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pamgodwin's review
5.0
Though it may boil your blood and kick you into a spit-frothing frenzy, this book's heartfelt perspective on death and healing will intensify your fear of losing a loved one, and restore your faith in the power of forgiveness.
Dr. Darren Cory is kinky and gorgeous in a miserable, creepy, hater kind of way. His warped personality, combined with his history with Bailey, manifests moments of desire that result in pages of foreplay and oral lovin' that would've been damn scorching in a romantic story. But your disgust for Darren might take the sexy out of the sex scenes. It's compelling how these interludes of lust give brief emotional reprieves, yet they still feel so wrong. Darren is just so wrong. He's not physically abusive, but the emotional pain he viciously inflicts on Bailey is heartbreaking. You'll be convinced he's irredeemable.
The storyline is devastating, but the message and the ending are not. Bailey is a celebration of strength and quiet humility. Her situation is so desperate, there were times I wanted her to kill herself. But her character is cast in determination and unconditional love. She's admirable, selfless, and authentic. Someone you'd want to be friends with. Someone you'd want at your back. I recommend this book for the quality writing, the emotional engagement, and the freshness of the plot. But most of all, I recommend it for the genuineness that breathes through Bailey.
Dr. Darren Cory is kinky and gorgeous in a miserable, creepy, hater kind of way. His warped personality, combined with his history with Bailey, manifests moments of desire that result in pages of foreplay and oral lovin' that would've been damn scorching in a romantic story. But your disgust for Darren might take the sexy out of the sex scenes. It's compelling how these interludes of lust give brief emotional reprieves, yet they still feel so wrong. Darren is just so wrong. He's not physically abusive, but the emotional pain he viciously inflicts on Bailey is heartbreaking. You'll be convinced he's irredeemable.
The storyline is devastating, but the message and the ending are not. Bailey is a celebration of strength and quiet humility. Her situation is so desperate, there were times I wanted her to kill herself. But her character is cast in determination and unconditional love. She's admirable, selfless, and authentic. Someone you'd want to be friends with. Someone you'd want at your back. I recommend this book for the quality writing, the emotional engagement, and the freshness of the plot. But most of all, I recommend it for the genuineness that breathes through Bailey.
gthomson31's review
5.0
It's been a little while since a book has had that angst feel for me but this did and it wasn't to much where I was like omg get over it ! It was very well written and I understood booth characters and even harder for me I understood the side characters their povs were just as compelling as the other I know for sure I'm gonna have a book hangover because if this book and it's one I'm glad to have ! 5*****!
bianca89279's review
3.0
This is a difficult book to rate. While the writing wasn't terrible, I didn't really engage with the main characters. Bailey was like a rag-doll, lacking in personality and letting the "good" doctor just do whatever he wanted to her. The doctor was kind of crazy and over-sexed and I just wanted to slap him or kick him in his balls. There's a lot of internal monologue going on, lots and lots of it, a bit too much. I found the sex scenes a bit off-putting at times, but that could be just me.
stumpfed's review
5.0
The premise of this book was freaking unmistakable genius. I cannot get over just how perfect every aspect of this story was from beginning to end. I think there were just so many layers of angst and healing on so many levels. Having grown up in a small town, I think FInn's setting is just genius. The push and pull of Bailey and Darren over the years was just another layer of real raw emotion. Put that together with the horrible loss and consequences, you have a whale of a tale. BUT...to add in the angst of forgiveness, the impressions left by adults/parents on both of Darren and Bailey and their connection...I just don't have words to describe the emotional pull of this book. What a freaking masterpiece!
