Tuesday, March 14, 2017

REVIEW: ROOKE by Callie Hart

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SYNOPSIS:
Watchmaker. Car thief. Heartbreaker extraordinaire.

Rooke Blackheath has spent enough time in juvie to know that he really doesn’t want to go to jail. The food sucks, the clothes itch, and there are absolutely no women in sight. Well…none he wants to fuck, anyway.

He should probably stop boosting cars, but the money is stellar and the high is out of this world. And why should he turn his back on something that sets his soul on fire anyway?

The answer to that question comes in an unexpected form: a petite five-foot-three firecracker named Sasha who refuses to give him the time of day no matter how thick he lays on the charm.

Rooke’s not easily deterred, though. Just like the watches he builds from scratch, Rooke knows all too well how women tick. Women are a game to him. A game he always wins.

Sasha doesn’t stand a chance.

***

Sasha Cross’s life has been permanently derailed since her son died five years ago. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, of course. She has a great job, a beautiful house, and caring friends. Every week, she hosts a book club featuring the sexiest, most romantic stories on the planet, and every week she falls for a new fictional knight in shining armor.

Fictional men are perfect, though. They don’t hurt you. They don’t break your heart. They don’t cheat on you after your child dies, and they rarely ever leave the toilet seat up.

When Rooke Blackheath shows up at Sasha's workplace, it’s clear he’s nothing like the men who grace the pages of Sasha's favorite books. Dangerous, arrogant, sharp-tongued and sarcastic, Rooke’s not the kind of guy she needs in her life. Not to mention the fact that he’s eleven years her junior.

They don’t live in different worlds. As far as Sasha is concerned, Rooke lives in a different galaxy altogether. She’d like to keep it that way, but fate appears to have other plans.

When Cinderella lost her shoe, Prince Charming showed up at her door.

When Sasha Cross loses her book, an entirely different kind of rogue comes a-knocking.
 

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REVIEW:

Sasha Connor is broken and lonely living out her life through the romance novels she reads in her book club. After losing her seven year old son 5 years ago in a tragic accident, she has lived her days out in solitude only allowing certain people into her life. She goes about her days as normal as possible. Eat, sleep, work, repeat, but the ever present pain of losing a loved one and consequently, losing another loved one as a result of that first loss, makes life lackluster and on top of that, being a divorcee leaves her feeling damaged and irreparable.

On yet another, normal day at work, she unexpectedly, bumps into her own “real life book boyfriend”. But he is not quite who she thought she’d imagine as BBF material. He’s arrogant, smart mouthed and egotistical and he pushes ALL her buttons. She refuses to give him the time of day, first of all because he is her co-workers grandson (yes, grandson) and secondly, he is clearly younger than her (11 years to be precise), but he proves to be stubborn, persistent and unwilling to take no for an answer. So she agrees to ONE date. But all it takes is one night with him and he opens up a whole new world to her, which turns out to be both exhilarating and dangerous. She finds it impossible to resist the high she gets from being with him. It’s as if she’s living out her very own romance novel…novel worthy s*x, illegal activities, and all! Even in the short amount of time they’ve known each other, they know they have this underlying connection. “I’m attracted to the dark ache in her soul, because it’s something I can understand. Something that feels real to me.” –Rooke.  And for Sasha, Rooke chases all her demons away and the first time in nearly five years. He makes her feel like she has a reason to live. “I wasn’t floundering in a deep well of pain, scratching at the walls, trying to hold onto to something, to keep myself afloat. Rooke took all of that away. I never would have thought that possible, but it was.” –Sasha. But just like in her romance novels, there’s always a plot twist. Rooke’s world of boosting cars and his juvie past prove to bring disastrous consequences. Now, Sasha finds herself wrapped up in his lifestyle and she might not come out alive.

What happens when their two lives collide? Can love prove to be enough to handle Rooke’s precarious lifestyle?  

Callie Hart makes the unlikelihood of a couple with such an age gap (almost 11 years) believable and beautiful. Age really doesn’t play a factor in Rooke and Sasha’s relationship because they are true soulmates and it’s obvious from their first meeting. “The love between us is fire and ice. It’s loss, and it’s redemption. It’s pain and it’s comfort. It is everything.” –Sasha. I hope Callie finds these characters voices again and gives us more of their story because I felt as if there was more to tell. More love to grow between them. They fell hard and fast, but after what they endured together throughout the novel, proved that their love will stand the test of time, so it would be wonderful to see that. The only reasons I am giving it 4 stars, is I was hoping for a little more detailed character description throughout the novel for Rooke and Sasha. I still feel like some of Rooke’s past is a bit of a mystery to the readers. He was a portrayed as such a straight-forward guy, but still held some details in hiding. And as far as Sasha, we didn’t get much detail about her and Andrew’s divorce other than the fact that he cheated. There was hinting at their fallout, but it was superficial detailing. I would’ve liked just a little more thorough explanation as to how they ended because Andrew is ultimately the reason she doesn’t seek out other men and is lost to the men in the novels she reads. And then the ending seemed a little rushed. Everything fell in to place quite quickly, like in 3 chapters. But Callie did do a great job of not giving away the major twists before the ending of the book, so I applaud her for that! I personally didn’t suspect it. All in all, the intrigue was there from the beginning of the book. From the unique storyline, to the unique characters, this novel kept me wondering what would happen next. Rooke is most definitely swoon worthy and is the perfect man to pull Sasha from the depths of her suffering. 

4 “feel and seen” stars
xoxo, Vivian💋

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