Anna Howard

SPOILERS*********




Terri Anne Browning’s book (book 2) of this anthology:

The story of HxhxOW = Jared, Alexis, Nica (Monica)


JARED AND ALEXIS:
Insta lust. Insta love.
Really lovely and dreamy and romantic.
They break up. She takes it really badly, has a sort of mental breakdown, has a car accident and becomes disabled. Moves back home so her family can look after her.
Don’t see each other until 7 months later.
By sheer coincidence.
NOT because he tried to find her.


LOTS and LOTS of stuff happening but (in excerpts) here’s the bottom line:



Him:
“These past seven months have been Hell, baby. I haven’t been able to eat, sleep eludes me. If Gabriella had told me that you were hurt I would have been back in a heartbeat.”

“Please tell me you missed me too, Lexis. Tell me that you still feel something, even if it is more hatred than love.”



Her:
“I don’t know you.” She told him. “I don’t remember you.”……
“I lost all memory of the months leading up to the accident.”



Him:
Maybe this was a way for them to start over. He didn’t have tell her—hurt her with the reasons why she had felt the need to kick him out of her life. (LIAR)



Her:
“Why did we break up?” She demanded,



Him:
“We had a misunderstanding. I had to go to Rome, my father had been sick… “I was so busy with everything going on over there that I didn’t have time to fix us just then. So I let you have some time to cool off. I thought that when I could get away I would have time to win you back…”

When I tried to call you back you sent me straight to voice mail. All my texts went unanswered… If things had not been so crazy at the time I would have been by your side in a heartbeat.



Her:
“And there wasn’t time for you to come home, to explain it all to me in person?



Him:
“Things got crazy. My father got sick. Nica (THE OTHER WOMAN) had a miscarriage (not his kid)…” ….. “She was too fragile to be left alone. She needed me.”



Her:
….to him she would always come in second. Nica was his priority. How else could he have stayed by the woman’s side when his own child was being ripped from Alexis’s womb along with all chances of having another child?

"My uterus was torn to shreds. I lost the baby…And all hopes of having another one.”

“So even though I didn’t remember Jared, I knew that there had been a man in my life. And for the first week I waited, and waited. Expecting the father of my child to show up……
…..I knew that he didn’t love me. Because if he did, how could he go a week, two, three without seeing me? How could he stand that distance between us?”



Him:
“…..Each day was an agony. I wanted to be with you. Craved to be in your arms, to have you in mine. But I had my father to deal with. He nearly died. And Nica...Nica doesn’t matter though. (LIAR) None of it matters. I should have been with you. Never should have left your side for even a second.”



So they try again and lo and behold the liar-liar-dick-on-fire messes up again:



Him:
“It isn’t what it seems, Lexis.”



Her:
“You lied to me.”



Him:
“I was terrified to tell you the truth. (uh huh: LIAR) I just found you again. I couldn’t chance telling you about Monica.” He cupped her face in hands that shook. “I love you. I wasn’t ready to risk how happy we were over her.”



THE HEROINE
She’s literally broken: she can’t walk unaided, has gruelling physical therapy (kudus to the author for this part, it’s so well done, I didn’t realise I’d been gritting my teeth and tearing up right along with her until my jaw started aching and the words seem to swim across the page.) That’s only PART of her brokenness. Mentally and emotionally she’s a wreck as well.



THE HERO:
(Many readers who love the “jealous-possessive” hero will love this hero.)
Lying dickhead.
Assish asshole.
Whiny, needy, crying, tearful, emo, jealous, possessive weak, sniffling liar.
Liar.
Liar.
(me--->hero--->boat in the deepest ocean--->nunchucks --->cement shoes)



THE HERO AND THE OTHER WOMAN:
Apparently there was never anything romantic between the OW and H.
(Cough-cough-bullshit)
Yet, for SOME reason he gives up months of being with the heroine to be with the OW so he can help the OW make his brother jealous (tabloid style fake engagement, etc) so that said brother can realise that he and the OW belong together. (All this without a word to the heroine, at a time she needed him the most)
OW now married to his brother.
Creepy, incestuous bond between him and the OW:

OW:
“…he’s my best friend...”

“Jerry! (her nickname for him) How could you cancel on me like that? Aren’t I the love of your life?”

Excerpt:
The look on her face was so close to the one that she had had when she spoke to her husband that Alexis was almost taken
aback.



Like I said: lots happening. Much more than the above.
Then Hxh get married.
In future books she falls pregnant despite her shredded womb.… (altro)

The author missed a great chance to highlight many of the problems that face youth today: bullying, alcoholism, abuse, indifferent/unconcerned parents. The author did touch on these, but provided no good methods to live with or overcome them. The story centers on Ariana, a young girl who is popular and has lot of money. This is the story of her love for the new kid in school, Trevor. For most of the book, Ariana came across as shallow, snobbish and unconcerned about anything but herself. She is one of the popular kids at school, probably largely due to her obvious money, which she uses to buy things for her friends, but has endured some pretty terrible things. The author depicted high schoolers who went around cutting classes with no obvious repercussions, who seemed to be totally oblivious to any of the school rules and had practically no school administration concern for them despite their actions. As is often the case in these books, I wondered where these schools existed. I realize the author wants to focus on the students’ lives and not the school, but the environment around the students should be more realistic. The author missed a good opportunity to provide some good information on the problems students encounter and how to cope and/or get through them, as I said above. This is definitely a YA book, but could have been a great one if the author had developed a better main character, had not totally ignored the environment in which she lived and had used some of the circumstances/experiences to provide direction and solutions. I recommend this book to a reader just looking for a quick, easy story to fill his/her time. I received this from Library Thing to read and review.… (altro)