Title: Love in Darkness (Shattered Castles, #2)
Author: E.M. Tippetts
Release date: May 21, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Book Description:
Alex had everything
when he was with Madison. But the darkness within him wouldn't go away. After
two years apart, he returns to Pelican Bluffs and to the girl he never wanted
to leave.
Madison wants to give
their love another chance, but Alex can't fight fate. He is what he is. Ruined.
Crazy like his mother. And Madison deserves so much more. When his secrets
spill out into their small town, Alex has a choice to make. Hide away in the
darkness forever, or let love in.
About Emily
Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance under the name E.M.
Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy under the name Emily Mah. Originally
from New Mexico, she now lives in London with her family. Before she was a
published author, she was an attorney who specialized in real estate,
contracts, and estate planning, especially literary estate planning.
Author
social media links:
Event Giveaway: (5) Signed copies of Love in Darkness
Sneak Peak
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Madison
falls silent and continues to look me over.
I
take a deep breath and will her not to stop. See me, I think, see that I’m not
worth all these tears and all this effort. See that I’m just some overgrown
loser with no future and no plan for my life.
Only,
her expression doesn’t turn to disgust or enlightenment. She reaches up to
stroke my cheek and I shut my eyes, unsure of what to say or do.
I
hear the rustle of her clothing as she leans in closer and feel her breath on
my lips. I brace myself as she touches her mouth to mine, so gently that
there’s barely any contact. I sit still as stone, my hand gripping her shirt
tighter and tighter. She holds the kiss until I feel her tremble, then she
leans in and I taste her, the salt of movie theater popcorn and the barest hint
of cherry lip gloss.
She’s
in my arms now. I kiss and kiss and kiss her, running my fingers down her spine
and hearing her familiar gasp.
“She’s
clearly desperate,” rings out one of the voices.
“Pathetic.”
“She’ll
kiss anyone, you know?”
“He
doesn’t even know what he’s doing.”
I
try to push them away, but this time, I have no control. They just laugh at my
attempts.
“Alex.”
Madison touches my cheek. We’ve stopped kissing, though I don’t know when.
“I’m
sorry,” I say. “I can’t… we can’t, okay?” There’s enough adrenalin in my system
to wake an elephant from a deep coma. I shake, and will the voices to be
silent. They quiet down a little, but I don’t have the control I did moments
ago.
“Are
you okay?” she asks.
I
force my chest to expand and draw in the chill, humid air. I hold my breath
while the air warms inside me, then expel it. “You should get inside,” I say.
“You’ll miss the movie.”
“You’re
okay?”
“Yeah,”
I lie. “Yeah, I’m good. Go on.”
“I…
I’m not going to leave you here.”
I
smooth my hair back, and, with a steadiness I don’t feel, get to my feet. The
cold from the sidewalk has soaked into my muscles, making me clumsy. We don’t
hold hands or even look at each other as we make our way back to the theater.
Source: eARC for Honest Review
My Review...
When I started this book I thought it was going to be a great happy HEA book about Alex and Madison but it wasn't. It was so much more.
If you ever read the book Still Alice and you got to see and live through the eyes of an Alzheimer's person this was what is what like with Alex. You got to see, breathe, hear and live the life of someone with schizophrenia.
I do not know a lot about mental illness and disabilities but I thought this was a beautifully told story about loving someone so much it breaks you.
I have thought about this book many times after I have read it which means that it has definitely put a mark on part of my soul.
With this book at times I felt like Alex ability of being a disabled person guru was a bit overboard but than I started to think about it after I read the story that maybe because he also suffers from a disability and had his childhood cut too short from the loss of his dad and having a mom with schizophrenia that just maybe this could be the case that someone like Alex who is still quite high functioning would be able to help others because he would be able to see it from an angle that others wouldn't.
People are so quick to judge and not see people who they truly are but it takes a lot when a person can admit that they were wrong.
"Yeah, he's normal. But there was kind of this other guy who loves my sister so much he was tearing himself to pieces because he wanted what was best for her, even if it destroyed him."
Thank goodness that there are people who can love no matter what and through sickness and health without judgement. For Madison she sees the world in a different way and loves so unconditionally that she is like a pitbull in a fight for the death. For Alex thankfully Madison fought for him to see the possibility of love and hope. For them love is enough even if it is for only a few moments of clarity that there would be no regrets and only love and the possibility of forever.
I thought this book was brilliantly done like all the other works of E.M.Tippets that I have read previously. This book is a LDS book but in this book that part is more in the background where mental illness, hope and love were more forefront.
5 Thumbs up!
Lauren
Into the Deep
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