Sunday 19 October 2014

REVIEW@ SHAMELESS BY NINA LEMAY @NinaLemay

                                   

                                    Shameless

by 

Girls like me don’t get happy endings.

I know what I am. At worst a cliché, at best a cautionary tale. I put an international border between me and my past, only to wind up working in a low-end titty bar. Even my excuse is as lame as it gets: I’m paying for college, getting my art degree from Montreal’s most prestigious school. Although some days it becomes confusing: am I just a student who moonlights as a stripper, or a stripper who masquerades as a student?

But the inevitable happens and my two lives collide. And now there’s one other person who knows both the quiet, antisocial Hannah and the sensual, shameless Alicia. One person who keeps my secret.

He’s beautiful, he’s sophisticated. He comes from the other side of life, the one where I’m not wanted or accepted. But he calls me la petite Américaine, and his hot, hot hands on my skin promise me things I long ago gave up on.

The problem? He teaches my Classic Photography class.

This is a standalone novel, no series, no cliffhanger

REVIEW BY NADIA CHIEF OBSESSIVE PIMPETTE

***Obsessed by books arc copy given in exchange for an honest review***

"I do this every night, several times a night. I give men what they want and make them fall in love with me a little bit."

Hannah is an all American girl funding her way through college in Montreal by being a dancer in a strip club. Emmanuel is a lecturer teaching photography. Unbeknown to either of them when Hannah performs in the champagne lounge one night for him, a gift to welcome him home. What follows is forbidden romance between student and teacher. They are dealing with a taboo love and are they willing go risk losing everything for one another? The pain, angst and emotional journey they face for falling in love with someone they shouldn't is well written and keeps you turning the page.

Emmanuel, is a hot sexy tattooed professor, who is fighting his personal demons and is not capable of letting go of the past or of seeing who Hannah is in her own right. Hannah also misjudges herself and allows the embarrassment of an incident in her youth colour everything she currently does. She shapes the person she is by the person she was...and she never comes to term with herself as a victim. This is a four star read for me as Hannah never really accepts that she isn't to blame and she should stop running.

'"I am not broken," I say slowly."And I don't need fixing, or saving, or whatever the hell you think you're trying go do right now."'

Unfortunately Hannah as the book continues this is exactly what you need but at times I question if Emmanuel is too blind to see what he has. Their story takes some twists and turns that I guess was inevitable in their circumstances. Hannah although not the most likeable character goes through so much and her stoic nature ensures she survives. They face much heart ache, tears and trauma. This book encompasses many issues such as bullying, addiction and non consensual sex which makes it a gritty and real read.

I really hope they get another book as their HEA was still a distant light and no where near certain. I would like to revisit them again sometime soon. Karma also needs to pay Audrey and Leary a visit as they got off far too lightly. Overall I enjoyed this novel but found it lacked the spark of hope, it was a little too based in the unfortunate reality that humanity sucks as we are all too eager for self advancement at the costs of others pain. It is an excellent thought provoking read...we really should never judge a book by it's cover ;)



About this author

Nina Lemay is a YA writer by day and author of sinfully twisted New Adult…well, also by day. She loves all things dark and edgy and never tires of tormenting her characters. While Nina is a fan of all things scary, Gothic, and fantastic, she doesn’t shy away from a gritty contemporary romance when the muse strikes. She lives in Montreal, a city that never fails to inspire, with her partner and her dog.
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