Torn by Kim Karr Published by Penguin on October 1, 2013
Genres: Adult Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Drama, Erotica, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 268
Format: eBook
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Rock star River Wilde brought Dahlia London back from the brink of hopelessness with his unwavering love and devotion. But their entangled history is about to test the strength of their relationship…
Dahlia was certain she had found true love and met her ‘Once in a Lifetime’ when she reconnected with River. But Dahlia’s world comes crashing down when someone from her past resurfaces, and all of River’s carefully hidden secrets are exposed.
River wants to show Dahlia that life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass—it’s about dancing in the rain. But how many times can one broken heart be mended? Will River and Dahlia be able to stay together or will they be torn apart?
Torn by Kim Karr is the follow up to the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers, we found at the end of Connected (my review is here). A little background in case you forgot. Dahlia and Ben are childhood sweethearts and engaged to be married. Dahlia met River one night at a bar he was playing at while she was still in college. It was an epic, I just met my soul mate meeting but Dahlia would in love with Ben so she fled before River had a chance to talk to her more. Ben dies in Dahlia’s arms one night on the way to an award ceremony where he’s ruthlessly gunned down in the middle of the street. She spends a year or so mourning his death before finally deciding to try to live again. She goes to interview a rocker and low and behold it’s River Wilde. One thing leads to another and Dahlia and and River and madly deeply in love and well….if you haven’t read Connected look away. Look away right now…Cause I’m gonna tell what happens at the end of the book. Did you look away?
Ben is still freaking alive.
I haven’t met one person who didn’t have a hard core oh my freaking god reaction to the end of that book.
So here we are with Torn. Ben is back. Dahlia and River are about to find out instead of getting married as originally planned.
I loved this book. Probably more than Connected. This story wasn’t anything like I expected it to be. First I have to say that Kim Karr is a great writer. She sucks you in as she weaves her tangled web of love and betrayal, while dangling River Wilde in front of your face, daring you not to love him. And you can’t help yourself, you’ll gobble those words up, trying to get your fill of him as fast as you can.
So now that Dahlia’s life is once again totally upended, it’s time to face some facts.
Ben is still freaking alive.
Talk about a game changer. I mean what would you do? I totally connected (lol see what I did there?) with Dahlia and all her messed up emotions. She was shocked and I felt it. She was heartbroken in a totally different way, and I felt it. She was betrayed by several people whom she loved, and I felt it. I was there with her every step of the way. I agreed with her most of the time and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the way she handled things. She crumbled, she got pissed, and she got up and dusted herself off. She had a hard look in the mirror, checked her emotions and carried on the best she could.
Then there’s our poor, sweet, River. That man…I can’t even imagine how he felt. Having to compete with a dead man who isn’t really dead? I mean come on. I totally felt him too. He was a wreak and so was I. Not to mention that he was struggling with his own issues regarding the upcoming tour and his feelings about performing and traveling. He avoided it all as much as he could until he couldn’t any longer because it was shoved in his face.
So what happens?
Well there’s lots of anxiety, crying, brooding, contemplating, evading, ignoring, fighting, and lots and lots of emotional sex.
The emotions in this story are real and raw. With that you tend to get explosive sex scenes.
Crazy explosive fights. Horrible words being said to one another.
But you also have some very sweet, tender, loving moments.
AND nothing that I thought would happen, did. See that’s the beauty of good writing. You think an author is predictable and I love it when they prove you wrong! Kim does just that, she tells this story the way it should be told. When I would worry that Dahlia was going to do or say something she would do or say the opposite. Same for River. The only person who really surprised me was Ben. I didn’t like him. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to I don’t know. But he rubbed me the wrong way the entire time. Not once did I feel bad for him or wish him anything other than how it played out for him.
See this is a story about love. Like true soul mate kind of love.
This is a story about knowing who you are and who you love. A story where the cards in peoples hands are shown and their stories are revealed. Most of all this is a story about relationships, how fragile they are and how easy it is to put doubt in your mind when it comes to feelings and actions. Relationships are not easy to navigate and Torn is about that exactly. When you’re thrown everything and the kitchen sink, at the end of the day is your love strong enough to last?
*A copy of this book was kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
$50 Amazon Gift Card, 5 Signed Book Plates and 10 Paperbacks of CONNECTED (to be mailed directly from Penguin)
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| Overall: | 5 |
Thank you for writing such a wonderful review! ~Kim xoxo