From goodreads: Secrets…
Evie Sandstrom has always had secrets. She has grown up with them and now they are coming back and chipping away at her confident facade. Always one for an adventure, she decides to leave after college break and spend the summer in Boston.
The Irish Gangster…
Finn Reilly is not only a bad-boy drug dealer but he is also Evie’s first love. When they meet again in Boston, sparks begin to fly and although they share one huge secret that should have destroyed them forever, it unites them at a time when she needs all the help she can get.
The French Model…
Evie’s mother, superstar actress Athena Donahue, has remarried to Etienne Fournier, a model who is eighteen years her mother’s junior and wants to get to know Evie in more ways than one.
Once Athena drags her daughter back to L.A. under dubious circumstances, she is within the sights of Etienne yet out of the sights of Finn. Can they resolve their differences and will true love prevail or will life get in the way and spoil their chances of happiness?
I’m always on the hunt for stories about love that are unique and different, stories that will stay with me. So when I was given the opportunity to review Undertow by Elle Chardou, it seemed interesting but the cover had me second guessing the fact I wanted to read this. Ladies and gentlemen, lesson learned AGAIN! Never judge a book by its cover. This is a dark and messed up story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s gritty, raw, shocking and one filled with hope.
I’ve seen reviews about this story stating that the story has a slow start but that’s not my impression at all. This is a slow building story that is character driven but by no means is it slow. There’s a solid foundation built for the key characters that you will come to love even if they do things that make you cringe. And believe me, you will cringe.
I had two areas of concern with the book. The topic of Kieran was glossed over but I’m guessing that was the author’s intention. However, as the reader, I needed a little more. It felt like an easy-breezy topic and in reality it rocked her to the core but I was left to figure that out on my own. And the ending felt anticlimactic and I felt somewhat let down. This is powerful and gritty story that didn’t need to finish up nice and neat. Parts of it could have been left broken and I would have been okay with that.
Evie is struggling to find independence and break free from her mother who is a complete nightmare. What she wants more than anything in the world is to belong and be loved but she has a tendency to self-sabotage. When she leaves L.A. to return to Boston, she is reunited with Finn. Finn has always been in her heart and vice-versa and their love is rekindled, let the drama begin! Think The Town (with Ben Affleck), replace bank heists for drug trafficking but with more romance and what’s not to love about a story set in Boston??
Elle Chardou took two deeply flawed individuals and made them so painfully vulnerable that they were the poster children for dysfunctional! Yet, they find solace and love with each other but what they do will have your jaw hit the floor.
This is not your typical NA story and if you need something different that will command your full attention, this is it!
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