Title: Free Me
Series: The Found Duet Book One
Author: Laurelin Paige
Publication Date: December 9, 2014
Summary
Her story began long before she started working at The Sky Launch…
Screw fairytales. The only reward Gwen Anders got from her rough childhood was a thick skin and hard heart. She’s content with her daily grind managing a top NYC nightclub—Eighty-Eighth Floor. So hers isn’t a happily ever after. She doesn’t believe in those anyway.
Then she meets J.C.
The rich, smooth talking playboy is the sexiest thing that Gwen has ever encountered, but she’s not interested in a night-in-shining latex. But when a family tragedy pushes her to the brink, it’s J.C. who’s there to teach her a new method of survival, one based on following primal urges and desires. His no-strings-attached lessons require her to abandon her constant need for control. Her carefully built walls are obliterated.
Gwen discovers there’s a beautiful world outside her prison. Freedom is exhilarating—and terrifying. When she starts to feel something for J.C., she fears for her heart. Especially as she realizes that he has secrets of his own. Secrets that don’t want to set him free.
BOOK ONE OF TWO. This series can be read alone or with the Fixed Trilogy.
Free Me Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20551480-free-me
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1wfjYWp
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/free-me/id943207438?mt=11
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/free-me-laurelin-paige/1120870435?ean=2940149904143
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Laurelin_Paige_Free_Me_The_Found_Duet_1?id=pNpWBQAAQBAJ
Find Me Pre-Order Links (Releasing August 25, 2015)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23643129-find-me
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1FZLGyk
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/find-me/id951266528?mt=11&uo=4
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Laurelin_Paige_Find_Me?id=Thi6BgAAQBAJ
Review
When readers met Gwen Anders in Book 3 of the Fixed series, we knew there was a story behind the woman who kept herself closed off; her face encased in a façade that she didn’t want to allow anyone past. There was a definite air of mystery surrounding her, which only intrigued me more, wanting to understand her demeanor and the reasons for the calm and cool act that could easily be perceived as a smokescreen for what was really going on behind her eyes. But, to be honest, I couldn’t anticipate all that made up Gwen’s back story and current life and the chains of her past that held her captive and afraid, preventing her from truly living.
Gwen’s life is extremely regimented. Control is important to her, which makes sense due to everything she experienced growing up in such a volatile environment. Her job at the nightclub Eighty Eighth Floor keeps her busy and allows her to stay in a weekly routine that works for her, but all of that gets shaken to the core when she meets J.C., and even though she tries to deny her attraction to him and keep her emotions in check, J.C. makes Gwen want to let go and give into her desires for a man who’s a complete mystery to her and only offers her an opportunity to be spontaneous. Gwen needs that kind of release desperately after a series of events nearly unhinges her, and when things heat up between them, their sexual relationship sizzles, and as their relationship grows into something much more than just a way to let go, J.C.’s secrets and Gwen’s past prove to be major obstacles in giving each other what they both seem to want, leaving them at an impasse and leaving readers with one hell of a cliff hanger at the end of book 1.
Laurelin Paige is one hell of a storyteller. Every book that I read by her draws me in from the start and holds me captive until she’s wrenched every emotion out of me. Her characters are extremely complex, and readers witness their transformations as their stories continue. Like Alayna, Gwen works hard to maintain her control and not allow her emotions to take over, which works for some time until her feelings for J.C. take over. There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding who J.C. is and what he’s hiding, and even though I have speculations as to what’s going on with him, I don’t have it all figured out yet, so I need Find Me to get here, so J.C. can redeem himself and reclaim what’s been his from the beginning.
I listened to the audio version read by Tanya Eby for this review, and I have to say that she does a fantastic job expressing Gwen’s insecurities and internal freak outs. Eby narrates at a fairly quick pace, which works for who Gwen is and how her mind works. Externally, Gwen is put together and controlled, but internally, she’s a hot mess, and that’s easily ascertained through Eby’s voice inflections and the emotions she uses to express the events that occur in Free Me.
I can’t wait for Gwen and J.C.’s story to continue!
A complimentary audio copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 poison apples
About Laurelin
Laurelin Paige is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She’s a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Mad Men and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine.
Laurelin on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurelinPaige
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Laurelin’s Website: http://laurelinpaige.com
Laurelin’s Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/z1ugH
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