MOVEMBER REVIEW: The Lost by Cole McCade
"There's something wrong with Leigh. She's known it her whole life. She knows it every time she spreads her legs. Every time she begs for the pain, the pleasure, the heat of a hard man driving deep inside. She's a slave to her own twisted lusts--and it's eating her alive. She loves it. She craves it. Sex is her drug, and she's always chasing her next fix. But nothing can satisfy her addiction, not even the nameless men she uses and tosses aside. No one's ever given her what she truly needs. Until Gabriel Hart. Cold. Controlled. Impenetrable. Ex-Marine Gabriel Hart isn't the kind of man to come running when Leigh crooks her pretty little finger. She loathes him. She hungers for him. He's the only one who understands how broken she is, and just what it takes to satisfy the emptiness inside. But Gabriel won't settle for just one night. He wants to claim her, keep her, make her forever his. Together they are the lost, the ruined, the darkness at the heart of Crow City. But Leigh has a darkness of her own. A predator stalking through her past--one she'll do anything to escape. Even if it means running from the one man who could love her...and leaving behind something more precious to her than life itself."
What am emotional roller coaster! This book is most definitely gritty, there were literally bits where I was gritting my teeth fearing what was about to happen. There are some bits which are quite hard to read and leave you confused but you need to keep reading. Leigh has had a rough life which you gradually find out about. I quite liked how the prologue gives you just enough information to make a few assumptions, it tests you I think to see how much bad you can find out about a book character while still liking them and rooting for them.
I liked how real the characters were, Leigh isn't one of these 'I go to the gym and wake up early to do yoga and my hair is alwasy effortlessly perfect' type of characters, I didn't finish the book with my usual sadness of feeling like I couldn't be the main character. The characters aren't perfect which is refreshing even if the book is a heavy read.
Gabriel is as lost as Leigh is and they don't find a fairytale ending, although it may seem like it for a second, you know that the words just stop being written and if they were to continue it would be struggle due to the choice Leigh makes, even though it's the one she should have made a long time ago, she needed the strength Gabriel gave her to make it.
There was only one time in the book that I felt in over my head but I'm glad I stuck with it because it all gets explained in a very human way, it's not ideal or ridiculous it's just human. If you're looking for some lovey dovey fairytale then this isn't it, but it's a realistic story, filled with relatable characters and issues. The sex isn't glamourous, the relationships aren't easy, but it's a great read the words are beautifully written and I powered through it!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cole McCade is a New Orleans-born Southern boy without the Southern accent, currently residing somewhere in the metropolitan wilds of the American Midwest.
He spends his days as a suit-and-tie corporate consultant and business writer, and his nights writing romance novels when he's not being tackled by two hyperactive cats. And while he spends more time than is healthy hiding in his writing cave instead of hanging around social media, you can generally find him in these usual haunts:
* Email: cole@colemccade.com
* Twitter: @ColeMcCade
* Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cole.mccade
* Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/ColeMcCadeBooks
* Website & Blog: http://www.colemccade.com
* Tumblr: http://colemccade.tumblr.com/
He also runs an advice column called Dammit, Cole, where he occasionally answers questions about everything from romance and dating to the culture of hypermasculinity, from the perspective of a male romance author:
Looking for more? You can get early access to cover reveals, blurbs, contests, and other exclusives by joining the McCade's Marauders street team at:
