Title: Destroy Me (Crystal Gulf #1)
Author: Shana Vanterpool
Swoon Romance
Release Date: March 8th, 2016
Release Date: March 8th, 2016
About the book:
Bach lives his life with
honesty and without restraints, happy to be known as a sexy as all hell,
unapologetic asshole.
When he drinks, he drinks
hard.
When he wants a woman, he
makes sure she knows it.
When he opens his mouth,
it’s either to piss someone off or to turn someone on.
You can normally find him with one hand on a bottle and one hand on a woman,
trying to forget his past.
Harley Evans is ta twenty-one-year-old
year old college student. She's a good girl who fell hard for Dylan, who’d
promised her forever. But Dylan, Bach’s best buddy, lied.
He enlisted in the Army,
crushing Harley with equal parts anger and sadness. She’d already lost her
father to that choice. Heartbroken, she falls back into depression.
Stuck in Crystal Gulf all
summer with little to do, Harley needs a distraction. Enter Bach, sexy as f*#ck
distraction, ready and willing.
Dylan’s not all bad though.
Before he left, he asked Bach to watch out for Harley, knowing she’d never go
for a guy like Bach. She’s too good for him. Too good for anyone.
But Dylan was wrong. He
never should have left them together. Bach is there to pick up the pieces Dylan
left behind. Soon pieces aren't enough. He wants more, needs more Harley.
DESTROY ME is dark, sexy, heartbreaking, and intoxicating.
What readers have said
about Shana Vanterpool’s books:
"I
give it "5 SEXY ROOMMATE STARS" !!!! Recommended to all the readers
who loves crazy, steamy drama. It had me hooked, till the very last page."
- Mybooklatte.com
"God, this book was a mess. A wonderful, delicious mess of angst and drama and sexual tension! The build-up of sexual tension between these two was absolute torture and when their resistance faltered it led from one explosive moment to the next." - Popkittybookreviews.com
"A hot sexy steamy tale from room mates to lovers in this toxic up and down spiral of two broken people coming together and slowly fixing up the broken parts of the other, this captured me from the get go and kept me entertained throughout." - Kitty Kats Crazy About Books
"What a great debut novel! Shana Vanterpool has created a thrilling tale of love and forgiveness. They were a sizzling couple! If you want something sexy, dramatic and fun, then do not miss this new author." - Lina's Reviews A Book Blog
Excerpt:
“I do.” Her smile
is sad and hopeful. “Ever since I watched one of the social workers at school
help this kid that was getting bullied. The look on his face knowing there was
someone out there fighting for him always stuck with me. I want to help people.
Imagine being that one person, that one ray of hope that gives someone the
strength to keep going. Think of all of those kids who don’t have the support I
was lucky to have growing up? I can’t give it to them, but I can show them how
to give it to themselves. I know it sounds altruistic. I just always felt like
it was important. Is that silly?”
I once woke up in
the middle of a hurricane. My arm was in a sling that Dylan’s grandma made out
of old shoestrings and my face hurt like hell. Dad kicked my ass for
dislocating my shoulder jumping out of Mr. Greer’s almond tree. The weather
outside was making me shake. It was scary. No one cared that I was scared but
Dylan, but Dylan couldn’t come out to play because he was in trouble for
jumping with me. The old creaky house shook and the windows rattled. I just
wanted it to stop. I crawled under the table in the kitchen, kneeling on top of
old cigarette butts and beer stains and I prayed for it to stop. Over and over
again, whispering it until my lips chapped. And just like that it did. I opened
my eyes and looked out of the kitchen window. The sun was peeking through the
clouds. The clouds were still gray, but I could see it. The most beautiful
colors shone down. Orange, pink, yellow, and gold; it was shining right on my
house. I got up and pressed my little face to the dirty window in awe. I knew
right then and there that I would probably never see anything that beautiful
ever again.
Until Harley.
I don’t deserve to
sit across from her. To share a bottle of wine with her. To see her smile
nervously after saying something like that to me.
“It isn’t silly,”
I promise her, my voice gruff. “It’s, you’re, it’s … Do it. I really hope you
do it. I wish I had someone like you around when I was kid.”
She has no idea
how much I want her good right now. She smiles as if we’re talking about
grocery shopping. Not like she just took my favorite memory and shattered it.
“What did you want
to be?” she wonders just as the waiter sets down two brightly colored salads.
“Did you want to
order?” he asks.
“I want the
spaghetti with marinara and chicken parmesan,” Harley says, licking her lips
excitedly.
I want to eat off
her plate. When it’s my turn I fumble with my menu. Since when do I fumble?
“The clams. I’ll take the clams.”
“Excellent
choice,” he congratulates before he leaves. I get the feeling he isn’t talking
about the food, in which case I agree.
