Wednesday, 11 March 2015

*** REVIEWS *** Books 1 through 5 of the Sulfur Heights series by M.S. Brannon



In preparation to review Everlasting In Love (will post tomorrow) I read the first five books in this series.  Since I read these books together it makes sense to me to have the reviews all together in one post. 

Scarred Love
"I am certain, without any doubt, she was meant to be in my life. We belong to each other. I spent too much of my time consumed with what everyone else thinks of my feelings for Darcie, but the truth is, it was always supposed to be this way." ~Reggie Evans

Darcie Claiborne spent several years of her young life living with a monster, always fearing what he would do next. Clasping onto her last ounce of hope, Darcie releases a scream. It’s her final attempt to live; to survive the villain of her reality. Sweeping her up in his arms, Darcie’s knight in shining armor rescues her from the hell she’s been living; from the stepfather she's feared for all those years.

Reggie Evans has been forced to grow up before he’s ready when his mother dies of an overdose, leaving him responsible to raise his younger brothers. One fateful night, Reggie jogs by an old, run down house and discovers a young girl clinging to life as she screams for help.

Three years later, Darcie is healing and always protected by the man who saved her, but now she's fighting with something she isn't prepared to face. The growing love for the man who saved her life three years ago, the same man who’s nine years older. All the while, Reggie fights to protect Darcie from the demons of her past and new ones of her present.

**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content**

~~~
3 STAMPS

Book 1 of the Sulfur Heights series is Scarred Love. This is also M.S. Brannon’s first book.

Scarred Love introduces the Evans family.  The story is written from Darcie and Reggie’s point of view giving the reader a glimpse into the life of these two individuals and how they are feeling as the events of the story unfold. 

The Evans’ family consists of the biological brothers and kids that Reggie (the oldest Evan) saved and became guardian.  They have a tough life but their love for one another helps them deal.
Reggie gives up a promising MMA career to become the surrogate father to his younger brothers after his mother’s death.  The brothers are Jake and Jeremy, identical twins and the youngest Drake. Darcie comes to the family when Reggie saved her from an abusive step-father. 

The Evans live on the “wrong side of the tracks” in Sulfur Heights and while I didn’t think many of their decisions and actions (i.e. underage drinking and extreme violence) was always necessary.  I can see where this is a realistic description of people in their socio-economic circumstance in a small town neighborhood in which they live. 

This first book lays the groundwork for the series by introducing the main characters and their background.  It is a decent start to the series.  My biggest complaint is for the most part the story is very predictable and there are times that I didn’t feel a connection to Darcie and Reggie. I understand the pull because Reggie is the Darcie’s rescuer.  It just didn’t always feel real.

Scarred Love is OK and a good first novel.  It lays the ground work for the next book and is worth reading to learn the players.



TRAGIC LOVE
“From the moment I locked eyes with hers, we've had this undeniable connection that was and will always be wicked. A love that would literally kill me if it didn't survive, but lately, could kill me if it did.” ~Drake Evans.

For Drake and Presley, life has handed them more challenges than any one person should ever face in a lifetime. Together, they've survived Presley’s captivity from her deranged uncle, but now they must learn how to live with the events that surrounded her time spent with him, while keeping the details of her rescue a secret.

For Presley Quinn, living the last two years has been practically unbearable, constantly drowning in nightmares put there by a man responsible for the violent images continually playing in her mind. She keeps moving forward, but is barely clinging onto the edge when she’s faced with another obstacle from her past that is so unavoidable, so tragic, it threatens to break her apart—herself.

Drake will do anything to protect Presley from ever feeling pain again. His love is irrefutable. He walks side by side with her, vowing he will never let anyone harm her again. However, when an unexpected event turns Presley against everyone she’s ever loved, Drake is faced with trying to save the only woman he’s ever loved or severing the only lifeline she’s ever had—himself.
~~~
3.25 STAMPS

Book 2 in the Sulfur Heights series is Tragic Love.  My first thought as I read this book is how much Ms. Brannon’s writing skills improved with her second book.  The story is gripping with many ups and downs.  It isn’t predictable and a real tearjerker. 

Tragic Love delves into the relationship between Drake and Presley told from their point of view.  We learn a lot about Presley’s past and the dark events that she lives with daily.  Presley fights depression alone because she is afraid to share her dark secrets.  Because she doesn’t share freely with Drake specifically, some of her decisions to help her deal with life are not the most constructive. 

Drake loves Presley and stands by her while trying his best to help her move forward with her life.  For me, Presley’s decisions makes the reader struggle to like this character.  She makes one bad decision after another and it hurts Drake often.  I like Drake a lot so it is difficult to forgive Presley even as her background and life struggles came to light. 

I can’t end here without mentioning that I’m not thrilled with the alternative ending.  Why is it included? Honestly, it makes me question if the author is really satisfied with her story or fully committed to the way the story plays out.   The alternative ending confused me a lot because I didn’t like either ending choice but I absolutely hate the alternative.  Reading it feels like the author saying I know you don’t like this but look what you almost got. It could be worse. 
I like this family and ready to see what comes next. 

