Thursday, March 6, 2014

Release Day Blitz and Review!- The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants by Lori L. Clark

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Title:  The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants
Author:  Lori L. Clark
Genre: Contemporary / New Adult Romance
Publication Date: March 6th 2014
Goodreads URL: HERE
Plot:   Estelle "Star" Falconé, a thirty-year-old tattooed bartender, was once a free-spirited dreamer who dabbled in astrology for fun and secretly dreamed of becoming a rock-star some day.

One night, when she's five minutes late getting home from work, her boyfriend decides to teach her a lesson with his fists. The beating serves as her wake-up call. She plots her escape from the man who swore if he can't have her, no one will.

Star's not sure where she's going, but she knows she has to leave while she's able to walk out on her own two feet -- rather than get carried out in a body bag. She runs away, driving until her old car dies, and leaves her stranded near a small town north of St. Louis. While waiting for the car to be repaired, she takes a part-time job and rents a room, believing it's only temporary -- that as soon as her car is fixed, she'll move on...

Until she meets twenty-one-year-old Shane Harper.

Shane was once the star of the local high school basketball team. With a full ride scholarship, his dream was to play college basketball and study planetary science. When a tragic car accident permanently sidelines his basketball career, college is out of the question.

Sparks fly when their two worlds collide.

Can a relationship between a thirty-year-old starry-eyed woman who's on the run from an extremely dangerous man, and a twenty-one-year-old science geek who's hell-bent on protecting her at all costs survive?

***Caution*** for mature readers. Contains graphic violence including rape. This is a complete, standalone novel. 

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Excerpt
Finally giving up on sleep, she climbed from bed and gathered her clothes to take into the bathroom for a long hot shower, hopeful the hot water would dislodge the myriad of inappropriate thoughts that had started to march through her sleep-deprived brain.
Star knew Shane was too young for her. He'd barely begun to live his life and in her thirty years she'd already lived enough for both of them combined. There was an undeniable attraction, she couldn't dispute that. Holding him, comforting him, as she had just a few short hours ago left her craving more of his touch.
She gritted her teeth and turned up the water temperature as she scrubbed her body. "Why is it the men I'm attracted to are always wrong for me? For once, why can't I like the nerdy, science geek with a big brain instead of a big…ego," she huffed.
After her shower, she wiped the fog from the mirror and studied the lines in her face. Time had not been kind to her, especially the time spent with Derek. She smoothed the skin around her eyes, suddenly wondering how much a face-lift would set her back. A more close-up inspection advised her that more than a couple new gray hairs had sprouted, seemingly overnight, as well.
"Are you going to be much longer?" Shane's muffled voice asked from the other side of the bathroom door causing her to jump.
"Just a few more minutes, sorry," she answered. She hurriedly dried off and scrambled into her clothes. When she opened the door, he sat on the floor facing her, his back against the wall. He beamed mischievously up at her, and something warm pooled inside of her. She smiled back and said, "I guess I kind of lost track of time."
"No worries. As long as there's hot water left, I don't mind." He held his hand out to her. "Help me up, Blue," he asked.
She tugged him to his feet and he seemed reluctant to let go of her hand. He gave her fingers a quick squeeze. Holy hell I'm melting here. She thought. The tips of her ears started to burn and she withdrew her hand from his. "All yours," she whispered and turned to go to her room.
She couldn't be sure, it may have been her overactive imagination, or wishful thinking, but she could have sworn she heard him say "I wish," before he disappeared into the bathroom.
Star fanned herself and sat down on the corner of her bed. If he had remembered having the nightmare, or her rocking him back to sleep afterwards, it wasn't evident in the tundra-melting smile he'd given her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Was she disappointed that he hadn't remembered, or relieved?

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MY REVIEW:

First off...

description

But to be quite honest, The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants really didn't do it for me.

Take a battered and broken woman: Estelle "Star" Falconé, who is physically, mentally, and emotionally abused by her boyfriend. Not to mention, who’s also had to put aside her dreams to working at a bar as a bartender.

Deciding that she’s had enough of the abuse, she decides to run away to a relative’s house in Iowa.

That is, until her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and fate brings her to Shane Harper.

Shane Harper, is young, charming, and nine years younger than Star’s 30 years of age. He also happens to be the nephew of her new employer.

But like Star, Shane has his own tragic past which like her has stunted his own personal ambitions.

Can these two heal old wounds and reawaken old lost aspirations? What about Star’s vexed ex boyfriend who’s hell bent on seeking revenge? Can Shane protect her and regain redemption for what he lost?

Read and you will find out!

My thoughts: This book fell into the okay zone for me. It just didn’t stand out.

I think what initially brought me to read this was the whole proxy of two lost souls, one marginally older while the other younger, coming together and giving and taking from one another to make their HEA.

Sadly, that just did not happen. Star, acted much less than her years and at times kind of reminded me of a lovesick teenager. Shane, too!

While I do get their physical attraction for one another, I did not feel any sort of chemistry. Sure, both are good looking individuals so there's a feeling of lust there but as far as meshing together I did not feel it at all.

I know that in the synopsis, Star is an astrology whiz whereas Shane likes astrology but when you really think about it both share some similar common ground despite their integral differences. I guess what I mean to say by bringing this up is that I felt that it was too much of a coincidence from two individuals out of nowhere to share such a unique hobby. I mean, astrology and astronomy aren’t your everyday loves. They’re more like fascinations.

And plus, wasn’t it kind of weird when Star would use planets “Saturn, Pluto, and Mars, you scared me to death” instead of “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph”? Random, I know but I thought it to be so strange. Talk about “astro” obsessed! Lol

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I did not dig the constant shift in POV’s. It would go from Star, Shane, and to the other characters in the book. Why do I need to know what’s going on in all of their heads? I mean, some insight at times is nice but for the most part it was not needed.

Anyways, a decent read that I’m sure you others will love but I just couldn't connect with it. :'(


*I was provided an ARC from Love Between the Sheets via the author for an honest review.*



About the Author

Ten things about me: 
1. I'm an only child. 2. My only child is a Min Pin. 3. I was born in Iowa City, Iowa. 4. I worked as a professional psychic reader for 2 years. 5. I'm a Pisces Sun, Leo Moon with Aquarius rising. 6. I've written 7 books and am in the process of brainstorming the 8th. 7. I make my home near St. Louis, MO. 8. I ran my first 1/2 marathon at age 50. 9. I love 80's hair band music. 10. I'm a vegetarian.


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