Everyone expects the fairy tale from me.Because on the outside, I look like I live in a fantasy.I’m a hopeless romantic.I fall in and out of love.I change careers, zip codes and hair colors on a whim.I’m a free spirit without a care in the world.I’m the one that loves everyone and hates no one.But I’ve got a secret…I’m not a free spirit.Not really.I’m not free at all.My life is only designed to … really.
I’m not free at all.
My life is only designed to look chaotically peaceful.
I’m only designed to look like that.
Peace is lost to me.
Because I’m trying to escape something.
Trying to escape him.
My life isn’t a fairy tale.
It’s time the world saw that.
Warning: This book explores some dark themes and may contain triggers.
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So many things come to mind. Never judge a book by it’s cover, you never know what someone is or has gone through. Love is never perfect. Sometimes you have to go through hell to find heaven. All these things apply to this book. I related to a lot of things in this book, therefore it made me more emotionally involved. The one thing I would have to say about this book, is that it is okay if things aren’t perfect. There is beauty in imperfection. We may not see it at the time, but when we do it makes it all worth it.
Polly and Heath meet by chance in a bar, and share a weekend that will change them forever. She was too young for him at the time and he has a life to return to, a life that while she didn’t agree with violence, she understood that is part of being a marine. He left with no communication after and when she met a man she thought she loved, planned on marrying, Heath stepped back in to her life claiming she was his.
Polly being Polly made a commitment and as much as she wanted to run away with Heath she couldn’t do that to Craig, her fiance.
Months into the marriage she realizes it was a mistake that the man she married isn’t at all what she saw him to be. She left him and with the help of her sister, she walked away a rich woman. Heath and Polly have an occasional run ins with each other and both feel lasting effects. Both are stubborn and refuse to give in, until she just can’t fight it anymore. They finally come together only to be ripped apart again.
This book is emotional, funny, intense, has you wanting to reach out to both Polly and Heath and knock their heads together to knock some sense into them. It’s an up and down roller coaster. There is heartbreak, secrets, sweet moments, beautiful moments. I can’t recommend this book enough. I would suggest reading at least The previous Greenstone books if you haven’t already. Hell I recommend any by this author. I have loved every single word she has written.
This book is not your fairytale filled with rainbows and unicorns but it is the most heartwrenchly beautiful love story you will ever read. The kind of love that Heath and Polly have is one that will break your heart in a million pieces only to have it out back together better than before. This book will hook you from the first word until the last. I loved every word!!
If you have been following this series you’ll have met Polly and Heath and have an idea of what you feel is going to transpire between the quintessential, carefree flower child and the brooding, hulking alpha ex-marine. But I’m going to guess you won’t be expecting this!
This story is as exquisitely luminous as it is devastatingly dark. You will be torn to shreds in your emotions and allegiance for each of these characters many times throughout this book.
It is by no means a rainbows and unicorns romance, that much is brutally clear.
Ms Malcom warns of potential triggers, and this should not be heeded lightly.
I’ve read these type of warnings before, but in this tale the tough subject matter is so viscerally depicted that even the toughest of hearts and minds will find this confronting.
But in the wake of the brutality is some achingly beautiful healing and fulfilling soul mending lessons that it begs to be experienced at all costs.
Polly and Heath have to battle for their HEA in this story; both with each other, within themselves and with outside forces, all determined to keep them apart.
But I feel they needed this journey, this torturous road. It is true and respectful to each of them, their own hearts and the strength of their union as a couple, despite how painful it was to travel.
This is more than a love story, it’s an searingly emotional work of art and a worthy 5 stars.
A truly epic roller coaster ride that made me feel ALL of the emotions, I completely devoured this book from start to finish. It’s a broken, somewhat ugly yet also heartbreaking beautiful love story. Polly is such a beautiful soul, full of so much kindness and empathy and Heath, I had mixed feelings for awhile but boy oh boy did he turn it around in the end! Packed full of angst, drama and suspense, this book will keep you hooked the whole way through. You won’t want to put it down!
First off I have loved all of Anne’s book that she has published and I have read them all. Broken Shelves has been my favorite one of her books, but now this one will sit beside it.
Polly and Heath’s story is not all hearts and flowers but it shows that communication is important in all relationships. If you don’t have it then it may not work out in the end. These 2 kept secrets from one another and it hurt them both. Polly is a loving person who tries to find the good in every situation and not let the bad into her life. That is until she feels she needs to to what society wants and not what she would typically do.
Heath is a male who is moody and battle worn from his childhood and then fighting for our country but he has a bigger battle to fight when he returns home and runs into Polly again.
The sexual tention with these 2 once reunited is off the charts but neither of them want to break and admit that they both want the same thing, eachother.
