Check out this cover!
How could we not be intrigued by that cover!? But...it didn't hurt that the book also sounded awesome!
Fate hasn’t always been friends with Isabelle
West. In fact, fate has been a down right bitch.
Isabelle has learned the hard way how hard
life can be when fate isn’t by your side. It can hand you dreams on silver
platters, but it can snatch them right back and hand you nightmares. One thing
Isabelle knew for sure fate was consistent with was taking away everything she
ever loved.
For the last two years Isabelle has been
slowly clearing the clouds of her past. Happiness is finally on the horizon.
She has a thriving business, great friends, and her life back. All she has to
do is jump over the last hurdle…her ex-husband.
When problems start causing her to fear her
new life, and memories that are better left forgotten start rushing to the
surface the last thing she needs is a ghost from her past to come knocking on
her door.
Axel never thought he would look into the
eyes of Isabelle West again, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to now. He’s carried
his anger for so long he isn’t sure he can just turn it off, but when he is
faced with protecting her and an unexpected desire to have her again, life gets
a little more complicated.
How will Axel and Isabelle
deal when all their cards are put on the table and everything they thought was
true blows up in their faces?
We're
going to start off with our initial impressions of Axel...
Lindsay: My initial
impression was extreme excitement. It had a hot cover and a great blurb. I
couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of it! I think I was counting down the days until this was released...and if I missed a day, I know Nikki was there to quickly remind me of it. 
Nikki: My first thought was Holy Hot Cover Batman!!!
And the blurb
sounds good too!I also couldn't
wait to get my hands on this! And
yes, I may have bombarded Lindsay with my extreme excitement just a little...
Lindsay: A little!? Try a
lot!
Nikki: 
HUSH YO MOUTH!
Lindsay: Yeah…you were so impatient to start this that you couldn’t even wait for me to start it! By time I started it you were done! But. The good thing about that is you were the guinea pig. You got to read it and make sure it was safe for me…no cliff hangers or cheating. And no huge main character deaths. Yup…you were a good guinea pig. :D
HUSH YO MOUTH!Lindsay: Yeah…you were so impatient to start this that you couldn’t even wait for me to start it! By time I started it you were done! But. The good thing about that is you were the guinea pig. You got to read it and make sure it was safe for me…no cliff hangers or cheating. And no huge main character deaths. Yup…you were a good guinea pig. :D
Nikki: *Fake pouts* Not my fault you can't keep up with me!
Lindsay: LOL. It’s not my fault that you stayed up all night to read this when you said “I’ll just read a few chapters to get started…” Uhhhh huh…A few chapters…Riiiight.
Nikki: Ahem.. Back to the
matter at hand.. *stern look at Lindsay* As you can see, I obviously couldn't
put this one down! Have you ever
finished a book and wanted to immediately start it from the beginning right
then?! That's what happened to me here. As soon as my tired ass saw The End, I
wanted to hit the 'go to' button on my kindle and select beginning. And yeah,
ok, I may have stayed up til 4 am to finish...
Lindsay: See! I told you she stayed up all night! And yes, I have felt that way, but I decided
that I needed to let my hair grow back after I spent a lot of this book pulling
it out. But…I could spend every day with Axel and be happy! *happy contented
sigh* Axel could do no wrong with me. I have no complaints about that hot guy.
I loved him from page one and I wanted to pull him through my kindle so I could
have my very own Axel. Speaking of which...Isn't he hot!? 
Nikki: Why yes, yes he is! And I know what you mean! Axel is one super hot hunk of man flesh! OH Emm Gee! I wanted to lick him up and down! Harper sure knew how to write the optimal alpha hero! He was super tall, super built, super endowed. Oh jeez I think I need a cold shower now...
And let me show you my Axel:
Lindsay: He’s not bad
*cough*mine’s better*cough* 
Nikki: Hmpf. Anyway…He was such an ass when he first
runs back into Izzy, and I felt like everyone was very justified in wanting to
kick his ass. However, I also sympathized with him not really understanding
what was going on and why he was on the receiving end of an almost smack down.
He's under the impression she left and didn't wait for him and moved on and is
harboring some serious 12 year long pain from that. So he gets pissed and
lashes out. When I say he and Izzy had wires crossed, that is one hell of an
understatement!
Lindsay: 
I would
have to heartily disagree! I had no problems with the way he acted. I
completely understood his anger. He was justified in his feelings. As far as he
knew, she walked away from him… ditched him after he joined the military. She
moved on. He has a right to be angry. If anything, Izzy is the one at
fault! Don’t get me wrong, I felt bad for Izzy. She went through some
horrible things and I’m sorry for that, but the way she acted toward Axel
completely pissed me off. At times Izzy was stupid, immature and played stupid
high school games instead of actually talking to him and clearing the air
between them! They left “the talk” for way too long! And don’t get me started
on Axel’s “friends” and Dee! Izzy seemed to give everyone puppy dog eyes and
they were instantly on her side. Even people that had never met her before and
were longtime friends with Axel. Everyone acted like he was the reason her life
fell apart. Like he’s the one that caused her miscarriage and beat her within
an inch of her life.
I would
have to heartily disagree! I had no problems with the way he acted. I
completely understood his anger. He was justified in his feelings. As far as he
knew, she walked away from him… ditched him after he joined the military. She
moved on. He has a right to be angry. If anything, Izzy is the one at
fault! Don’t get me wrong, I felt bad for Izzy. She went through some
horrible things and I’m sorry for that, but the way she acted toward Axel
completely pissed me off. At times Izzy was stupid, immature and played stupid
high school games instead of actually talking to him and clearing the air
between them! They left “the talk” for way too long! And don’t get me started
on Axel’s “friends” and Dee! Izzy seemed to give everyone puppy dog eyes and
they were instantly on her side. Even people that had never met her before and
were longtime friends with Axel. Everyone acted like he was the reason her life
fell apart. Like he’s the one that caused her miscarriage and beat her within
an inch of her life.
