Ruin by Rachel Van Dyken ~ Review

Source: Purchased eBook

I'm not your typical girl. I've been running away from the memories that haunt me for so long that depression has become my only comfort. I was content in the darkness...until Wes Michals offered to be my light.

I didn't know that time wasn't my ally -- that every second that ticked past was one step closer to the end of something that was beginning to mean the end of myself. He tried to warn me. He promised me all he was able to offer--each moment as it came--but it would never be enough.

Sometimes when you think it's the end, it's only the beginning. Wes thought he could save me, but in giving me everything, he ruined me. Because after one kiss, one touch, I couldn't--I wouldn't ever be the same.

And from that moment on, his heartbeat became my own.

 My Thoughts:




4 stars - This one has the feel of a fairy tale with the sexy Wes staring as the Prince!

Best $.99 I've spend in a very long time.

Yes this is New Adult romance but it has this fairy tale feel that I just loved.  So there were lots of things that wouldn't normally add up for me but they just worked in this one.  For example, she's holding her V-card AND she's never been kissed at age nineteen.  Yeah, there a reason for it.  She's suffering from some pretty bad depression but figures it out with Wes' help.  Their emotions develop really fast.  The secret that Wes is keeping is overwhelming and emotional.  The ending is too perfect.  If any of these things had been in another book to the degree they are in this book, I probably wouldn't have liked it BUT this one mixes those things together with some fairy tale pixy dust to make it one delicious read.

Wes.  Love him.  He's a talker.  The words that come out of his mouth sometimes had me wanting cuddle time with him.  He knows how to touch Kiersten's heart in ways that heal her.  I loved that.  He's a sexy football player with some yummy abs too.  I loved his relationship with his dad.  He has this lamb and wolf thing going between them that was just precious! I loved the friendship he makes with Gabe.  I loved Wes.

Speaking of Gabe.  THAT boy! He had me cracking up so much.  Him and his cousin, Lisa, are just so much fun to read.  I was sailing through the pages giggling because of them.  I'm so excited that Gabe gets his own book.  Can't wait to find out what has driven him to his player ways.  Should be another good one.

This one reads fast.  I read the first half with my pal, Autumn.  We had a great time stressing over a few things and doing some virtual hand  holding.  I could have read it straight through if my pesky day job didn't get in the way. As it was, I read it in two evenings easily.

I can't resist a few quotes to convince you that this one is SO WORTH IT!

Quotes:

"Yeah, well, you don't strike me as the type of guy who just holds hands."

"You're right." I exhaled.  "But I'm a fan of hands, or maybe it's just yours, Lamb."  It was true.  I liked her hands.  Everything about her screamed innocence.  I almost felt bad for corrupting her, for wanting her.  Almost being the key word. (Kindle Location 449)

"Stay," he whispered in a hoarse voice.  "Stay with me."

"In your room?"

"No. On the roof." He chuckled in my ear.  "Yes, in my room.  What if I promise not to touch you?"

"Isn't that what guys say before they seduce girls?  At least in the movies?"

"Not a movie."  His fingers tapped my collarbone and then moved slowly down the front of my shirt, stopping right on my heart.  "I just want to feel your heart beating.  That's all." (Kindle Location 762)

Her breath hitched as my mouth met hers in such a whisper that it was almost as if we weren't touching, but we were.  Her lips were wet.  I liked along the seam, breaking them apart, and then slowly letting her taste take over.  I pushed my tongue against the inside of her mouth loving the way her body tensed as the pressure increased.

She moaned, putting her arms around my neck.  I helped her, rocking her harder against my body.  My hands came around her back, and I tried to get all of her to press against me.  I'd never felt so alive as when that girl, that perfectly strange girl who I'd only met days before, was near me.  (Kindle Location 1388)

You can find one more quote from a swoon I posted HERE.

About the author:

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers!