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A Life More Complete
Can you ever really outrun your past?
Krissy Mullins, an overworked, obsessive-compulsive publicist has been giving it her best shot for the past ten years. Throwing herself into her work and devoting all her time to her teenage starlet client, Krissy finds little time for anything else. But as fate would have it, her world is turned upside down when she falls in love with laid-back California native, Ben Torres. Unfortunately, her only frame of reference on love and marriage is her parents and they weren’t exactly the poster children for a happy relationship.
As Krissy attempts to navigate the precarious world of love, acceptance, and compromise, her past comes flooding back like she never expected. An ex-boyfriend returns from a life she has tried to forget, stirring up feelings in Krissy she had thought were long gone. Pulled in opposite directions as her past and present collide, she makes a rash decision that will forever change her life.
Krissy Mullins, an overworked, obsessive-compulsive publicist has been giving it her best shot for the past ten years. Throwing herself into her work and devoting all her time to her teenage starlet client, Krissy finds little time for anything else. But as fate would have it, her world is turned upside down when she falls in love with laid-back California native, Ben Torres. Unfortunately, her only frame of reference on love and marriage is her parents and they weren’t exactly the poster children for a happy relationship.
As Krissy attempts to navigate the precarious world of love, acceptance, and compromise, her past comes flooding back like she never expected. An ex-boyfriend returns from a life she has tried to forget, stirring up feelings in Krissy she had thought were long gone. Pulled in opposite directions as her past and present collide, she makes a rash decision that will forever change her life.
296 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
1446 people want to read
About the author
Nikki Young
3 books131 followersI was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago where I still currently live with my husband and two boys. I'm a third grade teacher and I spend my days forcing my love of reading and writing onto a group of poor, unsuspecting eight year olds. I'm a lover of books, Irish candy and ridiculously hot weather. And for some strange reason, I have a sick obsession with the Fast and the Furious series of movies.
Late at night, when all is quiet, I can be found sitting at my computer writing...or facebooking.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
May 6, 2013
3.5 Stars
Krissy is a very driven woman. She came from a home where she didn’t have any love, affection, or attention. Early on she learned that she needed to be independent, self-sufficient and rely on herself for anything she needed. As soon as she turned eighteen she moved from Chicago to California to get as far away from her cold awful mother as she could.
“I left potholes for sinkholes, construction for gridlock, tornadoes for earthquakes; most would think it a lateral move. I walked away from a lake for an ocean, snow for sunshine, quietly explosive dysfunction for comfortably unfamiliar calm.
After being in California for a while, completely comfortable in her routine, Krissy meets Ben while running on the beach. The two of them strike up a friendship, something easy and low stress that they carry on for years. Eventually, Krissy decides she is going to give things a real shot with Ben. Unfortunately her job, crazy hours, and commitment issues get in the way.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I wanted to have you forever. I wanted you to quit your job, move in with me, have babies, and take vacations to Disney World. I wanted you to want that life. And it’s okay that you don’t, I won’t lie, it hurts, and I still want all those things and I hope someday you will too.”
I was really hard for me to see Ben and Krissy fall apart because I was really drawn to Ben from the very beginning. After reading the first few pages and their initial meeting, I was hooked. I really wanted more of them, so it was tough when soon an ex from Krissy’s past comes into the picture.
“I know from this moment on I will never be able to live without him. I need him in a way that is obsessive and needy.”
Tyler and Krissy always had an intense bond, they loved hard and they fought hard. Their relationship is very strange and I think it was one of the most well written parts of the book. There is this possessive, unhealthy, manic type of connection. Tyler could get under my skin like no other and I definitely give props to the author for that! It was really interesting to see Krissy’s relationship with both men at different points in her life and how it changed her actions and reactions. There were some surprises and some not so surprises, but there is so much that happens throughout the story that I didn’t expect when I began.
Overall, I liked A Life More Complete. There were certain scenes and actions I felt could have been taken out or shortened to help the overall flow and further narrow the focus. At times I couldn’t see where the story was going and wondered why a particular part was important and was left unable to answer that question a couple times. I do think everyone can relate to at least something in this book whether it be family issues, living with your decisions, first love, commitment or a wholes slew of other topics. Even though I didn’t like many of the decisions made by different characters, it still kept me reading and wanting to find out what was going to happen to them. There is plenty of drama and angst in this book and it completely kept my interest (while also driving me crazy at times)! :)
“It’s funny how your heart can deceive you. Follow your heart, people say, but they never tell you that sometimes it makes the wrong choice.”
*ARC received in exchange for an honest review*
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May 7, 2013
“This is my life. Somehow, somewhere I took one small misstep and ended up here.”
Once in a while you will read a book that does not fit into a mould, that does not follow a formula or try to romanticise life. A book that does not hide the ugly reality of the choices or the mistakes me make along the way. A book that portrays human nature as it is, gritty and real, and shows that sometimes it takes losing everything to truly see the value of what was in front of you all along.
Krissy Mullins is a young woman who spends her days emotionally ‘skimming’ on the surface of life, focusing on her career as a high profile publicist, a job that makes her miserable, but never truly stopping and taking stock of what her life has regrettably become. Even with the love of a man who absolutely adores her and would do anything to make her happy, Krissy is unable to let him in and let herself love him completely. She hides behind the demands of her job, tailoring her choices in life so that she would never have to face her emotional misgivings, including giving up on the one thing that could have made her happy in the long run.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I wanted to love you forever. I wanted you to quit your job, move in with me, have babies and take vacations to Disney World. I wanted you to want that life.”
Her dysfunctional and loveless relationship with her mother being her only point of reference in life when it comes to family, Krissy finds it easier to connect with a man who behaves in a similar fashion to her mother than with someone who offers her what she has never experienced in life before – unconditional love. Her self-sabotaging tendencies eventually lead her down a road she travelled once before, but instead of learning from her mistakes, she chooses to repeat them, knowing all too well this could hurt her again. When the life she has chosen turns to be exactly as expected, instead of demanding more, Krissy lowers her standards, and stays in a relationship that only feeds her insecurities.
This is a book about what family teaches us about life, trust, love, and how much what we learn from our own parents can form the way we shape any future relationships. It offers a very untraditional version of a happy ending, free from all the glam and glitter that we often find in romance books. In essence, this is not a romance book but it is a book about romance. It shows the enduring power of true love and how misguiding our own heart can sometimes be.
“It’s funny how your heart can deceive you. Follow your heart, people say but they never tell you that sometimes it makes the wrong choice.”
Everyone will take something different with them from reading this beautiful book. It will appeal to people in so many different ways – you might find a little bit of yourself in Krissy, you might recognise someone close to you in her, or her choices in life might be those you always feared you’d make. Regardless of what she represents to you, I assure you that her story will move you and that you will find yourself travelling her journey with her, living through her mistakes, feeling her pain, anger, heartbreak, and eventually her realisation of what her heart knew all along.
Nikki Young’s writing is honest, touching, authentic. A splendid debut novel by an author whose sensitivity and realness shine through in her every word.
[4.5 STARS}
“You’re my most wonderful downfall.”
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May 3, 2013
Is this a romance novel? I’m not entirely sure that it is although it’s definitely a love story.
Krissy is our heroine – a very closed up, emotionally unavailable publicist who is besieged with crippling OCD. She ran away from her loveless childhood the second she was old enough and made her way in life, completely set on a career and convinced that she doesn’t need love in her life. Her father was an addict and her mother cold as ice, really not great examples, but Krissy gave her heart to Tyler when she was young and he screwed her over – BIG TIME! The last thing she needs is a man to complicate things.
I wasn’t looking to fall in love. Nope, not me. Been there, done that and boy, oh, boy did the ending suck. I’m serious, ambitious, goal driven, at least that’s how I want to be perceived
Krissy meets Ben when she is out running – he’s sexy, laid-back, runs his own landscaping business and is patient enough to wait years for Krissy to allow her iron-clad defences to crumble just a little. Krissy’s ex, Tyler, is also about to come back into her life too and she will find the allure of all that they shared very difficult to resist.
Ben was all kinds of wonderful. He’s sweet, kind, patient and he can see how badly Krissy is affected by her OCD and is prepared to play a waiting game for her. He’ll settle for friendship even though he wants more, far more. They spend years together and become slowly more intimate and all the time Ben is waiting to hear those three little words. I loved Ben – he accepted Krissy just as she is, never demanded that she change and gave her the time she needed. My heart broke a little for him when he slowly began to realise that Krissy is probably never going to let down those defences and finally give herself to him 100%.
Tyler, Krissy’s ex is about to come back and claim her for himself. He’s very handsome, very sexy, incredibly charming but he has hurt her badly in the past. He was her first love and , despite all the pain and anguish, Krissy is desperate to hope that he has changed and that the words rolling off his silver tongue are the truth. I seriously didn’t like Tyler – he seemed charming at first but it soon morphed into creepiness. He tires quickly of all Krissy’s little foibles, isn'’t prepared to accept her for who she is and constantly criticises and tries to change her.
Krissy – much as I loved her, and I really did, sometimes I just wanted to scream at her for her decision making. I understand why she made the choices she did but I knew she was headed for a fall. Despite all her idiosyncrasies, she really was a bit of a sweetheart. She’s kind and loyal to her friends and it’s hard not to sympathise with her when her past is revealed. She definitely needs someone like Ben in her life.
This is incredibly well written, very engrossing from beginning to end with great secondary characters – it’s an angsty, love story that will have you constantly wondering what’s going to happen next.
Team Ben – all the way!!
4 stars
For more reviews, please visit Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews or visit us on Facebook.
Krissy is our heroine – a very closed up, emotionally unavailable publicist who is besieged with crippling OCD. She ran away from her loveless childhood the second she was old enough and made her way in life, completely set on a career and convinced that she doesn’t need love in her life. Her father was an addict and her mother cold as ice, really not great examples, but Krissy gave her heart to Tyler when she was young and he screwed her over – BIG TIME! The last thing she needs is a man to complicate things.
I wasn’t looking to fall in love. Nope, not me. Been there, done that and boy, oh, boy did the ending suck. I’m serious, ambitious, goal driven, at least that’s how I want to be perceived
Krissy meets Ben when she is out running – he’s sexy, laid-back, runs his own landscaping business and is patient enough to wait years for Krissy to allow her iron-clad defences to crumble just a little. Krissy’s ex, Tyler, is also about to come back into her life too and she will find the allure of all that they shared very difficult to resist.
Ben was all kinds of wonderful. He’s sweet, kind, patient and he can see how badly Krissy is affected by her OCD and is prepared to play a waiting game for her. He’ll settle for friendship even though he wants more, far more. They spend years together and become slowly more intimate and all the time Ben is waiting to hear those three little words. I loved Ben – he accepted Krissy just as she is, never demanded that she change and gave her the time she needed. My heart broke a little for him when he slowly began to realise that Krissy is probably never going to let down those defences and finally give herself to him 100%.
Tyler, Krissy’s ex is about to come back and claim her for himself. He’s very handsome, very sexy, incredibly charming but he has hurt her badly in the past. He was her first love and , despite all the pain and anguish, Krissy is desperate to hope that he has changed and that the words rolling off his silver tongue are the truth. I seriously didn’t like Tyler – he seemed charming at first but it soon morphed into creepiness. He tires quickly of all Krissy’s little foibles, isn'’t prepared to accept her for who she is and constantly criticises and tries to change her.
Krissy – much as I loved her, and I really did, sometimes I just wanted to scream at her for her decision making. I understand why she made the choices she did but I knew she was headed for a fall. Despite all her idiosyncrasies, she really was a bit of a sweetheart. She’s kind and loyal to her friends and it’s hard not to sympathise with her when her past is revealed. She definitely needs someone like Ben in her life.
This is incredibly well written, very engrossing from beginning to end with great secondary characters – it’s an angsty, love story that will have you constantly wondering what’s going to happen next.
Team Ben – all the way!!
4 stars
For more reviews, please visit Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews or visit us on Facebook.
May 23, 2013
4.5 Stars!
Well, WOW! I mean, really. Wow. Nikki Young, you can write, woman. Seriously!! This author take us on a very real, very authentic and, yet, completely entertaining and emotional journey. I highly recommend this story, and I urge you NOT to go into it expecting many of the same overplayed plot devices found in other books. That's not what this is.
Here's your story summary:
The characters in A Life More Complete are people you and I could easily know and have in our own lives. Does that make them any less interesting? Of course not. If anything, it makes them that much more relatable and compelling. What unfolds before the reader is the genuine struggle that, to some degree, we all go through in life. As the title says, it's the fight to make a life that's more complete, more balanced, more filled with giving and receiving love. It's that constant battle to let go of our past and focus on our present. I understood that about this story. I got it. I sincerely appreciated that I knew where Krissy was coming from and where she wanted to go. Not in this same way, but I've been there. Haven't we all?
Ben Torres is one of the best men I have ever, ever met within the pages of a story. Truly. What a good, beautiful, real, decent, sexy man. I fell in love.
Nikki Young surprised me and kept me guessing with this story. I loved every moment of it!! I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!
**Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review**
Well, WOW! I mean, really. Wow. Nikki Young, you can write, woman. Seriously!! This author take us on a very real, very authentic and, yet, completely entertaining and emotional journey. I highly recommend this story, and I urge you NOT to go into it expecting many of the same overplayed plot devices found in other books. That's not what this is.
Here's your story summary:
Can you ever really outrun your past?
Krissy Mullins, an overworked, obsessive-compulsive publicist has been giving it her best shot for the past ten years. Throwing herself into her work and devoting all her time to her teenage starlet client, Krissy finds little time for anything else. But as fate would have it, her world is turned upside down when she falls in love with laid-back California native, Ben Torres. Unfortunately, her only frame of reference on love and marriage is her parents and they weren’t exactly the poster children for a happy relationship.
As Krissy attempts to navigate the precarious world of love, acceptance, and compromise, her past comes flooding back like she never expected. An ex-boyfriend returns from a life she has tried to forget, stirring up feelings in Krissy she had thought were long gone. Pulled in opposite directions as her past and present collide, she makes a rash decision that will forever change her life.
The characters in A Life More Complete are people you and I could easily know and have in our own lives. Does that make them any less interesting? Of course not. If anything, it makes them that much more relatable and compelling. What unfolds before the reader is the genuine struggle that, to some degree, we all go through in life. As the title says, it's the fight to make a life that's more complete, more balanced, more filled with giving and receiving love. It's that constant battle to let go of our past and focus on our present. I understood that about this story. I got it. I sincerely appreciated that I knew where Krissy was coming from and where she wanted to go. Not in this same way, but I've been there. Haven't we all?
Ben Torres is one of the best men I have ever, ever met within the pages of a story. Truly. What a good, beautiful, real, decent, sexy man. I fell in love.
Nikki Young surprised me and kept me guessing with this story. I loved every moment of it!! I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!
**Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review**
May 5, 2013
A Life More Complete is a beautiful love story, one that captivated me from the start. I think what I love about this book is that it’s different and that’s all I ever want is a story to be unique. Not only is the story written well but the characters have their quirks and complexities which takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster. Anyone who knows my taste in books knows that this is exactly my kind of story!
“There’s something about you that I can’t ignore” he says and his voice turns to a whisper. “I’m drawn to you.”
Krissy is strong, fierce but she’s fighting her own demons and frankly, she knows a thing or two on how to self-sabotage a good thing. Not only is she a workaholic but she gives herself emotionally to her clients which leaves her for little of anything else. The predicament she finds herself in with regards to Ben and Tyler is heartbreaking and yet incredibly relatable.
“I notice every detail about him, and like a favorite movie, I can recall almost everything he has every said to me.”
Enter: Ben Torres. Ladies, be prepared to swoon and swoon hard! He gets Krissy like no one else does and he has the patience of a saint when it comes to her. To me, he was perfection but I felt I got very little time to know him. I wanted more of Ben but the little time I had with him, I knew he was “the one”. He had to be!!! He’s everything Krissy needed and more. Let’s put Ben Torres off to the side for a moment so I can focus on Tyler. Tyler is another love interest of Krissy’s and I wouldn’t say there’s a love triangle but there is one of sorts. I don’t want to give anything away but I’m Team Ben all the way!
Sometimes I felt that Krissy was going through the motions and hiding in the shell of a person that continually wanted to play it safe. But safe doesn’t always mean better, sometimes we recycle old patterns and behaviors because it’s what we know. And Krissy learned a thing or two from her mother and her mother made me cringe!
A Life More Complete will make your emotions swing like a frantic pendulum but the ride is so worth it. This is a story about choices we make and learning to live with the consequences of our actions and ultimately we cannot change our past, just our present. This is that story.
Natasha is a Book Junkie is the one who mentioned I would love A Life More Complete and she wasn’t kidding! A beautiful debut novel indeed and I look forward to more books by Nikki Young in the future! ;)
“There’s something about you that I can’t ignore” he says and his voice turns to a whisper. “I’m drawn to you.”
Krissy is strong, fierce but she’s fighting her own demons and frankly, she knows a thing or two on how to self-sabotage a good thing. Not only is she a workaholic but she gives herself emotionally to her clients which leaves her for little of anything else. The predicament she finds herself in with regards to Ben and Tyler is heartbreaking and yet incredibly relatable.
“I notice every detail about him, and like a favorite movie, I can recall almost everything he has every said to me.”
Enter: Ben Torres. Ladies, be prepared to swoon and swoon hard! He gets Krissy like no one else does and he has the patience of a saint when it comes to her. To me, he was perfection but I felt I got very little time to know him. I wanted more of Ben but the little time I had with him, I knew he was “the one”. He had to be!!! He’s everything Krissy needed and more. Let’s put Ben Torres off to the side for a moment so I can focus on Tyler. Tyler is another love interest of Krissy’s and I wouldn’t say there’s a love triangle but there is one of sorts. I don’t want to give anything away but I’m Team Ben all the way!
Sometimes I felt that Krissy was going through the motions and hiding in the shell of a person that continually wanted to play it safe. But safe doesn’t always mean better, sometimes we recycle old patterns and behaviors because it’s what we know. And Krissy learned a thing or two from her mother and her mother made me cringe!
A Life More Complete will make your emotions swing like a frantic pendulum but the ride is so worth it. This is a story about choices we make and learning to live with the consequences of our actions and ultimately we cannot change our past, just our present. This is that story.
Natasha is a Book Junkie is the one who mentioned I would love A Life More Complete and she wasn’t kidding! A beautiful debut novel indeed and I look forward to more books by Nikki Young in the future! ;)
April 18, 2013
Reviewed by Rosie Mastropieri
Family. Everyone knows what is said about families. Blood is thicker than water, love makes a family, we start and end with family; you get my point. Not all families fit this bill, not all families are created equal, yet Chinese proverbs, celebrities, kings and queens, and literary heroes all feel the need to opine us with their wisdom that if you just try a bit harder, love a little more, or give a damn, that it will change everything. It always comes back to family. In my case it always came back to “How can I get away from my family?”
Krissy Mullins is a work-a-holic. She lives on the West Coast, far away from her childhood home in Naperville, Illinois. Her work is the way she copes with life. She is a publicist and her biggest client is a young starlet named Trini. It's easier to hold people at arms distance when you have a professional relationship. She has a difficult time letting the people inside that she should. The people that she does let in always seem to disappoint her.
"My job is my life. I don’t work nine to five like most of the population. My job is unpredictable and demanding, it leaves little room for planning or scheduling."
