Title: Coming Alive Author: Renee Harless
Series: Welcome to Carson #1
Release date: January 17, 2017
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 296
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Second chances...Does one take it?
Avery Poindexter never expected to take another chance at love...actually, she had planned on remaining invisible for the rest of her life.
Growing up in a family that would put Cinderella's to shame, Avery watched as her sister withstood years of abuse while she was sidelined to the staff quarters unable to fight for her own.
However, she had a plan...On her eighteenth birthday, with the signed paperwork from her malicious grandmother, Avery and her sister make their escape and never look back, but Avery should have guessed that her change in luck was too good to be true.
After unexpected deaths, Avery finds herself simply passing through life....alone.
Banishing herself to a life of loneliness and solitude, Avery jumps at the chance to start over somewhere new: Carson, North Carolina. As Avery adjusts to a new beginning and a new life, she's thrown a curve ball she wasn't expecting - him - a man that has his own secrets and demons shrouded in the darkness of his past. He also happens to be one of her bosses and Avery finds herself drawn to him in a way she never anticipated, torn between wanting to wrap him in her arms and push him away in hopes to save his life.Logan doesn't trust women. Period. They play on your emotional vulnerability and use you if they can. They chew you up and spit you out. He should know; his family has a long history of lying, cheating, manipulating, and leaving women.
Growing up in a trailer park, kicking post to his dad's vicious temper, Logan made a vow to make something of himself. Determination and scholarships got him through medical school; women got him through lonely nights.
A one-night stand cut short exposes Logan to a mysterious woman that flips his world upside down. Logan never expected to meet her; the one that would make him question everything. Undeterred by her need to keep him at an arm's length, he goes against everything he believes in the quest to prove that they're worth fighting for.
Will Logan be able to breathe life back into Avery's heart and offer her the things she craves...family? Love? Or will their devastating pasts force them apart?
**This book can be read as a standalone, but it is recommended all books within the series be read in order.**
*No cliffhanger.**
Coming Alive is the first book in the ‘Welcome to Carson Series’ by Renee Harless. It tells the story of broken Avery and distrusting Logan, who find love in each other’s arms. While I like their story, some parts of the book sadly didn’t work for me. However, I like it enough to give the second book in the series a chance.
“She needs to remain unaffected; being close to him makes her want things she shouldn’t, because she is far too familiar with the outcome -it’s the same every time. Friendship; that’s all Avery can offer, for his sake.”
Avery comes from a dysfunctional family that was horrible to her during her childhood. Luckily, she gets to escape, and build a new life for herself. But life isn’t done with her yet, and before she comes to the city of Carson to start over, her heart is broken. Avery isn’t looking for a new man in her life, but Logan is different.
Logan is a lady’s man. He likes his work as a doctor at the small hospital of Carson, and he likes to spend his nights with women. The moment he sees Avery he knows she’s not like his other ‘lady friends’, but he can’t stay away.
“All he can think about is her smile. Not her rocking body, not her lush tits and ass, no. Her smile, and that just infuriates him more. Friends?”
Working together in Carson’s hospital Avery and Logan dance around each other for quite a bit. They are colleagues, but more importantly, both are not looking for a relationship. Logan is shaped by his past, which has given him a warped view on women and relationships. Avery is still nurturing her broken heart and Logan doesn’t do relationships. But slowly Avery opens herself up to Logan, and to the possibility what they can have if she lets herself believe in love again. Of course, this is a romantic story, so the couple has to deal with some bumps, but they get their Happily Ever After.
As I already said, some parts of Coming Alive work for me, others sadly not. I love Avery, and that despite her past she’s still willing to try, to build a new life and to open her heart again. I know this is a fictional story, but her past is also a bit too much for me. She had and a terrible childhood, and …, and … (I don’t want to give away too much of the story). Together with page-long flashbacks and the ups and downs of a new relationship with Logan it was a bit over-the-top. Even though Coming Alive didn’t live up to my expectations, I will read Coming Together, because I’m curious for Nikki and Austin.
“I love you, Avery,” he says into her neck, wetness settling onto the skin. As Logan pulls back, Avery sees the moistness glistening in his eyes, confirming the tears she thought she had felt on her skin. “I love you too, Logan.”
I like Avery and Logan, but because of my issues with the story I give Coming Alive 3 stars.
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