Burn by Brooke Cumberland
Series: Spark #2
Publication date: September 28th, 2013
Pages: 288
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
*Contains Mature Adult Content. Recommended for 18+ Only*
Book 2 in the Spark Series
Just when Velaney thinks she is safe again... her worst nightmare comes back to haunt her.
Eric is dealing with his own insecurities as he tries to accept Velaney's decision to help the enemy... can he get past it? Will they be there for each other in the end?
Eric struggles to step aside and trust Velaney... but will his past keep him from doing so? Can he let go in order to move forward?
Velaney and Eric had their fair share of ups and downs in SPARK... their love was undeniable and intense. Just when you think they could get their happily ever after... pasts collide and merge together... will they fight for what they want?
Or will their love crash burn?
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Review:
Naturally after reading Spark and finding it so riveting I had to read the next book in the series. Spark does tend to leave off on a cliffhanger so I had to know what happened next. I devoured Burn in the matter of a single day.
Velaney is on her way to meet Eric's family for the first time in the great state of Texas. She has managed to win him back despite the ups and downs of their relationship to date. However, despite Velaney's confidence that her past will not rear it's ugly head, she starts to see Aiden everywhere she turns. She has to be hallucinating, right? There is no way that Aiden followed her all the way to Texas just to keep tabs on her and Eric. While in Texas, Velaney gets to see how a normal family functions and she starts to wonder what it would have been like to have what Eric grew up knowing. But little does she know that Eric's life was not as picture perfect as she thought it was. Eric has demons and they start to threaten his relationship with Velaney much the same as Velaney's did.
Velaney must once again find a way to combat an unusual amount of heartbreak while still keeping Eric, her savior, close at hand. But what if Eric is simply staying with her out of duty and not because he actually wants to be with her and her abundance of emotional baggage? Velaney once again has to deal with her insecurities or risk losing Eric forever.
Burn had twice as many pitfalls for our protagonists as the first book. It got to the point where I was screaming at my iPad. "How much more are you going to throw at the poor girl, Brooke?!" It got to the point where it was almost painful to watch how many horrible situations could be heaped upon Velaney. To avoid spoilers I won't go into detail about what those situations are but let's just say if you can dream up a situation you would never want to experience, Velaney went through it. Then, of course, add to the mix Eric having his own issues that weren't addressed in the first book...
I ugly cried throughout most of the book. I am not ashamed to admit it. It usually takes quite a bit for me to sob when reading a book; this one did it. It sucked me in, put me through a meat grinder, and spat me out the other side feeling a bit scarred just from witnessing such horrors through a fictional character's eyes... I loved it. I loved having Velaney and Eric get so far under m skin that I felt beaten and bloody at the end of the book. It's not everyday that an author can make their characters that real to their readers. I applaud you, Brooke!
Burn is life changing and will make it's readers truly appreciate the strength it takes to overcome the odds to find their happy ending.
