Love isn’t supposed to be an addiction. It isn’t supposed to leave you bleeding.
Kona pushed, Keira pulled, and in their wake, they left behind destruction.
She sacrificed everything for him.
It wasn’t enough.
But the wounds of the past can never be completely forgotten and still the flame remains, slumbers between the pleasure of yesterday and the thought of what might have been.
Now, sixteen years later, Keira returns home to bury the mother who betrayed her, just as Kona tries to hold onto what remains of his NFL career with the New Orleans Steamers. Across the crowded bustle of a busy French Market, their paths collide, conjuring forgotten memories of a consuming touch, skin on skin, and the still smoldering fire that begs to be rekindled.
When Kona realizes the trifecta of betrayal—his, Keira’s and those lies told to keep them apart—his life is irrevocably changed and he once again takes Keira down with him into the fire that threatens to ignite them both.
I don’t want easy. I want the impossible. I want love so thick, I drown in it; it’s the only thing worth having.
I cannot tell you the last time I was this invested in a romance between two characters where it drowned out absolutely everything; reason, logic, life, EVERYTHING but the need to keep turning the pages to know what happens next. This story was everything to me. It was beautiful, tragic, emotional, and absolutely unputdownable. If you’re an angst whore like me, you will love this book, and even if you’re an angst avoider, this book will convert you. This had everything that I absolutely love in a story; an angsty love story between 2 incredibly endearing yet broken characters, a hate at first sight meeting that grows to love, and a lovers reunited story that’s so beautiful it’s unforgettable.
This is a story about young love and the mistakes that go along with it. A love so thick, it’s almost toxic. A love so devastating it’s impossible to forget. It’s a story of mistakes, regrets, forgiveness and redemption. It’s a story with two characters who feel everything as deep as it gets; love and anger. A story of two people that are different yet also so similar that they’re almost bad for one another, yet a love that’s so strong it’s undeniable. This book is a hidden gem that I can only describe to you in 3 short words: A MUST READ.
Told in 2 parts, it begins in present day, flashes back to retell the epic love that burned but never burned out 16 years ago, and then picks back up in present day. But before you find out how it ends, you need to know how it all began…
Keira Riley and Kona Hale were not a match made in heaven and they certainly didn’t even like each other at first sight. Keira is an 18 year old college student that’s felt a weight on her no child should ever feel; first the weight of her father’s sickness and addiction, and then the weight of her overbearing mother with little thought to Keira’s desires. She focuses on school and escapes in her music, until a chance meeting with the school’s resident manwhore and football golden boy changes her life irrevocably.
Kona Hale doesn’t do relationships or love, he does football. Living under a weight of his own to constantly prove his worth, he knows that his football career is the most important thing. He doesn’t give Keira a second glance until they’re put to work on a school project together and her fiery temper finally gets his notice.
Their love story was anything but an easy read, but it will grab you from beginning to end. The chemistry between them is so strong and fiery it practically leaps off the pages and grips you by the heart. They’re not perfect, they’re hot tempered and make terrible mistakes that hurts more often than not. But when it’s good, OH MY GAWD is it good.
Their love burns hot, until the blaze becomes too much and burns them both in a devastating mistake that leaves both Kona and Keira shattered.
I couldn’t put this book down. I honestly don’t remember the last time I had such a visceral reaction to a story that I felt everything along with the characters. My enjoyment of the story drowned out everything that I would logically dislike anywhere else. The writing was in 3rd person POV told in present tense, which more often than not, doesn’t work for me. But the writing was so brilliant that I was able to completely disregard it. I didn’t care that my logical mind wanted a reason behind Kona’s mother spiteful and hateful behavior. I couldn’t find it in me to care about any slight imperfection beyond this beautifully tragic love story. It was THAT good.
The second half of the book gives you the more mature versions of Kona and Keira, who are now in completely different points of their life but fate finds them together again. It gives you a beautiful second chance love story that’s also perfectly imperfect.
