Pages

Monday, March 25, 2013

REVIEW: Bent by HB Heinzer

If there’s one thing Julia Wilson has learned in life, it’s that you can’t push your own dreams to the background for anyone. Newly divorced, Julia returns to the hometown she once swore would never see her again. Her plan is simple; enjoy the cheap rent her friend is offering and stay just long enough to develop a plan to make her own dreams come true. 

It doesn't take long before Julia realizes she’s made a big mistake. 

Micah Anderson came closer to breaking Julia than anyone else ever had. After promising her forever, he broke her heart the week before she left for college. Now, Julia’s back in town and he’s going to have to tell her the truth about why he left her. It’s not possible to hide a twelve year old child when you live in a town of 5,000 people. 

Is following her dreams worth it if it means giving up on a second chance with her first love? Is trying to make a relationship work worth it if his past becomes a threat to her safety?



Coming from a small town, I have seen many times people promising to never return
after high school just to get sucked back in for one reason or another. Julia made a similar
promise but 13 years and a failed marriage later she came back with the hopes to grow her
own business and find herself again.

Micah made the biggest mistake of his life when he broke up with Julia before she left for
college and has regretted it ever since. Even after all this time Julia is still the one for him.
Julia coming back to town is his chance to make it all up to her and show her they belong
together. But with one set back after another, will that be possible?

I loved this book. Even when Julia thought she was falling into old habits and losing herself
again she was really discovering who she really was and who she could be if she allowed
it. Micah is loving, caring and trying his hardest to make up for the lie he told her 13 years
ago, the one that broke both of their hearts.

There were several times I wanted to yell at Julia, JUST LET IT HAPPEN! But she was scared
and too stubborn to fall into what felt comfortable. She is scared that she might not be able
to trust Micah again after she found out the real reason he broke up with her was because
he had drunkenly cheated on her and it resulted in a pregnancy. After having a mother walk
out of her life she is scared of the prospect of being a stepmom. And after Micah’s CRAZY ex
shows up and causes some chaos, Julia is left scared and looking over her shoulder waiting
for Karen to show herself again.

I found myself rooting for Julia and Micah to have a happy ending from very early on
in the book. Their chemistry was obvious and their roadblocks, aside from Karen, were
manageable and mostly caused by Julia being stubborn and too much in her own head. I
loved how attentive Micah was to Julia. Bent had a perfect ending that wrapped everything
up and at the same time made me excited for her next book to come out. I can’t wait to
read about Carly and Adam’s journey. H. B. Heinzer hit a home-run with her debut book.
{A}

When I started reading this book, I have to admit that I was hella confused. Why? Not because of the author's writing style. DEFINITELY not that because that was freakin' superb! No. It's because I was a ditz and had confused it with another book blurb I had just read. DOH. Once I got that worked out in the first few pages, I couldn't stop reading.

Right off the bat, this book grabbed me. It is so true to small town living. The town I live in is much smaller than where I grew up and I vowed to never stay here. I was leaving the day I graduated college. Now, 11 years later, I've got a family and still live in this town. So I get how Julia was feeling in her restlessness of that town. I get her need to move on. But I also get how once you stop fighting, things are so much better.

Like {A} mentioned, there were times I wanted to scream at Julia to just let things happen & to make her stop freaking herself out. What I did love though, was that the hindrances she developed were very real. It was very true to how most women think and react to a situation they are trying to avoid. 

H.B. Heinzer did a wonderful job keeping this story interesting and not predictable. The ending was all wrapped up with a cute little bow and just enough to leave us ready and waiting for the follow up novel! 

{em}

No comments:

Post a Comment