TRUST ME by Kristin Mayer

TRUST ME

(Trust #1)

by Kristin Mayer

ARC Review

Published: October 4, 2014, Kristin Mayer

My rating : 3.5 of 5 ⭐️

The last time Allie Scott saw her mom they argued about her future, and before she ever had a chance to tell her parents she would follow her heart and pursue photography as they had hoped, they were gone. If not for her best friend and her parents, Allie would have drowned in her grief, but now, a year later, she is crawling out of her dark isolation and about ready to face the world again. Something she wants to do on her own. A week vacation in warm Florida to relax, re-focus and start her off fresh is exactly what she needs. Stumbling in to the most gorgeous and amazing man on a sunset beach stroll is a bonus.

In town on business, the last thing Damien Wales expected was to be instantly drawn to a woman with such force. Not usually overwhelmed by feelings of any kind, Damien is determined to find out everything he can about the girl on the beach. Accustomed to having women succumb to him easiily, he has to work hard even to find out her name...Allie.

With feelings running out of control, Allie can barely catch her breath, especially with Damien's need to provide constant safety for her, something he seems obsessed with. So quickly she is absorbed into his busy life and she struggles to hang on to her own new path. Damien has his reasons for being protective of Allie, and when elements of a darker past start seeping in to his new relationship, his vigilance only turns more intense.

But nothing will keep the past from rearing its head, and even Damien can't always keep Allie safe.....

****

Talk about a whirlwind!!!

Slow start.....STRONG finsh!!! 

I have to admit, at first I wasn't too sure. Everything moved a little fast, it was a little too sweet, too cute. But then!!! Oh then the shadows came out of the woodwork and the story became very interesting!!

I am a sucker for books that have some intrigue, suspense........and psychological suspense is at the top of my list. You'll find it here, along with some action, a lot of brooding alpha male posturing, savvy female management of said alpha, some nefarious acts by questionable friends and relatives, and sweet, sweaty and downright hot sex!

Allie starts out rather timid and broken, easily overwhelmed, but in the course of the book, you can see her 'firming up', not in a confrontational way, but quietly. She 'handles' situations, with smarts and class. You won't see her rant or scream, but rather 'kill with kindness'. I love that........to an onlooker she might seem a pushover, but on closer inspection one would have to concede that the girl has some backbone on her. 

A messed up childhood is what Damien had. There are no two ways about it. Hit by tragedy and rejection, he safeguards himself by turning off emotional involvement and asserting complete control over his environment and those in it. And it worked for him........until Allie came along and made him feel and lose control..... 

I was drawn to the main characters......after a while. It took me a bit to get to know them and relate to them, but by the end of the book I was involved. I still feel their relationship developed FAST.....and there were times I muttered "o...come on!!" to myself, when Allie was being too forgiving or Damien too overbearing or things were a bit too sweet, but just then there would be another little twist in the story that grabbed hold of me and made me forget I was irritated in the first place.

A bit of a cliffhanger...but the good news is, the release of book two is only a couple of weeks away!!

Well written and engaging, with high marks for character and plot development. Excited to see where this goes in the next book, LOVE ME, book 2 in the Trust Series, which I will be reviewing shortly!

✨Tepid waters turning into a churning, twisting and steaming whirlpool...✨

**ARC provided in return for an honest review.**