Affliction

by Kelly Mooney

He couldn’t save her—he wanted to.

He tried—he failed.

For seven years Brody blamed himself for not saving the one girl who ever touched his heart—Samantha Ashburn. That one night altered his life and changed the man he always thought he’d be. Turning to drugs, sex and violence was never part of his plan, but neither was losing his mother or failing Samantha. Brody found solace within his club, the South Street Crew and their criminal activities. He knew one day he’d walk away either in jail, fleeing, or dead.

When Samantha stumbled back into his life on his best friend’s arm, Brody felt the instant connection he’d always experienced when she was near. Forced to claim her in order to protect her from the mafia’s son and his best friend was the only way he knew how to protect her. He refused to lose her a second time. But she wasn’t safe—not in his world. He’d do anything to save her. Anything.

Genres: New Adult

Paperback

Published September 1, 2014

About the author

Young Adult/ New Adult author. Lover of books, fine wine, chocolate, and movies. Mom to two awesome kids, and one insanely crazy boxer, who keeps me busy.

You can find me on Facebook username www.facebook.com/kellymooneyauthor

Reviews

[Carol (StarAngel's Reviews) Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come!

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

the story starts with a scene starter that drives the entire book and affects many and eventually all persons in story. Brody and Shane, met Sam when she transferred to their school in Pa. from Ga. She is the best of all things, smiles at everyone, makes friends easy, has a hot figure and wears dresses and boots, makes the cheer leading team the first week she's there and all the guys want her but she has a bf in Ga and innocent. A few of the La Crosse team members decide to taint all her innocence at a pary one night, Brody learns of their intent but doen't make it in time, she doesn't return to school, sadly, it was their Senior year. No one knew what happened to her but Brody had fallen hard for her but being from the wrong side of the tracks hadn't felt like he should cross that line, hated himself for not saving her from the incident and pined with his memories of how she had been the perfect one for him - and he didn't save her (guilt) and he never asked her out(regret). Forward 7 years, Brody and Shane are still BFF and running with a gang of guys in Philly and are into 3 things: underground fighting, performing in a band and unfortunately their main gig is running drugs. The mafia is involved and while it is a good life for single guys, Brody and Shane are working to get out of it as soon as they can, they know there is no future in it, they have other ideas on a better cleaner kind of future. One day, out of the blue Sam walks back into their lives and lots of wow factors start to roll out, involving reacquainting between Brody and Sam, the introduction of an extremely unlikeable fellow named Totti and many additional people are added to the mix and it is just an amazing and sexy as all get out book! So much depth in a short amount of time, well done! It gets gritty, bloody and edgy at times. Additionally enjoyed because, there is an engaging story that is most definitely unpredictable, yet compells the reader to want to finish rapidly! Read it in a day or about 5 hours! Recommend highly and this totally makes me want to read more of Ms. Mooney's work!

[Karla Donovan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The changes of POV was distracting and I had to keep re-reading paragraphs to figure out which character's voice was speaking. The whole "band" thing was completely unnecessary in this story. Why did Brody wait until Sam was back into his life to rough Tyler up? He had seven years to seek revenge for Sam's sake. Little things would pop up that bothered me and didn't give me any more of an idea of the character. Lots of repetitive thoughts....

[Lisa Sanderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book couldn't put it down and devoured it within a day !!!
Wow just wow Kelly mooney has out done herself again, this book is not her usual style it's got more of an adult nature , featuring drugs sex and violence with gang affiliation
the opening chapter has scenes and emotions that brought a lump to my throat .
it guided Brody the nice guy turned bad because he thinks he's not good enough and Samantha the good girl robed of her innocence ,life's in a heart-wrenching way of sadness ,gilt , regret an what ifs .
For different reasons their life's spiral out of control.but there connection remains they both fight for it and against it .with other people getting in the way the fight is really on .The romanticist in me is glad to see that there love and loyalty to each other prevailed with a happy ending


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit I didn’t really feel like I ever connected with this story. I think it was because the characters were all so young. I’m not saying that the story couldn‘t happen to people as they were graduating high school and in the years following. I’m just saying it didn’t make a connection with me… because I found myself continuously saying “they’re just SO young.” I think maybe if the story occurred with Brody and Sam as they were graduating from college and then the 7 years following it would have worked better for me. Yes… when the main story was happening they would have been 25/26. For whatever reason it would have just made more of a connection with me if it all had started with them as entering adulthood…. not as 17/18 year olds.

That said… I really did love the way Brody felt so uncontrollably drawn to Sam. His attraction and protectiveness over her really made him endearing… even with him being such a fuck-up and bad ass. He tries every way he can think of to protect her and keep her safe. Smart ideas? No. But I’ll give him credit for doing things his way. I can’t really blame Sam at all for not being able to walk away from Brody.

I want to say that one of my favorite things in the book had to be Brody’s tattoo “would life have gotten better”. Sam and Brody never talked about it. It was barely even a mention really. But even so… it really struck a chord for me and made me think more about the story. Would life have gotten better? It’s really the same idea as “what if?”. What if Brody had been able to change things for Sam in high school? What if Brody had just asked her out in high school? What if she had just asked him out? What if Brody had a different family life? What if Sam had a different family life? What if Brody had gone off to college instead of getting into the life of drugs and fighting? What if? You could spend your whole life in what ifs. I found myself really wishing that Sam and Brody could have started out living in one of those “would life have gotten better” what ifs.

