Maverick by Anna Cruise
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The ocean was an extension of myself, the only place where I could find solace and peace. And even though I’d lost my best friend to it, I couldn’t let it go, couldn’t turn my back to it. I couldn’t exist without it.
There was something in his voice, in his eyes, something that hinted there really was more to him than the public persona I’d read about. He was damaged.
If I’m being honest here, what initially drew me in to read this was the hot cover. What? Like you’ve never done that! Please!
I was so happy to find that this book was filled with more depth than I had when I was choosing it. 🙂
Kellan Handler is a professional surfer. It is all he’s ever dreamed of doing, and the ocean is the only thing that is able to give him peace.
He hits the water hard, and parties even harder. His reputation and good looks never leave him without a female body in his bed. But he’s not interested in anything more than a casual hook up. So he goes through women like he goes through waves; he find one, takes it on, and then moves on to the next one.
But beneath the shallow exterior, still waters run deep. He is still dealing with the pain of losing his best friend in a tragic accident; his hidden grief causing him to walk a fine life that can ultimately cost him everything.
When tour officials essentially tell him that he either clean up his image or be suspended from the tour, Kellen reluctantly agrees to work with the PR rep assigned to him, Gina Bellori.
Gina is dealing with demons of her own. But unlike Kellan, hers are buried even deeper, and she refuse to let them break the surface.
When Kellen and Gina begin to work together on righting his image, things began to blur. The damaged guy is forcing Gina to fight even harder to keep her demons hidden. All of a sudden her past begins to collide with her present, with Kellen right in the center of everything and her feelings are becoming more difficult to control.
Kellen begins to find that for the first time in his life, he wants something more from a woman other than a few moments spent between the sheets.
She knew everything about me and pretty much the only thing I knew about her was her name. And that she was starting to get under my skin. In more ways than one.
Can the two damaged souls heal each other? Or will the secrets that they keep ultimately cost them everything?
I really enjoyed this one, and read it pretty much in one sitting. I really loved Kellan, but had a few issues with Gina and her behavior. While Kellan’s past and secrets come to the surface fairly early in the book, Gina’s tragic past takes a little longer to learn about.
These two characters were both damaged in their own right. I really liked that there was no case of insta-love, or even insta-lust. There was definitely a connection between the two of them, but it grew over time.
So why only 4 stars? I felt that the character POV’s didn’t have a clear transition. It caused me to get slightly confused, since I didn’t know when they switched, and didn’t know who’s POV I was reading right away.
The book had a very realistic HEA, and I was glad that the author went the route that she did with the ending. I felt it was very fitting to the story and the characters.
ARC courtesy of publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