Krissy and her 2 sisters grew up in a home void of love from her Mother. ( I literally despised this selfish, horrible woman!) Their father had problems with serious addictions and wasn't involved in their lives. All they did was fight. She remembers her father saying to her one day when she was very young;
“Sometimes people fight because they love each other so much. You have to fight for something that you love.” Her family life was strained to say the least. She had OCD tendencies that would manifest when she was troubled or under stress.
"My mother was unable to deal with weakness or vulnerability, basically anything that caused her to feel. She passed this on to my sisters and me. I don’t know if she so much as passed it on or if it was forced upon us."
Krissy has a chance meeting with a dark haired, dark skin beautiful man named Ben while running by the beach one morning. She is very reserved and slow to let anyone in her heart. He turns out to be a very caring and kind person. They build a strong friendship that turns into something more. Ben is an amazing man and he falls really hard for her.
“There’s something about you that I can’t ignore,” he says and his voice turns to a whisper. “I’m drawn to you.”
Krissy is overly involved with her client Trini's life. She feels bad for her because she really has no family support and guidance. As her publicist she has to get Trinis public opinion out of the gutter constantly. She tries to be Motherly to her. (I think she was trying to be the Mother SHE never had, to this girl).
"I’m her only friend. She’s surrounded by people day in and day out, yet none of them truly care about her. They’re all part of the show that’s become Trini’s life. Everyone playing a part, wanting to be close to the wealth and fame she carries, but when the shit hits the fan they scatter like rats. It’s sad and I know it, which is why I can’t turn my back on her."
Ben wants things from Krissy that she is unable to give. He wants forever! She knows she can't give him what he wants because of her deep seated fears. She decides to end it with him. She wants him to be happy and to find someone that could give themselves to him completely like he deserves. She is crushed by her own decision, but feels it is the right thing to do.
She goes onto the office one day to meet Trini's latest attorney that has one hell of a hole to dig her out of. She walks into the conference to see that the new attorney is none other than the first love of her life. She is absolutely shocked and is hit with a deluge of emotions. Their relationship was filled with love, angst, infidelity, and passion. After spending some time together, Tyler tells her that losing her was the biggest mistake he ever made. Krissy jumps in feet first. She is grasping to the familiarity of the relationship, while trying to forget Ben. It doesn't take long for them to fall into their old relationship patterns.
"Were we fighting for love or were we just fighting? I know in the beginning, each time Tyler and I got back together things were perfect. It’s nice to feel loved and wanted. There’s something to be said for that. It can make the negative appear invisible. It takes over and nothing else matters. It can make you do stupid things, make you choose blindly and make you irrational. Love, it’s like a flask full of peach schnapps when you’re seventeen, ruthless and unkind yet so wonderfully delicious. I’m not even sure at this point either one of us knows what we are fighting for and even more, is it worth it?"
What ensues is like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn't be watching, but you are just shocked and drawn by the chaos. Krissy goes on to make some terrible decisions. She starts to question every choice she has ever made. (Thank God, its about time!)
"It’s funny how your heart can deceive you. Follow your heart, people say, but they never tell you that sometimes it makes the wrong choice. The heart doesn’t just deceive you once and then grow smarter. Well, at least not mine. Mine did it many times and I fell in love too easily, even when it wasn’t right."
I really enjoyed this book. I think the author did an excellent job of getting you emotionally attached to the characters. The story was deep, emotional, and steamy too. Krissy really made some bad decisions in her life. She really didnt have great role models to look up to, and I think that really influenced her bad choices. In the end the story is redeemed and you are treated to seeing the heroine get herself together. She gets her priorities in order and makes the best of the decisions she has made. She comes to find that some of her not so great choices, turned out to be amazing. I would recommend this book to my firends.
"I have to have faith that I made the right choice. I chose to love deeply. I chose to follow those words that somehow somehow failed me in the past. Love makes a family".
Family. Everyone knows what is said about families. Blood is thicker than water, love makes a family, we start and end with family; you get my point. Not all families fit this bill, not all families are created equal, yet Chinese proverbs, celebrities, kings and queens, and literary heroes all feel the need to opine us with their wisdom that if you just try a bit harder, love a little more, or give a damn, that it will change everything. It always comes back to family. In my case it always came back to “How can I get away from my family?”
Krissy Mullins is a work-a-holic. She lives on the West Coast, far away from her childhood home in Naperville, Illinois. Her work is the way she copes with life. She is a publicist and her biggest client is a young starlet named Trini. It's easier to hold people at arms distance when you have a professional relationship. She has a difficult time letting the people inside that she should. The people that she does let in always seem to disappoint her.
"My job is my life. I don’t work nine to five like most of the population. My job is unpredictable and demanding, it leaves little room for planning or scheduling."
Krissy and her 2 sisters grew up in a home void of love from her Mother. ( I literally despised this selfish, horrible woman!) Their father had problems with serious addictions and wasn't involved in their lives. All they did was fight. She remembers her father saying to her one day when she was very young;
“Sometimes people fight because they love each other so much. You have to fight for something that you love.” Her family life was strained to say the least. She had OCD tendencies that would manifest when she was troubled or under stress.
"My mother was unable to deal with weakness or vulnerability, basically anything that caused her to feel. She passed this on to my sisters and me. I don’t know if she so much as passed it on or if it was forced upon us."
Krissy has a chance meeting with a dark haired, dark skin beautiful man named Ben while running by the beach one morning. She is very reserved and slow to let anyone in her heart. He turns out to be a very caring and kind person. They build a strong friendship that turns into something more. Ben is an amazing man and he falls really hard for her.
“There’s something about you that I can’t ignore,” he says and his voice turns to a whisper. “I’m drawn to you.”
Krissy is overly involved with her client Trini's life. She feels bad for her because she really has no family support and guidance. As her publicist she has to get Trinis public opinion out of the gutter constantly. She tries to be Motherly to her. (I think she was trying to be the Mother SHE never had, to this girl).
"I’m her only friend. She’s surrounded by people day in and day out, yet none of them truly care about her. They’re all part of the show that’s become Trini’s life. Everyone playing a part, wanting to be close to the wealth and fame she carries, but when the shit hits the fan they scatter like rats. It’s sad and I know it, which is why I can’t turn my back on her."
Ben wants things from Krissy that she is unable to give. He wants forever! She knows she can't give him what he wants because of her deep seated fears. She decides to end it with him. She wants him to be happy and to find someone that could give themselves to him completely like he deserves. She is crushed by her own decision, but feels it is the right thing to do.
She goes onto the office one day to meet Trini's latest attorney that has one hell of a hole to dig her out of. She walks into the conference to see that the new attorney is none other than the first love of her life. She is absolutely shocked and is hit with a deluge of emotions. Their relationship was filled with love, angst, infidelity, and passion. After spending some time together, Tyler tells her that losing her was the biggest mistake he ever made. Krissy jumps in feet first. She is grasping to the familiarity of the relationship, while trying to forget Ben. It doesn't take long for them to fall into their old relationship patterns.
"Were we fighting for love or were we just fighting? I know in the beginning, each time Tyler and I got back together things were perfect. It’s nice to feel loved and wanted. There’s something to be said for that. It can make the negative appear invisible. It takes over and nothing else matters. It can make you do stupid things, make you choose blindly and make you irrational. Love, it’s like a flask full of peach schnapps when you’re seventeen, ruthless and unkind yet so wonderfully delicious. I’m not even sure at this point either one of us knows what we are fighting for and even more, is it worth it?"
What ensues is like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn't be watching, but you are just shocked and drawn by the chaos. Krissy goes on to make some terrible decisions. She starts to question every choice she has ever made. (Thank God, its about time!)
"It’s funny how your heart can deceive you. Follow your heart, people say, but they never tell you that sometimes it makes the wrong choice. The heart doesn’t just deceive you once and then grow smarter. Well, at least not mine. Mine did it many times and I fell in love too easily, even when it wasn’t right."
I really enjoyed this book. I think the author did an excellent job of getting you emotionally attached to the characters. The story was deep, emotional, and steamy too. Krissy really made some bad decisions in her life. She really didnt have great role models to look up to, and I think that really influenced her bad choices. In the end the story is redeemed and you are treated to seeing the heroine get herself together. She gets her priorities in order and makes the best of the decisions she has made. She comes to find that some of her not so great choices, turned out to be amazing. I would recommend this book to my firends.
"I have to have faith that I made the right choice. I chose to love deeply. I chose to follow those words that somehow somehow failed me in the past. Love makes a family".
April 21, 2013
In "A Life More Complete" we find Kristin, an OCD borderline neurotic Publicist of an Under-aged Starlet. Kristin's professional life collides with her personal life, and making decisions that will drastically alter her reality.
This Book Sucked me in from the Prologue. This is a story of love, loss, and the choices we make in life (whether it's the ones people around us believe are the correct ones). I went through a mirage of emotions, from happy, to mad, to downright pissed off (if I hadn't been reading it on my Kindle, I may have thrown the book). Some of the book I found scary relate-able, other aspects remind me of watching TMZ, and what I image celebrity's go through.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I am going to stop here. I can honestly say I couldn't put it down, I had to know what was going to happen and what Kristin was going to do next?
My only issue with the book (and I'm not sure if this was a formatting issue with the Kindle or Editing Issues) was that especially in the beginning, that scenes seemed to change mid paragraph, and I would have to reread out of confusion of what was going on. I didn't notice this in the last half of the book.
In the End though, I do recommend this book. It is a really good First Novel, and I can not wait to see what else Nikki Young has to give.
This Book Sucked me in from the Prologue. This is a story of love, loss, and the choices we make in life (whether it's the ones people around us believe are the correct ones). I went through a mirage of emotions, from happy, to mad, to downright pissed off (if I hadn't been reading it on my Kindle, I may have thrown the book). Some of the book I found scary relate-able, other aspects remind me of watching TMZ, and what I image celebrity's go through.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I am going to stop here. I can honestly say I couldn't put it down, I had to know what was going to happen and what Kristin was going to do next?
