Genre: New Adult
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review. Thank you!
Goodreads Says:
CONTENT WARNING: Due to adult sexual situations and language, this novel may not be appropriate for readers under 18.
If you are looking for an intense, passionate love so wrong it is right, a story about losing your way but clawing desperately at any chance to find your way back, about hanging on to your last shred of sanity and trusting someone enough to let go of your fears, look no further. No One's Angel's angel is a New Adult (NA) Contemporary Romance about a girl learning to fight back and a boy learning to let go.
Tess used to spend more hours than she'd care to admit playing her favorite computer game, using the nickname Angel. She could pretend her life was different, and she could pretend Arion was just a friend. But a girl needs more to keep her warm at night than pixels, and she traded her virtual heaven for a real-life hell. Now she's on the run from a past she won't talk about, and the only place she has to go is the doorstep of the friend she's never actually met.
When Angel disappeared from their nightly games, it nearly destroyed Arion. He threw himself into work and women, but he can't help knowing the one-night stands will never compare to the angel who haunts his dreams. At first, when she shows up soaking wet and scared-shitless on his doorstep, he thinks his prayers have been answered.
But the more Arion tries to keep Angel close, the more her fear drives her away. If they are ever going to have a chance for a future, they'll first have to deal with the past that hasn't forgotten her any more than she's forgotten it--and Arion will have to learn how to let her go.
You might not know this
about me but I love watching people play video games. I used to play games but
they were never the storytelling kind like Final Fantasy or the like. Ok, maybe
Zelda back in the day. The thing is I was never really good at playing these
games and I found more joy in watching others that could unfold the tale for
me. With that said I was also a witness to how gamers who communicate with one
another every day for hours a day can totally get close, even on a romantic
level.
When I saw the cover of
this book and then the premise I just had to dive right in...even after I had
convinced myself to stay away from the New Adult genre for a little bit.
I really am glad I
didn’t stay away from this one.
Tess and Axel met years
ago while playing an online computer game. Their game handles were “Angel” and
“Arion”. I might just refer to them as Angel and Arion since that is what
they continually called each other while around one another. So, yeah, Angel
and Arion’s gaming friendship blossomed into a real life friendship offline but
never felt real enough to really call a relationship because of the physical
distance. Angel finds herself a boyfriend, the abusive kind and goes offline
without any warning and stops all texting and calls to Arion as well. This
sends Arion into self-destruct mode. We fast forward to a year
later when Arion is finally feeling a bit more normal and Angel is running
scared and broken and knocking on Arion’s door. Literally.
What I liked:
* You’re thrust into
this storyline right away. No easing your way in. You are literally riding the
wave of emotions and uncovering mysteries as they are revealed. No hints other
than you know Angel has gone through something very bad and Arion desperately
wants to fix it because he doesn’t want her to go.
* I found this story
incredibly believable on many levels. The author took great care in really
understanding and then interpreting the aftermath of abuse. You couldn’t help
but to feel all of Angel’s raw feelings and understand why she was so broken.
There are so many aspects to abuse that even the most understanding people
can’t truly comprehend unless they’ve been through it themselves. The
embarrassment of allowing yourself to be abused and for the length of time it
lasted, the burden of not telling anyone because of the embarrassment but also
because you don’t want to get anyone else hurt by getting them involved,
feeling utterly alone because you have to isolate yourself, the pain you feel
not knowing if you’ll ever be the same and the anger that comes along with it
knowing that something like this could change you and you might not find your
old self again, the helplessness in not knowing when you can get out of it and
again the anger of not having gotten out of it sooner.
* I rarely swoon over a
hero. I can actually name on one hand all of the heroes that stay with me long
after a read and furthermore can continuously fantasize about. Arion/Axel
did it for me. He was a sweet gentleman with the right amount of raunchy. He
was respectful, kind and patient. He was smart, had his shit together, a business
owner all at the age of 23 and a caretaker. His wanting to keep Angel safe
could have been interpreted by some as being possessive but I didn’t get that
vibe. He really wanted to keep her safe and because Angel was so jacked up she
couldn’t look beyond her recent experiences. He was a stand up guy.
* This read was intense!
You felt the intrigue and I often found myself anxiously expecting something
really bad to happen at any moment. It had all of this but it was still a
lighter read, not as heavy, not super depressing. You felt for Angel and you
don’t really know all of the details of her abuse until much later in the book
but along the way you weren’t distracted by an overly heavy feel. I hope this
makes sense.
* The romance was
definitely hot, believable and exciting! I think anyone with an imagination can
easily place themselves in a situation where they were totally taken by someone
and can relate to the anticipation of finally meeting them and being physically
in their world.
* All of the supporting
characters were pretty great. I wouldn’t mind reading a book where Chelsea,
Arion’s sister, was the protagonist.
What I didn’t like:
* My only complaint
about this one was that there were instances where Angel would flip flop at
times where she would want Arion and then not and vice versa all in one
sentence. It was a bit annoying. It didn’t happen often enough but still drew
out eye rolls from me.
Overall:
I loved the book! It was
a page turner and kept me up all night into the wee hours of the morning until
I finished it. It’s a book that I will be sure to read again and I can’t wait
to add it to my bookshelf.
P.S.
I would like to believe
that as lovers of the written word and imagination, we can open our minds and
hearts to the possibility that a relationship like this one can exist. You
won’t get a lot of flashbacks to establish the great attraction that grew
between Angel and Arion via their gaming days. Angel has changed because of the
abuse inflicted on her for a year. We get a different Angel than the one Arion
knew. Even then, it doesn’t take much to imagine two people talking every
single day and getting to know one another to the point that they start to care
for one another. Before the internet you had pen pals. So, this to me is not a
new concept. Some people might find it hard to believe that you can find
love on the internet or via letters. What they tend to forget is that when there
is a bit of freedom to be who you are and/or want to be without the pressure of
face to face awkwardness, you can find comfort and friendship that eventually
can lead to love.
Keep an open mind and
heart and I think you’ll enjoy No One’s Angel very much.
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