6 MILLION READS ONLINE FIGHTING TO BE FREE All his life, people have told Jamie Cole that he was born bad. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. But that doesn’t matter now. Because after a lifetime of demons, Jamie has finally found an angel. Ellie Pearce learned the hard way that boys can’t be trusted. But the night she meets Jamie, something shifts. He’s different: brooding, a bit dark, determined … He’s different: brooding, a bit dark, determined to change. The connection they share is intense, compelling. Ellie tries to resist, but with each breathtaking kiss, she can’t help falling deeper.
Things between Ellie and Jamie are perfect-and perfection can’t last. When fate goes horribly wrong, Jamie’s only hope of saving his family is to strike a deal with the devil. Most of all, Jamie wants to prove he’s the person Ellie believes him to be. But if she learns just how much he’s been hiding, Ellie won’t be able to believe anything Jamie has ever told her . . .
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I wasn’t prepared for this story to be such an emotional read. Throughout this book Kirsty Moseley has shown me just what an incredible person Jamie Cole truly is. He had been stealing pieces of my heart in every chapter until by the very end of the book he owned it all.
I sat on the edge of my seat for most of this book. Jamie has a past that he really wants to put behind him and we meet him at a time in his life when he has the opportunity to do this. However, circumstances don’t necessarily allow us to do what we want and he finds himself making decisions that I really hoped he wouldn’t. I loved him even more for choosing the paths he went down because of the reasons behind those decisions.
Ellie is wonderful. She’s young, talented, caring and kind. She wasn’t looking for a relationship when she and Jamie first met, yet she just couldn’t resist his charms. She is free spirited and isn’t afraid to go for what she wants in life. I loved that although she is very popular at school she doesn’t allow that status to go to her head and change her in any way. I thought that she had a great friendship with her close friend Stacey. The dynamics in her family were intriguing and I particularly loved her relationship with her father.
Together Jamie and Ellie are adorable and so perfect for each other. I was rooting for them from the moment they met. My heart broke for Jamie many times throughout the story and I adore just how much Ellie loved Jamie and was willing to stand by him when many would have walked away.
This isn’t a book that has just been released but I kind of wish that it was because I’m sitting here and I can’t believe that I haven’t read it before today. On a positive though, I do have Worth Fighting For on my bookshelf enabling me to continue the story to discover what happens next! If you are one of the few readers who have yet to meet Jamie and Ellie then I wholeheartedly recommend that you grab a copy of Fighting to Be Free as soon as possible. You don’t want to miss out on reading this incredible story.
I received this arc copy from the author and published so thank you very much for sending me this! Thankfully I am not that late on posting this review as it was meant to be posted on the release day but better late than never!
I was surprised I didn’t love this book like I thought I would I just thought it was okay which is unusual because I love Kirsty Moseley and I have loved all of her books so not to really enjoy this one as much is weird. I don’t know if it could because I wasn’t really in the mood contemporary whether that had anything to do with it.
I really liked the character of Jamie I only had one problem with him and that was the fact he seemed much older than he actually was said to be in the book. In the book we are told he is 18, now I’m not saying that’s very far fetched but he didn’t seem like an 18-year-old he was written as if he was a lot older and I don’t know if that’s because he went to prison but it would have worked better if he was made to be slightly older like 20 or something. His age of 18 did not work for me. Oh and another side note I assume that it is Jamie on the cover and no way in hell would he look 18 so I feel like there is some mismatched information going on. I like that Jamie is very mysterious and he does keep his past a secret it’s very interesting to learn things gradually. I really like the parts that Kirsty wrote of him doing his work it was really interesting and I feel like that was the best parts of the book to see what he did. It was also interesting to see how much people respected him in his profession despite only being 18 and for the most part everyone from his old crew accepted him back in so easy.
I like that Jamie is very mysterious and he does keep his past a secret it’s very interesting to learn things gradually. I really like the parts that Kirsty wrote of him doing his work it was really interesting and I feel like that was the best parts of the book to see what he did. It was also interesting to see how much people respected him in his profession despite only being 18 and for the most part everyone from his old crew accepted him back in so easy. Another thing I really liked about Jamie was the scenes he spoke about Sophie to Ellie it was so nice to see and you could just really see the love he had for her and it was so sweet that was also a big love for this book and although we never actually see any scenes with them we just have Jamie’s memories I loved it. The relationship was so cute.
I wasn’t so keen on Ellie I would start to like her than I would hate her again and then I would like her. I also felt like at times Ellie acted older than she was meant to be in the story she was 17 and that just felt too young for the character again early 20s would have been easier. I felt like Ellie is very strong willed and determined but this is only in certain parts of the story. She is very rude and defensive for 17 especially to her mother and as 17 your mother is usually still big on the influence in their life. I felt like sometimes her personality could be very conflicting especially in some scenes with Jamie.
