Review by maya_powers -- Heartaches by H.M. Irwing
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maya_powers
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- Latest Review: Heartaches by H.M. Irwing
Review by maya_powers -- Heartaches by H.M. Irwing
[Following is a volunteer review of "Heartaches" by H.M. Irwing.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Heartaches – Bad Boy Vibes by H. M. Irwing is an erotic romance novel. Irwing shines a light on the epidemic of date rape drugs in Australia and how the justice systems treats such cases. Through the story of Anna Walters-Simmons and Rafe Brown we see first hand the personal hurdles they must overcome in order to find justice.
Eighteen year old Anna is a young woman going to the vocational college and dating Matt Preston. Anna is convinced that he is the man for her because they’re relationship she’s treated differently by her peers. For some reason, being pretty didn’t save Anna from being bullied. After she began dating Matt everything changed for her. She was dating the new guy in town who just happened to be drop dead gorgeous. Everything was okay until Anna decided to go to a rave with Matt. Her friend Yasmin tried to help her pick an decent outfit but Anna wanted to wear a skimpy dress that barely covered her up because she knew it was what Matt liked.
At this rave Anna meets Matt’s brother, Jason, for the first time and he offers her a drink and things being to escalate quickly. Jason soon begins to make advances toward Anna that she is unable to reject. Anna realizes that she shouldn’t be in this situation with her boyfriends brother but can do little to stop it because she’s actually enjoying herself. Shortly after Matt joins his brother and they later bring her home to their place where Anna then meets their dad and the sexual assault continues. This scene made me aware of the fact that this happens way too often. After this Anna is never the same carefree woman.When Anna wakes, she’s aware of what’s happened but is internally torn over her physical response. Matt comes clean and the truth is that her step brother, Brain, used her to buy himself some time in paying off a debt he owed the Preston’s.
This scene in the novel was very well written but it brought upon a lot of unease. Irwing definitely painted a clear image of the power of these drugs, the uncomfortable feeling Anna experienced and the moral dilemma over the pleasure all their actions brought. Anna then becomes quite depressed and withdraws from her mom, her friend Yasmin and school. After a few weeks Jane, Anna’s mom, is able to get Anna to attend the ceremony they attended each year to spend time with Anna’s real dad side of the family. Anna is dressed in a rush because Jane’s friend Bella is waiting in the car with her nephew Rafe. Jane hops into the backseat and begins to chat with Bella while leaving Anna to sit up front with Rafe. The entire time Anna is in her head and not even paying attention to where they’re going and Rafe immediately recognized the haunting look in her eyes.
Rafe Brown, army veteran, strong, dark and handsome is going through his own bout of trauma. After coming home from Syria Rafe is still struggling with his rape while he was away. It isn’t easy for him to admit this or to talk about it. His commanding officer took advantage of him and manipulated him into feeling so low that he wouldn’t care about what happened to himself. This was a whole new low for him and he wasn’t too sure what his first move should be. Rafe’s inner hero pushes him to ask Anna to move in with his and his Aunt Bella as a means to keep her safe from Brian and the Prestons. Together they set off on a journey to find peace.
Even though the mood of the novel fluctuates I enjoyed the overall concept of awareness for date rape drugs and justice for rape victims. This was something that really hit home for me and both Anna and Rafe’s stories are a great example of how it can happen to anyone and anywhere. Most people walk around thinking they’re invincible and that these things can’t happen to them. This was Anna’s perspective, until it did happen to her.
For a romantic novel, there wasn’t much romance between Anna and Rafe until the end. This made it feel like most of the story dragged a bit but it also cemented how mentally unstable they were. The sex scenes flowed well and didn’t feel awkward. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 stars. This novel really touches on important topics but I found myself stopping a lot because of several grammatical errors like ‘saviour’ instead of savior and ‘travelling’ instead of traveling and I do not think it was professionally edited. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in a mental health awareness as well as romance and can stomach graphic content. I do not suggest that those who are sensitive to topics such as depression and rape read this novel as the content may be too extreme.