By the end of Tragic Love I find I'm more involved in the Evans’ life and committed to reading the other books in the series.


BLIND LOVE
"She is magnetic to me. Every emotion she feels pulls me that much closer to her charm and energy. For reasons unbeknownst to me, I want her to know what she means to me." Jake Evans

For Jake Evans, life was as it should be. No responsibilities. He was the master at embracing his reckless lifestyle whenever it presented itself. Surviving on his ability to expertly hustle, fight and womanize, Jake could do it all; lived it all.

Raised in a rundown city, filled with crime and drugs, he had survived the death of an abusive mother and a life with an absent father while only having his brothers to depend on. His lifestyle became fast and Jake had lived it the only way he knew how, until the day he met Delilah.

Delilah St. James was the epitome of flawless. Brought up in an affluent southern household, Delilah's life had been planned from the moment she was born. She was raised to be the perfect socialite and daughter, and groomed to be the ideal wife. When a school internship moved her to Sulfur Heights for the summer, Delilah collided with the bitter reality of life outside her comfortable gated community when Jake Evans upset her perfect world.

Over the next two years, Jake and Delilah became best friends, embracing a friendship neither one was prepared to have, although they soon found it to be a relationship that neither one of them were willing to sacrifice.

A tragic turn of events brings Jake and Delilah together once again. Only this time, the feelings are different. Lines within their friendship are blurred. Everything they vowed never to do, becomes the very thing they cannot deny. Will Jake and Delilah's relationship withstand the changes surrounding them? Or will the emotions sever the two year friendship they'd fought so hard to keep?
~~~

3.75 STAMPS

Book 3 in the Sulfur Heights series is Blind Love.  It is very interesting to read these books one after another.  Honestly I’m not sure I would have searched out the rest of the series if I read Scarred Love when it released.  It is good but it didn’t grab me—Blind Love grabs me. 

The Evans’ family is an interesting brood.   They are tight knit and support one another.  In Blind Love we get a glimpse of Jake and Delilah’s story.  In the beginning of this book we get a bit of a retelling of parts of Drake and Presley’s story from Jake and Delilah’s point of view.  It is just as gut wrenching as it was in the previous book with more details revealed.    

I like all the Evans’ boys but Jake holds a special place in my heart.  There is something about him that draws me in and has me root for him a little more than the others.   Delilah and Jake couldn’t be more different.  Delilah has all the benefits of wealth and privilege whereas Jake and his family struggles most of their life.  I didn’t come in to this book with a connection to Delilah at all.  In fact, even at the end, I still don’t connect and I’m not sure I really like her for Jake.

The person I hate in this book is Delilah’s mother.  It is seeing this character that makes me feel something for Delilah because even though Delilah has money and privilege she doesn’t really have a happy home life.  Her mother who wants to make all her life decisions and rules her like a dictator. While I don’t see any motherly love I do feel her dad does but he frustrated me.

Like Tragic Love, Blind Love has an unexpected twist that upset me a little more than Blind Love.   I want the Evans to have more good things in their life.  The get snippets of happiness but there always seems to be a black cloud following them.  The story is gripping and full of action.  So far Blind Love is the best book in the series it also shows how Ms. Brannon’s writing skills are refined and improve with each book. 

I’m a fan of the technique that M.S. Brannon uses to ensure that each book has an ending while still leaving questions unanswered for the next book.  I want more but I don’t feel the angst that accompanies a cliffhanger.


SURVIVING LOVE

“She is my heart and the other half of my life, and now, that life no longer exists." ~Drake Evans, Surviving Love

For Drake Evans, life was once happy. He was living the kind of existence that any man would envy. By his side was the woman he loved and a daughter he cherished. Life was truly perfect, until the day demons from the past came crashing into their perfect world, destroying everything he had been so sure would last forever.

Today, Drake’s life is shrouded in misery. Every day he faces the unyielding pain of losing the love of his life at the hands of a drug dealing murderer. On top of it all, he has to live with the anguishing betrayal caused by the devastating role his brother played in Presley’s death. Gone are the days of carefree happiness and impending futures. They've all been replaced with the shallow emptiness hollowing out his heart and the undeniable rage pumping through his veins. Drake is only moving through the motions of life, raising his daughter and earning a living, in the only way he can tolerate—alone.

Since the day she was banished from her family, Zoe Ledoux lives her life as a free spirit. For the past four years, Zoe’s been moving through life day by day, place by place. She never stays in one area long enough to establish relationships. She refuses to get close to anyone, protecting herself from the fear of once again being left behind. Then a turn of fate sends her to Sulfur Heights where she lands a job working as a bartender.

In a chance meeting, an instant connection forms, bringing together the wounded souls of Drake and Zoe. It is together that they begin to cope; to mend the brokenness of their pasts and feel what it is like to truly live again. However, will their newly formed friendship be enough to pull Drake and Zoe from their dark pasts? Can Drake overcome the fear of losing someone he loves and eradicate his anger just enough to let someone in? Will he learn that Surviving Love with Zoe is what he ultimately needs in order to be happy?
~~~
 4 STAMPS

The 4th book in the Sulfur Heights series cycles back to Drake’s story.  Drake is still missing Presley and generally miserable with his life.  Surviving love continues in the heart wrenching tradition of the previous books and has the reader really hoping that this family will find some peace and happiness with their lives. 