Jamie and Ellie’s relationship I wasn’t keen on in the beginning they were just always having sex and honestly that’s all the relationship felt like and the worse part was it seemed to be based on looks and how hot each of them there rather than it being personality so that did kind of bug me. I did say once Jamie had told Ellie the whole truth that it was much more beautiful and honest and then I loved it. As I say if these two were much older than I think this would have worked a lot better.
Which brings me onto my next thing, I’m not stupid to think that teenagers don’t have sex they do. What I didn’t like in this is the fact at 17 Ellie was so keep to have one-night stand after breaking up with her boyfriend, like that wasn’t so many people do it. What I hated the most was she went to a club knowingly she might go home for a one night stand and yet she didn’t take any protection, no condoms, she isn’t on any type of birth control. She doesn’t even think about protection until Jamie mentions it and that made me a little apprehensive to Ellie’s character just because it seems like it’s common sense.
Ellie’s parents I really liked the dad Micheal and how he was a bit more leant to what Ellie did and whenever she was late home I liked their relationship it was nice. Ruth oh god she was a horrible stuck up bitch mother at least in the beginning we see her slowly opening up and accepting Ellie and Jamie’s relationship. There was one scene I didn’t like and that was when Ruth basically calls Michael a shitty parent. That annoyed me. Like why is she so arsey?
One of my favourite scenes is this is when Jamie needs an alibi and he goes to Ellie. I wrote this down as I was making notes because I just loved it.
“I stole a car.”
“You stole a car?”
“25 of them actually.”
It went something along the lines of that and oh my god I was laughing for the next few pages it was so funny I seriously could not stop laughing it was brilliant like that was my favourite part of the whole book. Which brings me to another part of the thing I hated. WHY AN EARTH WAS SHE WILLING TO LIE FOR HIM? Not only that why didn’t she question what his other past is wouldn’t you straight away ask what else he did? I feel like she just didn’t care as long as she was with him.
By like 60ish% I could tell something bad was going to happen and that it was probably going to end in a cliffhanger I was just like something bad is going to happen to either Ellie or Jamie and then I was like no it’s Jamie. How it ended I expected that it just didn’t wow me often.
Jamie’s boss Brett the relationship between them two at times it felt like father and son even though he was trying to get him to do illegal things it still felt like Brett cared about what happened to Jamie especially when Shaun got arrested at the end when that big thing happens Brett makes sure that Jamie is taken care of which I loved.
Jamie’s mother Sharon I think her name was, why was she even relevant I have no idea why Jamie even wanted to help her? Like after what she did would have just let her get killed, not going to lie I hated her and what she did to Sophie and Jamie so she deserves to die.
Ellie’s ex-boyfriend Mason, I think his name was Mason, either way, he’s a little shit head I felt like at times he would be borderline abusive especially when grabbing her and he was just a nosey little shit so whenever Jamie threatened him I was always like YASSS GO HIM.
One last thing this is marketed as a contemporary, erm but what else? I looked at the tags on goodreads for the story and even they are conflicting, we have YA and NA as subcategories and honestly I do not think that this is YA I feel like it’s NA trying to be YA for whatever reason.
Firstly……!!!! I curse you Kirsty Moseley! I curse you and all your brilliant writing glory for leaving me with a cliffhanger – of sorts!!!
I was so excited to read this book. I am embarrassed to say that I have only ever read one of Kirsty’s books before. The Boy who sneaks in my Bedroom Window. I fell in love with that book immediately. Thanks to that book I became an instant fan of Kirsty’s and was really looking forward to “Fighting to be Free”.
Jamie had my heart pretty much instantly. He is an incredibly gentle and sensitive soul who has been handed a crap deal in life. I just wanted to know him in “real life” so I could hug him and tell him what an amazing being he is.
His relationship with Ellie is pure perfection. She is the epitome of unconditional and unwavering love. Her character is so beautiful and strong, and makes you hope and aspire to be just like that.
There is quite a lot of angst in this book, so if you don’t like not knowing what’s going to happen – then this book may not be for you. I, however, like some angst with my reading! I like reading the turmoil and seeing how characters turn their tragedies and past problems into love, hope and strength. For me, it gives me hope! It helps me feel uplifted that we could all turn our negatives into positives.
I am desperate for Book #2 in this series now!!! Kirsty better write so damn fast, as I am already struggling not knowing what’s coming!
You know how there are some books that you could literally read every single day of those characters lives and not get bored….? Well this is one of those for me. I was so devastated when I saw the percentage on my kindle getting higher and higher, and realising that I was going to be dealing with a cliffhanger; I was silently praying that my kindle would miraculously create a longer version of the book so I could keep up with every day of Jamie and Ellie’s lives until I got the ending I wanted!!
Another brilliant story from Kirsty Moseley and will be waiting with baited breath for the release of the second installment!
PS. Hurry Up and write Kirsty!!!!!!
*ARC kindly provided by Author for an honest review *