He was practically a god to them, and I was nothing.
They saw me as the scarred, broken girl who had run from tragedy.
And he thinks he can break me. Torment me. Claim me.
He says he’ll steal my heart, whether I like it or not.
But my heart can only be given. And he’ll have to earn every piece of it.
Fire is a funny thing. It can destroy, but those few things that survive it come out stronger. … stronger. They’re hardened. Unbreakable.
I survived. I carried on, even when it felt like there was nothing to live for.
Then we moved back to Silver Falls. Just when I finally started to piece my life back together, he happened.
He’s all dark lines and rigid muscle. Heart breakingly gorgeous with a dirty reputation. He’s the star runningback of Parker High’s football team, and his family has enough money to buy the entire town.
Cassian Stone.
The boy I used to chase fireflies with. The boy who came home with scuffed knuckles and broken lips because he got in fights for me.
The fire hardened my backbone. It taught me not to bow to any one or anything. To be resilient. For Cassian, all the fire did was harden the walls around his heart. It made him cold and savage.
He wants my heart for a prize, but all I want is to free his from its cage.
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Can Charli find the old Cassian behind his bad boy persona
This is my 7th book by Penelope and I will keep on reading them as love how she pulls you into the characters lives that you feel their hopes and anguish. Charli and her father move back to their home town after 10 years. They left after Charli’s mom had died in the house fire that scarred Charli. Charli wonders if Cassian, the boy she lived next door to and was thick as thieves growing up with, will remember her. Cassian fights his own nightmares from the fire that took his father’s life and wants Charli to pay for what happened that night when his world caved in. Cassian hurts Charli, but there is just something about Cassian that Charli can’t let go of. When Charli’s circumstances change, things change between the two. Will Cassian be able to put his version of that painful night behind to let Charli in the walls he built around his heart? You have to read to find out and will be rooting for Charli to bring back the Cassian she knew.
3.5 stars
If you like an angsty second chance romance with a bully hero then this story will be just right for you. For me, I had a love/hate relationship with the hero but he won me over in the end. Not to say I didn’t want to throw my kindle a time or two while reading – and you probably will too! It took me a bit to get into the story but I stuck with it and and enjoyed in the end.
Savage Love by Penelope Bloom is book Two in the Ash and Innocence Series. This is the story of Cassian Stone and Charli Rhodes. I haven’t yet read the previous book, so for me this was a standalone book. Charli and Cassian where once childhood friends but after then her father up and moved around but now she is back to her home town hoping to get some normalcy back. But what she finds is that Cassian has changed. Cassian is now the start football athlete but he has grown hard and cold which it feels that his aggression is toward her. I enjoyed this bully romance.
4 1/2 Stars
Well written, full of painful angst as Cassian was determined to ruin and demolish Charli in the most humiliating and heartbreaking way.
This friends to enemies to lovers young adult drama/romance was set in highschool.
The players were young adults struggling with a tragic and painful past that affected their current teen life that was filled with guilt, pain, and hate.
I thought the title of “savage love” perfect for this intense and painful storyline. Kudos to the author for the great HEA and for creating a strong heroine in Charli.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is the 2nd book in this series and is Cassian and Charli’s story. These two used to be childhood best friends, and now he is back in their hometown, only to find out that he is nothing like he used to be. He is now nasty, heartless, rude and is determined to get revenge against her. This is a well written story which is an emotional roller coaster journey throughout. I was totally captivated throughout this addictive page turner, and I highly recommend for all.
This book was perfect!!!
It was the perfect balance of love and hate and angst and wanting!!!!
I absolutely loved it!!!
I didn’t want it to end!!!
Cassian and Charli were awesome together!!
I couldn’t get enough of them!
Both characters had a huge amount of depth and backstory that just added to the realism in the story!
Cassian’s growth throughout the book was written phenomenally and Charli was such an easy character to like!!!
I couldn’t recommend this book more!!!
You are missing out if you don’t sink your teeth into this book!!!!
It was awesome!
Connection 5 stars – Charli and Cassian used to be joined at the hip when they were kids but tragedy struck and now Cassian hates Charli. But circumstances put them together again which tested their hate for each other. Can tragedy, hate and scars get in the way of their connection? For a high school setting, it’s quite violent and intense. Cassian is volatile. Charli has a spine of steel. The characters, even the supporting ones, have personalities. The plot is well-thought. Just when I thought the conflict would get in the way of Cassian and Charli, how it got resolved showed chutzpah! Terrific read! [I received an advanced copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.]
I loved it! Couldn’t put it down. The rage and hurt that Cassian has and how he lashes out makes you want to turn the pages faster to see what happens next. He is not about self destruction, he is about exploding everyone around him. Then he sets his target on Charli, and destruction is not as easy as he thought. She has the strongest backbone between them both. To the point that for the reader it becomes admirable. They have a very meaningful and painful past that creates a more intense present for them. And the way the story is written helps you enjoy all the layers these characters have. The good and the bad.
My first read from the author and I like it. Not exactly a bully or enemy to lover romance. I would say this book more of a second chance for both Cassian and Charli.