Nikki: 
Here we go...
*whispers to audience* This is where we have to agree to disagree... First, I
will give Axel all the credit he deserves; when he gets the whole story and
reflects on the things he said when they first met back up, he feels ashamed
and is hurting for putting that hurt on Izzy. I felt like that alone redeemed
any ill feelings there might have been for him lurking in the shadows
somewhere. (Not that there were many!) But, I also thought Izzy was one tough
chick. I mean she had to be to endure such abuse for so long and live to tell
her tale. I was so happy that she finally got away from that D-Bag ex of hers.
I hated seeing her relapses when something triggered her traumatic memories.
They just broke my heart for her all over again! The domestic abuse was harsh.
But isn't it like that in real life!? Harper did such an amazing job with those
scenes that I felt what Izzy felt. I cried and was scared to death for her. My
heart was literally pounding in my chest. My stomach was in my throat.
Here we go...
*whispers to audience* This is where we have to agree to disagree... First, I
will give Axel all the credit he deserves; when he gets the whole story and
reflects on the things he said when they first met back up, he feels ashamed
and is hurting for putting that hurt on Izzy. I felt like that alone redeemed
any ill feelings there might have been for him lurking in the shadows
somewhere. (Not that there were many!) But, I also thought Izzy was one tough
chick. I mean she had to be to endure such abuse for so long and live to tell
her tale. I was so happy that she finally got away from that D-Bag ex of hers.
I hated seeing her relapses when something triggered her traumatic memories.
They just broke my heart for her all over again! The domestic abuse was harsh.
But isn't it like that in real life!? Harper did such an amazing job with those
scenes that I felt what Izzy felt. I cried and was scared to death for her. My
heart was literally pounding in my chest. My stomach was in my throat.
Lindsay: I don’t disagree
that Izzy was tough. She endured a lot and she came through it stronger. And
seeing what she went through broke my heart as well, but she was still an idiot
for not talking to Axel sooner. And all of the friends in the book were awful
for acting like Axel was directly to blame for everything that happened to her.
How was he supposed to know that his anger was her trigger when no
one talked to him to tell him what was going on!? But I also agree that
Harper did an amazing job with the domestic abuse. If I could have read while
covering my eyes, I would have.
Nikki: Ok, I will
(reluctantly) give you that. I do agree Izzy and Axel should have had "the
talk" way sooner, especially if that meant we got more sexy times *waggles
eyebrows*, and yeah it did bother me how everyone seemed to easily gang up on
Axel when he really didn't have all the pieces to the puzzle. Speaking of sexy times…
Lindsay: LOL. You perv. But actually…that goes along
with my complaint of the talk. They spend so much time avoiding talking that it
takes forever for them to get back together! And Maddox irritated me by taking
her in after she was injured and went to the hospital. All he did was delay
things in the story! By that time, I was yelling at everyone to stop
getting between Axel and Izzy. I was tired of the secrets and avoidance. But
once they finally admitted that they wanted each other (and who wouldn’t
want Axel?) they had some very…
... 
…naughty
moments. Harper
Sloan is very talented when it comes to hot and steamy scenes! 
Nikki: Ahh the naughty
moments... Oh sorry, where were we? *looks around confused* Ah yes, time to
wrap it up (hee hee 
) This is definitely
one of those books that touches your heart in a way that you just know it will
stay with you for a long time! Harper has definitely hooked me for this entire
series! I'd say this was an awesome debut and I can tell that Harper Sloan has
a real talent. I can't wait to see where she takes us next! 
) This is definitely
one of those books that touches your heart in a way that you just know it will
stay with you for a long time! Harper has definitely hooked me for this entire
series! I'd say this was an awesome debut and I can tell that Harper Sloan has
a real talent. I can't wait to see where she takes us next!
Lindsay: LOL. She’s so
easily distracted. But I have to agree. I’m hooked on this series too. Once all
of the friends butted out of Axel & Izzy’s business, things worked for me. They
were able to talk and actually be together. Even with my issues, the story wasn’t
all bad. Harper Sloan has definite talent and that will continue to grow with
experience. This was a good first novel and I will definitely read more from
Harper Sloan.
LOL. She’s so
easily distracted. But I have to agree. I’m hooked on this series too. Once all
of the friends butted out of Axel & Izzy’s business, things worked for me. They
were able to talk and actually be together. Even with my issues, the story wasn’t
all bad. Harper Sloan has definite talent and that will continue to grow with
experience. This was a good first novel and I will definitely read more from
Harper Sloan. 
Lindsay says
Nikki says (she's
the über perv )
) 
Harper lives in small town Georgia just a short drive from her hometown of Peachtree City. She (and her 3 daughters) enjoy ruling the house they dubbed 'Estrogen Ocean', much to her husbands chagrin. Harper has a borderline unhealthy obsession with books; you can almost ALWAYS find her with her eReader attached. She enjoys bad reality TV and cheesy romantic flicks. Her favorite kind of hero--the super alpha kind!
Harper started using writing as a way to unwind when the house went to sleep at night; and with a house full of crazy it was the perfect way to just relax. It didn't take long before a head full of very demanding alphas would stop at nothing to have their story told.
Author
Links:
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Twitter: harpersloan
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