I watch her slice
the tomato with her fork, pair it with a bite of fresh mozzarella and a basil
leaf, and then dunk it into her balsamic dressing. “Mmm,” she moans, closing
her eyes in bliss. “This is so good.”
Why did Dylan
leave her with me? Me!
“Did you hear me?
What did you want to be when you were a kid?”
Safe. “Thor.”
She cracks up.
“That’s either really cute, or really indicative.”
“Indicative of
what?” I take a bite. I want to taste what she tastes.
She points her
fork at me and waves it around. “All of this.”
“Oh. You mean all
of this sexy panty ripping fantastic-ness?” I smile crookedly. We both know we
both think that.
About The Author:
When
I walk into a book store I feel at home. When I smell the pages of a brand new
book things make sense. When I read I am who I always
wanted to be. I read to escape and I write so others can as well. My family, my
actress dog Bella, coffee, and a steamy love story are a few of my most
precious things. My Sweet Demise is my debut new-adult contemporary romance
novel. Keep up to date with future releases by following on Twitter:
@shanavauthor
My thoughts:
4 “Your
Past Can Destroy You” STARS
Think
about a book with messed up characters, add more drama, lots of hot hot hot sex
and a childhood trauma that will have you ready to kill the bastard that hurt a
innocent kid; then you have “Destroy Me”, the first book in the NA Crystal Gulf
Series.
I’ll start
this review with the star of the story: Bach. He’s trouble. Quite simple like
that. He drinks too much. He supplies drugs and he’s high way too often. He has
too much sex (if there’s ever such a thing). He has no responsible bone in his
body, and what a hot body it is. And he gives zero f*cks about it. Bach’s only
tie to society? His best friend Dylan, the guy who used to be just as much
trouble as Bach, until he meT goody-two-shoes Harley.
Harley is
your typical good girl and good student who wants nothing more out of life than
to be normal. She’s dating this great guy until he turns out not to be all that
great at all since he’s been lying to her from the beginning. To Harley’s
surprise, Dylan is leaving the country; not on vacation or to study abroad.
Nope. He’s going to war. Harley is devastated to learn the guy she fell for is
choosing the same path her father once did, and because of that choice, she’s
lost him when she was young. So Harley is definitely not going to deal with
Dylan’s shit when he comes clean and tells her he enlisted before they met and
kept that secret from her. She’s done with him.
But Dylan
isn’t done with Harley, and before he leaves, he asks Bach to keep an eye on
his girl. Big mistake. Because, like I told you, Bach is trouble.
You can
already imagine where this is leading to, right? Bach and Harley, though she’s
initially resistant, start spending time together. She doesn’t want to deal
with his crap at first, but ends up caring for him. Plus, he’s hot. Like hard-to-resist
hot. I won’t say Bach tried too hard to resist her physically either, because
he didn’t, but he tried his best to keep her emotionally detached. Why? Because
Bach is screwed up and he has a pretty good reason to be like that.
Look, the
bad boy with a troubled past is a common trope in new adult romance. 95% of
them have it (or even more) – I’m talking about the books I’ve read. And though
I’ve seen so many of them, Bach’s trauma is one of the most heartbreaking. What
his father did to him was horrible and damaging and disturbing in so many ways…
I won’t say what it was because it’d take away from the experience of reading
and finding out yourself, but I thought it was pretty heavy and probably one of
the most traumatizing things that could ever happen to a child. No wonder Bach
is one of the most screwed up characters I’ve read about in romances in this
age category.
Another
interesting aspect was the author’s choice to portray these two messed up
people in a relationship and keep them messed up until the end. I didn’t feel
like Harley tried to change Bach. He was a little better with her, but he
wasn’t all that changed. Harley was probably the one who changed the most, but
she still didn’t completely lose herself. I think it was more Harley growing up
and getting out of her shell than her changing exactly. There were some parts
where she acted out of character and she did take some unnecessary risks, but
some of them were part of growing up and discovering a world outside of what
she was used to.
The
romance was full of angst. Torturous. Heavy. Complicated. You get the drill.
There was so much drama involving these two characters and their feelings for
each other than I often felt exhausted after finishing a chapter, which isn’t a
bad feeling.
The
writing needs work and I felt like another round of editing was in order, but
the characters took over the story and once you’re seduced by them, you stop
paying attention to all the details that, if fixed, would make this a more
powerful.
This is not
a light reading. Bach is self-destructive. His childhood story is
heartbreaking. His current life choices are hard to swallow. Harley is heavy on
the drama side. Their relationship and feelings are intense. They are bad and
good for each other. They are complicated. This is toxic at its best. Don't say
I didn't warn you.
But if
you’re into a lot of angst and heat, then you should read this because it's
worth it.
Giveaway:
- Win a $10 Amazon gift card and eBook copy of "Destroy me"
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