Book Review – Love is Fear by Caroline Hanson

Love is Fear ( Book #2 – A Valerie Dearborn Novel)
Okay… listen. These books are like potato chips to me. I can’t have just one. In fact, I just devoured the “second bag”  errr… I mean book, in one sitting. Again. Like I did with book #1. Problem is, I’m outta “Valerie Dearborn chips” and the problem with that is, after I’m done devouring, I just mope. And pout. I sit there, just remembering that delicious crunch! Well, to be fair,  I didn’t mope at all when I finished book #1. Nope. The author had sent me the second one. I still had a whole book to read!! I felt like I ruled the world yesterday!! I still had a WHOLE OTHER bag of chips, and since that first bag was so good, it just left me wanting more!!!

But now? *hrmph*

When I announced my love for book #1 on Facebook, fellow readers understood my plight:

Patricia: Squeeeeeeeee however I am curious what your response will be after book 2….. buhahahahahaha. Loved it

Maryse’s Book Blog: OH. I already read #2. OMG!!!!! I am a MESS right now. THAT is the review i’m working on and the review wants to go something like this:

AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!! HELP MEEEEEEE!!! SEND ME #3 RIGHT NOW!!!!

Patricia: My heart felt like it was the pong in a ping pong match…..I was all over the place love Lucas one minute then turned around and wished him the true death…. Awesome…….

Kristina: Book #3 is definitely in my highly anticipated, Better not piss me off, why is the author torturing me & makin me twitchy, hurry up already… lol.

Melissa: Love these books! Can’t wait for 3!

And that’s the truth. Right there. Where book #1 teased us non-stop, book #2 GAVE it to us, front row center, exquisitely detailed, that dark intensity, non-stop, over and over and over again. I am talking… SUPER STEAMY. Super Alpha. Lots of *oomph* and the good kind, that takes your breath away.

She took a step closer to him, and he took a step back, voice controlled but dark, scraping over her harshly. “You do not get us both. Is that why you wait until he is away?”

What exactly (or who?) did it give us, I won’t reveal. BUT! I relished every moment of it. I absorbed it at the cellular level. This was “alpha-male” as I’ve barely ever seen Alpha male before. In fact, I thought to myself… this possessiveness, this intensity, this despair…. the agony. Very Christian Grey’ish. Deep. Full. Fervent. Desperate. It felt like… the only thing that mattered. I was captivated, wide-eyed, breathless, and living every word.

She undid him, unmanned him. But he would take her with him.

And I drank in all of that emotion, or “lack of emotion” or “confused/resisted emotion” and I savored every chip. Savored them!!! Because I thought I KNEW. I did. I knew they didn’t know. They wondered. They doubted. But I just KNEW. Things were gonna be okay.

But you know what?

I didn’t know. Nope. The twists and turns as the story progressed, the surprise reveals, my own expectations that didn’t happen. The seemingly pure, primal… instinctive passion that I was so addicted to (YES!! Just like potato chips, I’m addicted!!). But… maybeeee…. things were not what they seemed?

Somebody has misunderstood. Or someone IS misunderstood. That’s the answer I’m hoping for.

Because, Valerie’s paranormal world, the one she has been so adamantly hoping to escape, has just expanded beyond her imagination. Beyond mine. Val continues to be between a rock and a hard place, quite literally, and wonders if she’s just a pawn in a HUGE paranormal game.

“Really? The only reason you’re here with me is to keep me from him?” she said and felt like she was choking.

Everyone wants a piece of her, but at what cost? Who is sincere, and who is playing her? Or are they all sincere? Or… are they ALL playing her?

At a certain point, a new realm came into the picture, and I didn’t quite want to leave what I had grown comfortable with. But this new “expansion” if you will just made things that much more interesting. In fact, I laughed and laughed (and honestly, even with the comedic touches, this series is not meant to be “funny”), but I laughed until tears were rolling down my cheeks. I rewound, re-read, and laughed even harder. And then I did it again, and still I couldn’t contain myself. In all of this emotional turmoil, this dark moody atmosphere, and my full-blown heart fluttering, aching, yearning for someone, something that might not be feasible… I was laughing my heart out, and loving it.

Lot’s of nice touches in this one. Like I said, the first one was full of teasing torment, and this one super-indulged us. These chips came with full-fat dip!!!

But then… *OMG* what. the. heck!?

As secrets and pasts were revealed, everything she thought she knew, even her own judgement, could be destroyed in the blink of an eye. Made me sure as heck second guess everything I was feeling for certain… characters.

And maybe you think you know what I’m referring to, but unless you’ve read the book, you don’t. That, my friends, was not a spoiler. Because the whole thing, in the end, boggled my brain! I was incensed!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. What was I witnessing?! What was she witnessing? What would book #3 reveal to ease my torment?

AND WHEN will it be released??!! And again… I must reiterate, ARGHHHHHH!!!! HELP ME!!!

OH NO!!! WHEN? DECEMBER? *sigh* whyyyyyyy meeeeee??? I’m gonna go chip-less and starve!! Well. I guess I gotta look at it this way. Now I’m extra excited for Christmas again.

*pout*

4.5 stars!

Tagged as: 4.5 stars, caroline hanson, fey, urban fantasy, vampires, werewolves