My only issue with the book (and I'm not sure if this was a formatting issue with the Kindle or Editing Issues) was that especially in the beginning, that scenes seemed to change mid paragraph, and I would have to reread out of confusion of what was going on. I didn't notice this in the last half of the book.
In the End though, I do recommend this book. It is a really good First Novel, and I can not wait to see what else Nikki Young has to give.
May 10, 2013
This was a story I was so excited to read, and once again a debut novel by a young author so I wasn't sure what to except. I was not disappointed. This book was so unlike anything I have read in quite awhile......it was realistic, beautiful, touching. 4.5 stars.
This book is about Krissy Mullins, a twenty-nine year old publicist, who has had a rough childhood. She is deeply scarred and has some emotional issues. She runs from commitment, even though she knows that deep down she would love to settle down, be loved and have a family of her own. She chooses to focus on her career, avoiding feeling at all cost, and it causes her to ruin the relationship with the man who truly loves her more than anything.
My heart just wrenched watching Krissy self-destruct because I knew deep down that Krissy was a strong-willed, intelligent, beautiful woman. Eventually Krissy moves on and she falls for the wrong guy, who breaks her down, betrays her, and she becomes a shell of herself......just existing. Krissy has to learn to stand on her own two feet and listen to her heart to discover true love. A Life More Complete is a story about hope, life, love, and self-discovery.
Congrats Nikki on a fabulous debut novel. A book that is in all honestly, just absolutely amazing. I would highly recommend this story. I hope you all give it a chance, you won't be disappointed.
This book is about Krissy Mullins, a twenty-nine year old publicist, who has had a rough childhood. She is deeply scarred and has some emotional issues. She runs from commitment, even though she knows that deep down she would love to settle down, be loved and have a family of her own. She chooses to focus on her career, avoiding feeling at all cost, and it causes her to ruin the relationship with the man who truly loves her more than anything.
My heart just wrenched watching Krissy self-destruct because I knew deep down that Krissy was a strong-willed, intelligent, beautiful woman. Eventually Krissy moves on and she falls for the wrong guy, who breaks her down, betrays her, and she becomes a shell of herself......just existing. Krissy has to learn to stand on her own two feet and listen to her heart to discover true love. A Life More Complete is a story about hope, life, love, and self-discovery.
Congrats Nikki on a fabulous debut novel. A book that is in all honestly, just absolutely amazing. I would highly recommend this story. I hope you all give it a chance, you won't be disappointed.
May 3, 2013
Was given a copy of the book for an honest review from the author
Family and life are two things that you take from it what you can, and if you are lucky, you find love along the way. Krissy Mullins didn't have the storybook childhood that some kids have and she was determined to live a life away from those that she grew up with. She moves to California to go to college and stays.
This is a story where you can watch the progression of Krissy growing into her own person, dealing with her demons, and make a new life for herself. There were times that made me crack up laughing because Krissy is from the Chicago area and only a writer from that area would know the attitude to put into that character. There were times that I wanted to throw my kindle and ask Krissy "What the heck were you thinking".
It was refreshing to read a book that was more into building the story and the characters then writing in usless sex.
I thought this was a great way for Nikki Young to write her first book. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. If all of her books are like this one, she has a wonderful career ahead of her.
Family and life are two things that you take from it what you can, and if you are lucky, you find love along the way. Krissy Mullins didn't have the storybook childhood that some kids have and she was determined to live a life away from those that she grew up with. She moves to California to go to college and stays.
This is a story where you can watch the progression of Krissy growing into her own person, dealing with her demons, and make a new life for herself. There were times that made me crack up laughing because Krissy is from the Chicago area and only a writer from that area would know the attitude to put into that character. There were times that I wanted to throw my kindle and ask Krissy "What the heck were you thinking".
It was refreshing to read a book that was more into building the story and the characters then writing in usless sex.
I thought this was a great way for Nikki Young to write her first book. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future. If all of her books are like this one, she has a wonderful career ahead of her.
August 27, 2016
Loved reading a novel by someone I know!!! So impressed! The story was very unpredictable and I didn't want to put it down!
July 26, 2013
Read my review at Midwest Galley Girl.
http://midwestgalleygirl.wordpress.co...
http://midwestgalleygirl.wordpress.co...
Damaged females make for great novel heroines. They just do. They have all the issues that it takes to wrap a decent plot around. Well...meet Krissy.
Which brings me to my mother. I give her credit. She left her husband, my father, an emotionally and physically abusive alcoholic drug addict when I was eight. She took my two sisters and me in the dead of night and ran. Cowardly, but that was all she knew, and when I ran at age eighteen, I did it because it was the only coping mechanism I had been taught. Run from your problems, from your past, from your life, and maybe you’ll get lucky and it won’t follow you.
Krissy's upbringing has been a hot mess of parental neglect. So, she ran far from Chicago's suburbs to college in Southern California. She followed a boy there, of course. We'll get to him in a minute, though.
We're introduced first to Bennett Torres and his nearly lost dog, Roxy, after the dog chased Krissy on her daily run. Possibly one of the best Meet Cutes ever.
“Roxy, you bad girl! Don’t you ever run away again. I was so worried!” All along, Roxy was tilting her head in different directions as the inflection in his voice changed. Everything about this was endearing: this man on his knees, the way he spoke to the dog, the kindness and love he bequeathed upon her, and his genuine concern for her safety. My words pulled him from his reverie. They left my mouth before my brain could stop them. “Your dog is adorable.” He glanced up at me, placing his hand on his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun. He paused for a brief moment, then a shy smile crossed his face and he responded lightly with, “You’re adorable.”
Krissy's a little lost. A lot lost, actually, because she cannot just commit to this lovely man. He's normal. She feels almost comfortable with him. Why can't it work?
I wasn’t looking to fall in love. Nope, not me. Been there, done that and boy, oh, boy did the ending suck. I’m serious, ambitious, goal driven, at least that’s how I want to be perceived, but I know my view might be a little skewed. I’m the girl who wears white pants and assumes they won’t get dirty. I’m clumsy and silly, but long to be taken seriously. Yep, that’s me. A damn fool. With Ben it falls to pieces. I can only see him and the warmth that spreads through my body. He makes me laugh. He makes me smile. He makes me weak.
There's another guy, right? From last time where the ending sucked? Yep...the one she followed to California. Her first love. Tyler. He's back and now they're working together, (she's in PR, he's an attorney) managing the misadventures of a Britney Spears-esque teen star in a self-destructive spiral.
There he is looking all business suit professional and oh God, so sexy I’m not sure I can handle it. I pause for a moment and the memories come flooding back like images flashed on a screen. The boy I fell in love with; I can see him so vividly, his crooked smile, the straight white teeth, the tousled curly blonde hair, the way he made my stomach feel every time he placed his hand in mine, his laugh, his flirtatious demeanor. There are no negative emotions only excitement and nervousness. I feel like I’m sixteen again. The memories make my heart hurt as it beats rapidly against my chest. Then he catches my gaze and smiles that perfect heart stopping smile and I feel like I might cry.
Isn't love sweeter the second time around? Tyler has arrived at just the right time for Krissy's past to right itself, right? He's changed, right?
Rounding out the cast of characters are Krissy's best friends, Melinda, a California high maintenance trust fund princess, and Bob, her fantastic gay boyfriend. Her best friend from Chicago, Gia, is the living embodiment of normal, unconditional love. Her sisters, Rachel and Maizey, damaged in their own right, also play prominently into the story as Krissy is continually having to confront her Chicago past right along with them.
The writing was on the wall. I knew where this was probably going...and yet, I was compelled to follow along. The characters are well developed. Krissy often makes infuriating choices, but you'll root for her anyway. THIS is a hat tip to the author, because I HAD TO KNOW how this book resolved once I was a few chapters in. The roller coaster had officially hit that point where you can't get off and you're about to hit the top of the hill before the inevitable first drop. All the emotions are building, building, building. Cue the dropping stomach from the free fall.
A LIFE MORE COMPLETE is quite a ride, too. I was wound pretty tight for the last quarter of this book. I assure you that this story resolves beautifully. The epilogue is one of the most satisfying I've read in a while. Krissy won't leave your heart anytime soon, but you'll be grateful you let her reside there in the first place.
5 stars
Find Nikki Young on the interwebz:
May 3, 2013
Read more reviews like this at The Book Asylum.
My friend Natasha at Natasha is a Book Junkie contacted me a few months back about a new author who was working on her first book. She had read some of it and couldn’t say enough great things about it. Since Natasha has never steered me wrong before, I agreed immediately to help promote the author and her book any way I could. Today, I am thrilled to wish Nikki Young a happy release day and share my review of her debut novel, A Life More Complete, with all of you.
A Life More Complete is, at its core, a story about love; how its presence or lack thereof, shapes us and makes us into the people we are. The story follows Kristen, a 28 year-old woman who is fiercely independent and emotionally limited by the beliefs she has about love. Growing up with an alcoholic, drug-addicted father, and an emotionally bereft mother caused her and her sisters to develop coping mechanisms that served a purpose for a long time, but are no longer useful. In fact, these barriers that served to protect them in the past have now become a hindrance to living a full, happy life, especially for Kristen. She uses her work as a shield to keep people at a distance, especially Ben. Perfect, handsome, compassionate, hard-working, fun-loving Ben. He is everything Kristen wants, everything she needs. But when faced with the choice of loving him fully while lightening her work load—the thing she clings to most in her life—or letting him walk away, she does what she thinks is best.
“It’s funny how your heart can deceive you. Follow your heart, people say, but they never tell you that sometimes it makes the wrong choice.”
Despite her heartache, despite the fact that what she and Ben have is so special, she lets him walk. I was so sad when this happened. Young does a great job of making you love Ben and then we have to say goodbye to him? No! Just… no. Needless to say, my heart hurt after they parted ways. Shortly after their break-up, an ex-boyfriend of Krissy’s moves to town. Not just any ex, THE EX. You know the one—the good times were great, the bad times were really bad. Enough time has passed that they have moved on in some ways and not in others. Things fall easily into place and Kristen and Tyler let themselves remember the good times, hastily jumping into a relationship again.
