free time together.
“You’re
breaking some major rules being with me. I cannot do that to you. I can’t ruin
your life.”
“I
hardly think you’re ‘ruining’ my life. The only way you could ruin my life is
to walk out of it.”
With Brody gone on deployment Arielle spends all of her time
with McCrary. What started out as innocent is now blossoming into something
more, something Arielle has never experienced before. She feels like her old
self again and she has McCrary to thank for that. With him she feel confident,
beautiful, loved.
“Against
all my rationale and efforts otherwise, I have fallen for you. You have my
heart. Which means you control it.”
With Arielle being married her relationship with McCrary has
to be kept secret. Soon Brody will be home and they will have to be even more
careful of the time they spend together. Are Arielle and McCrary prepared to
fight for the love they both need and deserve?
Fighting for Arielle is the debut Novel from author Karina
Sharp. I truly enjoyed this story. As a military wife myself I was able to
appreciate the story from an insider’s perspective. Everything felt real. The
emotion, the struggle and I liked the fact that Arielle found love and light
where she originally felt trapped. There was a lot of humor in this story and
the dealings with some heavier issues as well. Arielle was sassy, sharp witted
beautiful girl who had the life sucked out of her by her controlling husband.
McCrary came along at the right time, and even though he never thought a long
term relationship could ever work while in the military his outlook changed
when he met Arielle. Fighting For Arielle is a story about finding love when
you least expect it and having the courage to fight for the love you deserve.
“You
are where my sun both rises and sets.”
No comments:
Post a Comment