BellaMeeting him was a fluke. Dating him was a mistake. Watching him become a drug addict put me through hell. Running was my only option.***JacksonI’m running from my demons and when I find out she’s trying to escape her past, I know what I have to do.One broken cop. One woman fighting for her life. A fragile love.Sinister secrets that threaten to tear them apart.They’ve been to hell. The hard … tear them apart.
They’ve been to hell. The hard part will be finding their way back together.
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Oh my! What a rollercoaster! I will start right out of the gate that this book has some definite triggers. Abuse in many forms (drug, emotional, physical, sexual, child) can be found from beginning to end. Some of it is the retelling of a single event but even so, it is still tough to read or listen to.
That said, it is a fantastic book, even if the journey is incredibly rough! I laughed, I cried, I cried some more. My heart was erratic as the suspense and drama ratcheted up. My heart nearly broke several times. I was listening to the audiobook and kept finding things to keep my hands busy so I’d have an excuse to keep listening (needless to say, my Christmas wrapping is nearly done, tree is trimmed, and house is looking pretty clean!).
I liked Joe Hempel’s and Melissa Moran’s portrayals of Jackson “Ackson” and Bella (and the secondary characters) were terrific!
Story: 5 stars
Narration: 4.5 stars
******** May Contain Some Spoilers *******
I will try my absolute best to keep spoilers to a minimum or completely out of my review. Sometimes it can be hard to do so.
Hell and Back – first book in the box set
By: Natasha Madison 5 Stars
This love story is definitely a rollercoaster ride. There are some dark scenes that might cause triggers for some. Physical abuse, rape and kidnapping scenes are in this book. The ending is a HEA.
Bella is the female main character. Bella has a three year of daughter, Lilah. Those two have been through hell. Bella gets herself and Lilah out of that situation. She moves them to the house her grandmother left her. Broken and scared they try to start a new life with no monsters.
Bella has two neighbors, Brenda and Jackson. Brenda takes Bella and Lilah under her wing and treats them like family. Jackson, upon seeing them for the first time, decides he has to protect them at all costs.
The monsters return and they want Bella and Lilah. Can Jackson protect them physically and emotionally. Can he save the love that was just blooming between himself and Bella.
•••••• I recommend these books or box set. ••••••
I purchased the box set that includes this book. The above review is for this book only not the box set.
Heaven and Hell Series Box Set
By: Natasha Madison 4 Stars
This box set includes two books by Natasha Madison. I will review each book separately. I have given 4 Stars to the box set.
Actual Rating 3.5
Hell and Back is the first book I’ve read by Madison and I have to say I liked her writing a lot. I was able to read this book in one day and the story both romantic and had some suspense to it as well. The story for me was just ok, but still something I enjoyed. I didn’t quite love it, but didn’t hate it either. I really liked Jackson and his devotion to Bella and Lila’s safety. He was a great hero and just what Bella needed after all the things her ex did to her. The romance between them forced really nicely as Jackson paid a lot of attention to the fear Bella carried and the way she reacted to things. He was so loving to Lila and it seriously melts your heart.
This is a heart warmingly amazing book that had me hooked from the first page. The strength that Bella possessed was astounding and Jackson was the perfect man that brought her back from the darkness into the light. There is a twist within the book that rocked me and there was no way I could put the book down. I cried, my heart swelled and I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait read more books from this author.
Ohhhh lordy where do I even start with this review.
Only just finishing it I’m completely speechless and my heart has just been shattered into a million pieces.
First off let me start by saying I’ve not read anything from this author before, so going in all I had was the synopsis which admittedly had me intrigued.
Now to my thoughts…..
This novel….Hell and Back for me….It’s one of my best reads not only for 2016 but overall since I started blogging.
It completely tore me, ripped me apart emotionally and I loved every damn minute of it.
It consumed me to the point that putting it down was never an option. I craved to know what was going to happen. I yearned to read and drown in it. And I was not disappointed.
We meet Bella. A young and beautiful young woman who is running from a past that is so haunting and disturbing it had me in tears.
We meet Jackson who is strong, independent and very much all alpha who spends his days at work being a saviour who I completely fell for.
We meet Brenda, a gentle soul who’s love and and warmth radiated with every page turned.
We meet Adam who is pure evil, the devil, a monster who even I feared.
But who had my stomach in knots, who captured my whole heart, the one who broke me, the one who will forver remain in my heart and soul is that of a scared, innocent and beautiful little girl, Lilah.
This angel was what had me torn, left me broken, left me hurting.
Believe me when I say Hell and Back is so very rare, unique that I’ve not read anything like it.
It’s raw, confronting, at times quite dark and disturbing. But the opposite to that I also found it to be breathtaking, heartwarming and to put it simply….Breathtakingly beautiful.
Written with such depth and detail I could feel every emotion pouring out of the pages, completely consuming me to the point that at times I found it hard to breathe. It had everything that I could’ve ever asked for in a novel and so much more.
I am seriously at a loss to even articulate how I feel about this novel, so the only advice I can give is this.
Guys, please you NEED to read this. You need to soak yourself into this because Hell and Back is such a powerful read I know it will stay with you a lifetime. It will stay with me always.
5 stars
Amazing,Incredible, Unbelievable, Unforgettable . This is Natasha’s second book, number 2 it is insane the ability she has to catapult me into these stories that you absolutely fall in love with. I am a lover of Over the Top Alpha’s ,that become completely consumed with their woman. Jackson is so a perfectly Alpha dream he is a detective that tries to find missing persons especially kids. He gets some new neighbors Bella a young shy abused mother and Lilah her 3 yr old daughter. Jackson being a detective can sense that they are afraid and they are running away from something and his protectiveness for the two becomes so much more.
Their is a huge freaking twist in the book it was crazy just be warned to hold on to whatever you are reading on with both hands because you will want to throw your damn kindle out the window.
Bella I don’t even know what to say to describe her She is so determined to get her daughter a better , safer life, she risks her own many times, and being a Mom I so get that I would do the same. Bella is probably one of the strongest female characters I have EVER read. It’s a beautifully heartbreaking story that everyone needs to read and fall in love with
This was a very “easy” read. I enjoyed the characters immensely, their personalities jumped right off the page. Parts of this book were predictable but it didn’t take the fun out of it. If you’re looking for a great love story with a lot of reality mixed in this one’s for you.
Check it out!
Too steamy.
As with per my usual I have read all of Natasha’s book out of sequence. I had the opportunity to read Pieces of Heaven (Heaven & Hell Book 2) earlier in the year. I LOVED Mick and Marissa’s story. It was the story the made me fall in love with Natasha’ writing and voraciously read her back list and each and every new release.
Today I finally had the opportunity to read book one in the Heaven & Hell series and all I can ask myself is… why in the ever loving hell did I wait so long to read this amazing book! The story is Jackson and Bella is utterly breathtaking and emotional.
Hell and Back is a gritty and emotional read. It’s a story that breaks your heart and slowly mends it back together. It’s a story of faith and trust and love. It’s a story about reaching bottom, reaching the firey depths of hell and finding the strength to reach towards the heavens and pull yourself back.
Natasha has once again or I should say, since this was her second published novel, created a powerful and imperfect world! Her characters are nuanced and very real. Jackson is a strong and sensual and sexy alpha. His need to serve and protect runs through his every vein. Bella is damaged but strong and fully capable of taking care of herself.
This story is at times dark and gritty and emotional but at others light and beautiful and powerful! Cheers and FIVE stars to Natasha and Hell and Back!