Mini Review: Bring on the Angst! #COYER

I am über behind on my #COYER reviews... not because I haven't been reading, but because with all that is happening in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan, I just didn't really feel like ranting or raving over books. I'm back now though and I'm hoping to get my challenge well on it's way.

Statistics So Far: 

[ Goal: 13 Books | Read: 3 | Reviewed: 4 | DNF: 3 ]

As you can see from my stats I have a few DNF books. I wrote my DNF reviews on Goodreads but it doesn't feel right to count those books in the challenge because technically, I failed to clean them out. So now I'm reviewing books that replaced the ones that I ended giving up on. What's with my post title? Well, scroll down to find out.

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Damaged and the Beast
by Bijou Hunter

Publication Date:
April 18, 2013

Heir to the local motorcycle club and crime syndicate, Cooper Johansson is accustomed to taking what he wants. His newest conquest is college freshman Farah Smith.

When the tattooed bad boy reminds her of a rough childhood she desperately wishes to forget, Farah keeps him at arm's length. Yet, Cooper refuses to give up. He pushes her buttons, tears through her walls, and forces her to admit her feelings for him. What begins as lust soon builds into something more powerful than either expects.

Can the beast heal the damage inside the girl of his dreams?

Warning: This novel contains scenes of a sexual nature, violent themes, and coarse language. It is intended for mature readers.

Damaged and the Beast is a complete novel with a HEA.

Rating: ★★★½ - Like It!

I'm not a big fan of angst. I know it adds depth to a character but sometimes the angst level is just way too up there for my taste that it borders on the soap opera-ish.

Which is why it was surprising how I much I liked this book. Farrah is definitely damaged and she knows it. She wants a better life for herself and her younger sister so they can finally get away from their no-good parents who were the cause of their dark and abused past. Cooper and Farrah's relationship starts out like any typical NA book relationship does, but even though the angst level is way out there I was surprisingly okay with it. I think it's because I empathized with why Farrah is so damaged in the first place, and her actions and personality is in tune with the turmoil that she goes through.

I like that Farrah's issues do not magically fix themselves once she's with Cooper. She has hang-ups about sex (and it is totally understandable why) and I like that being sexual with Cooper did not erase all that. She cries way too much though and even though I understood why, it did become annoying after awhile. Cooper is definitely OTT jealous and possessive of Farrah that it actually borders on the obsessive but if you like your alpha hero head over heels in love with your heroine and has no qualms about showing it then this book is definitely for you.

Not everybody will enjoy this book and again, it was really surprising for me but I really did. The characters and the relationship are deliciously flawed, the writing is not perfect, and the storyline is a bit unbelievable at times, but somehow it all worked out for me. I'm contemplating if I want to read the next books in the series, but I would definitely read more from this author!

Damaged Series

Falling Stars
by Sadie Grubor
Book Nerd Revelation

Publication Date:
October 16, 2013 (first published August 14, 2012)

"The haunting pools of dark chocolate drew me in and made my skin crackle. She was beautiful, breathtakingly so. before this moment, I don't think I truly realized just how beautiful she is. A new ache formed in my chest."

Christopher Mason, front man of the band The Forgotten. He's hot, he's famous and everything a famous rock star can be. But despite his fame and bad boy look, inside he battles demons. Demons so powerful they may destroy him. All hope seems lost. Slowly, his star is falling.

Mia Ryder, lead vocalist of the band Hushed Mentality, enters his life. Energetic, fun, and laidback, Mia is just about everything Christopher isn't. And he definitely doesn't want her on his tour.

But one night changes everything. For the first time in his life, Christopher Mason becomes sure of one thing, and it's the one thing he's tried so hard to push away.

Rating: ★★★★ - Love it!

Thanks to an Amazon thread that I'm currently following I've discovered quite a few hidden gems and this book is definitely one of them. I would never have considered reading this because for one, I'm not really a big fan of rock star romances and two, it is a book brimming with angst and as I said before, I don't really enjoy angst-y characters so much.

I like that both protagonist are in equal footing when it comes to their careers. Compared to the usual rich and famous rockstar hero falling in love with the sweet small town heroine, both protagonists are unbelievably talented and in the same league when it comes to their passion. Even though Mia's Hushed Mentality is just up and coming compared to Christopher's The Forgotten, it still made them equals in my eyes.

I also like that although there was a hint of attraction, it took them awhile to get over their antagonistic feelings for each other and that's only because of Christopher realizing that Mia keeps the nightmares away. Like literally sleeping next to her keeps horrifying dreams of his past at bay. I normally hate it when both protagonist sleep together (emphasis on sleep) as "friends" because they just somehow cannot sleep unless they cuddle up together...of course, there's nothing going on between, they're just friends. Seriously? That's just annoyingly pretentious and deluded to me. In this case though, I kind of understand why they do it. If I'm plagued with nightmares every night and one person can keep them away, I would be cuddling with this person in a heartbeat.

The romance develop gradually and the road to that definitely bumpy. It took them awhile to discover how deep their feelings for each other are and even when they finally did, it didn't magically fix Christopher. This is another jealous and possessive hero and he is troubled and damaged; his reasons for being that way understandable but he still has a long way to go in terms of dealing with his issues. Meeting and being with Mia definitely helped him initially but there are things that Christopher needs to deal with on his own and because of that it makes this relationship surprisingly more realistic for me. I also really like how grounded and believable Mia's reactions to certain situations are. I can see myself thinking over the same things if I was ever in the same situation. Reading from both protagonists' POV with a non-linear style of storytelling took awhile to get used to at first but it also really worked out in the long run.

I ended up loving this book because I really liked a number of things, a few of them I mentioned above. I've ordered the next novella in the series and I'm really hoping that it's as good as this one!

Falling Stars Series

Categories: 3.5 Stars, 4 Stars, Amir, Contemporary, NA, Romance