Review: Salvage by Tiffany Aleman

Stereotypical trailer trash. That’s how people saw me. I’m Karmen Butler, the girl everyone teased, tortured, pranked—bullied.

After graduating high school, I left my shithole of a town behind with no intentions of ever returning. My dreams were within my grasp. Or so I thought…

Luck. That’s what was on his side. Brayden Stephens was on top of the world and the biggest prick of all. At least that’s how I remember him. Then he lost it all. His vices took over and now he’s a washed-up has-been with a cocky smirk and arrogant attitude.

Valued. That was how he made me feel. One night changed everything for us. In an instant I was lost to his touch, his voice. Everything about him captivated me.

Against my better judgment, I let him in. I let him see the real me. Since he’d walked into my office, he’d been trying to redeem himself of his past mistakes.

Glimpses of a love and life I’d never known before were all he had given me. Now he’s done it, the one thing he said he wouldn’t. He’s broken me. AGAIN.

Excuses are what I was fed. The truth restrained him, bound him to his past, and now, I’m left to deal with the aftermath.

Is there anything left to SALVAGE?

I don’t know…

You tell me. 

5 Star Review by Natasha Gentile

I was completely flattered when I got an email from Tiffany asking if I would like to read an arc of  her new book.  Of course I looked around the room to make sure I wasn’t being punked before I answered or rather shouted that it better not be a joke..it wasn’t’..

Stereotypical trailer trash. That’s how people saw me. I’m Karmen Butler, the girl everyone teased, tortured, pranked—bullied.

Imagine, if you can, being bullied your whole life.  She didn’t know why it happened but it did.  Nothing, absolutely nothing that she did made it go away. 

She learned to keep her head down when ever she saw the ‘it’ crowd around.   She vowed once she graduated high school she would be gone, out of there, with a one way ticket to anywhere but here.  She said she was never going to go back.  She learned that you should never say never.

Luck. That’s what was on his side. Brayden Stephens was on top of the world and the biggest prick of all.

The biggest bully of all Brayden Stephens pretended to have it all.  He made sure that the spotlight wasn’t on him because if you shined it too long, you would see the hollowness of his life.  The battle scars that he wears are hidden deep, but not that deep.

Then he lost it all. His vices took over and now he’s a washed-up has-been with a cocky smirk and arrogant attitude.

Imagine his surprise when he sits down for a job in sports radio broadcasting that Karmen would be the one on the other side of the desk.  Shock and utter disbelief hits him right in the gut.  It seems the ball is in her court now, and they say Karma isn’t going to get you!

He says he’s a changed man, but does a leopard change his spots?  Only one way to find out.  Take a chance on him.  Take a chance that he isn’t that bully he was in high school.

Valued. That was how he made me feel. One night changed everything for us. In an instant I was lost to his touch, his voice. Everything about him captivated me.

Everything said tread lightly.  I couldn’t turn away from him.  I let him in, in more ways than one.  Everyday he slowly showed me that he wasn’t the boy that made all those mistakes.

Glimpses of a love and life I’d never known before were all he had given me. Now he’s done it, the one thing he said he wouldn’t. He’s broken me. AGAIN. 

The illusions of what we were got shattered.  He did what he promised he wouldn’t.  Nothing I could do could help chase the demons out of him. Her heart broken yet again, except now she doesn’t know if she can salvage it.

This is a first of two books.   I loved the maturity of these characters.  I loved how we saw them in flashbacks from the past so you really connected with what they were going through.  I can’t wait for the next one!