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Review: Trouble by Samantha Towle

My Thoughts

A story of hope. A story of courage. A story of truth.
Heartbreaking and gripping, Samantha Towle once again delivers
wit, grit, angst and romance, but with a more profound story that
I thoroughly loved. She expertly balances the serious with the funny in one of my favorite standalones of the year.

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Buy Trouble: Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N

Synopsis

Mia Monroe is running. Running from a person she doesn’t ever want to find her. Running from a past she doesn’t ever want anyone to know. Desperate to find a future, that yesterday, she could only dream of having.

Jordan Matthews likes easy. Easy women. Easy life.

Then he meets Mia.

She’s damaged, troubled and has more baggage than any person can carry. But the more Jordan gets to know Mia-for the first time in his life-he finds himself wanting to try hard for something … for someone … for her.

And then life isn’t so easy anymore.

Jordan is everything Mia shouldn’t want. A whole bunch of dirty hotness, tattooed, cocky bad boy, who made his money at poker tables and picked his women up in bars. Yet, Mia finds herself falling for him. Then the past Mia was running from, quickly starts to catch up with her. Because that’s the problem with running … you have to stop sometime.

And when you stop, you get caught.

My Review

“What did I know of love? I’d never been shown it to know what it was. It had taken me a while before I realized that what I felt for Forbes was nothing more than my own feelings being reflected through my utter desperation to be loved by someone.”

I have a confession. I signed on to review this book without knowing what the story was really about (which I NEVER do), but I’m a HUGE fan of The Mighty Storm series and I wanted to see what a different story from Samantha looked like. Let me tell you, she delivered. Trouble is a very different kind of narrative than TMS, but what I find really unique about this author’s writing is that she is expertly able to blend profound emotion, humor and a sense of realness. In my experience I find that this combination is rarely successful, but when done right, can be really impactful. One would think that diving into the deep, dark and deplorable world of abuse would preclude you from embedding funny, but she boldly goes there and it works. In addition, she is so adept at writing from the male POV, that it feels current and authentic. She really does write the best male POVs… I really felt as if I were reading a guy’s thoughts and his internal musings had me grinning throughout. Yes, the story does deal with issues of physical abuse with moments piercingly painful and difficult to read, but there was also so much romance, humor and joy in these pages, helping to make the story stand apart.

“I feel the familiar hard sting of his hand hitting my face. A sharp tang of blood flows into my mouth.
Happy. Think of happy things, Mia.”

The story begins intensely, with moments that gave you a deeper understanding of what Mia truly experienced. Mia has barely survived a childhood marred by the brutal hands of her abusive father. She lived in fear, alone and in a reality where the slightest mistake would leave her broken, battered and bloodied. After her father unexpectedly dies, she inadvertently walks into the arms of another abusive man. With years of brutality shaping who she is, Mia has developed very real and unhealthy coping mechanisms to shut herself down and bare through the pain. When a particularly bad situation with her boyfriend escalates, she runs. She finds the courage to escape without looking back.

Mia’s bold getaway gives her the opportunity to look into her past and she finds herself checking into a hotel managed by the most gorgeous guy she’s ever seen. But coming from where she’s come from and enduring what she’s had to live through, getting close to a man is the last thing she’s ready to do.

“Men’s hands cause pain. they give hard, sharp slaps. They give black eyes. Grabbing, clutching, never-ending pain…”

Jordan Matthews is a remarkable character… I loved him instantly. The author writes in dual POV and once I got a taste of Jordan’s thoughts, I honestly couldn’t get enough. The story lightens as we feel our way through the unrelenting desire both feel, as they each try to stifle their feelings, each for their own reasons. Jordan has endured tragedy in his own life and he harbors guilt for the part he played in his mother’s death. He’s a no-nonsense, inked playboy, using women to feel something, but cutting them loose at the first sign of a cuddle, a hope, or of anything remotely serious. He’s determined to avoid a relationship at any cost.

“When it comes to women, I put my dick in and keep my heart out. It’s the easiest way.”

His internal thoughts are so funny. They literally cracked me up. He’s such a guy and his personality was so vivid to me. He’s all rough on the outside, but really, on the inside, he’s a guy with a really big heart. And Mia Monroe rattles him. She’s unlike any girl he’s met. There’s something about her that pulls him in, something he can’t deny, can’t shake, and it’s making him do things he would never, ever normally do.

“Then it hits me. I was just in a pissing contest with my dog. There are no words. No. Fucking. Words… I’m actually starting to think Mia has got some special power, and that’s what’s making me act out of character. Like voodoo or some shit. It has to be. There is no other logical explanation for the massive pussy I’m turning into. All I need to do is get myself away from Mia for a few hours, stick my dick inside some chick, and I’ll be back to myself in no time.”

What develops between them is something really sweet and real. For Mia, this is the first time someone has truly cared for her and treated her with respect. Jordan makes her feel beautiful and wanted, without expectation and without violence.

“No one has ever spoken to me or treated me like he does. Like I’m a person who matters. That I count for something. It makes my heart feel warm and alive in a way it never has before.”

For Jordan, Mia sees past his rough facade to the real person he is. She sees how good and caring he is and he can’t help but fall for her.

“Sometimes that’s all it takes. Just one person to turn everything on its head. Remind you of the person you were.”

There are secrets and plot twists that shape the story in a very unexpected way. I guessed the plot twist at the drop of the author’s first clue and I thought it was a perfect way to help bring the story to its culmination. So many issues had to be resolved and they each needed to conquer their own struggles to be able to be together in the end. It’s a wonderful standalone read, and again, kudos to Samantha Towle for being able to delve into a serious topic and still weave lightness and romance in a way that felt authentic to the story. Definitely pick this book up!

“I know, in this moment, there’s an unbreakable connection between us. Something tying us together, irrevocably, and no matter what, I’ll never be without him.”

About Samantha Towle

Samantha Towle began her first novel in 2008 while on maternity leave. She completed the manuscript five months later and hasn’t stopped writing since. She is the author of The Mighty Storm, The Bringer and the Alexandra Jones series, all penned to tunes of The Killers, Kings of Leon, Adele, The Doors, Oasis, Fleetwood Mac, and more of her favourite musicians. A native of Hull and a graduate of Salford University, she lives with her husband, Craig, in East Yorkshire with their son and daughter.