Twenty-Four Hours (Shattered Boundaries Book 1) by Carolyn Anthony

Twenty-Four Hours (Shattered Boundaries Book 1) by Carolyn Anthony

The second chance that might never happen…

Eve Luccio waited years for her first love, but somehow their lives were never quite in sync. Now, at thirty-six, her only focus is completing the final year of her PhD. The last thing on her mind is the honor-driven former Navy SEAL who stole her heart as a teen and left her unable to love any other man since.

When Jake Theron walks back into Eve's life, his presence shatters her walls of self preservation. He unleashes a dark sexuality that Eve never imagined she would experience, much less come to crave. All he wants from her is a day of her trust—twenty-four uninterrupted hours before she crosses the country for her Post Doctorate position in New York. But letting down her guard for even twenty-four hours with Jake might just destroy her.

~~~

For Jake Theron, Eve was always "the one that got away," except even after two decades, she's still under his skin. When Eve finally agrees to see him, Jake vows he won't let her slip through his fingers again.

But nobody knows better than Jake what a vicious bitch fate can be. When his life gets in the way, he realizes he may have to let Eve go once again—this time for her own good.

All he has left are the next twenty-four hours. One day and night in a seaside hotel, after which he has no choice but to let her walk out of his life with no guarantee he’ll ever see her again. The problem is, now that he’s had a real taste of the woman who should have been his twenty years ago, he’s not sure he’ll have the strength to let her go.

REVIEW ~

How do I tell you?     5 SHATTERED GOLD HEARTS

 

How do I tell you that I love you, when you were never mine?  This man was her undoing.  Loving her had become an addiction.  Sometimes, the love of a lifetime comes too late.  TWENTY-FOUR HOURS?!?  

It didn't even take twenty-four PAGES before I was bawling my eyes & heart out!  Like flat out ugly crying!  And I didn't even know why!  Well other than the raw emotion and heart-wrenchingly depth to the heat “shared” between Eve & Jake, that is!  Although I'm not sure it's "fair" to say that since Jake totally dominates her in all of the best ways possible!  

The book starts at present day so you only get little hints to their lives that bring them to this point, but Carolyn does it so perfectly, so HOT, that the next thing I knew, it was 5:00 am and I just read the ENTIRE book without any interruptions...other than to get more kleenex!!  

I love just how HOT, sexy, dirty, alluring and enticing it all is!  Yes, there is a lot of naughtiness (it IS a darkly erotic novel after all!) but it all fits, all works with and compliments the tale of and between Jake & Eve.  There is so much story between them, that even a simple kiss becomes so much more than "just" a kiss.  Their passion for each other is just as much off-the-charts, earth shattering, as it is pure raw emotion & heart- wrenchingly beautiful!  

I love how the story flows, that it doesn't have true chapters, that it is told from both Jake's pov as well as Eve's, and that Carolyn does not shy away from sharing Jake's side or views of the hard, heartbreaking moments too!  That to me, made a HUGE difference and also kept Jake from being a total arrogant butt!  LOL  

As much as I want to say more about the story flow, how its shared, I think that would give too much away and potentially ruin the beauty of the story!  All I will say is expect the unexpected and that Carolyn blew me away with it!  I know that Carolyn "claims" this is her debut book, but I honestly don't - can't - believe it!  

If you know anything about me it’s that I am a paranormal junkie through & through, so to read anything else is pretty rare.  Well I not only read this, I devoured it!!  I lost count at just how many times I cursed Carolyn (that would have required brain cells I didn't have to spare as they were all dedicated to this fantastic book! wink) for the emotional roller coaster ride she took me on!  HA!  More like kidnapped me!  Except for the part that I was a volunteer "hostage"!  

Carolyn has completely blown me away by the level of depth, emotion & enrichment to this novel on all levels!  For me to be THAT captivated, THAT invested from the very beginning isn't something that happens often, especially for a new-to-me author or the first book of a series!  

Besides being emotionally invested, the erotically charged heat level, the connection between the characters, as well as MY connection to each of them, the darkly beautiful descriptive, no-holds barred, intense storytelling, the secrets, the love, the past, the here & now, combined with my insanely compulsive desire to discover, to know EVERYTHING about them, to know if they would get the happily ever after they want, they need, that I NEED, had me do something I almost NEVER do (except for the last Harry Potter book, of course!) - after reading to about the 25% point, I actually went and read a portion of the ending!!  I just HAD to see if all of my tears would be worth it!!  And no, I won't tell you one way or the other!!  Besides, reading the ending without reading everything else takes it all out of context! *cough Dumbledore cough*  

So in case you didn't figure this out already, I love, Love, LOVE this book!!  In fact, I actually wrote 90% of my review by that 25% mark I just mentioned!  THAT is how much I was touched, overwhelmed, impressed, stimulated, deeply, passionately genuinely affected & moved by this story!  I am beyond, over & above, head over heels, COMPLETELY in love with Jake & Eve and Carolyn’s captivating storytelling!  

OH!  About those trigger warnings - you do NOT experience it live, but years after it happened when the why behind it is explained by one character to the other.  This is truly one PHENOMENAL book that wrenched my heart, shattered it to pieces, then carefully put it all back together again, better and stronger than it was!  It left a permanent tattoo on my heart!  My only complaint is that I now have to wait for the next book, and the next one... And I have no idea how long that will be, but it is already way too long!  (I actually keep going back to the book and re-reading parts just so that I can fuel my Jake & Eve obsession!  I just can’t say good-bye to them!)  In less than twenty-four hours, the exceptionally talented Carolyn Shattered all of my book Boundaries, and I couldn't be more thrilled!!!

 

LINKS:

Amazon CA – https://goo.gl/XB8EXU

Amazon US – https://goo.gl/kBwLX4

Amazon AU – https://goo.gl/uDG36E

Amazon UK – https://goo.gl/jv22Yf

Goodreads – https://goo.gl/52fBM8