Review of One to Love by Tia Louise
This is one Tia Louise book to fLove! The emotions going through this book will take you through the ringer but you will enjoy the ride. Slayde Bennett is a man trying to claw his way out of the black hole that has been his life to date. He’s gone from riding the high of being a successful fighter, having the world as his personal playground, to losing it all. The author gives us a lot of insight into his character, how his fragile state of mind plays into his fight to make a new man of himself. He recognizes his selfishness of the past and has no desire to go back, in fact his career of a fighter is definitely over, but he still struggles to see himself as redeemable.
Kenny (Kendra) Woods’ life, however, is on the up-swing. She’s got a job she enjoys, good friends, and is on great terms with her baby daddy and his girlfriend who are currently raising her son. [ If you are new to this series, the backstory on Kenny and Patrick and their son will not leave you feeling left out. You can easily read One To Love as a standalone.] Kenny’s had a hard start to her life, too, but you can tell her confidence is building and to her surprise, her broken heart is healing. She does not hide from her past and that shows a personal strength, too, because owning up to the fact that her son has a better life with his Dad and acknowledging that her grief over a murdered husband is fading cannot be easy.
So how do these two come together?? Like a freight train!! Kenny’s warmth and giving character reaches out and surrounds Slayde and he never has a chance! He’s very cautious, but it’s sweet the way he’s totally undone by the feelings he gets from Kenny. She, too, is overwhelmed from the beginning by her feelings for Slayde. This love is not perfect, hence the Karma reference. This plot twist was a good one and helped to ground the romance and keep it from falling into the insta-love category. Without giving any spoilers, I can’t say much about the conflict other than it takes a strength not many could admit to, to overcome this difference and continue on with a relationship.
I really liked both of these characters and the way the chapters are split into their own voices gives you a deeper insight than if the H and h were relegated to trading out a paragraph or two. Fans of this series will love seeing glimpses of Patrick and Elaine and even the prelude to Mariska and Stuart.
I received a free copy of One To Love in the anthology, 9 Ways to Fall in exchange for an honest review.