A childhood bestie, they were both torn apart when Charli’s mom were killed in fire. Years later and they are in high school now, Charli’s drunk father brought her back to their town only to find her best friend aren’t no longer there.
He hate her. Cassian blame her for what had happened on that fire. How can she be alive, looking so innocently after what happened? He will make her regret ever coming back. Not with pranks. Not with stupid bullying. He will make her fall for him so hard it would ruin her when crashing down.
Cassian isn’t a bully. He’s just a scarred kid. Afraid to be hurt. To be left out. Again. He’s that classic hurt child with no one understand his hurt, his lashing and his fear. I’m glad this book usnt that bullying kind that just too much and boring. Cassian maybe hard around the edges. He’s possesive, controlling. But he would kill for the one he love. Strong point for him.
And Charli. She’s fierce. I love how she still look for the good in Cassian but won’t take crap from him just because she have feelings for him. And last, I love how she handle the other girl trying to take Cassian. Trust and love go hand in hand. And Charli proff it so well.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
From the ashes a Phoenix is reborn but from these ashes something else was born. Once they were best friends inseparable then tragedy strikes taken away ones parents and leaving devastation and it’s wake….scared, verbally abused my her father for the tragedy she didn’t cause until the day they arrive back to Silver creek where it all began. Cassian blames Charli for how his life has turn out since the day she left 10 years ago. Angry, abrasive, harsh, broken son and missing his father and now she’s back Charli, revenge is all he sees when shes around. Charli I can’t wait to see Cassian it’s been ten years, will he remember me, we left right after I was released from the hospital I didn’t get to say good-bye. It’s been 10 years since I’ve seen him I’ve changed I’m sure he has too. Life hasn’t been kind to me dad drinks all the time, we never stay in one place long enough to make friends but now we’re back things have to change for the better. I can feel it. This time it will be different. Hang on get ready for a roller coaster of a ride.
I absolutely loved this story. The storyline was so interesting that it completely captivated me and was so intriguing that I couldn’t stop reading it until I finished with the very last word. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing book. Enjoy happy reading
“I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book
Tragic loss can be overcome
Charli and Cassian both lost on the day of the fire. Charli lost her mother and her father never got over his loss. Even though she was seven when the fire happened, he blamed her for it. Every. Day. Of. Her. Life. They’ve been moving around for the last ten years but now they’re back in town. The first thing she does is look for Cassian. He was her best friend and she wanted to rekindle that friendship. When everyone she talks to tells her he’s bad news, she has trouble believing them.
Cassian lost his father in the fire. He’s blamed Charli for his death too. He’s filled with rage that he takes out on everyone on the football field, and everywhere else. Now that Charli’s back, he wants to make her suffer like he’s suffered. What he doesn’t know is she has no idea that his father also died in the fire. Can the two of them overcome the worst day of their lives, even when life throws them together constantly?
Revenge, Forgiveness and Love! This book had it all. This is about Cassian and Charli. They have known each other since they were kids, but a fire that took the lives of her mother and his father left one with more hate in his heart. Charli and her father moved back home and while Charli was excited as she wanted to see her best friend Cassian, she ended up finding out what he had become. Her life after moving out of her hometown was not easy, as her father became a drunk that blamed her for the fire, but she never thought that her best friend would hate her so much to want revenge on her. This is based in high school – senior year, so she decides to make the best of it, but Cassian isn’t going to let her be happy until he has broken her.
The story takes off immediate, there isn’t just one section where I can state it begins, because it connects smoothly, there is some bullying but the person taking it doesn’t break easily and her friends (Zoe and Marne) are always there. Unfortunately, anger is taking out on the innocent, but that is expected when jealousy strikes. I love the ending where there is forgiveness between daughter and father. The book has four characters that are considered Greeks, but out of the four Tristan has his match which is “wheels” Kennedy, and now Cassian has Charli, but what happens with Logan and Gage, especially Gage. I love both of these characters as they don’t seem to have the hatefulness in them, but there has to be a story for them too.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
An amazingly well written but unappealing story
Penelope Bloom certainly understands something of the darker aspects of human nature. Cassian and Charli are marked for life by their joint childhood trauma and loss. When Charli moves back to town she finds her former best friend and protector turned into a chunk of flaming anger and vengeance, all targeted at her. Cassian blames Charli for their disastrous left turn in life – although his mom remarried and they are rich and live well, he is stuck in loss, and can’t forgive her for moving on with life. Charli, whose dad responded to tragedy with alcoholism and anger – mainly at her – has grown strong and resilient from coping with the weakness around her. Cassian targets Charli, and Charli stands up to him, thereby stoking his fury, and earning his respect. Neither one can understand or resist their love-hate relationship, although Charli tries. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that these two are all kinds of seriously damaged, and truly do need professional help to accept and heal – Cassian especially is a perpetually lit fuse. The ending is less than HEA; more like kinda-ok-for-now, with clouds on the horizon – which is actually what one might realistically expect from two such scarred young fighters in the ring of hard life. I have to respect the author for that; for keeping it real instead of fairly tale. I just can’t say I enjoyed it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.