Saturday, September 7, 2013

"Stripped" by H. M. Ward Review



Blurb:


By New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journalbestselling New Adult author H.M. Ward.

The V Card. Virgin. Most of us want to punch that sucker ASAP, and hide the fact until then, but not Cassie Hale. Three years ago she frickin' covered hers in glitter and laminated the thing, proudly telling me that she's waiting for the perfect guy. 

So when I see her half naked, tangled together, rolling around on the floor with another stripper, I'm kind of shocked. Okay, that's an understatement. I'm enthralled. I have to know what cracked her picture perfect world and landed her here, and I hope it's something horrible-an event that broke her the way she broke me. Because, that's who Cassie Hale is--the woman who stole my heart and crushed it in her hand.



My Thoughts:

Ohhh.. how I love the Ferro brothers!! This is Jonathan's story. We met him briefly in the "Damaged" Series.

Jonathan, is a notorious player. Once again, banished from his family for a while, he is sent to live with his Uncle in a teeny town where no one will find him, until his latest screw up blows over. But when his friend tries to set him up with her cousin, Cassie, his entire world is about to get thrown.. along with maybe a little bit of his ginourmous ego.

"She's lucky to have me. I'm a Ferro. No one tells me no anyway, not for anything. I expect to get there and have this chick falling all over me."

Little did he realize, she's a virgin, who wants nothing to do with him, or any guy like him for that matter. She is holding out for her perfect man, and plans on saving her virginity until her wedding night. Of course Jonathan thinks this is insane. Either way, she wants absolutely nothing to do with Jonathan from the second he opens his mouth.

" 'That's why you called me down here? To hang out with the virgin?' He looks horrified.
I hate him. It's hate at first sight. I sneer at him. 'I have a name, you know.' "

Jonathan, in his typical player way, followers her in her attempt to escape him, trying to push her buttons, and convince her to give it a shot with him. The more she says no, the more he wants it. Soon they fall into more of a playful banter, and he realizes that maybe he actually wants her. Jonathan quickly inserts himself into Cassie's summer life, and they fall into an easy friendship.

"Jonathan seems to enjoy my company just as much as I'm enjoying his. Although there's this easy way about him, I know theres a wall between us. Secrets, failures, and insecurities erected it, and it towers over us."

They are both hiding something, and as secrets come out, Jonathan ends up believing Cassie betrayed his trust, and their friendship quickly ends. It is not until three years later, Jonathan runs into little virginal Cassie again. While hiring strippers for his brothers bachelor party, he unknowingly hired Cassie.

"Then, I hear it - that voice. It floats through the air like a familiar old song. Oh God, someone shoot me. I can't do this."

So here they are, after years apart, about to finally face everything that ended their one amazing summer together.. 

I absolutely loved Damaged, where we first meet Jonathan, so I was thrilled with the fact that he was getting his own book. It completely lived up to everything I hoped it would be. I knew there had to be a different side of Jonathan that we weren't seeing. We were left wanting so much more of his story, and we got it. He and Cassie, being polar opposites, manage to form this amazing bond over the course of a summer, that some people don't form in a lifetime. I was screaming in my head "NO!! Something's not right!! Tell me that didn't actually happen!!", when their relationship fell out. There are quite a few things in this book that I didn't see coming, and that's just another reason why I like H. M. Ward's writing so much.

Stripped doesn't end at a cliffhanger, per say, but it is definitely unfinished. Stripped 2, is anticipated to be out sometime in early 2014. I will post more as I know. I already can't wait to see how everything else unfolds!!

Favorite Quote:

"The man standing before me is a carcass of what he was, an illusion covered in pretty smiles and smooth words. Even though we haven't know each other that long, I see through him."


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