I finished this book on Tuesday and still can’t stop myself from thinking about it and it’s just one of those books that will stay with me. I simply cannot recommend it enough. After stalking the author I saw that Ransom’s book is next, and I’m waiting with bated breath to get my hands on his story.
And if my review hasn’t convinced you to give this book a try, let me reiterate it again, READ IT. You won’t be sorry. It’s a love story that will gut you at times, but not one you’ll soon be forgetting.
DGR: Can you introduce yourself to the readers that may have not yet discovered the awesome that is you? 😉
EB: Well, let’s see…I’m from southeast Louisiana, home of the BEST NFL team ever, the New Orleans Saints (WHO DAT?), I am married to a man I can’t stop kissing and I have three daughters who do their level best to keep my hair gray. I keep my hairdresser in cash, trust me. I’ve been writing professional for ten years (mostly scif and fantasy) and work in the Seventh Circle of Corporate Hell where I literally copy and paste for a living. It’s freakin thrilling, I’m telling ya. / sarcasm.
I published my first romance novel, CHASING SERENITY, last October after my friend Kele Moon told me to…she’s very bossy and I’ve loved it. THIN LOVE is my fourth novel and it’s not part of the Serenity series.
DGR: Thin Love was such a beautiful and at times devastating story of love, mistakes, forgiveness and second chances. What inspired you to write this book?
EB: Oh girl. If you only knew. LOL I had this daydream about a guy staring at a girl he once loved across a crowd. Then came this kid who looked an awful lot like him and it all sort of fell into place after that. But a lot of the toxicity in the novel, the anger, the passion, comes from bad mistakes I’ve made, that my friends have made in the past. I mainly wanted to delve into the idea of toxic, dangerous love and find out if those kinds of relationships can ever be healthy.
DGR: I know I definitely had a mental picture for Kona when I was reading (*cough* Jason Mamoa *cough*) Who would be your dream casting for Kona and Keira?
EB: Keira is sort of faceless to me. A bit of the girl next door, but Kona is and always will be Mr. The Rock, Dwayne Johnson.
DGR: Can you describe Thin Love for us in 5 words or less?
EB: Exhausting, Thrilling, Passionate, Insane, Always
DGR: Ransom was one of my favorite characters (after Keira and Kona of course). I believe you mentioned that his book may be coming next? Any more you can tell us about it?
EB: Man, Ransom, that poor kid. He’s definitely not a normal teenager and I think that comes from Keira relying on him so much. Maybe that’s a bad thing, but really they sort of grew up together and that made him more mature, more logical than his peers. But since his parents were both insane as teenagers/young adults, he sort of inherited their anger. In his novel, you’ll see an older Ransom who has just gone through something devastating. He’ll be different, he’ll be even wiser, but you’ll definitely see him dealing with the same anger that only loves brings out. In the end, because of what he’s learned from his parents, you’ll see him growing even further and falling in love very, very deeply. (Read: He’s gonna have THE SEX…but don’t tell Keira)
DGR: What was your favorite part to write about this book?
EB: I don’t know if I can pinpoint one certain part that was my favorite. Writing this book was very cathartic for me. It allowed me to exorcise some very, very old demons. But I will tell you when I wrote that scene with Keira and Kona where she asks if he still loves her? Yeah. I stopped breathing there for a moment. Very proud of that scene.
DGR: And what about the hardest part for you to write?
EB: The accident. I didn’t want what happened to happen. I loved that character a lot and really didn’t want them to die. I fretted over that for a long time, even had a two hour brain storming session with my bestie about that death. In the end, the story demanded it. It had to happen. *kicks the ground*
DGR: What’s coming up next for you? Any upcoming releases we can anticipate?
EB: I’m working on the Keira/Kona wedding novella and the third book in my Serenity series, CLAIMING SERENITY which I think will be hilarious. After that is the final book in my Serenity series and then I’m spending a lot of time playing in Ransom’s world.
DGR: Anything you’d like to leave the readers with?
EB: I’d just like to thank everyone for the support. It’s been an overwhelming year and I am humbled by the love everyone has given to my books. *My cup runneth over*
Thanks!
When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.
She is currently living under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana.
Please send help.
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