accio_coffee's review
i tried so hard to finish and like this book. it started off fine and i could understand where darren was coming from. but he was just plain cruel and so heartless and bailey just let him do it. maybe it was because she felt she deserved it or whatever it jusr got to be unbearable. maybe ill go back to it but for now ill read a book where the guy doesnt play head games
shaydelayed's review
4.0
Is love enough? Can you love someone without forgiveness? Bailey & Darren have to go through hell and back to find the answers. This is a heartbreaking and intense love story that had me emotionally involved from beginning to end. I was team Bailey all the way. My heart wrenched for her. She had my empathy and if I could've figured out a way to give her my friendship and support through my iPad, she would've had that too. Darren cut with his words. I mean cuts that would sever body parts and need hundreds of stitches. And I get it. I get that what happened was life altering, but I also get that 6 years have passed and people make mistakes. I read most of this book with my stomach in knots and my fingers crossed, hoping for a happy ending. I'll leave it up to you to read it and find out if I got what I wanted...or you can just click here.
Disclaimer: The sex in this book is off the charts HOT!
Spoiler
HAPPILY EVER AFTER!Disclaimer: The sex in this book is off the charts HOT!
seffra's review
4.0
3.5 stars!
Hmm what to say about this book. I liked the concept and the characters! Bailey was a young woman who make such a stupid mistake and the man she loved had to pay the price. Darren was an asshole in the beginning. Even though it was justified I still cringed at the things he said or did. I loved Darren's growth as a character and you could actually feel the love he always had for Bailey.
Why this isn't getting the full 5 stars you may ask? Well, I felt like this book hit a lag in the middle and then the epilogue was SO rushed! I get that we get another book but it was way to rushed...maybe she should've saved some of it for the next one? I dunno.
The song, In My Veins by Andrew Belle matched Bailey and Darren so well.
Hmm what to say about this book. I liked the concept and the characters! Bailey was a young woman who make such a stupid mistake and the man she loved had to pay the price. Darren was an asshole in the beginning. Even though it was justified I still cringed at the things he said or did. I loved Darren's growth as a character and you could actually feel the love he always had for Bailey.
Why this isn't getting the full 5 stars you may ask? Well, I felt like this book hit a lag in the middle and then the epilogue was SO rushed! I get that we get another book but it was way to rushed...maybe she should've saved some of it for the next one? I dunno.
The song, In My Veins by Andrew Belle matched Bailey and Darren so well.
tab2004's review
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. There were parts I really liked - Darren's intensity, both POV's, the compelling storyline. But the other parts really weakened it - Bailey's lack of guilt toward's JESSE - Bailey's martyr complex with Darren - the way Darren was so hot and cold got old, and the repetition. I think this had a strong enough writing style it could have been a four star but the negatives really dropped it down. The book lost me at just over half-way in and never got me back completely.
onceuponahardback's review
5.0
✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ 5 Learning to Forgive Stars ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮
Unforgiven was such a beautiful story. It pulled at my heart-strings and I found myself crying through a good part of the story. Any time a book can get me so emotionally invested that I develop a migraine from crying so much, then it automatically deserves 5 stars. Regardless of issues you may have, any author that can pull you into a fictional world like that deserves apat on the back hug! Unforgiven had everything in it that I love most: flashbacks, a love-story, loss, strength, redemption, hurt, anger, guilt, understanding, and maybe the most important...acceptance and forgiveness.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
On a night that started as any other, terrible choices cause Bailey Trent to loose everything that she holds dear. Most importantly the love of her best friend's brother Darren Cory.
Darren's feelings of love, desire, friendship, and respect are gone. At least he thinks they are. For those once beautiful feelings are now poisoned by hate and hurt. So powerful, they are the only things he can focus on, and when one day Bailey Trent shows up in his hospital room, after 6 long years of being gone, he turns those hateful feelings on her. He wants her to suffer, to feel the pain that he felt because of her.
This was by far, the most painful part of the story. Be warned you are going to get mad at Darren. Really really mad. Every time he told Bailey he hated her, every time he made her cry I wanted to tell Bailey to get as far away from him as possible, yet I understood her love for him. He wasn't a bad guy, just hurting, and though it didn't make what he said right, I also understood him. I understood his pain. I understood his torment. There lies the heart-breaking story of their love. How can you love someone and hate them just as much? Can you ever forgive and move on? Is it even possible to forget the past?