I could go on and on about this story but don’t want to ruin it for others and not have them read and discover this amazing story. Some who go through trauma find it hard to express their feelings even if they have the strongest support system with family and friends. Sometime it takes just one person who will call out the BS and finally get them to open up. That is what Heath did because is love was so fierce for Polly.
To the Moon……
“Love doesn’t know order or peace, it only knows itself, which is both or neither”
The Problem with Peace…where to begin? Polly and Heath’s story is certainly not for the faint of heart; the all-encompassing emotions, the heartbreak, the soul crushing experiences that Polly goes through, Heath’s steadfast patience and frustrating stubbornness, their unconventional & unique connection..All of these things are what makes this book..the beautiful chaos that only Anne Malcom could create be one of my absolute favorite reads of 2018′.
Honestly, I feel like I’ve been put through 12 rounds with the worlds best emotional boxer…my heart has been ripped out..stomped on..and then slowly put back together in the best possible way. There is something so captivating about the honesty that is this book & this series and I 150% recommend it to any and everyone
I’m not sure I can put into words how amazing this book was. If you want something that will break your heart and make you swoon while simultaneously making you feel like you are personally involved with the characters this is the book for you. I love Anne books and have read almost all of them, but this is by far, in my opinion, her best work ever
By far the best of the series! This is truly an epic tale of love and loss. Highs and lows. I had a hard time with Polly in the beginning. She was such a martyr. I almost wrote her off entirely, but I had to remind myself that she’s a teenager in the beginning of the book. Heath is a dream but he also makes such silly decisions. A phone call and/or a post-it would have solved so many issues here, but where’s the drama and tears with that? It’s emotional. It’s an angsty tear jerky. The author manipulates your emotions beautifully. It had a HEA and an epilogue that made me a little misty-eyed. Yup, I was there for the ride. Bring on the next!
5+ POLLY AND HEATH STARS!! My favorite book of 2018, so far!!! This beautiful, emotional, raw story of Polly and and Heath has taken over my top spot for 2018. Their story is so beautifully written, raw and real, it will be engraved on my heart forever. Anne Malcolm words are like gold, shiny, perfect and a treasure for life. This is one book you definitely need to read, so make sure to add it to your tbr list and 1-Click it.
I received and ARC in exchange for an honest review. I have no words. This book was horrible and amazing all in one. I mean we were warned but this wasn’t what I was expecting to happen. This story broke my heart but in the end….. it was a truly amazing, epic love story. The ending was amazing. The epilogue was one of the best I have read. Now I understand why Anne said this book was so hard to write. Polly and Heath were so strong! Especially Polly. She is one of my favorite Anne’s characters. This book was epic and will be stuck with me for a while. Heath I wanted to shake him but hug him at the same time. I love this series and these characters. What a great book!!!
Top. Read. Of. 2018.
Absolutely, mind blowingly perfect in every broken way… Anne Malcom has managed to shatter my heart, again, and put it back together beautifully. I’m going to attempt to do this amazing story justice, but I doubt that’s possible…
From the first page in the prologue I was hooked and the story didn’t let me go until the final sentence. The writing of this author has a way of grabbing you and not letting you go. AT ALL. She has this way of making you feel like you’re part of the story and making it all seem so real you feel like you’re there…
I absolutely love the relationship between Polly and Heath. Polly’s beautiful spirit and Heath’s orderly, Alpha maleness balance each other perfectly. I connected to these characters on so many levels… They are in my Top 5 favorite couples EVER.
This story is my new Top Read this year and a FOREVER FAVORITE.
GO. ONE. CLICK. NOW.
This book is not for the faint of heart, but Anne Malcom doesn’t write books for the weak. Every heroine in the Greenstone Security series is a complete bada$$, capable of slaying her own dragons.
The hard thing with this book is that Polly seems so much softer, so the damage she and Heath put each other through seems a lot more poisonous.
“But love itself is emotional abuse, even the good versions of it. It’s hard to separate that from a person that was using that love to manipulate and control you.”
Watching Polly continue to run everytime Heath asks her to stick with him is heartbreaking, as is watching Heath become a colder, angrier version of himself over time. The last time Polly took off I truly began to believe that Ms. Malcom did not have a happy ending planned for Heath.
“You expect me to ask you to stay? To not let you leave?” he hissed. “To frickin’ demand you to stop running from this $*it because it’s evident whatever it is between us isn’t gonna let us go, despite how frickin much I want it to?”
And just when I began to believe the worst had happened, Polly and Heath took a narrow turn, and got completely torn up.
As is the case in real life, the ending can’t be seen so you have to just believe in the writer’s ability to give you an ending filled with sunshine and redemption; and keep pushing ahead.y
Go ahead and give this book a chance today, I believe it is one of Anne Malcom’s best yet!