“Time has a way of rearranging things…”
Unfortunately, "the king and the queen went back to the green, but you can never go back there again..." Billy Joel's lyrics have stuck with me throughout my life and they were on repeat as soon as Tyler entered the picture. For those of us who have ever gone back to a relationship that wasn't working only to have it fall apart all over again, you know what Billy's talking about. Unfortunately for Krissy, she learned the very hard way that sometimes love isn't enough, old habits die hard, and a bunch of other clichés that actually have a modicum of truth to them.
While I admired Kristen, she also scared the crap out of me. We all have ways to cope, ways to protect ourselves. We all have ways to keep others out of certain aspects of our lives or out of our lives completely. Sometimes that's for the best, other times it's just plain unhealthy. As I read some of the situations and understood exactly what Kristen was doing and why, it felt a little too familiar to me. I completely understood her reasoning and saw where she was coming from. Her calm, her control, her crazy; I got all of it. Hell, I've been there a few times myself. There's a relatability to her character that really spoke to me. Her situation with Tyler and Ben absolutely killed me. At one point or another, most of us have experienced a similar situation: loving someone with all of our being, but no matter what we’ve done, how hard we’ve tried, something just wasn’t right. Sometimes there’s blame to place. Sometimes not. No matter how much you wanted it to be, for one reason or another it just wasn't. Like I said, relatability. That seems to be the name of the game in A Life More Complete.
I can't find the words to describe how much I detested a certain character by the end of the book. No spoilers, but believe me, ladies, you'll know EXACTLY who I'm talking about. There weren't really any surprises, but something about this story kept me reading (fretfully) long into the night. I just couldn’t sleep until I knew how things would work out for Krissy. I had to know!
At the conclusion, I was happy. I was sated. I felt like things ended exactly as they needed to and the epilogue gave me some very much appreciated closure. A Life More Complete felt real to me in so many ways. Yes, there was drama, but it was the type bred from real-life events you could actually see happening to yourself or a friend. I’m happy to recommend this book to contemporary romance readers and lovers of happily ever afters, in all their many forms! Four page-turning stars to Nikki Young for a job well-done on her debut novel!
“I chose to love deeply. I chose to follow those words that somehow failed me in the past.”
I was given an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
My friend Natasha at Natasha is a Book Junkie contacted me a few months back about a new author who was working on her first book. She had read some of it and couldn’t say enough great things about it. Since Natasha has never steered me wrong before, I agreed immediately to help promote the author and her book any way I could. Today, I am thrilled to wish Nikki Young a happy release day and share my review of her debut novel, A Life More Complete, with all of you.
A Life More Complete is, at its core, a story about love; how its presence or lack thereof, shapes us and makes us into the people we are. The story follows Kristen, a 28 year-old woman who is fiercely independent and emotionally limited by the beliefs she has about love. Growing up with an alcoholic, drug-addicted father, and an emotionally bereft mother caused her and her sisters to develop coping mechanisms that served a purpose for a long time, but are no longer useful. In fact, these barriers that served to protect them in the past have now become a hindrance to living a full, happy life, especially for Kristen. She uses her work as a shield to keep people at a distance, especially Ben. Perfect, handsome, compassionate, hard-working, fun-loving Ben. He is everything Kristen wants, everything she needs. But when faced with the choice of loving him fully while lightening her work load—the thing she clings to most in her life—or letting him walk away, she does what she thinks is best.
“It’s funny how your heart can deceive you. Follow your heart, people say, but they never tell you that sometimes it makes the wrong choice.”
Despite her heartache, despite the fact that what she and Ben have is so special, she lets him walk. I was so sad when this happened. Young does a great job of making you love Ben and then we have to say goodbye to him? No! Just… no. Needless to say, my heart hurt after they parted ways. Shortly after their break-up, an ex-boyfriend of Krissy’s moves to town. Not just any ex, THE EX. You know the one—the good times were great, the bad times were really bad. Enough time has passed that they have moved on in some ways and not in others. Things fall easily into place and Kristen and Tyler let themselves remember the good times, hastily jumping into a relationship again.
“Time has a way of rearranging things…”
Unfortunately, "the king and the queen went back to the green, but you can never go back there again..." Billy Joel's lyrics have stuck with me throughout my life and they were on repeat as soon as Tyler entered the picture. For those of us who have ever gone back to a relationship that wasn't working only to have it fall apart all over again, you know what Billy's talking about. Unfortunately for Krissy, she learned the very hard way that sometimes love isn't enough, old habits die hard, and a bunch of other clichés that actually have a modicum of truth to them.
While I admired Kristen, she also scared the crap out of me. We all have ways to cope, ways to protect ourselves. We all have ways to keep others out of certain aspects of our lives or out of our lives completely. Sometimes that's for the best, other times it's just plain unhealthy. As I read some of the situations and understood exactly what Kristen was doing and why, it felt a little too familiar to me. I completely understood her reasoning and saw where she was coming from. Her calm, her control, her crazy; I got all of it. Hell, I've been there a few times myself. There's a relatability to her character that really spoke to me. Her situation with Tyler and Ben absolutely killed me. At one point or another, most of us have experienced a similar situation: loving someone with all of our being, but no matter what we’ve done, how hard we’ve tried, something just wasn’t right. Sometimes there’s blame to place. Sometimes not. No matter how much you wanted it to be, for one reason or another it just wasn't. Like I said, relatability. That seems to be the name of the game in A Life More Complete.
I can't find the words to describe how much I detested a certain character by the end of the book. No spoilers, but believe me, ladies, you'll know EXACTLY who I'm talking about. There weren't really any surprises, but something about this story kept me reading (fretfully) long into the night. I just couldn’t sleep until I knew how things would work out for Krissy. I had to know!
At the conclusion, I was happy. I was sated. I felt like things ended exactly as they needed to and the epilogue gave me some very much appreciated closure. A Life More Complete felt real to me in so many ways. Yes, there was drama, but it was the type bred from real-life events you could actually see happening to yourself or a friend. I’m happy to recommend this book to contemporary romance readers and lovers of happily ever afters, in all their many forms! Four page-turning stars to Nikki Young for a job well-done on her debut novel!
“I chose to love deeply. I chose to follow those words that somehow failed me in the past.”
I was given an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 7, 2013
what happens when love just isn't enough? I guess we are about to find out.
I loved the Prologue it caught my attention and sucked me in I wanted to know Krissy's story.
A slow start, then BAMM the books come to life in the realist way.
The heroine Krissy is an over worked publicist, she had a rough childhood which has contributed to and controlled her adult life, she is a prisoner to her fears and irrational feeling
What I like about her was that she is a regular every day girl, she makes mistakes, and bad choices just like the rest of us trying to navigate the minefield that is life. she could be anyone her story can happen to anyone.
This book is real (I am probably going to say this a lot, because its true)and it reflects life.
But all that said Lord have mercy did the frustrate he hell out of me, I have never wanted to slap someone (a character) so much and tell her to wake up and smell the coffee, stop running away from her problems....you can only run so far before it all comes crashing down on you all at once. Then what?? exactly all that you have being running from just now its times a thousand.
Don't brush things under the carpet.....deal with them head on.
non of the characters are perfect, all have flaws,secrets and hidden hurt.
Ben, I think is am amazing handsome man who waited six years for Krissy to admit her feelings for him. He gives her just what she needs love, support, and understanding.
Being a slave to her past Krissy destroys her own happiness with a man that loves her with each fibre of his being.
(quote) "With him its easy, everything is easy"
Watching her self destruct was hard and the hurt Ben was experiencing as a result had me stopping a few times to compose myself. her misguided feelings are so REAL and true to life, I could not help but be completely caught up. I genuinely hurt for her and wanted to kill her in the process. Choices she makes are ones that we all have to make on a daily basis. But she kept on making the same wrong ones. My kindle endured a lot of shaking and screaming. it could not be helped FRUSTRATION FRUSTRATION FRUSTRATION.(But sometimes like can be frustrating I know that first hand)
it broke my heart when Ben painted a picture of the life he envisioned with her know the walls she has built up around herself (her job) will not allow them to have that life.
(quote) "Ben lips are like home, comforting and soft"
(quote) "I'm overwhelmed and anxiety riddled a complete mess" How could this be a good thing? its not. but that life, we have to go through difficulties to discover who we are and what we truly want.
In walks Tyler Krissy ex-boyfriend I'm immediately apprehensive; one minute she is all heart broken and daydreaming of Ben is next she is consumed with desire for Tyler her first love, the reason she ended up in California who broke her heart and treated her badly.
(quote) "Tyler is familiar; he's my known and unknown all at the same time"
At first it made me question her feeling towards Ben the way she reacted/ her body reacted to Tyler. Then I remembered she is just a broken women trying to protect her heart, just going about it all the wrong way (In life we make mistakes in order to learn from them) and she has never actually dealt with her feelings or the hurt she endured in the past.
like many of us she tries to do what she thinks she wants not really want she needs
Not wanting to feel, hurt and pain can make people do silly things they feel is right in that moment.
I eventually warm to Tyler... a little he says all the right things but I remain suspicious.
How much can someone change?
Can a Leopard really change his spots?...To find out you have to read this wonderful book
FOUR HEARTFELT HONEST STARS
I have to hand it to Nikki Young this is a great début Novel Real and gripping, gritty and honest. she set her own standards and pace. this book does not follow any set pattern or formula its completely authentic and credible.
between 70%-80% in something tragic or sad does not happen, another 10-15% making it right or whatever then the finial part a supper cheesy HEA. NO Nikki stayed true to reality and portrayed human nature in its truest, realist from. there was angst throughout and I mean serious ANGST.
weldone GREAT STORY
Every one should read this book, great read
get you copy now:
I loved the Prologue it caught my attention and sucked me in I wanted to know Krissy's story.
