Title: A Thousand Cuts
Series: Cell Block C
Author: Melissa Toppen
Genre: Contemporary (ex-con) Romance
Release Date: February 4, 2020
I used to believe in fairy tales.
But then I grew up and I realized that life isn’t like the books I once loved so much.
There are no princes riding in on their white horses.
No magic wands or fairy god mothers.
And no happily ever afters.
Ryland Thorpe taught me the hard way that good doesn’t always win and sometimes the people we trust the most are the ones that can hurt us the deepest.
At fifteen, my world began and ended with him.
He was my older brother’s best friend.
He was my protector.
He was the boy I had loved since I was old enough to understand what loving someone meant.
And he was a liar…
It’s been five years since I’ve seen him.
Five long years and the memory of him still haunts me like it was yesterday.
Only he’s not just a memory anymore.
Prison has hardened him, changed him, altered him in ways I never expected. But beneath it all I can still see a glimmer of the boy I used to love.
When lies are exposed and secrets are revealed, I find myself questioning everything I thought I knew.
They say the first cut is the deepest.
4 Stars
Ainsley has grown up knowing what loosing someone feels like. By the age of thirteen she was living alone with her older brother, both parents gone. Ryland who was her brother's best friend was her protector and friend back in those days as well. Fighting all the turmoil in her life, she has turned out to be strong willed, determined young lady, working hard for her future. College while working hard to help keep the home and them afloat. Five years later and she still feels the loss of Ryland in her life.
Ryland had more of a family with Finn and Ainsley than he had in his own home. Uninterested mother and an abusive stepfather were great excuses to spend time away from home. He makes the ultimate sacrifice to help keep Finn and Ainsley together but with that means secrets and lies. All he wanted to do was protect Ainsley but now that he is back, she is so angry at him.
This was an emotional slow burn, friends to lovers story, with the added twist of him being her brother's best friend. Will Ainsley be able to push away the anger and understand that her love is stronger than the pain? Will she convince him that she is not the little girl who needs protecting anymore? Or will the truths unfold and cut too deep for them to come out happy in the end?
This was a great start to this collaboration, and I can't wait to read the others.
*** Advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. ***
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