Friday 31 May 2013

NA review: A Moment by Marie Hall

Published by: Marie Hall
Release date:
12th March 2013
Series:
Moments #1
I got it from:
ARC via GR New Adult Book Club

Goodreads summary:
Ryan Cosgrove and Liliana Delgado are on a collision course with destiny. They don’t know it yet, but before the night is over their lives will be forever changed.

Spending Valentine’s Day at a burlesque bar, hadn’t been Liliana’s ideal way of spending a Friday night. She’d much rather be back on campus doing homework… until she meets Ryan. Tall, athletic, and gorgeous, Lili can’t keep her eyes off him, and despite his gruff manners and drunken disposition she’s intrigued.

Ryan’s got demons, and they’re deep, dark, and eating him alive. Regardless of his attraction to the petite brunette he’s tired of fighting, of pretending the last fifteen years haven’t been a daily struggle just to get out of bed every morning. That night he decides to end his pain, to leave it all behind and float away into the blessed darkness of oblivion. But fate has other plans for him, Lily finds and rescues Ryan, determined she’ll not only save his body, but his soul too.

This is their moment…


My review:
Phew, the air between Ryan and Lili is electric! What these two have going on is steaming hot. What's more, it feels real. A lot of the time when two characters get together it's like 'oh please, no-one acts like that!', but the burning lust and budding love between Ryan and Lili feels like something very real. I think it's because it's tempered by so much awfulness that it works so well - awfulness for the characters that is, not for the reader! Lili has had a harsh few years, ever since getting pregnant at 14 and giving birth to a severely autistic little boy. On top of that she has to deal with her mother's illness, all while trying to earn enough money to keep her family and study to better herself. This girl has a lot on her plate.

Ryan is a fighter. He comes from parents who, although they loved each other very much, had no time for him. He's been in the marines, and now he's fighting for money. All that makes for a tough guy, but Ryan has a real dark side. Something happened in his past to seriously mess him up. He's broken, and what girl can't resist trying to fix a hot guy who's hurting inside? This is not just a case of 'take my love and let it heal you' though. There is that aspect, but there's also a lot more going on. Ryan knows that he's not good for Lili. She has enough baggage of her own, she really doesn't need to add his to it. Lili is also fully aware that he is not the type of guy she should be getting involved with. But he can't resist her, and she can't resist him.

A Moment deals with a couple of very heavy issues. I'm not going to tell you what they are because that would be a major spoiler, but be aware that it's not all kittens and puppies. Like most NA romances, there are problems that need working through before the relationship can really blossom, and A Moment is different only in that its issues are deeper than most. I liked that it didn't shy away from the harsh reality of depression, and the many ways in which it can eat away at you. It also didn't rely on love being a cure-all. Ryan had to figure things out for himself, and because of that A Moment gets a lot of respect from me. It's not an easy read, but it is worth it.

I have one issue with the book in that Lili is too damn perfect! Not only is she this incredibly gorgeous, sex-on-legs figure of a woman, but everything about her is just so flawless. She's kind, considerate, caring, intelligent, funny, blah blah blah. She makes me a little bit sick. Couldn't the author have given her a couple of little flaws? It wouldn't make anyone love her any less, in fact I think it would have made me love her a lot more. Also, in my opinions the epilogue was unnecessary. But that's just me - I'm very picky when it comes to endings.

The supporting cast of this book is brilliant. I loved Ryan's cousin Alex, and Lili's Mama. Lili's son Javier is relegated to the sidelines a little, but what we do see of him is interesting and from what I know of autism, well-portrayed. Alex is probably the most important character - he is there for Ryan constantly, even when Ryan tries his best to push him away. I can't wait to read Alex's story in Hall's next book. I think I like him even better than Ryan in fact, so I hope he gets a good life!

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