Wow. This book was filled to the brim with triggers and trauma, but somehow also absolutely beautiful. It’s hard to write a thorough review without giving away spoilers, and I do think it’s best to go in somewhat blind (if you want to know triggers I’m happy to share), but I will just say that it was extremely well done. These two characters have been through absolutely unimaginably horrible things, but their connection is somehow so sweet and innocent to start. Holly sees Tyler for who he truly is, and Tyler softens around her, giving a glimpse into what old Tyler used to be like before all of the bad stuff. I thought this book was very well-written and complex. There’s even a plot twist towards the end that I did not see coming at all and had my mouth dropping open in shock!

“I'm going to love all of her - the good and the bad, the smiles and the fears, the pretty and the dirty."

God! Again the best by my angst queen, Carian Cole.
Holly and Ty!
The way my heart broke for Holly was unbelievable.
The way Ty’s and Holly’s relationship grew and developed from friends to everything to each other was so heartwarming to read. The way they put together their lives, each and every part of their hearts, GAHH! Just loved them.

Definitely recommended
♾️/10

I need to start by saying I feel fortunate to have gotten access to both books in the All Torn Up series. I feel like these books could have been read independently, but the reader gets a lot more by reading both. I enjoyed the second book in the series more than the first book. This author truly has a way of breaking a reader’s heart before slowly mending it together again. It also takes talent to write about a character at their level. Holly was kidnapped at age 5 and held in captivity for 11 years. The author appropriately wrote her in an immature way, which would be fitting for someone in Holly’s position. The book was a slow burn romance while also being a book about emotional healing. I would recommend both books in this series!

This was.... a lot. I was really hoping we would have gotten to see more of the previous couple because it felt like there was still a ton unresolved there. Overall though, I think Carian handled the trauma in this really well, but still something isn't quite sitting right with me after finishing.

One of the queens of taboo romance we should all bow down to. I read Torn last year and fell in love with it, but I hadn’t picked up the sequel, Tied, until now. And wow, I wish I hadn’t waited!

We get to earn more about Tyler, who we briefly meet as the MMC’s brother in Torn. And Tyler has a traumatic past that he tends to both hide from and dwell in. But when a young girl is kidnapped and abused, he manages to help rescue her. However, the life he helps return her to isn’t the life she craves anymore. She craves her prince, and to her, Tyler is her prince.

Carian Cole manages to weave together so many intricate details that make you realize you’ve forgotten to breathe halfway through the chapter. And the twists — my god! I didn’t see them coming in the slightest and my heart HURTS. Absolutely phenomenal though. In every way.

Tropes:
- Taboo romance
- Age gap romance
- Traumatic past/emotional baggage
- Loss of loved ones (in the past)
- Kidnapping victim - FMC
- It’s always been you

Well done book about two battered and broken people finding each other and need to heal. It is so good and I need more. Heartbreaking and horrific and yet quite healing.

Tyler and Holly’s story is a beautiful and emotional fairytale. These are two broken souls, that have found each other and helped each other.

This is a heavy story and there is a lot of emotion to it. It is a slow burn when it comes to Tyler and Holly’s relationship but I am glad it was. They needed that slow journey into something more, otherwise things just wouldn’t have felt right to their story in the end. These two share a connection and bond, they both experienced trauma, and feel like outcasts in their lives.

I loved Ty and Holly’s story. The highs and lows, the happiness and sadness. The journey they went on to write their own fairytale and happily ever after was beautiful.

If you’re looking for an age gap, slow burn, emotional romance check this one out.

Fans of dramatic, taboo, age gap romance will love Tied. Two damaged main characters, themes of trauma, and grief. This novel pairs well with its predecessor, Torn- but can be read as a stand alone. Tied is a page turner and the plot, pacing, and chemistry are good.

Incredible story about two broken people helping each other heal. It shows how one person is all it takes to heal and feel safe.


I just reviewed Tied by Carian Cole. #Tied #NetGalley

🥀Tied 🥀

The second in the All Torn Up series. You can read it as a standalone as there is not much interaction with the characters from Torn.

Tyler Grace is a recluse - forever scarred from horrific accidents, shunned by the town who assume he kidnapped the missing girl he rescued. He is a creature of the woods, keeping to himself.

Holly Daniels was held captive for 11 years. Rescued by Tyler at age 16 from where she was caged in a hole in the ground in the woods, Holly struggles to adjust to life outside of her torturer. She clings to the fairytale books that kept her company for 11 years and the dream of her prince, who came and saved her.

Two misfits, struggling to accept their past, Tyler and Holly work together to help each other.

This is a taboo, age gap romance with strong themes of grief and trauma. There are some concerning elements, but if you don’t think too hard about it, you can enjoy the romance between Tyler and Holly as they care for each other and heal together.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for this ARC!

Two battered and broken people find healing in each other. So freaking good. Heartbreaking and horrific and yet quite healing.

Tied came off more romantic. While you absolutely do not need to read Torn before this, I’d recommend it because it is just… so good and based in the same world.

This one follows Tyler and Holly. Two damaged people coming together with such force. This slow burn romance was wonderful, and so sweet. Emotionally charged and extremely passionate, I can honestly say I cried a few times.

That being said I can also say I am the biggest baby when it comes to year jerking emotional bits.

This poignant love story delves into all the hard topics from loss and forgiveness to second chances. The grumpy sunshine opposites that Tyler and Molly are will have you invested quickly.

