We all have one. A price. That magic number that will get us to agree to do anything, be anything. Don’t sit on your gold-plated high horse and say you don’t because you do. Everyone does. Each of us has something we covet enough that we’d sell ourselves to have it. What’s my tipping point, you ask? Apparently a cool quarter mil will do the trick. What does one do for 250 large, you wonder? Anything the infamous, gorgeous playboy of Seattle wants. For the next four months I’ll be Shaw Mercer’s arm candy, his beck and call girl, his faux girlfriend. I’ll be his to command, mold, push and pull in any direction he sees fit. I’ll fight falling into bed with him. I’ll fight falling in love with him even harder. I’ll fail at both. And when my past and present collide in the most unexpected of ways, I’ll learn that while one man’s love for me has never died, the only man’s love I really want will never be mine.
‘It takes a special girl to open a boy’s eyes to what’s right in front of him, Willow. But when he realizes it, he’ll fight to the death for her and only her. Don’t settle until you find that man.’
This is my first time reading this author’s work, but I heard great things about her and I could not wait to delve into the pages of her latest book. “Lost In Between, which is the first book in a two-part series, is a beautifully written story about sacrifice, survival, and love.
The prologue was intriguing and it made me eager to see how the rest of the story would unfold. In it, we see the heroine, (Willow Blackwell), running out on fiancée. It was clear from that moment that she was dealing with some deep-seated issues and I was curious to discover what they were.
“Lost In Between which is told from dual POVs tells the story of Willow Blackwell and Shaw Mercer. Willow dreamed of being an actress, however, circumstances led to her giving up on that dream. In a bid to survive financially, she narrates audio books by day works as an escort by night. The latter was a last resort, as it was the only way to secure enough funds to pay her mother’s medical bills.
We look pretty, we adorn our clients, we dote, we mingle, we act the part we’re given, and we go home at the end of the ‘date’ a few hundred or thousand dollars richer, with our legs shut and our pride intact.
She lived for the day when she will be able to give up her night job. Shaw Mercer, the golden boy of Seattle may just be the answer to her problems. Shaw is in need of a girlfriend, preferably a fake one and this is where Willow comes in, for only $250,000.00, and she would pretend to be just that for four months.
Four months of my life is a small price to pay to get out from under this financial stress plaguing me. If Shaw wants to pay me a stupid amount of money to play his girl friend, I will take it and walk away with a clean conscience when our contract ends.
Willow is not looking to have a committed relationship. Her focus is on getting her business off the ground. She experienced loss at an early age. The kind of loss that brought about devastating changes as a result, she is still trying to figure out who she was as a person. She feels lost and as a result, she does not allow anyone to get close to her. She pushed people away to protect herself from hurt. She is a woman with many secrets. She is a complicated character and I enjoyed uncovering all her layers.
‘…if loving someone – anyone – eventually leads to heartbreak, loss, and mourning, why do we do it? Why do we continue to let people into our lives, our hearts? Steal our very soul out from under us before we realize a vital piece of us is forever missing?’
Shaw is a player and just like Willow, he has commitment phobia. Long-term commitment is not on his list of priorities, but his family had other ideas. He is arrogant, over-confident and sexy. Willow was unlike any woman he has ever been with before. She challenged him, she had him jumping through hoops and she made him feel things he never felt before. Will he be able to walk away when the contract expires? This is so much more than a romance story. It touched on some heavy issues such as drug abuse and suicide. These issues, in general, can be traumatic as such, it was it easy to understand the pain and hurt the protagonists were experiencing being so close to such a situation.
Sexual tension permeated the pages of the book. The attraction between them is instantaneous and undeniable. They fought the attraction as giving into it could lead to complications, but lines are easily crossed and when they did, it was explosive.
No story is worth its salt without a dynamic supporting cast; well this story had it in spades. The secondary characters helped to stir things up, making for an interesting read, especially that twist near to the end. I certainly never saw that one coming.
I loved everything about this book, well, except for the ending. It left me hanging and now I will be waiting, somewhat impatiently, for the release of the sequel.
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Author Bio
As a USA Today Bestselling author, I write stories that are deeply emotional with flawed characters, because humans ARE flawed and if we read about perfect characters living in their perfect world, first of all, snoozer, but secondly, we never experience the gratification of redemption.
Outside of writing, I’m just a regular ol’ Midwest girl who likes Game of Thrones and am obsessed with Modern Family and The Goldbergs. I run, I eat, I run, I eat. It’s a vicous cycle. I love carbs, but there’s love-hate relationship with my ass and thighs. Mostly hate. I like a good cocktail (oh hell…who am I kidding? I love any cocktail). I’m a huge creature of habit, but I’ll tell you I’m flexible. I read every single day and if I don’t get a chance…watch the hell out. My iPad and me: BFFs. I’m direct and I make no apologies for it. I swear too much. I love alternative music and in my next life I want to be a bad-ass female rocker. I hate, hate, hate spiders, telemarketers, liver, acne, winter and loose hairs that fall down my shirt (don’t ask, it’s a thing).
Nadene's addiction to reading began at an early age, when a family friend gifted her a copy of Wuthering Heights. From that moment she was never without a book.She will read anything as long the material is compelling enough to hold her attention. She gained many experiences through the pages of the books she had the opportunity to read.She created this blog to share her love of books with like minded individuals hopes that in sharing reviews of the books read visitors to the blog will discover their next addictive read. When not reading, Nadene enjoys cooking, listening to music and watching television.
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