Friday, July 5, 2013

REDEMPTION by Francette Phal (The Bet#2)

SYNOPSIS:

Ellie Holbrook has endured a lot in her short life, but after so many years of heart break, she’s set to get her happily ever after and Devlin Westport, her boyfriend of three years, is just the man to give it to her. Fate, however quickly intervenes when the man who shattered her heart so completely ten years ago comes back into her life. But the worst of it comes when Nicholas finally discovers the two little secrets Ellie kept from him all these years. All hell breaks loose soon after that and it’s all Ellie can do to safeguard her heart against heart break once again.

Ruthless business magnate Nicholas Grayson has sacrificed everything to amass his global empire. Seated at the very top, poised at the helm of his corporation nothing can possibly touch him. That is until he learns the truth about the twin children Ellie kept from him. But just when he shakes off the astonishment and works on integrating himself into their lives, an enemy from both Ellie and Nicholas’s past brutally rips his children away from them.
A race against time will yield devastating events and Nicholas and Ellie must rely on each other to save their children.


My thoughts after reading...

I hope ya'll read the first book, Beautiful Disaster (The Bet#1) seeing as "Redemption" is the continuation of Nicholas' & Ellie's epic love story... 

Nicholas Grayson indeed has the emotional capacity of a cactus. He gets his high by doing drugs, binging on alcohol and uses girls like toilet paper. He resigns himself to the fact that he is not capable of positive feelings, such as love, remorse, care etc... He is resentful, angry t the world and bitter...and who could blame him? Yes, he grew-up privileged aside from his God-like physical features but he was molested by his own father when he was little and left uncared for by his mother...No wonder his head is a clusterfuck of twisted mind games and issues.

Ellie Holbrook, on the other hand is a transferee... She is trying to rebuild her life after being a junkie and a teenage mother... She was dis-owned by her conservative and self-righteous parents and tries to do the best she can for herself & her little daughter Sophie, with the help of her godfather, Gabe...

They met in high school... It all started as a cruel bet by Nicholas' erstwhile  bestbud Matthew Bates. He bet him his Desmo bike if Nicholas can make the new girl, Eleanor Holbrook fall for him; bang her and leave her so to speak... But as it turns out, it was Nicholas who unexpectedly fell for Ellie first.

Long story short...Nicky & Ellie fell passionately & irrevocably in love with each other. A love like no other---the consuming kind. But as usual, life fucks it all up... People deliberately want them apart and then so many things happened...things that tested the strength of their relationship. But Nicholas being Nicholas, let his demons win & purposely pushes Ellie away.

Fast forward 10years later, they met unexpectedly at none other than Ellie's engagement party. She was gonna marry Devlin, one of Nicholas' potential business partners...and to top it all up, Nicholas learns he fathered Ellie's 9 year-old twins Dylan and Isabella... How uncanny right?? Right.

This story is all about resilience, love, forgiveness and fate. When 2 people are really meant to be together and when its the right time, no one can force them apart...

This isn't your typical love story... Its darker, and more like the heavy drama/thriller kinda' thing. I don't wanna give anything away by elaborating further. You guys must read the books to understand Nicholas, Ellie and the rest. I'm not sure if this is a trilogy or something, but there is a 3rd book, based on Sophie Holbrook-Grayson's pov, fastforward years later. The title is Undone. I already have it on my e-library but have yet to read it...


****
Below are my fave excerpts from Beautiful Disaster & Redemption:

“You’ve become this thing I can’t be without, Ellie and it scares me.” 
-Nicholas Grayson, Beautiful Disaster.

“I love you, Ellie and I swear to you that I'll give you the head of the person who did this. But don't ask me to leave you alone; don't ask me to forget everything we shared, because you'll be wasting your breath.”
-Nicholas Grayson, Beautiful Disaster.

“We belong to each other, Ellie. You have no idea the sort of power you have over me. If anyone is the kept anything in this relationship, it's me. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you to see you smile. I am at your complete disposal. I love you, Ellie, if you knew how much, you'd probably run for the hills.”
-Nicholas Grayson, Redemption.

“I love you, Ellie, the way I feel about you will never change. I've felt this way since I was eighteen and I swear to you that I'm going to feel the same way when I'm an old man. I understand that I've hurt you in the past and I will spend the rest of my life repenting for it. But you have to know that I'm here to stay, married or not, I'm here to stay. You are everything to me.”
-Nicholas Grayson, Redemption.

“For as long as there are stars.”
-Nicholas Grayson, Redemption

Click on the links below to grab a copy: