Review: Beauty in the Ashes by Micalea Smeltzer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Standalone
Release: December 4, 2016
Length: 625 pages

Some stories are a fairytale...but this isn't one.

Caelan Gregory’s life fell apart the night he went home and opened the door to find his whole family murdered. Since then, his life has held no meaning. He’s angry. He’s bitter. He’s barely human anymore. There’s nothing left to remind him of the straight A student, and football quarterback he once was…but he wasn’t a good person then, and he’s certainly not a good person now. He’s retreated into a world where all that exists is numbness and his passion for painting.

When Sutton Hale moves into the apartment across the hall from Caelan she’s not prepared for her reaction to him. Something in his broken blue eyes calls to her—after all she’s always had an irrational need to fix everything.

But Caelan doesn’t do relationships or feelings. He does drugs and alcohol. However, he can’t ignore his desire to get to know the raven-haired woman across the hall.

Two broken souls trying to mend one another.

But not everything can be fixed.

In the end, Caelan and Sutton will have to learn that there is beauty in the ashes.

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MY REVIEW

It was really hard to rate this book in the end. Why? Because I almost didn't make it.

It doesn't happen often. It was written well and it was honest and for most of the story I was hovering close to a 5. Not quite there but I was really enjoying myself. I love broken heros and Caelen was devastating. The horrors of his past still haunted him and it seemed the only things he wanted in life were drugs and alcohol. That is until Sutton showed up in his life. From their first encounter I was rooting for them. However, towards the end I got blindsided, which dropped this story to a 1-star rating. Seriously, who the heck was Memphis??? And why was there no mention of him in the blurb???

Why you ask???

Because it doesn't make any freaking sense once you read the book. It's misleading. WTF?! I hate being made a fool of and I feel not only fooled, but also duped and bamboozled!! I get what the author was doing. I do. Not every broken couple is destined for a HEA and that's what made this realistic. But I get enough reality in my REAL LIFE !! I read fictional books about fictional characters to escape my NON-FICTIONAL life. I appreciate some realism in the work, but this just hurt me. I think there should have been more of a lead-in or warmup that could better prepare people for what's in store.

So, overall, a great book. Be prepared to have your heart torn out. Micalea Smeltzer is a great puppeteer!