Buy: Kindle Ebook | Paperback
Review
“Love is like a thief, it robs you of all thought and logic, and all you have left is a heart that you can only pray is strong enough to survive the rest.”
Sometimes you read a book that just gets to you, it sucks you in and you feel it all, and it leaves you speechless at the end of it. This is one of those books for me. I have no idea why it took me so long to get to it, but I am so, so happy that I didn’t forget about it because I devoured it from start to finish and I absolutely loved it!
I love Vera. I love Mateo. Their love story was incredible, and the story has that ever-present edginess that is uniquely Karina Halle. But as much as I loved this book, it’s not an easy story to read. I found it to be really intense, and it personally pushed a few buttons for me, as I’m sure it will do for others, but Karina does messy, and she does it well, and that’s exactly what this was. Messy, painful and complicated, but OMG, it was beautiful, and I felt every single moment of it.
Vera is 23 years old, tattooed, pierced, very open about all things sexual, and a bit of a wild child. She is intelligent, about to enter her final year of astronomy studies at College, but is restless with her mundane life in Canada and is eager to get out and explore something new. The book begins with her on her way to Spain, where she will work for a month in a language program, teaching conversational English to Spaniards, all of them living together in a resort for the duration.
The first person she meets is dark, sexy, Spanish businessman, Mateo. At 38, he is 15 years her senior, but there is an instant connection between the two of them. And Vera’s summer gets off to a great start with their bond forming into a fast friendship, with hints of something a lot deeper.
He gazed at me intently like I was one of life’s greatest mysteries, as if I were utterly mesmerizing. I’d never seen anyone look at me that way.
But Mateo is married with a young daughter. This initially keeps their relationship innocent, but both of them are feeling the chemistry between them and the closer they get, the more they long for the other, and every little interaction is dripping with heat. The UST and sense of anticipation waiting for something to happen had my heart pounding.
“I want you,” he said, his grip becoming firmer. “I wanted you from the very beginning, I just never thought it would be possible.”
I loved the build-up, and I loved the way their battle to resist was portrayed. They didn’t lust after each other and dive into bed. They tried to ignore it until they couldn’t, and then they still tried their hardest to resist. Vera, in particular, does her best to stay away, not wanting to be the ‘other woman’, but neither of them can help the way they feel, and it is an intense and angsty build-up as they both come to realise that they have fallen in love.
“You’re married!” I yelled. “I cannot be the other woman!”
“You already are the other woman!” he yelled right back. His words smashed into me, blowing me to smithereens. He cupped my face in his hands. “You already are, whether you want to be or not. You’ve bewitched me, Vera. You’ve blinded me. You’ve made me forget my vows. And all you had to do was shine.”
…
“You burn so brightly … I would like to burn with you.”
Mateo’s life isn’t exactly as it seems either. He has an interesting past and there is a whole different side to him that has been squashed over the years, and meeting Vera and feeling the way he does about her forces him to confront those issues.
“Sometimes you are stuck being the person you are and not the person you were. Or could be.”
The love story is beautiful. All-consuming, and honestly the cheating didn’t bother me because it felt so right. I loved the characters so much, I could feel the emotion between them and I wanted nothing more for them to be together.
“Estrella,” he said has he pulled his mouth away and began kissing along my jawbone to my neck. “I have never wanted anyone, anything, quite like I want you.”
… “I promise you, you can have me. I am yours,” I said.
But with so much against them, when their four weeks are up and it’s time for Vera to return home, the angst only increases, and the book takes on a whole new feel as the direction changes.
“I don’t want you to love me from afar. I want you to love me, right here, in my arms.”
This book was not what I was expecting. I was expecting the story that happened in the first half of the book, I wasn’t expecting it to go on and give us the continuation and the detail that it did, so the whole second half of the book took me completely by surprise, and it is SO intense!
Seriously, this book as ALL THE FEELS! I laughed and cried, I swooned and squeed, and I was so angry and hurt as the story unfolded. It all has a strong sense of reality about it. The writing is so emotive, and I could feel everything right alongside Vera and Mateo. I love the way Karina has written them – both absolutely endearing, but also very flawed. Granted, they are both in a very tricky situation, but I wasn’t happy with the way both of them handled certain situations. But it all adds to the intensity of their story, and I read the last few chapters of this book with tears streaming down my face.
The book is told entirely from Vera’s POV, so although we don’t see everything that is happening with Mateo, we can certainly see him struggling. But I liked that we didn’t know exactly where he was at because we get to feel all of Vera’s uncertainty, guilt and fear about what is going on between them, while interpreting Mateo’s behaviour right along with her. It enhances the feels.
But on a happier note, there were a lot of fantastic moments in this book. Things that made me laugh out loud, lots of beautifully swoony moments, and it’s ultimately a happy story. I loved the side characters, particularly Vera’s brother, Josh, and thought his contribution to the book was fantastic. I can’t wait to read his story in Where Sea Meets Sky.
OK, I think that’s enough gushing. Like I said, this is just one of those books that got to me. Having had experience with a similar situation myself, I think that’s what made it impact me so strongly, but I know that Vera and Mateo’s story is one that will stay with me for a long time.
“Design your own universe, make your own stars, write your own stories, and create your own destiny.”
5 stars.
The Love, in English series
Love, in English (#1)
Buy: Kindle Ebook | Paperback
Love, in Spanish (#1.5)
Review
Buy: Kindle Ebook | Paperback