Their chemistry as they continually cross paths is off the hook! Like seriously hot, they had amazing chemistry. Darren hates her, yet he still is attracted to Bailey. He doesn't want to want her, but he can't seem to help himself. He wants her gone, yet he wants her to stay. He hates her, yet he doesn't forget the girl that used to be his world.
I don't think Elizabeth Finn is capable of writing a bad story. Every book that she writes pulls me in, and I think I've cried reading everything she's written. EVERYONE READ THIS BOOK.
Quoting Bailey via Elizabeth Finn here:
" She’d had opinions, strong ones at that; she’d had tastes, distastes. She’d once wanted to write herself. Tell a story. Create a story, a world, a feeling, something, anything at all that could resound in someone’s heart."
You totally accomplished it!!!
Unforgiven was such a beautiful story. It pulled at my heart-strings and I found myself crying through a good part of the story. Any time a book can get me so emotionally invested that I develop a migraine from crying so much, then it automatically deserves 5 stars. Regardless of issues you may have, any author that can pull you into a fictional world like that deserves a
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
On a night that started as any other, terrible choices cause Bailey Trent to loose everything that she holds dear. Most importantly the love of her best friend's brother Darren Cory.
"Pain. Blinding anguish. So much so, the breath left her lungs, and she felt an imaginary fist twisting her guts into knots.Her ears were buzzing, and though the pain should mean tears, there was nothing to cry. She stood there, waiting for it to be over, dreading it, and at the same time, just wanting it done. And then it was.."
"There was a point. A point where seeing his face, his beautiful features, his intense stare, simply ended, and he became a haunting memory. Just like that. He’d kissed her; he’d touched her chin. “You will always be my world.” His lips trembled as he said the
words, and her tears fell. Then he’d kissed her again and turned away. Gone." -Bailey
Darren's feelings of love, desire, friendship, and respect are gone. At least he thinks they are. For those once beautiful feelings are now poisoned by hate and hurt. So powerful, they are the only things he can focus on, and when one day Bailey Trent shows up in his hospital room, after 6 long years of being gone, he turns those hateful feelings on her. He wants her to suffer, to feel the pain that he felt because of her.
This was by far, the most painful part of the story. Be warned you are going to get mad at Darren. Really really mad. Every time he told Bailey he hated her, every time he made her cry I wanted to tell Bailey to get as far away from him as possible, yet I understood her love for him. He wasn't a bad guy, just hurting, and though it didn't make what he said right, I also understood him. I understood his pain. I understood his torment. There lies the heart-breaking story of their love. How can you love someone and hate them just as much? Can you ever forgive and move on? Is it even possible to forget the past?
“See, the thing is . . . you didn’t seem to
really notice anyone except her. Not ever. Hell, not even with a girlfriend on your arm. You still watched her.” She smiled at him. “If she was in a room, you were next to her. And vice versa. You two just found your way to one another. She held your attention in a way no one else could.” He looked away then, but she wasn’t done speaking. “You two were supposed to be together.” She shrugged then. “It’s sad that you can’t be."
Their chemistry as they continually cross paths is off the hook! Like seriously hot, they had amazing chemistry. Darren hates her, yet he still is attracted to Bailey. He doesn't want to want her, but he can't seem to help himself. He wants her gone, yet he wants her to stay. He hates her, yet he doesn't forget the girl that used to be his world.
"You need to understand something. Forgiveness isn't an emotion. It's an action and it's a choice."
I don't think Elizabeth Finn is capable of writing a bad story. Every book that she writes pulls me in, and I think I've cried reading everything she's written. EVERYONE READ THIS BOOK.
Quoting Bailey via Elizabeth Finn here:
" She’d had opinions, strong ones at that; she’d had tastes, distastes. She’d once wanted to write herself. Tell a story. Create a story, a world, a feeling, something, anything at all that could resound in someone’s heart."
You totally accomplished it!!!