Sunday 20 March 2016

Review: After the Hurt by Shana Gray

Shana Gray’s provocative novel features a resilient fighter going round for tantalizing round with the one that got away—a headstrong woman bent on seduction.
 
Pepper Chapman refuses to throw in the towel. Six months ago, she made the biggest mistake of her life. Blinded by grief after her mom’s death, Pepper abandoned the man she loves. Now she wants a second chance at everything she gave up: strong hands driving her to ecstasy . . . a deep voice whispering naughty promises in her ear . . . the future they’d planned since they were teenagers. So Pepper comes home looking for forgiveness, ready for a new beginning—if he’s willing to give her a shot.

Retired MMA star Tank Sherman may be used to low blows, but Pepper’s emotional sucker punch left him reeling. Trying to ignore the pain and forget the pleasure of her body beneath his, Tank is prepared to ring the final bell on their relationship. Then Pepper shows up out of the blue, radiating pure sex. But Tank won’t let himself get hurt again, and that means resisting the heat that still burns between them. Because if he takes Pepper back, he knows he’ll never be able to let her go again.


Kindle Edition
Expected publication: March 29th 2016 by Loveswept 
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Kristine's Thoughts:

** I received an advanced readers copy from Random House- Loveswept via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**

This book was just OK for me. I struggled through parts of it and found myself skimming the pages on more than one occassion.

Pepper came back in the hopes of rekindling her relationship with Tank after leaving without a word six months earlier. Her mother passed away and she blamed herself and fled in order to try and heal. This was my first issue. It was just too unbelievable. Pepper and Tank were in a a serious relationship since high school, lived together and owned a business yet she couldn't turn to Tank for comfort?? Taking off made more sense?? It was just a little flimsy as far as a believable plot.

The story was told from both Pepper and Tank's point of view. Normally this is something that I love but I didn't in this book. It was extremely repetitive. Pepper would see Tank and then think about what she would like to do to him or have him do to her. Next it would go to Tank's point of view where we would get to read about what he wished he was doing to Pepper or what he wished she was doing to him. This happened over and over again. Instead of building anticipation it got old really fast and the page skimming commenced. There was just way too much tell and too little show. Most of the book happened in their heads.

The other thing that I didn't quite understand was the "mystery" part of it. What was that? It seemed at first like it would play a pivitol part in the plot but then it just kind of flopped. It was less than exciting and ended before it really even began.

This book just wasn't for me but I will admit that Gray does know how to turn up the heat. I just wish it wasn't mostly in their heads.

 



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