A slow start, then BAMM the books come to life in the realist way.
The heroine Krissy is an over worked publicist, she had a rough childhood which has contributed to and controlled her adult life, she is a prisoner to her fears and irrational feeling
What I like about her was that she is a regular every day girl, she makes mistakes, and bad choices just like the rest of us trying to navigate the minefield that is life. she could be anyone her story can happen to anyone.
This book is real (I am probably going to say this a lot, because its true)and it reflects life.
But all that said Lord have mercy did the frustrate he hell out of me, I have never wanted to slap someone (a character) so much and tell her to wake up and smell the coffee, stop running away from her problems....you can only run so far before it all comes crashing down on you all at once. Then what?? exactly all that you have being running from just now its times a thousand.
Don't brush things under the carpet.....deal with them head on.
non of the characters are perfect, all have flaws,secrets and hidden hurt.
Ben, I think is am amazing handsome man who waited six years for Krissy to admit her feelings for him. He gives her just what she needs love, support, and understanding.
Being a slave to her past Krissy destroys her own happiness with a man that loves her with each fibre of his being.
(quote) "With him its easy, everything is easy"
Watching her self destruct was hard and the hurt Ben was experiencing as a result had me stopping a few times to compose myself. her misguided feelings are so REAL and true to life, I could not help but be completely caught up. I genuinely hurt for her and wanted to kill her in the process. Choices she makes are ones that we all have to make on a daily basis. But she kept on making the same wrong ones. My kindle endured a lot of shaking and screaming. it could not be helped FRUSTRATION FRUSTRATION FRUSTRATION.(But sometimes like can be frustrating I know that first hand)
it broke my heart when Ben painted a picture of the life he envisioned with her know the walls she has built up around herself (her job) will not allow them to have that life.
(quote) "Ben lips are like home, comforting and soft"
(quote) "I'm overwhelmed and anxiety riddled a complete mess" How could this be a good thing? its not. but that life, we have to go through difficulties to discover who we are and what we truly want.
In walks Tyler Krissy ex-boyfriend I'm immediately apprehensive; one minute she is all heart broken and daydreaming of Ben is next she is consumed with desire for Tyler her first love, the reason she ended up in California who broke her heart and treated her badly.
(quote) "Tyler is familiar; he's my known and unknown all at the same time"
At first it made me question her feeling towards Ben the way she reacted/ her body reacted to Tyler. Then I remembered she is just a broken women trying to protect her heart, just going about it all the wrong way (In life we make mistakes in order to learn from them) and she has never actually dealt with her feelings or the hurt she endured in the past.
like many of us she tries to do what she thinks she wants not really want she needs
Not wanting to feel, hurt and pain can make people do silly things they feel is right in that moment.
I eventually warm to Tyler... a little he says all the right things but I remain suspicious.
How much can someone change?
Can a Leopard really change his spots?...To find out you have to read this wonderful book
FOUR HEARTFELT HONEST STARS
I have to hand it to Nikki Young this is a great début Novel Real and gripping, gritty and honest. she set her own standards and pace. this book does not follow any set pattern or formula its completely authentic and credible.
between 70%-80% in something tragic or sad does not happen, another 10-15% making it right or whatever then the finial part a supper cheesy HEA. NO Nikki stayed true to reality and portrayed human nature in its truest, realist from. there was angst throughout and I mean serious ANGST.
weldone GREAT STORY
Every one should read this book, great read
get you copy now:
May 1, 2013
I wasn't looking to fall in love. Nope, not me. Been there, done that and boy, oh, boy did the ending suck. I'm serious, ambitious, goal driven, at least that's how I want to be perceived, but I know my view might be a little skewed. I'm the girl who wears white pants and assumes they won't get dirty. I'm clumsy and silly, but long to be taken seriously. Yep, that's me. A damn fool.
Krissy is a damaged, OCD, closed off publicist who is scared of love and commitment and works round the clock. She had a traumatic childhood that has shaped her views on love and relationships. And she has been hurt by the one man she gave herself to in the past. She meets Ben Torres and he is perfect and swoon-worthy. He is sweet, patient, kind and initially becomes a good friend. She literally makes him wait years for their relationship to progress. That portion is revealed in retrospective and we are now in present as Krissy tries to build more of a real relationship with Ben.
He wants a title, ownership, commitment...love. I've never fully loved him, always one foot out the door, that way when the pain invades I can break away without feeling or guilt. But I want to change for him and I'm compelling myself to be a better person, starting today.
He really understands her and tolerates her quirks. But she has such problems with being a work-a-holic, having to deal with her young client Trini who is a Lindsay Lohan clone, time management issues, and just general fear of the future. Ben tries so hard and Krissy just drove me nuts because she could not see how good he was for her. And finally Ben's patience runs out.
Not long after they give up, the man from her past reappears. Tyler was her first love and quickly moves back into her life and heart. This also kind of annoyed me because she made Ben wait so long for her to admit feelings and she seemed to jump right back into it with Tyler. Tyler could be sweet and loving, but he could also be a selfish ass too. On the surface it seems like maybe they are back where they belong. But has Tyler really changed or will they end up right back with the same problems? Tyler has a dual personality. At times I liked him and at times I hated him.
Tyler is familiar; he's my known and my unknown all at the same time. He clouds my vision and makes my thinking fuzzy, yet somehow he makes everything appear perfectly clear. I find myself in the same predicament I did years ago. I would do anything for him.
Krissy ends up trying to figure out who she really wants to be with and what she wants for her future. There are lies, betrayals, hurt, pain, and happy times along the way. There were surprises and secrets that are exposed. None of the characters are perfect and they all make mistakes and poor decisions at some point. The supporting characters were all well developed and their lives intermingled and added to the drama. The more serious relationships are complicated, messy, frustrating, and deep. Krissy struggled a lot in her attempt to find her way to happiness. She had to learn to let go of past disappointments and fears in order to be able to move forward. And along the way I started to like Krissy more. She began to find herself, figure out what she truly needed, and was able to realize what her priorities should be.
"I have to have faith that I made the right choice. I chose to love deeply. I chose to follow those words that somehow somehow failed me in the past. Love makes a family".
Thanks to Nikki Young for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Will be posted on blog tour at Reviews by Tammy and Kim
Krissy is a damaged, OCD, closed off publicist who is scared of love and commitment and works round the clock. She had a traumatic childhood that has shaped her views on love and relationships. And she has been hurt by the one man she gave herself to in the past. She meets Ben Torres and he is perfect and swoon-worthy. He is sweet, patient, kind and initially becomes a good friend. She literally makes him wait years for their relationship to progress. That portion is revealed in retrospective and we are now in present as Krissy tries to build more of a real relationship with Ben.
He wants a title, ownership, commitment...love. I've never fully loved him, always one foot out the door, that way when the pain invades I can break away without feeling or guilt. But I want to change for him and I'm compelling myself to be a better person, starting today.
He really understands her and tolerates her quirks. But she has such problems with being a work-a-holic, having to deal with her young client Trini who is a Lindsay Lohan clone, time management issues, and just general fear of the future. Ben tries so hard and Krissy just drove me nuts because she could not see how good he was for her. And finally Ben's patience runs out.
Not long after they give up, the man from her past reappears. Tyler was her first love and quickly moves back into her life and heart. This also kind of annoyed me because she made Ben wait so long for her to admit feelings and she seemed to jump right back into it with Tyler. Tyler could be sweet and loving, but he could also be a selfish ass too. On the surface it seems like maybe they are back where they belong. But has Tyler really changed or will they end up right back with the same problems? Tyler has a dual personality. At times I liked him and at times I hated him.
Tyler is familiar; he's my known and my unknown all at the same time. He clouds my vision and makes my thinking fuzzy, yet somehow he makes everything appear perfectly clear. I find myself in the same predicament I did years ago. I would do anything for him.
Krissy ends up trying to figure out who she really wants to be with and what she wants for her future. There are lies, betrayals, hurt, pain, and happy times along the way. There were surprises and secrets that are exposed. None of the characters are perfect and they all make mistakes and poor decisions at some point. The supporting characters were all well developed and their lives intermingled and added to the drama. The more serious relationships are complicated, messy, frustrating, and deep. Krissy struggled a lot in her attempt to find her way to happiness. She had to learn to let go of past disappointments and fears in order to be able to move forward. And along the way I started to like Krissy more. She began to find herself, figure out what she truly needed, and was able to realize what her priorities should be.
"I have to have faith that I made the right choice. I chose to love deeply. I chose to follow those words that somehow somehow failed me in the past. Love makes a family".
Thanks to Nikki Young for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Will be posted on blog tour at Reviews by Tammy and Kim
July 7, 2013
So the story goes:
Can you ever really outrun your past?
Krissy Mullins, an overworked, obsessive-compulsive publicist has been giving it her best shot for the past ten years. Throwing herself into her work and devoting all her time to her teenage starlet client, Krissy finds little time for anything else. But as fate would have it, her world is turned upside down when she falls in love with laid-back California native, Ben Torres. Unfortunately, her only frame of reference on love and marriage is her parents and they weren’t exactly the poster children for a happy relationship.
As Krissy attempts to navigate the precarious world of love, acceptance, and compromise, her past comes flooding back like she never expected. An ex-boyfriend returns from a life she has tried to forget, stirring up feelings in Krissy she had thought were long gone. Pulled in opposite directions as her past and present collide, she makes a rash decision that will forever change her life.
I have never been more confused in my life. I absolutely loved Ben. Seriously what man waits For You and loves you, never pushed or pries, just simply waits for you, never knowing if you will be more than friends,wants more but will take what he can have. If its just friends he is good with that although he loved you more than anything. 6 years he waited patiently. He wanted it all with Krissy, to love her, support her, Marry her and have children with her. He was the whole package. They finally become a couple But Krissy lets her job interfere and its not even a job she loves. She doesn't fight for their relationship and lets it dissolve. Ben wants her but doesn't know how to hold onto her because she is going to run regardless.
