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Author: Nyrae Dawn
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD
Can love save them?
After her father commits a crime that shatters her family, eighteen-year-old Delaney Cross is tired of pretending everything is all right. Packing up her car, she sets out to find the people her father hurt. Her search leads her to places she’s never been—and into the arms of Adrian Westfall.
To the outside world, Adrian is a sexy, charming ladies’ man. But his playboy persona is just an act. Secretly his soul is tortured by a memory too painful to share. Only Delaney seems to see through his façade to the real man underneath. And for the first time in his life, Adrian feels he can begin to open up about his past.
Together, Adrian and Delaney share a passionate love they never expected to find. Yet both still harbor their own secrets. When the dark truth is finally revealed, will it bring them closer together—or tear them apart forever?
“Show me those ghosts in your eyes and I'll try to kiss them away. Let me bare my scars to you and feel your lips on them.”
I did love Charade but I think Façade managed to surpass that one. I was glad that Nyrae Dawn did present Adrian in the first book so well that I already loved him even before reading his own story. What I didn’t expect was how heartbreaking and tragic this one will be.
I can’t help but point out how damaged the characters were. Not just the usual damage we read nowadays but deep-rooted pain that left invisible scars deep to the bones. Both Adrian and Delaney were slowly eaten by guilt due to what happened in the past. What eats them alive is also the very same thing that connects them.
Delaney was a sensitive girl and selfless. No matter how many times her mother spit on her face, she can’t stop herself from worrying and helping her. Even doing so only hurts her. At first, I was not really swayed with what she has planned. I think only a masochist would do something like that, which I really that she is one because she keeps on punishing herself for a mistake she didn’t commit but she was brave for doing that. I agree that it would definitely help in the healing process of, not just hers but also Adrian’s.
“..And I will try to fix you.”
Adrian was so different compared to the guy I knew from the first book. I kinda knew that he had something in him, hidden underneath that happy-go-lucky attitude but I never expect to meet such a broken man. No one knows the real Adrian, not even his best friend, Colt and that fact saddens me. He totally cemented this mask he shows to everyone that it felt like the Adrian I met from Charade was a different Adrian compared to this. Yes, he’s fucked up a lot of things but this guy made me fall in love with him. His POV broke my heart and I just want to hold his hand tight every time he’s consumed by guilt.
There was no coincidence in this one so I think it was not insta-love, not attraction. Adrian appreciates women and Delaney had a mission so it wasn’t the typical I’m-a-douchebag/bitch-but-I-think-you’re-the-one-for-me shit. It actually took a while for Adrian to put a name on what he really felt for Delaney and Delaney’s feelings were driven by her mission. To be honest, there was even a point where I want to shove her for not telling Adrian right away. It took her so long to tell him the truth and I sorta-kinda hated her for it.
This story broke my heart into pieces and the strange thing is I want to feel it all. All the pain and angst, I don’t want to forget anything. This book will blow you away, just be prepare some tissues.
This copy was provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
