Ruined by Tracy Wolff
Series: Ethan Frost #1
Publication date: January 7th, 2014
Pages: 298
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
Fans of Fifty Shades of Grey, Bared to You, and Release Me will be hooked on Ruined, an electrifying journey of emotional and sexual discovery that pushes two damaged souls to their breaking point--and beyond.
He's the last man Chloe Girard should love... but the first she ever could.
Ethan Frost is a visionary, a genius, every woman's deepest, darkest fantasy--even mine. And, somehow, I am his.
He stole into my life like a dream. Turned my reality upside down and made my every desire come true--especially those I never knew I had. He demanded everything I had to give and gave me everything of himself in return.
But dreams don't last forever, and ours is no exception. Because my nightmares are darker, and my wounds deeper, than I could ever reveal. And as much as Ethan wants to protect me, the secrets we share will only tear us apart.
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Review:
I received an e-copy of this book from the publishers at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I had heard a few things about the way Tracy Wolff writes and the depth of the love stories she creates for her characters so I ended up requesting a bunch of her books when the ran across my NetGalley. Life took over and I never got to them until this moment. I was intrigued by the blurb referring to it as something reminiscent of Fifty Shades of Grey as I had always been looking for something similar to that sort of story. I let the blurb select my book for me in this instance.
Chloe is damaged. She has subscriptions of issues and she has somehow made it work for her life. She had attempted, and succeeded to a degree, to forget her past and focus primarily on her goal to become a lawyer. Becoming a lawyer is hard work and it requires the perfect internship to pad her resume. That brings her to Frost Industries. She enters the workforce intent to keep her head down and do the work she is provided as quickly and efficiently as she can. But fate has other ideas for her. As she goes to lunch her first day she stumbles across the enigmatic CEO, Ethan Frost, while attempting to procure a smoothie. Not knowing who he was she stubbornly refuses to budge on her menu selection. This refusal to bend intrigues Ethan and begins the start of his pursuit of her. Chloe is determined not to let the past repeat itself as she figures it will with any man she becomes involved with. Echoes of the past start with the bullying of her co-workers once they catch wind of Ethan's infatuation with Chloe. It is up to Chloe to keep her distance from the enticing man, even when everything in her screams to pull him closer and never let go.
To an extent, I liked this book. I liked the push and pull of the main characters. I liked that Ethan was not like the playboy image that is depicted of him and he truly gives his all to winning Chloe's heart and affections. I felt for Chloe and the trouble and trauma she had in her past. I really wanted to like the way the two worked together as a couple but something about the two just didn't connect for me. I knew Chloe had issues and I knew that Ethan was willing to overlook them but it seemed every time I turned around there was Chloe attempting to run away from Ethan with extremely long internal dialogs about why she needed to stay away from him but couldn't seem to pull it off. The book, to me, was middle of the road. The thing that was the most upsetting was the fact that there were no real Fifty Shades of Grey portions in the book. I didn't get that vibe.
However, I did like watching Chloe slowly overcome her past so she could attempt to be happy with Ethan. I found her determination to get past it endearing.
All in all, the book was definitely not horrendous but it was not spectacular either. It's worth a read if given the opportunity.