Then in walks her ex Tyler, someone she hasn't seen in years and still feels the pain of him leaving her. But that doesn't stop her she falls back into a relationship with him and that had me upset. I wanted her to see what was in front of her what Ben had been to her but she chose to enter a relationship with Tyler because she still,loves him and wants him but still something always lingers in her for Ben which she ignores and dives head first into the relationship with Tyler. I was so angry at her to see her be so strong and independent and watch how she let Tyler tear her down, make her insecure, needy and question everything. She was like a whooped pup tucking its tail at confrontation.
I was thoroughly disgusted to watch her fall apart and bend to Tyler. She wanted to be loved and thought Tyler was it but she wasted so much time with the relationship that was going nowhere when Ben was always and still there for her.
I love Bob and Mel. They were great friends. I was happy she rekindled her relationships with her sister. Her mother yet was never gonna change she was self centered and emotionless.
I have never hated but loved something so much. I wanted to scream and throw a temper tantrum so Krissy would wake up and see what was in front of her, everyone around her saw it, warned her and tried to show her but she was oblivious. She took what Tyler gave all the while knowing she wanted more.
The epilogue well it made me happy. Yes I got my HEA so I was quite pleased.
This book was different it showed real life. How although our heads tell us one thing and we know the truth we choose to disregard the head and follow the heart even when we know the outcome may not be good.
To the author....
Amazing job. You had me worried for awhile. :)
Can you ever really outrun your past?
Krissy Mullins, an overworked, obsessive-compulsive publicist has been giving it her best shot for the past ten years. Throwing herself into her work and devoting all her time to her teenage starlet client, Krissy finds little time for anything else. But as fate would have it, her world is turned upside down when she falls in love with laid-back California native, Ben Torres. Unfortunately, her only frame of reference on love and marriage is her parents and they weren’t exactly the poster children for a happy relationship.
As Krissy attempts to navigate the precarious world of love, acceptance, and compromise, her past comes flooding back like she never expected. An ex-boyfriend returns from a life she has tried to forget, stirring up feelings in Krissy she had thought were long gone. Pulled in opposite directions as her past and present collide, she makes a rash decision that will forever change her life.
I have never been more confused in my life. I absolutely loved Ben. Seriously what man waits For You and loves you, never pushed or pries, just simply waits for you, never knowing if you will be more than friends,wants more but will take what he can have. If its just friends he is good with that although he loved you more than anything. 6 years he waited patiently. He wanted it all with Krissy, to love her, support her, Marry her and have children with her. He was the whole package. They finally become a couple But Krissy lets her job interfere and its not even a job she loves. She doesn't fight for their relationship and lets it dissolve. Ben wants her but doesn't know how to hold onto her because she is going to run regardless.
Then in walks her ex Tyler, someone she hasn't seen in years and still feels the pain of him leaving her. But that doesn't stop her she falls back into a relationship with him and that had me upset. I wanted her to see what was in front of her what Ben had been to her but she chose to enter a relationship with Tyler because she still,loves him and wants him but still something always lingers in her for Ben which she ignores and dives head first into the relationship with Tyler. I was so angry at her to see her be so strong and independent and watch how she let Tyler tear her down, make her insecure, needy and question everything. She was like a whooped pup tucking its tail at confrontation.
I was thoroughly disgusted to watch her fall apart and bend to Tyler. She wanted to be loved and thought Tyler was it but she wasted so much time with the relationship that was going nowhere when Ben was always and still there for her.
I love Bob and Mel. They were great friends. I was happy she rekindled her relationships with her sister. Her mother yet was never gonna change she was self centered and emotionless.
I have never hated but loved something so much. I wanted to scream and throw a temper tantrum so Krissy would wake up and see what was in front of her, everyone around her saw it, warned her and tried to show her but she was oblivious. She took what Tyler gave all the while knowing she wanted more.
The epilogue well it made me happy. Yes I got my HEA so I was quite pleased.
This book was different it showed real life. How although our heads tell us one thing and we know the truth we choose to disregard the head and follow the heart even when we know the outcome may not be good.
To the author....
Amazing job. You had me worried for awhile. :)
May 5, 2013
I haven’t read a book like this one in a while, it was like a breath of fresh air. This books is not what we normally read about, with the an amzing couple destined for their happily ever after, this book didn’t shy away from the fact tat our main heroine was flawed, she made mistakes and that’s alright, because we are human. It was one of the most realistic books I have read. It didn’t hide the ugliness of life, the horrible, the painful, the mistakes, the shame, and the weakness any person can go through.
Krissy Mullins is a twenty-nine year old publicist, she have had a very harsh childhood, which has left her with some very deep scars and heavy issues. She spends her day running away from commitment, even though deep down, there is nothing more she would like than to settle down with the man she loves and have a family. Instead she repeats the exact same mistake as her mother, focusing so much on her career, to avoid feeling, which leads her to self-destruct her relationship with the only man who loves her and adore her beyond heaven and earth.
It was excruciating reading along and watching her life fall apart, there were times where I had to put the book down, because I couldn’t read it with tears in my eyes. The thing about Krissy and this book is, it could possibly be any of us, it could be our girlfriends, our sisters, our colleagues, or even ourselves.
Any of us, could fall in love, be scared, unable to commit and some of us even do self-destruct our relationship, convincing ourselves it’s easier to deal with this pain now, then to open up and be more hurt, better now than later.
Krissy is a strong, beautiful, smart, talented young woman, and when she falls for the wrong man, who breaks her and her beautiful personality until she is a shell of the woman she used to be, letting him walk all over her. I had to put the book down again, my heart broke for her, but I knew she had to hit rock bottom, because nothing any of her true friends said got to her, she had to make the decision herself to be strong and stand up for herself.
Because of her loveless childhood with her dystfunctional parents. Krissy have not had the solid foundation of love, how can trust something you haven ever had or experienced yourself? Her past, have left her with insecurities and the inability to trust her heart. This book teaches us how important family is, and the values and life lessons they leave us with. A family helps shape a part of who you are, so when a family hurts and destroys pieces of your heart, it is hard to let anyone else in. This is a beautiful story about real life romance and how our hearts can be deceived, and yet in the end the hope of true love will preveil.
I applaud Nikki for one of the most real and beautiful story I have read in a while, and congratulate her on an amazing debut novel. This book is honest, heartfelt, touching and one that needs to be read by girls and women out there, we can all learn so much from this story. Highly recommended.
Krissy Mullins is a twenty-nine year old publicist, she have had a very harsh childhood, which has left her with some very deep scars and heavy issues. She spends her day running away from commitment, even though deep down, there is nothing more she would like than to settle down with the man she loves and have a family. Instead she repeats the exact same mistake as her mother, focusing so much on her career, to avoid feeling, which leads her to self-destruct her relationship with the only man who loves her and adore her beyond heaven and earth.
It was excruciating reading along and watching her life fall apart, there were times where I had to put the book down, because I couldn’t read it with tears in my eyes. The thing about Krissy and this book is, it could possibly be any of us, it could be our girlfriends, our sisters, our colleagues, or even ourselves.
Any of us, could fall in love, be scared, unable to commit and some of us even do self-destruct our relationship, convincing ourselves it’s easier to deal with this pain now, then to open up and be more hurt, better now than later.
Krissy is a strong, beautiful, smart, talented young woman, and when she falls for the wrong man, who breaks her and her beautiful personality until she is a shell of the woman she used to be, letting him walk all over her. I had to put the book down again, my heart broke for her, but I knew she had to hit rock bottom, because nothing any of her true friends said got to her, she had to make the decision herself to be strong and stand up for herself.
Because of her loveless childhood with her dystfunctional parents. Krissy have not had the solid foundation of love, how can trust something you haven ever had or experienced yourself? Her past, have left her with insecurities and the inability to trust her heart. This book teaches us how important family is, and the values and life lessons they leave us with. A family helps shape a part of who you are, so when a family hurts and destroys pieces of your heart, it is hard to let anyone else in. This is a beautiful story about real life romance and how our hearts can be deceived, and yet in the end the hope of true love will preveil.
I applaud Nikki for one of the most real and beautiful story I have read in a while, and congratulate her on an amazing debut novel. This book is honest, heartfelt, touching and one that needs to be read by girls and women out there, we can all learn so much from this story. Highly recommended.
May 20, 2013
A life more complete
Nikki Young
Work - a - holic! That would be Krissy Mullins. She fled the place she called home and has made a life for herself on the west coast. This is a stretch from Naperville, Illinois!
"My job is my life. I don’t work nine to five like most of the population. My job is unpredictable and demanding, it leaves little room for planning or scheduling."
Keep people at a distance and work work work! That is the way to go
for Krissy. Most of her choices and the way she lives now are reactions to her upbringing. Her Mother is awful! Trust me! So take that and the dad who had his own demons her childhood does not rank as stellar. Fighting, selfish people raising kids. If that would be what they actual did.. That would be debatable.
So basically this has had impact upon her and the way she views love and relationships too. If all you have ever known .. Well you get the picture.
"It’s funny how your heart can deceive you. Follow your heart, people say, but they never tell you that sometimes it makes the wrong choice. The heart doesn’t just deceive you once and then grow smarter. Well, at least not mine. Mine did it many times and I fell in love too easily, even when it wasn’t right."
All of this leads leads to one what and uh no.. After another. We have Ben who I am team Ben, if I can pick a team. Krissy and Ben meet I think he is a good man. They become friends, get to know each other. Ben wants things with her and her issues .. Well let us just say she makes bad choices. Is she going to be with Ben or will she ruin relationship? Old flames are around (Tyler) and well I wanted to shake sense into her several times. Why is he around, will old patterns repeat? I. Am. Not. Telling!
"Were we fighting for love or were we just fighting?
