This segment has really given me the opportunity to read books I would normally skip right over. It is probably why a lot of them have remained on my reading list for ages without me snagging them up and giving them a chance. As I continue on with this blog event I hope you all can join along with me and try doing the same. You may find some diamonds in the rough, or find ones you had high hopes for that fall flat which puts any question of their appeal to rest.

Bram is an easy-going Irishman from a privileged upbringing. One he would rather do without on most days. He has his life mapped out for him and is not permitted the chance to discover himself or what appeals to him. He is stuffy, uptight, and constantly questing for his mother's approval. He hopes that the project for Wolfenwold Hall will put him back in his mother's good graces after he drops out of Oxford. All the while, Bram struggles with his epilepsy. His fits wear his body out and puts his mind in a fog. The medications effects are questionable. But, despite all this, Bram still believes in happily ever afters. He believes there is love in the world and it is worth striving for. His questions whether he found it the very moment he set eyes on Cassia.

Cassia has the persona of a carefree, flower child (literally) with no desire for commitment and affection outside of quick, hot sex. She feels drawn to Bram but must fight her instincts to fall into him when he knows love only leads to heartbreak in the end. Cassia has a plethora of guilt from a previous relationship and it makes her keep Bram at arms length, but Bram is determined to pull her closer despite her baser instincts. Can Cassia protect her ideals or will her heart win?

I do not give this kind of review lightly. I rarely, if ever, refuse to finish a book. I am a perfectionist to the highest regard and always have a compulsion to finish whatever I start. However, this book made me shy away from my Kindle for days. Every time I reached over to grab the device I remembered the struggle I was having enjoying the book I was reading and pulled my hand away with resignation. This book is scattered. It is completely confusing. In one breath Bram is saying "no no I want love not just sex" and the next he's "c'mere and let's do this as dirty as possible". And, sure, characters can have internal struggles like that, but usually there is some resistance so the reader realizes they're going against what they want/believe but its out of character. This book didn't offer that. So it made me very confused about Bram. Cassia I just didn't like. Hands down. No redemption. She went from sweet and funny to kinky whore who's dirty talk made me grimace. I got exactly 50% through the story before I called it quits as is my personal rule. I gave the book more of a fair shake than most reviewers would but it just wasn't for me.

You are welcome to try this book out for yourself, but this wasn't my cup of coffee.