3 1/2 starsWITH YOUWith You is the love story of Emily (20 year old, somewhat insecure yet strong and resilient virgin, nicknamed Mouse by the hero) and Sculpt/Logan mysterious, sexy and sweet, illegal fighter/wanna be rock star. The "mysterious" comes in because no one knows anything about Sculpt's past and he aims to keep it that way. Only 1 band member even knows his real first name. Obviously this mysteriousness foreshadows the coming of something bad. And this is the problem I have with Sculpt throughout both books that makes me want to throttle him. In his efforts to be protective he follows the "less is more" philosophy. He doesn't want the ugly things in his life to touch Emily. (Personally...I'm more of a "knowledge is power" kind of gal and it seems to me that Sculpt's efforts to protect only make things worse, which is readily apparent in Torn From You).Anyway, the novella is a really sweet falling in love story and it could be read alone....except for the cliffhanger/shocker ending which sets up Torn From You. I know some people feel Torn From You can be read as a stand alone and you can skip the novella. I'm glad I didn't. I think With You really does a nice job of showing the development of the Emily/Logan relationship and the dynamics between the 2. If I hadn't read With You, I think I would have really hated Logan in the beginning of Torn From You. I mean more than I did, because I did hate him - or at least strongly disliked.TORN FROM YOUOverall I enjoyed the story, although at times I felt it dragged a bit and in general felt it could have been a bit shorter. Torn From You picks up where With you left off, and was told in 2 parts - the kidnapping and the aftermath. Emily's experiences at Raul's compound were pretty brutal but luckily not delineated in overly graphic detail. I admit I didn't like Logan much here, although having read With You I knew he was working an angle. My first frustration with him was that it seemed he really could have cut a better deal with regards to Emily's treatment. (Well as it turns out, he really couldn't). My second issue (that I had a very hard time getting past) was his paternalistic decision to keep Emily in the dark to protect her - which it seems to me had the glaringly obvious opposite effect - repeatedly. SPOILER: He kept insisting that in order to be safe, safer, safe-ish, that Emily had to fear him. Well actually no. What Emily needed to do to be safe was to be submissive, subserviant and blend into the background like lint on a rug. Something Emily had an extremely difficult time doing when her emotions were raging with hurt, rage and despair. END SPOILERThe second half of the story takes place 2 years later and has to do with the aftermath of the traumatic events and involves Logan and Emily rebuilding their relationship. SPOILERS:(Which takes awhile because Emily understandably can't forgive him. Because Logan again - in his infinite wisdom - decides he wants to withhold information because he "doesn't want it to taint her". Not sure how to break it to "Mr. not the sharpest crayon in the box" but that train has already left the station. I'm pretty sure that after starvation, beating, torture, degradation and the emotional abuse the love of your life unintentionally heaped upon you - you're already filled to the brim with tainted. The only thing Logan sharing about his fear, helplessness and abuse could have done would have been to help Emily understand the situation and his motives and she could have taken @ 100 less pages to regain her trust in him). So yeah, Logan irked me, then I felt bad for being irked because he did do the best he could, what he thought was right, and he was scared and traumatized and not thinking too clearly too. END SPOILERI liked the secondary characters and the story sets up the sequel that is already out (Overwhelmed By You) and a couple of other sequels in process. I did think Logan and Eme were a cute couple and it wrapped up with a nice HEA. I just finished Tear Asunder and I freaking loved it. You just have no idea until you read it. Man, it will blow your mind. Tear Asunder has With You (0.5) and Torn From You (1) do this is the bonus edition. I would say that if you get TFY you do need to read With You so you know the backstory for all the characters. What would you do if you woke up and you realized that you had been kidnapped? You would be terrified and you would try up think back to figure out how it happened and who had you. All you want to do is escape. All you want is your family, friends, police and or a spouse/boyfriend to save you. But what if during one of your interrogations your spouse/boyfriend is there? Yes, you are thinking "I'm finally going to be saved, my knight in shining armor is here". Not in this case. How would you feel? Betrayed, heart broken, shattered? But things are not always as they seem. How would you react? Would you be able to let the anger and hurt go? Could you trust someone that had betrayed you in the worse way? You will just have to read and see what Emily will do. Logan, Logan, Logan!!!! I just love him. He is so sexy, and has so many secrets. He was definitely a mystery. You will love him but then you will hate him. But can you forgive him? That is the question. Emily. I just love her. I felt so bad for what she had to go through. She is one tough cookie and the best part? You take no crap attitude. I love how she wasn't as forgiving as so might have been. It says a lot about her characters. The author did amazingly well on defining them. I just couldn't have asked for better. The secondary characters. Deck, Crisis, Ream, Kite, Matt, Georgie, and Kat. Yes there was a lot but they were so good and man I want to read about every single one of them. You just have no idea. The characters all had their pivotal moments. It was just amazing how this author wrote the way that she did with them They all had their own voice. Best part? We have a story coming and I am so super freaking excited that I get to read it. I'm seriously squealing!!!! I can say this. What a story. There was so much to it than what you think. I was really surprised. I've heard good things but it was not what I was expecting. There was so much more. It had a lot of depth. The story, the character, hell everything. It will have your head spinning in so many ways. At times it was predictable yet still so good and at other times I was like WTF?!! Seriously!!! That's where it was much more for me. I was intrigued from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down. I can honestly say that this is one of the best books I have read. Top 10 for me. 10 might not seem like a lot but I swear I have read over 1000 books so that is a low number. Top 10 is only for the best. Again it had it all. Good story? Check. Good characters? Check. Sexy alpha male you want to screw his brains out yet at times want to hate him? Check. A strong woman that can survive anything that she sets her mind too no matter the circumstances? Check. Sexy ass sex scenes that just make my kindle burn up? Check. You got to go out and get this. It will not disappoint. Story 5+++Smut 5+++Overall 5++++++Reviewed by Beggin from Mommys a Book Whore
What do You think about Tear Asunder: Bonus Edition (2014)?
This short book is what drew me in to read Torn From You (Tear Asunder) and I LOVED it!!!
—Maira
well, when it was good it was real good, and when it was bad, it was bad.
—taybutt121