If Krissy took half the care of herself that she tried with Trini she might not be so bad off. (Trini is her client at work, remember work- a- holic) All in all her life just really turns into a epic mess. Watching her grow was wonderful! Although I just have to admit she scared me for a bit. I worried she would not make choices for herself.
This story was heartbreaking, happy, frustrating, sad, happy.. I was all over the place. I was cheering for Krissy and screaming at her too! Up and down... Emotionally charged read. I enjoyed it! The story engaged me and I was invested. I wanted to know what happened with Ben, Krissy and Tyler.. Trini too. Read it, you won't be disappointed.
"I have to have faith that I made the right choice. I chose to love deeply. I chose to follow those words that somehow somehow failed me in the past. Love makes a family".
My favorite quote from book. It's so very true. Faith sometimes is all you do have..
May 5, 2013
A Life More Complete is an original story where the characters are relatable and realistic. Sometimes our past hurts in life holds such a big piece you and holds on to you in a death grip, you just need to let go but its so hard. It happens with everyone the reason it soooo relatable. Krissy is strong woman, she went through a hell of lot. The only thing that created such hindrance in her life was that she never got closure. It wedged such a problem that she couldn't move on in her life with someone who completes her, does not wreck her, destroy her, break her and slowly kill away her spirit.
I love Ben so much. I am saying this now because I seriously can't keep it in anymore. That guy is so amazing. He makes you slowly but oh so deeply fall for him. I am Team Ben all the way. I totally support him. While reading it I wanted to pull my hair because I wish Krissy saw what was in front of her. However when she hadn't push her past and kept it in the past she was unknowingly clinging to it.
I hated Tyler so much, I won't say why but I am coming out and saying I HATE HIM!!! Ugh. I kept wishing him away. LOL. You will feel the same as well. ;)
The way the story ended it left me satisfied, the ending completed me by picking up the piece of my battered heart and putting it together. It was so angst filled. You feel for Krissy, you feel for Ben. Krissy has such great friends, a great job but she didn't enjoy it.
It teaches that choices we make in life effect our lives so much that you need to make choices that are for you. If you are not happy with your life no one will change it for you. YOU need to. It all comes down to letting go of your past. Making good choices that are best for you. When you have been down that road and you believe that person has changed but again are showing the same actions that have hurt you before than get the hell out! When someone and something completes you heart and soul never let it go.
I enjoyed this story and loved it! Its a beautiful story that stay with you forever!!
4.5 Beautiful Heart-filled Ben Stars!
I love Ben so much. I am saying this now because I seriously can't keep it in anymore. That guy is so amazing. He makes you slowly but oh so deeply fall for him. I am Team Ben all the way. I totally support him. While reading it I wanted to pull my hair because I wish Krissy saw what was in front of her. However when she hadn't push her past and kept it in the past she was unknowingly clinging to it.
I hated Tyler so much, I won't say why but I am coming out and saying I HATE HIM!!! Ugh. I kept wishing him away. LOL. You will feel the same as well. ;)
The way the story ended it left me satisfied, the ending completed me by picking up the piece of my battered heart and putting it together. It was so angst filled. You feel for Krissy, you feel for Ben. Krissy has such great friends, a great job but she didn't enjoy it.
It teaches that choices we make in life effect our lives so much that you need to make choices that are for you. If you are not happy with your life no one will change it for you. YOU need to. It all comes down to letting go of your past. Making good choices that are best for you. When you have been down that road and you believe that person has changed but again are showing the same actions that have hurt you before than get the hell out! When someone and something completes you heart and soul never let it go.
I enjoyed this story and loved it! Its a beautiful story that stay with you forever!!
4.5 Beautiful Heart-filled Ben Stars!
October 13, 2013
Review posted at: http://bookcrushbookreviews.com/2013/...
Rating: 4.5 stars
Wow, I had to take a half hour break after reading this one just to wrap my mind around everything. My emotions were so up and down throughout the whole novel. Krissy hates her job yet its run, work, eat, & sleep every day. She works her ass off and it's warring her thin. Krissy knows she can change things to make her happier but she doesn't want to. I love Krissy but her stubbornness drove me nuts at times because her happiness was starring her right in the face. Krissy is damaged from her past and uses her work as an escape. Ben is my newest book boyfriend and he's there for her consistently and whole-heartedly. She longs for love which is something we can all relate to but she makes unhealthy choices to achieve this love and sometimes it's hard to see outside our bubble. "I love you and just so you know, we were happy in this picture, truly happy." This quote had me in tears, it's so powerful and moving, it's impossible not to feel what Krissy experiences in this moment. Krissy's past comes to surface in the form of Tyler and he left a bad taste in my mouth from the first mention of him. The emotional abuse and roller coaster of doom called Tyler had me cringing. But Tyler's an important part of Krissy truly believing & finding herself so I know the depth was needed-but I hurt for her. Communication between a couple is important and there's a turning point in the story that had me crying with the characters because it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Krissy finds her true love and I won't share that spoiler with you but her journey came back full circle and she broke through the mixed messages of her parents and found her own life messages to live by. Some of my emotions ranged from disgusted, excited, somber, angst, angry, hurt, to admiration, hope, and love--which made the journey completely worthwhile. I hope you enjoy Krissy's journey of finding her completeness!! Give it a try!
Rating: 4.5 stars
Wow, I had to take a half hour break after reading this one just to wrap my mind around everything. My emotions were so up and down throughout the whole novel. Krissy hates her job yet its run, work, eat, & sleep every day. She works her ass off and it's warring her thin. Krissy knows she can change things to make her happier but she doesn't want to. I love Krissy but her stubbornness drove me nuts at times because her happiness was starring her right in the face. Krissy is damaged from her past and uses her work as an escape. Ben is my newest book boyfriend and he's there for her consistently and whole-heartedly. She longs for love which is something we can all relate to but she makes unhealthy choices to achieve this love and sometimes it's hard to see outside our bubble. "I love you and just so you know, we were happy in this picture, truly happy." This quote had me in tears, it's so powerful and moving, it's impossible not to feel what Krissy experiences in this moment. Krissy's past comes to surface in the form of Tyler and he left a bad taste in my mouth from the first mention of him. The emotional abuse and roller coaster of doom called Tyler had me cringing. But Tyler's an important part of Krissy truly believing & finding herself so I know the depth was needed-but I hurt for her. Communication between a couple is important and there's a turning point in the story that had me crying with the characters because it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Krissy finds her true love and I won't share that spoiler with you but her journey came back full circle and she broke through the mixed messages of her parents and found her own life messages to live by. Some of my emotions ranged from disgusted, excited, somber, angst, angry, hurt, to admiration, hope, and love--which made the journey completely worthwhile. I hope you enjoy Krissy's journey of finding her completeness!! Give it a try!
May 7, 2013
I’m going to start with saying OHHHH BEN! Okay, now that I have that out you are probably wondering where that came from. We have a little bit of a love triangle here. We have Ben, swoon..... who Krissy spends years with as a friend before she opens up and falls in love. Knowing that she has a past that haunts her she still falls in love. But she is married to her job. This causes an issue, it would for anyone, right? It would for me. Then when the ex walks back in the picture... hello trouble. There was a part of me that was all about working it out.. but let me tell you how my emotions flowed in their relationship. Krissy and her feelings were all over the place, so I was all over the place. I can't express how awesome this book was. I was sucked right in. I knew I was a goner from Page One. I highly suggest you read this book. But be ready to love to hate the characters. You will pick this up and be all over the place emotionally...right along with Krissy.
May 13, 2013
A Life More Complete was an awesome read! Nikki Young did an amazing job with her first novel. Her writing style is a breath of fresh air compared to other contemporary romance authors. From the characters and their development to the emotional ups and downs that take the reader along for the ride, this book was hard to put down. The characters were so real that I wanted to hug some and slap others!!! The ending was so beautifully written that I went back and read it 3 more times--I loved how things wrapped up, but at the same time, didn't want the story to end. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great read!
June 24, 2013
This story was written very well. You get that back story that is needed to get to know the characters and the book takes off from there. I don't think Nikki missed a thing while telling Krissy's story. The book brought out all the right emotions, one minute you cry for what Krissy goes through and the next you are yelling at her for making a bad choice. I can't wait to see what else Nikki Young writes.
July 13, 2013
I really enjoyed reading this book, even when the main character, Krissy, annoyed me with her bad decisions. I kept on yelling at her while reading the book when she kept allowing Tyler run her life. I enjoyed how the story ended, but it left me wondering what the future holds for Krissy & her family. I sure hope that Nikki Young writes a companion novel or sequel to A Life More Complete.
May 7, 2013
Oh man, this book tore me up, broke me down, made me yell and scream at my Kindle multiple times yet I still enjoyed it!
Click here for my complete Scandalicious Book Review:
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Click here for my complete Scandalicious Book Review:
http://www.scandaliciousbookreviews.c...
July 15, 2013
I really did not think I liked this story while I was reading it. But the ending was perfect; so happy with the way it ended. I've had to re-read the last chapter & the epilogue since I finished the book. I have not been able to stop thinking about Krissy& her story all weekend.
May 17, 2013
I could not put this book down! From the first page you get sucked into the life of Krissy. Even though you love to hate some of her decisions, you can't stop reading what she will do next. Great story by Nikki Young! I could really see this story play out on the big screen
December 3, 2014
This book was good that I wanted to read it and keep up with the story. I like the main character, Kristin. I thought her choice of her ex-boyfriend was wrong from the beginning and I was right. It's a good, easy read.
July 11, 2013
I really enjoyed this story. Kristin tries her best not to repeat the mistakes of a mother who did not know how to love. She loves, but does not understand the full meaning until it slaps her in the face.
November 26, 2016
This book was a lot of fun! It will keep your interest and become attached to main character Krissy. I found myself always rooting for her and wishing I could give her advice. A story with likable characters and many twists and turns.
April 3, 2013
Beautiful story of love, family and the choices we make in life.
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