4 Smooches!
Synopsis
Clarissa never thought at age twenty-six she would be fearing for her life. Everything was going as planned, until her husband started showing a side of himself she didn’t know existed. Failed attempts at leaving him have now left her fighting for her life. Literally. She knows she has to figure out a plan to free herself from his tight grip, but it’s harder than she imagined.
Rig endured much pain after a tragedy left him trying to figure out his place in the world. He now plows through situations, leaving nothing safe in his wake. He lives for the thrill of danger and loves to be on the open road. He doesn’t mix business with pleasure, and he didn’t expect to fall in love with the girl he is hiding out.
When things get too intense between Clarissa and Rig, he decides he can no longer be her safety net. With his feelings clouding his judgment, it’s hard for him to choose between right and wrong.
Will Rig be able to figure out what he wants in time to save Clarissa’s life, or will she become another statistic of domestic abuse?
Review
“What have I done so horribly wrong to be living in hell?”
Clarissa Fields, a 26-year-old successful internet businesswoman, is trapped in a hellish marriage to Steven Fields. With her every move observed, tracked and planned by her controlling husband, she cannot see a way out. She starts internet-based businesses, grows them to success and then sells them for a profit. Yet her home life is one where she is beaten bloody if the carpet is not vacuumed in the specific pattern that her husband requires.
“What do I need to do to get out of here? Every time has been unsuccessful.”
The man she once thought of as her loving husband has turned into an unpredictable, violent monster. She is convinced that she is to blame, but she cannot identify what it is about her that triggers his rage. She engages in a constant, daily examination of herself all while she struggles to meet his precise demands.
“The system infuriates me; the laws that are supposed to keep me safe and free have kept me captive, fighting to stay alive.”
Steven, a real estate entrepreneur, is deeply involved in a criminal organization. Every attempt Clarissa has made to escape, she is caught and returned to Steven by one of his goons. She has gotten restraining orders, but they provide her with no protection from Steven or his men. She learns of an underground escape organization, and after much careful planning, she places the call. While she assumed nothing would result from that call, she is taken completely by surprise when a week later her life as she knows it is completely upended and, without any other options, she agrees to leave behind everything – her business, her family, her husband and her identity – and goes on the run without a backwards glance or any goodbyes. She becomes Parker.
“It’s taking everything I have not to break down and freak out right now.”
She is with her initial driver, Mark, for the first two days while they travel to meet up with the man that will be her long-term guide, Rig, who will guide them as they zigzag across the country hiding from Steven. He will also remain with her as she gets settled in her new life and until he feels that she is comfortable and will thrive in it. Over the weeks and months of their travels Parker and Rig cultivate a friendship, all while they are both fighting a mutual attraction to each other.
“Is this something that will make stronger, or ultimately break me, leaving me a fragment of someone I used to be?”
Rig has his own baggage and reasons for doing what he does. He cannot help the attraction he feels towards Parker, but he certainly can stop himself from acting on it. He tries to keep her at arms length, often running hot and then cold towards her. Months later, when they finally give in to their attraction, confusion and fear rule Parker’s reactions in the aftermath, and Rig leaves her to her new life.
“This journey, for me, has been all about rolling with the punches, and accepting things I will never be able to change.”
Does she ever fully embrace her new life and herself as Parker? Does Rig regret how they parted ways? Can he let go of his personal demons and return to her? Does Steven catch up with Parker or was she never really out of his sight?
This was an intense, exciting story about a once confident woman beaten down to a shell of her former self by the man who vowed to love and cherish her. It’s a story about this woman reinventing herself and finding her voice in the face of unimaginable adversity. And most unexpectedly, it’s about her finding her ability to love and trust again. While the subject matter was difficult at times, F.T. Zele did a great job taking the reader on Clarissa’s journey to her happily ever after. This story earns a solid 4 smooches from me!
~ Danielle Palumbo