[Tristina Renken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the meaning for the title Affliction.
Sam & Brody's past from highschool catch's back up to them when Shane brings her by the house to pay her "debt". It's crazy how the person you thought about for 8yrs, is now right there in front of you. I like that Sam has that feisty attitude about her, & she can bring out Brody's marshmallow side of him. I felt awful for the situation at home, as her home backround came out & it makes you tear up. Sam couldn't just do for herself until her mom's cancer had finally taken her.
Brody acts like such a typical guy in his gang/club (drinking, smoking & screwing almost anything with a nice butt, tits & legs). Lol. I liked that he was at least picky. His demons that he couldn't protect Sam back than, & now he does anything he can to make sure he doesn't fail her again.
Shane seems like an ass for awhile, but he does grow on you. He has secrets & a past that is to protect Julie, his love.
Trevor the way he was close with Brody & Shane it was like the 3 amigo's. I liked that he was the "smart" guy, just in the wrong place (club).
Tyler and the other guy what they did to Sam in highschool crossed so many lines. I was fine with that he served jail time & Brody/Shane taught him a lesson. When Anthony Totti decided to take revenge on him & spill his blood, I saw it as a selfish reason for the mob son to do & quite disgusting but it fit the part.
Alessandro the mob father, I wasn't too entirely surprised by his action & the last job he called on Brody to finish so he could be free of the club. I thought the fight club was a nice way to bring it all together & end it.
I loved the epilogue & the way the story wrapped up. A very good HEA!

[Heather andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was seriously different from Kelly's other books, I mean there was drug usage, and lots of adult content (not that I'm complaining on that part) Our main man Brody is a good guy he just needs to get over the rough patch he's going through but even through everything that's going on with him you can tell he'd do anything to keep his girl safe, "Sam, I went to bat for you. Shane was coming after you and I'm telling you as a friend that he would never, ever take the word 'no' outta your mouth. I had to stake a claim or you were a free target. Now, we need to prove it." When these two are together at first there's tension:
"Are you going to make me have sex with you?" She blurted out before he even made it back to the bed.
"Do you want to have sex with me?"
Our girl Sam has had rough patches and with Brody's bluntness it sometimes makes for an awkward conversation, "you think the best part of effing is the kissing? Babe, who the eff have you been with?" As the book continues we see Brody make small changes for himself and he tries things that make him uncomfortable so his girl will be happy, "yeah, all right. But, Sam just so you know straight up boring, missionary sex and me don't go well together. But I will most certainly try to do this for you tonight." He's also an eager beaver when he hasn't seen his woman in awhile, "please tell me you live close because I'm about to rip off that sweet little dress and bury myself in you right here in the parking lot." Overall I enjoyed the book I wasn't expecting the content that I read from Kelly but I'm so used to her writing that I'm glad she could surprise me and spice it up a little.

[N. Kuhn · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received this book free in exchange for an honest review*
Talk about Bad Boys and damaged people. This is book has 2 severly damaged people who are afraid of attachments but at the same time, they are working through a lot of things.
This does turn out to be a great love story, slightly sexy with a lot of thrilling action. But there were some things that really bugged me. There's a lot of extra details that I don't think the book needed. They could have been trimmed out and made the book flow a lot better. The band, totally unnecessary and held no value for the book.
I wasn't a fan of having Anthony's POV, but do see where it was necessary at some points.
There were some editing errors, but nothing detrimental.

This story has a lot of backstabbing, twisting and turning. It's truly an exciting bad boy reformed story. I love Sam's character. She has a lot she's dealt with in life, but keeps going. In all, this story did keep me turning the pages just to see what happened next, I just really would like to see it trimmed to flow better. It's a love/hate relationship with the hero but totally worth it. I say pick it up and decide for yourself.

[The Sweet & Sinful Book Nerds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story stuck to a slow, comfortable pace. The characters were very well described and there was a lot of detail to soak up. A mixture of drugs, MMA style fighting, passion, and hurt.
Brody has loved Samantha since he first laid eyes on her during junior year. But back then, she was taken. He would have given anything to take her out just once. But then, he didn’t save her. And now he does not feel worthy of her. Fast forward 7 years and Samantha is back home to take care of her dying mother. Brody is into some shady and illegal activities. They meet again because Samantha owes them money. When trouble starts, Brody makes it his job to protect her from everything. Somewhere along the way he realizes his feelings for her haven’t changed over the years and Samantha feels like she is drowning in her emotions and responsibilities. When it comes down to the wire, they both have to decide if loving each other is worth it.

[Amy Malek Concepcion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This truly was different from Kelly's other books but I really liked. It has a unique story line. Sam (and Brody) go through some difficult times and there are some touchy scenes but Kelly wrote it well. And I loved hearing her inspiration for the story. Brody gets a second chance with the one person who he has always wanted and even though he knows she needs to let him go, part of him still wants his forever.

[Shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book I did not think I would finish it.. But I pushed through and really got into it... It's a different take on Adult Fiction.. A new storyline that I liked because I haven't read one like it... I like how the author started out in Brody's mind and let you believe he was going to narrate the story then moved to different characters minds throughout the book... Interesting read.. I enjoyed it and the characters

[Iva Rothman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received my copy of this book as a part of the Goodreads first-reads.

Good story line and characters, but a lot of repetition. We were given some of the same information/background stories over and over, which was distracting.

[Helen Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

REALLY ENJOYABLE READ. FIRST TIME I HAVE READ ANYTHING FROM THIS AUTHOR. WELL WRITTEN. ALL ROUND GREAT BOOK.

[Mary Evangeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Towards 48 percent I lost interest.

[Carolynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of twists and turns