Wrecked by Priscilla West Book Review

Hello my lovely Booknerds!

Hope everyone’s week is going well so far! Today’s review was a bit hard for me to write, so bare with me!

I was given a free eBook copy of Wrecked by Priscilla West from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review. This has not altered or influenced my thoughts and opinions on this novel. Thank you to NetGalley and Blackbird Publishing for giving me an opportunity to review this book.

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“There would be no happy ending for us. He was too damaged. I was too broken.”
Two years ago, Lorrie’s mother was murdered. But that wasn’t the end of it. Reeling from the tragedy, Lorrie’s father spiraled into alcohol, depression, and finally suicide.
The two most important people in Lorrie’s life are both gone but she’s still alive.
Trying to recover from the tragedy, Lorrie returns to campus, ready to pick up the pieces of her life. All Lorrie wants is to get back to “normal.”
Then she meets Hunter. The man, the legend, “the Hammer.”
Hunter is a cage fighter who takes on every fight like he’s got nothing to lose. His life is a tangled mess of girls, booze, and fist fights. And while it may seem like he’s got a devil-may-care attitude, he’s fighting a private cage-match with a monster he can’t defeat.
Lorrie knows that Hunter is the exact type of guy she should stay away from, especially in her fragile state, but Hunter has other ideas.
As Hunter and Lorrie grow closer together, will they be able to overcome their pain and heal each other? Or will they both end up wrecked?
WRECKEDRESCUED (WRECKED BOOK TWO: Coming Early 2014)

Wrecked by Priscilla West follows Lorrie, a college freshman, as she returns to her university after tragic events. It’s been two years since she lost her parents in separate, but equally devastating ways. Now she’s just fighting to get back to “normal”–to survive. This means no distractions–no boys or relationships. She wants to focus on school and putting the pieces of her life back together. Then she meets Hunter and she’s as confused and as torn as ever. Hunter is a cage MMA fighter who takes on every fight without thought of tomorrow. He’s caught up in a never ending cycle of girls, booze and fights. But while he seems high on life on the outside, he’s battling his hardest opponent on the inside. As Lori and Hunter grow close, will Lori cave to her feelings and break her own rules? With both them so fragile, will they even survive?

Let me start by saying how much I wanted to read this story! Two broken characters coming together by the power of love? Sign me the heck up! Throw in a delicious MMA fighter and I’m a goner. However as much as I had high hopes for this novel, I’m very sad to say that this story just didn’t do it for me. 🙁

The idea and concept was there-bringing two damaged characters together to grow and learn from each other as they became more open and vulnerable with one other. West was showing the power love can have–how it can not only heal, but bring needed change, growth and understanding.

With that said, West’s characters were just not up to the standards her story arc required. Lorrie as a main character wasn’t strong enough. She came across younger than her age and seemed immature at parts. While I understand the damage, fragile personality West was going for with Lorrie, it just seemed a bit too overdone for my liking. Losing both parents so tragically can definitely put you into a tail spin of numbness and loss, but Lori seemed all over the place emotionally. She went from being okay, to depressed to seeming more worried about gossip then her grief over her parents. I just felt like her “damaged” personality could have either been matured a bit more or possibly researched a bit more. Most times I was just annoyed with her. I couldn’t sympathize and that never really happens to me. Frankly it was a little weird to me that I didn’t connect with her a bit.

Hunter was better. I would have liked to have seen more from his POV or at least gotten some insight into his head a bit more. He was a stronger character than Lorrie, but still needed to be fleshed out more. His personality seemed to flip a bit in the book–from being a strong, “bad ass” guy to a less than alpha male. I’m definitely an alpha male kind of girl, so he left things to be desired as a love interest for me. I couldn’t really swoon, but he was a kitty lover–so there’s a lot of hope for him as a character. 🙂 Plus, I did sympathize with him, especially when it came to Lorrie and him.

Speaking of which…I wasn’t a fan of Lorrie and Hunter together. I was rooting for them throughout the book, mainly because in the end I want the two characters to end up together and have their happily ever after. But I just couldn’t feel the chemistry between the two. There were some moments when it was there, but they were pretty few and left me wondering how there was even a connection between the two characters. Once things did heat up, it was way too much for my taste. West seemed to over due this part from my perspective. (I’d definitely recommend that only 17+ read this novel). 

In the end I was left unsatisfied. I wanted to like this novel, I really did. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. Overall, it felt a little disjointed and I couldn’t connect with the MC, which pulled me out of the story. I won’t be following up with the second novel, but I might attempt another of West’s books. Maybe I’ll connect with one of her other MCs. Not every book is for everyone, but while I might not have enjoyed this, I’m sure others have.

• Wrecked by Priscilla West follows Lorrie, a college freshman, as she returns to her university after tragic events and Hunter, a MMA fighter lost in a never ending cycle of booze, girls and fights. Both are damaged, fragile. Can they come together to save each other or will they just end up wrecked?
• As much as I wanted to love this story, I did not end up liking it. The story just wasn’t for me.
• While the overall story idea was there, West lacked strong characters to pull it off. Lorrie was younger than her aged and I found her annoying most of the book. Hunter was better, but still needed to be fleshed out more. I wasn’t swooning for him which made me a little sad 🙁
• Chemistry was lacking throughout the whole book, until WHAM it was way to much chemistry for my liking before switching back to nothing. I needed more sparks between the characters for a better build up.
• 2 STARS! In the end I was left unsatisfied. I wanted to like this novel, I really did. Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. I won’t be pursuing book two, but might check out another of West’s novels in case I can connect with one of her other MCs.

Genre: New Adult Contemporary 
Publisher: Blackbird Publishing  
Published: December 2013 
Page: 286 
Price: $4.99 (Kindle)
Place: Amazon, B & N, IndieBound, GoodReads

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Thank you for stopping by to read this review! What are your thoughts on Wrecked? Did you enjoy it or…not so much, like me? Hunter lover? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I’d love to hear your opinion on this one. 

Happy Reading!