4 Smooches!
Synopsis
Jesse
I admit, I didn’t think much of Charlie at first. She was rounder than the girls who usually caught my eye. Not my type. But when I saw her sitting in that booth alone, for the first time something in my mind or my instincts or my heart told me to join her.
She defied me.
She challenged me.
She gave me hope.
Before I knew it, moving forward was my only option.
Charlie
I couldn’t tell you when it happened, but it had to have been a gradual change; I never moved too quickly.
If someone would have told me earlier that year what I was going to go through, I wouldn’t have believed them.
Jesse was so different from anyone I’d met before. And everyone I’ve met since. He sucked all the life out of me, in the best—and worst—ways.
We don’t get strong overnight. For most of us it takes time. Strength isn’t measured by how high and fast our walls go up, but how easily we can watch them fall.
Warning: This book contains material that might be a trigger for some readers. Abuse and rape are implied, but not described in detail. Discretion is advised.
Review
This was a powerful, moving, emotional and beautiful story about two very mismatched people, two very damaged people trying to help each other out in anyway they can while also trying to discover what their dysfunctional relationship actually is and what they mean to each other!
“She defied me. She challenged me. She gave me hope. Before I knew it, moving forward was my only option.”
Charlie was such a strong character! Despite the beliefs she has about her herself and her lack of confidence in the way she looks and the way she thinks people portray her she still remains brave, gutsy, independent and funny; a young woman who is so likeable so that it was hard not to be drawn into her and want the best for her!
“The laughs. The stares. The mockery. Giggles when I’d enter a room. And the words. Words that drove a stake through my heart. I always tried to stand straight, find some dignity, but no one—including myself—came to my rescue. I didn’t care how strong I was supposed to be, no one could’ve endured that daily torture.”
Jesse was kind of the opposite to her. Blasé, cocky, confident (at least on the outside), gorgeous and sometimes a bit too honest and in your face, it was also hard not to fall for Jesse, especially when you discover that he has his equal share of dark problems haunting him; my heart broke for both of them!
“All I had in my head to give her, I gave. Breath for breath. Heartbeat for heartbeat. Wound for wound.”
We follow these two throughout their unusual relationship while they battle through their problems alone and together and we are constantly wondering whether they both are two broken for each other to have any kind of relationship and whether they are too broken to see themselves as the strong people they truly are.
“And while you’re the boy who made me love myself, he can’t love me the way I need him to. He has a lot of shit to sort through before that can happen.” “So that’s it?” He slapped his hands against his sides. “I don’t even get a say in this?”
This story is full of love, sadness, angst, brave moments, beautiful people and a very different relationship between two very different characters that you would not have come across before! It ends on a powerful and heartbreaking cliffhanger but it just makes me want the next book that much more.
~BETHANY