Again. Bravo. Loved it. Highly recommend this taboo-esque age gap romance novel.


Thank you to Forever Publishing, Netgalley and Carian Cole for the eARC!

Tied (All Torn Up, #2)
by Carian Cole

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)
🌶🌶 (out of 5)

Tied is a spicy contemporary dark(ish) romance that can be read as a standalone book, though it is the second in the All Torn Up series (FWIW, you definitely don't need to read the first book but I highly recommend it just because it is so good).

Tyler Grace is a social outcast, maimed and misunderstood. He is also Holly's hero. Two deeply damaged people find salvation with one another.

Tied was more romantic and slightly less spicy than I anticipated. It is a sweet, slow burn with a twist at the end that I did not see coming. I devoured this book in one sitting. 100% I will be reading a lot more from Carian Cole!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

"Tied" by Carian Cole is a passionate and emotionally charged romance that explores the healing power of love amidst adversity. Cole's skillful storytelling revolves around Holly and Tyler, two damaged souls finding solace and redemption in each other. The narrative is both heart-wrenching and heartwarming, delving into themes of loss, forgiveness, and second chances. The characters are deeply nuanced, and Cole's writing captures the raw intensity of their connection. With evocative prose and a compelling plot, "Tied" is a poignant love story that tugs at the heartstrings, leaving readers with a sense of hope and the enduring strength of human resilience.

Carian Cole is fantastic writer, and I absolutely adore her books.

That being said, her characters need some serious therapy time. I enjoyed Tied, but I felt almost like I shouldn't because it was obvious there is some severe trauma going on with not a whole lot of "let's deal with it".

Now, this is an adorable book, which surprised me. The Disney Prince in the forest with the pet fox got me right in the heart. I'd be a sucker for a dude who saved me and had a pet fox too.

Yeah! It’s taboo. You really have to know what going into it. The age gap bothers a lot of people and then how they know each other. If you have no triggers then I would recommend diving into this book

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Format: Ebook
Pages: 331
Quotes added: 8
Total Reading Time: 5h 21m


Review:
I just knew that I was going to fall harder for Tyler than I did Toren and I was 100% right. There is something about a damaged, grumpy MMC who falls for a bright, but also very damaged sunshine FMC. This book had me both laughing and crying. I read it in one day and could not have enjoyed it more.
I adored the fascination that Holly had with the fairy tale books and thought it was unhealthy, it is what helped her cope. Many times I found myself frustrated with her parents and the way both of them acted. With the dad, it was more so his lack of action. I did not find it shocking that she fell for Tyler. Especially with her obsession for fairytales.
Both characters had such horrific pasts and I could not stop reading. I never saw any of it coming and that is a the way I like my stories. I adore series that can be read as standalones and was very happy to have received this copy. I fell in love with Tyler Grace as well.
I also had more quotes than usual, I wanted to share a few:
With what Holly has been through, it is not shocking to know that she is socially stunted and she ends up commenting that “I don’t like all the contradictory and confusing rules of social behavior”. And boy, do I relate to that one!
One quote that came from Tyler that I enjoyed was when he stated “If you’re not careful around things that can hurt you… they probably will”. He says this when talking about fire, an element that he has a terrible relationship with. However, he does not fear it.

This story takes an untraditional route. You cannot help but feel for the characters as they navigate their trauma.

An untraditional fairy tale, if you will.
The FMC is abducted and the MMC is her saving grace. Now she has to acclimate back into society- when all she longs for is him, her savior.

This is one of my top reads for Carian Cole.

***5 ‘Good Weird’ Stars***

I’ve come to the conclusion that anything Carian Cole writes is my kind of crack. Her books are so damn addicting that it’s hard to put them down once you get started and Tied was no different. I was totally hooked from the first page and NEEDED to see Tyler and Holly get their HEA because if any two people deserved to have it, it was these two. Their journey was a true emotional roller coaster of a ride that brought out all the feels up until the very last page.

To say that I adored Holly and Tyler is a major understatement. These two went through their own personal hells and have come out on the other side, not necessarily intact, but at least working on existing. Admittedly, Tyler frustrated the hell out of me in the beginning because of how he choose to deal with things, but I couldn’t necessarily blame him either. What saved him though was his genuine and compassionate heart, even if he didn’t think he still had or deserved one. Holly was utterly amazing. What she went through would have broken most people beyond repair and yet she fought every day to survive and that determination showed just how strong she truly was.

Holly and Tyler’s journey to their HEA wasn’t an easy one and yet it wasn’t filled with a lot of angst either. They both had their own personal demons to contend with, but I loved how they ended up being each other’s rocks, even when it wasn’t a conscious decision. The connection they had ran deep, and that little twist in their story (which I totally didn’t see coming, but absolutely loved) only made that connection even stronger and I couldn’t have been happier with where they were at the end of the book.

It’s obvious that I enjoyed every aspect of this book, even the ones that made my stomach churn and want to gut people with a spoon, and I must give Ms. Cole props for giving Tyler and Holly their fairytale HEA while keeping everything else that was going on around them and with them realistic. There were some things that I wished had gone in a different way, but life doesn’t always work out that way and I believe that where everything was at the end was exactly where they should be. I loved Poppy and Boomer and whole heartedly admit that I did the whole fan girl squee thing at the mention of Lukas (he’s still my fave) and cannot wait to see what Ms. Cole has coming up next for us!