Monday, December 9, 2013

Review: Before We Fall (Beautifully Broken #3) by Courtney Cole

Book Title: Before We Fall (Beautifully Broken #3)
Author: Courtney Cole
Release Date: December 3rd, 2013
Publisher: Forever
Genre: NA/Romance/Contemporary
Series: Book 3 in Beautifully Broken series
Book Links: Goodreads
Purchase Link: AmazonBarnes & Noble

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Sometimes, one dark moment is all it takes to turn your world black...

For 24-year old Dominic Kinkaide, that moment took place on the night of his high school graduation. One dark incident changed him forever. He's a hardened actor now, famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured in his own. He doesn't care about much of anything, except for losing himself in the roles that he plays.

23-year old Jacey Vincent doesn't realize how much her father's indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn't one specific moment that wrecks a person, but rather it's an absence of moments. She's like a bird with a broken wing-strong yet fragile, as she tries to float through life, finding acceptance in the arms of random guys, one after the other... to fill the void that her father left in her.

Until she meets Dominic.

After jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, his secret and her issues create a dark and damaged energy that will soon turn their attraction to each other into an explosive storm.

Even though when the clouds have cleared and the dust has settled, both of them are almost obliterated... they've learned a priceless lesson.

Sometimes, before we fall... we fly.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:
Courtney Cole is a goddess, I have read both If You Stay and If You Leave and I have loved them both. So I was excited to find out that Before We Fall was Jacey's story. Jacey deserved something good to happen to her after the events of If You leave. 

Jacey was a player in both of those books, but more so in If You Leave since it was her brother Gabe and Maddy's story.She always seemed like a good person but one with an edge to her. Maybe it was her crappy childhood, maybe it was her poor choice in romantic partners or maybe it was a combination of both.I always liked her as she reminded me a bit of myself a couple of years ago.I never dealt with the absence of paternal love in the way that she did, but her messed up family definitely reminded me of my own.

To be honest, through about 65% of the book I disliked Dominic intensely.I thought he was an asshole and I was worried that Jacey was falling into her old habits. Except Dominic was a bit more adventurous sexually than even Jacey was. Dominic pushed people away so that they didn't have to deal with him and his damaged self. However a life like he had is very lonely and girls and sex can only fill the void so much. 

Most people will say that the turning point came at the end when Dominic's, Sin's and Cris's secrets all came to light. Yet, I think it was Dominic and Jacey's trip to the Grand Canyon that changed everything.

When we finally learn about the woman Dominic loved previously, I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I broke up with someone who's girlfriend had died 3 years previously. It was all in my head but I was convinced that I wouldn't measure up to how he had felt about her. They had been talking marriage and everything so they were just as, if not more serious than Dominic and Emma had been. I give Jacey a whole lot of credit for not being totally threatened by the memory of Emma. I wish I had had that strength. Jacey was definitely stronger than I was in that respect.

In the first two books, I didn't mind the proposals but I just thought this one was too rushed. I was a little annoyed that they wouldn't take it slower. I mean, no Jacey and Dominic didn't strike me as being  the type to take it slow but proposing a month after all the secrets were out in the open was just a little much for me. However, the epilogue was my favorite part.

Unlike the first two, I didn't cry at all. It brought the feels but in a much more understated way. I'm glad I wasn't sitting on my bed, sobbing violently this time. It wasn't my favorite of the series (that honor still goes to If You Leave) but I ended up understanding Dominic and Jacey more than I expected to. 

This book will be getting 4 stars. Mostly it's because Dominic was an asshole through about 2/3'ds of it.However, I will still read basically anything that Courtney Cole writes because she knows how to write characters that her readers can relate to.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you so much for your comment! I will do my best to reply to every comment that is left. This blog is an award free blog. I appreciate the thought, but I do not have the time to follow up.