******
Heartaches
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
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Heartaches – Bad Boy Vibes by H. M. Irwing is an erotic romance novel. Irwing shines a light on the epidemic of date rape drugs in Australia and how the justice systems treats such cases. Through the story of Anna Walters-Simmons and Rafe Brown we see first hand the personal hurdles they must overcome in order to find justice.
Eighteen year old Anna is a young woman going to the vocational college and dating Matt Preston. Anna is convinced that he is the man for her because they’re relationship she’s treated differently by her peers. For some reason, being pretty didn’t save Anna from being bullied. After she began dating Matt everything changed for her. She was dating the new guy in town who just happened to be drop dead gorgeous. Everything was okay until Anna decided to go to a rave with Matt. Her friend Yasmin tried to help her pick an decent outfit but Anna wanted to wear a skimpy dress that barely covered her up because she knew it was what Matt liked.
At this rave Anna meets Matt’s brother, Jason, for the first time and he offers her a drink and things being to escalate quickly. Jason soon begins to make advances toward Anna that she is unable to reject. Anna realizes that she shouldn’t be in this situation with her boyfriends brother but can do little to stop it because she’s actually enjoying herself. Shortly after Matt joins his brother and they later bring her home to their place where Anna then meets their dad and the sexual assault continues. This scene made me aware of the fact that this happens way too often. After this Anna is never the same carefree woman.When Anna wakes, she’s aware of what’s happened but is internally torn over her physical response. Matt comes clean and the truth is that her step brother, Brain, used her to buy himself some time in paying off a debt he owed the Preston’s.
This scene in the novel was very well written but it brought upon a lot of unease. Irwing definitely painted a clear image of the power of these drugs, the uncomfortable feeling Anna experienced and the moral dilemma over the pleasure all their actions brought. Anna then becomes quite depressed and withdraws from her mom, her friend Yasmin and school. After a few weeks Jane, Anna’s mom, is able to get Anna to attend the ceremony they attended each year to spend time with Anna’s real dad side of the family. Anna is dressed in a rush because Jane’s friend Bella is waiting in the car with her nephew Rafe. Jane hops into the backseat and begins to chat with Bella while leaving Anna to sit up front with Rafe. The entire time Anna is in her head and not even paying attention to where they’re going and Rafe immediately recognized the haunting look in her eyes.
Rafe Brown, army veteran, strong, dark and handsome is going through his own bout of trauma. After coming home from Syria Rafe is still struggling with his rape while he was away. It isn’t easy for him to admit this or to talk about it. His commanding officer took advantage of him and manipulated him into feeling so low that he wouldn’t care about what happened to himself. This was a whole new low for him and he wasn’t too sure what his first move should be. Rafe’s inner hero pushes him to ask Anna to move in with his and his Aunt Bella as a means to keep her safe from Brian and the Prestons. Together they set off on a journey to find peace.
Even though the mood of the novel fluctuates I enjoyed the overall concept of awareness for date rape drugs and justice for rape victims. This was something that really hit home for me and both Anna and Rafe’s stories are a great example of how it can happen to anyone and anywhere. Most people walk around thinking they’re invincible and that these things can’t happen to them. This was Anna’s perspective, until it did happen to her.
For a romantic novel, there wasn’t much romance between Anna and Rafe until the end. This made it feel like most of the story dragged a bit but it also cemented how mentally unstable they were. The sex scenes flowed well and didn’t feel awkward. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 stars. This novel really touches on important topics but I found myself stopping a lot because of several grammatical errors like ‘saviour’ instead of savior and ‘travelling’ instead of traveling and I do not think it was professionally edited. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in a mental health awareness as well as romance and can stomach graphic content. I do not suggest that those who are sensitive to topics such as depression and rape read this novel as the content may be too extreme.
******
Heartaches
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: Heartaches by H.M. Irwing
