NEW ADULT MONDAYS: Before We Fall (Beautifully Broken #3)

 

The New Adult genre - their bad boys and big problems and epic loves make them engrossing tales that are so easy to lose yourself in. What's not to love about that? And, now, thanks to the cool chicks at Bewitched Bookworms, we can show these books the love they deserve in a weekly feature - New Adult Mondays. 

Before We Fall (Beautifully Broken #3), by Courtney Cole
to Be Published December 3, 2013
Publisher: Forever Romance/Grand Central Publishing
Format: e-galley, obtained from NetGalley
Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating:  5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Sometimes, one dark moment is all it takes to turn your world black...

For 24-year old Dominic Kinkaide, that moment took place on the night of his high school graduation. One dark incident changed him forever. He's a hardened actor now, famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured in his own. He doesn't care about much of anything, except for losing himself in the roles that he plays.

23-year old Jacey Vincent doesn't realize how much her father's indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn't one specific moment that wrecks a person, but rather it's an absence of moments. She's like a bird with a broken wing-strong yet fragile, as she tries to float through life, finding acceptance in the arms of random guys, one after the other... to fill the void that her father left in her.

Until she meets Dominic.

After jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, his secret and her issues create a dark and damaged energy that will soon turn their attraction to each other into an explosive storm.

Even though when the clouds have cleared and the dust has settled, both of them are almost obliterated... they've learned a priceless lesson.

Sometimes, before we fall... we fly.

Courtney Cole is an absolutely incredible author. Her new adult books are grittier and edgier than most out there, each dealing with some pretty heavy stuff - substance abuse, PTSD, teen suicide. It's very obvious that Cole does her research and is painstaking with the details. Not a bit of the stories seem contrived or embellished, served up as plot-moving fodder or drama-for-the-sake-of-drama. I find myself completely immersed in her characters' lives from the very first page, totally invested in their path to that elusive HEA. Before We Fall is yet another feather for Cole to add to her cap.

Dominic Kinkaide is so unhappy and full of self-loathing. I just wanted to wrap him up and keep him safe from the monsters. Cole allows us to see just enough of Dom to know that there's obviously something horrific that happened in his past that has caused him to start down this dangerous path he's on. He fills his days and nights with meaningless women and kink and pain, and I just had to know why.

A chance encounter with Jacey (Gabe's sister from If You Leave) at a party throws the two of them together in an unlikely way. Jacey has also been through some stuff, but she's trying to claw her way out of it. Her willingness to see all of Dom - not just what he wants her to see - and to like him anyway fascinates him and causes his heart to start beating again. Jacey fascinated me too, and I found myself absolutely cheering for her when she stood up to Dom and his asshat ways. I love that she found the strength to do what needed to be done, even while trying to work through her own crap. She's my kind of heroine.

As in the other Beautifully Broken books, the emotion in Before We Fall was so powerful. Especially when all the events of the past come to light and the characters involved have to start actually dealing with them in functional ways. This book was impossible to put down. It was fast paced and angsty in all the right ways. The writing is beautiful, the sex is hot and the relationship and character building is done perfectly.

Before We Fall will be a book I read again and again.