As much as I love Drake in the previous books I am a little disappointed how his character unfolds in this book.  I don’t mean that in a bad way because sometimes people work through their anger and grief in different ways.  I understand how Drake needs someone to blame but his anger towards his brother Jeremy upsets me.  I want him to see that Presley didn’t use the people who love her to help her.   Presley holds some blame for her situation but Drake needs to blame others.  Not that Jeremy isn’t wrong and has some blame but still...

Zoe is Drake’s love interest in this story.  Personally I think Zoe is better suited to Drake than Presley.  Presley is that young love but I’m not sure it would have lasted if her life played out differently.  Zoe is strong and helps Drake move on.  Drake helps Zoe too.  Honestly Zoe is my favorite heroine in this series thus far.  She is the first character that I really can get my heart around and enjoy her journey.

I like the Evans boys from the beginning and, as this series moves forward, each book gets a little better and the Evans dig into my heart more.  Also, the writing is so improved that the story holds my attention and I find it difficult to put the book down.   The flow of this book is better too and the the characters are more completely develop.  This is by far the best of the series at this point.



REDEEMED LOVE
“Who am I? For all intents and purposes, I am the nice guy; the loyal brother and decent citizen. I am quiet and non-confrontational. I am the brother nobody worries about and can always depend upon. To my family, I am the good one. However, that’s only what they see on the outside.” ~ Jeremy Evans

Outwardly, Jeremy Evans is a typical guy, the calmest of the Evans brothers. He’s obsessed with cars, enjoys the company of beautiful women, and is devoted to his family. Inwardly, however, Jeremy is a ticking time bomb. Torn between what’s right versus what’s wrong. When the attempted rape on Darcie occurs, Jeremy finally loses the battle within himself. The pure hatred for Sulfur Heights consumes him and escape is all he thinks about. 

Three years later, he is secretly engrossed by the drug-infested underworld. Jeremy’s double life leads him on dark and sinister paths of drugs, violence and rage. 

The Evans family is destroyed after Presley’s murder and consequently Jeremy’s arrest. He’s sent to prison where he’s forced to survive with the mistakes he’s made on his conscience. However, only one thought lingers. It consumes the years he spends locked in a cell. Retribution. 

Cami Ryker used to have a picture perfect life. She was loved by her family and happy with her life until her brother’s sudden death tore her family apart. Cami is forced to care for her ailing mother and assume the responsibilities of a normal adult. However, when the bills are paid and her mother is tucked away for the night, Cami likes to cloud her mind in order to escape her daily struggles. Late one night, a stranger trolling the streets rescues her in a dark alley. The mysterious stranger will become one of the most important people in her life until the day he’s sent to prison. 

Four years later, Jeremy is released and seeking redemption for his mistakes, but the betrayal is still thriving amongst the Evans family. 

Will Jeremy finally find the solace within to gain the forgiveness from his family that he desperately craves? And is it possible for Jeremy to save those he loves and exonerate himself in the process? 


~~~
4 STAMPS
Redeemed Love is the 5th book in the series and far and away the best book in the series. 

From the beginning I wanted too know what secrets Jeremy holds close and they are huge.  There is so much to Jeremy’s story that is kept secret until this book and reading about him is a beautiful experience.  At the start of the series Jeremy is the “good” twin but we eventually learn that he isn’t what he appears and question why. 

Redeemed Love is divided into two parts.  The first part is the pre-prison story.  In this section we meet the hidden Jeremy.  The second part is current day so to speak where we learn how Jeremy is dealing with his life after his incarceration. 

It is enlightening in part one to find out how Jeremy gets involved with the criminals in Sulfur Heights.  He starts with good intentions trying to help make a better life for his family until his life gets out of hand.  Because of his associations the Evans suffers in the worse way.  Members of his family are hurt and the bond shared by the brothers is severely damaged and possibly broken forever.

Part two is Jeremy’s after prison life.  He works hard to get back in the good graces of his brothers and, at the same time, he is trying to reconnect with Cami his former girlfriend.  For me this story was the most gut wrenching mainly because Jeremy is so full of self-hate.  As each chapter is read I find myself so pulled into Jeremy’s story that I feel his pain.  I want Jeremy happy while his journey is difficult and self-deprecating. 

The character development in this book is the best of the series.  I love Jeremy and Cami the characters are so realistic and their pain and anguish jumps off the pages of the book.   I love the way the story unfolds and even the characters that I didn’t feel a connection to in the past seem more real in this book. 

Some of the best scenes in the series are found in this book even though they are very hard to get through.  

By the end of the book the questions I still had about the Evans brothers were mostly answered.  It is very satisfying to see how M.S. Brannon's skills and techniques have improved over these five books.  I look forward to more in the future.  


In summary this is a series but many of the books can be read as standalone novels.  If you don’t have time to read the entire series I highly recommend Redeemed Love and Blind Love.  It is worth your time.  

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