Wednesday, 6 August 2014

R.L. Griffin Day ~ Review ~ Tension (By A Thread 2)


Book Description:
 
The Stella who emerges from the rubble of the bombing in Montana is a woman full of conflict. She knows she should be grateful that she lived when others didn't, but after waking in the hospital as a celebrity, complete with a new moniker, she's bitter and distrustful, questioning everything in her life. She's unsure of her friends, her new boyfriend, and her job. In addition, a face from the past reappears and threatens to take the one good thing in her life.

Stella attempts to deal with the new scrutiny of her life with her usual sense of humor, but she's filled with a new emotion that she tries desperately to hide: HATE. Her recovery is hastened by her determination to find the man who turned her into a walking scar. She's going to kill him; she needs to kill him.

Stella isn't alone. She has her close friends and her dog, Cooper. Will their support be enough to help Stella accomplish her plan, or will this endeavor be her undoing?

This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.
 
 
 
Our Review:
 
Written 3rd August 2013
 
Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 Stars 
 
**ARC received for honest review**
 
One of the things that I have loved about starting blogging is when you stumble across an unknown author, give the book a chance, read it, fall in love with it and then are so enamoured with what you have just read that you cannot pimp the hell out of it enough. That is how I felt when I read RL Griffins first book "By A Thread". Tension is the next book in the series and I could not wait for this one...I hounded RL Griffin, I have stalked her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads quite unashamedly I may add and I was absolutely stoked when she chose little 'ole me to get an advanced reader copy. The book landed in my email, I opened it immediately and I sat and read and read and read and read I could not put it down.
 
After By A Thread I loved Stella, she was such a character and the way that RL Griffin had portrayed her, you could not help but fall in love with her, she took no shit, she gave it in bucket loads, but most of all she was a fighter, she went through hell in BAT but she somehow managed to come out of it the other side not entirely unscathed but she came out, mainly in thanks to Patrick initially and then George.
 
Tension starts with Stella reliving what had happened from the time she left to go to Montana..on the plane she sends George an email..her wit and sarcasm comes through here and this had me laughing....(Cooper is her dog)

“BTW- Please take care of Cooper. He has had my back longer than you have. Take him on his run; take him to the Dog Barkery. He likes the female collie that hangs there around 1:00-2:00 on Saturdays. Let him sleep with you, he can keep my spot warm for me. Maybe we could Facetime. Okay, just kidding.”
 
I also love the way in the beginning this book flicks from past to present, you can't help but be pulled into the story. The part I love about RL Griffins style of writing is the fact that you feel the emotion, you feel what Stella is going through, you can imagine yourself in her shoes and you feel Stella's pain, during her recuperation you cannot help but feel.

“You think this is alright?! This,” she motioned to her torso with both hands, “will NEVER be alright again.” Her cries were on the verge of sobs. “YOU WANT THIS?!” she yelled through her tears. “WHY?! I don’t”
 
The first half of this book is really Stella's recovery, her trying to rebuild herself both physically, mentally and emotionally, trying to find her feet after months of rehabilitation and all this whilst being hounded by the press, the paparazzi, the FBI and the ATF and anyone else that wants a piece of the "FBI Beauty". After surviving the bombing and shooting that would have ended anyone else's existence Stella is a celebrity, people cannot get enough of her, they all want to see for themselves how this woman had managed to survive, how she had come out of it, if all or any of it was true.
Stella’s main struggle was coming to terms with what her “shooter” had done:-
 
“He was out there somewhere, living, breathing and laughing. She was going to change that. She would put an end to his laughing…….his breathing”.
 
Overcome with contempt and abhorrence at what “the shooter” had put her through all Stella can think about and contemplate is revenge….will she get it??
 
All the while the cogs are whirring, Stella battles to get her life back on track with George and Cooper, nothing is made easy with the constant invasion of privacy. Yet despite everything she is going through she never loses that wicked sense of humour:-
 
“Did you know that pubic hair turns grey?” Stella yelled back from his room.
 
Stella, manages to rebuild her friendships with Patrick (to a degree)……
 
“Fuck, El. Please forgive me. Let me make it up to you. Give me a chance.”
“Give you a chance for what? To break what little I’ve got left? No thanks.”
“When I found out you’d been shot… I—I’d thought I’d lost you with you hating me. I couldn’t deal with it. You’re important to me, El. For four years we’ve been friends. You’re MY person. It wasn’t a lie when I helped pull you through that first year without Jamie. It wasn’t a lie when I held you during all your nightmares. It wasn’t a lie when I talked to your parents every day for an entire year, assuring them you were okay. It’s not a lie that you’re my best friend. I would do anything for you. I honestly thought I was doing something good for you. It was a mistake, and by the time I realized it, it was too late.”
 
and Billy, and their lunch dates always managed to crack me up:-
 
“Oh, you like my 19 year old self?” Stella teased.

“Way better. Now you’re old and all scarred and shit.” He shovelled Frito Pie in his mouth.

Everyone stared at Billy, quiet. Then Stella burst out laughing; real, obnoxious laughter, which caused Patrick and Millie to join in.

She never loses that wicked sense of humour.
 
I could go into depth about this book but then I would spoil it for you all, with a book that actually has a plot and story you can never say a lot without giving all the good bits away, so regrettably I have to keep my lips sealed and my fingers tied so they cannot type any spoilers.
 
I will add a little about George…other than the fact I absolutely adore him, he is so strong for Stella, he is her constant, his devotion to her never wavers despite her at times trying to push him away, he never gives up or gives in. I truly believe that she has found her best friend, her confidante, her soul mate, her lover and her husband in George. He is faultless in this book which only makes you fall in love with him even more.
 
“This is the start of something epic,” George declared, leaning back in his booth and releasing her hand.

“Something epic?”

He nodded. “Me and you. EPIC,” he confirmed. He smiled, unleashing those dimples she loved so much.
 
Or
 
“I think you might have been made just for me,” Stella said, gazing into George’s eyes.
“I think you might be right.”
 
I highlighted the hell out of this book, the heartfelt conversations between Stella and George had me in tears at times.
 
I will also mention Jesse, remember him, the football player…he truly becomes a best friend to both Stella and George in this book. I was really happy the way he was incorporated and not put in as a cat amongst the pigeons to destroy what Stella and George had. He truly came through for them both in this book.
 
Well, I can ramble but I won’t, all I will say is if you haven’t read “By A Thread” why not?? You must have heard me rant about it by now…buy it, devour it and then download Tension, because this truly is Tension by name and Tension by nature….as Stella would say Oh My Shit!!!! As I would say freaking AMAZEBALLS and I cannot wait for book 3, RL prepare to be hounded….
 
Buy Links:
 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a R.L. Griffin Prize pack here: http://www.theromancecover.com/2014/08/rl-griffin-day-reviews-exclusive-posts.html
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