Mia has lived a privileged life. She comes from a family with money, and for a long time, everything was picture perfect. At least, it was until her mother walked out unexpectedly, leaving Mia, her older brother Maddox and her father for a toy boy. For months, the household was in absolute disarray, and the only thing in her life that stayed consistent was Mia’s newfound addiction to pills and alcohol. Mia and her brother were left to care for their father, a man who was once a pillar in the community. He simply couldn’t cope without the love of his life, the only woman he’d ever loved, and he was a mere fraction of the man he once was. On a sunny Sunday morning, Mia walks into her father’s bedroom and the sight of her brother kneeling over her father’s lifeless, shatters her world. Following her father’s suicide, Mia’s long-time boyfriend, Gage did all he could to support her, but Mia didn’t want to be a burden on both her lover and her brother. Needing to get away, in the dead of night, she up and disappeared, she had no idea where she was going until she reached the airport and she hopped onto the first flight out of there, ending up in New York. Mia successfully stayed hidden for over a year, but that soon changed when the private investigator her brother Maddox hired to track her down hands him a note and on it is her location.
I'm a mother and wife who is using writing as a way to cope with the loss of my son. I've never been one to shy away from a challenge and I'm hopeless at delegating.
So much darkness surrounds Mia, this girl is drowning in her own sorrows. Too much sadness, trauma, insecurities abandonment issues, lack of self worth make her spiral down into the world of drugs. Heavy stuff that makes t Her brother Chase and Carter the love of her life worry she is going to die. Can they help her before is too late? Will she see the light at the end of the tunnel and want to live? This is her journey, it will leave you so satisfied and at the same time changed forever after reading such darkness inside someone. You will definitely have a new outlook on life, appreciate the living more and be even more sympathetic than ever toward someone struggling with substance abuse and someone suffering mental illness as Carter's mom is. As for Carter and Chase they are everything and get so much more, the love and support they show towards Mia, his mom, and, each other is just plain swoon worthy. Excellent read, I highly recommend it. Only reason why it doesn't get a 5 stars review is I felt the ending was rushed and I was so engaged in the story that I felt the ending should have been a bit longer and detailed. However it is still one fantastic read.
This novella was awful and I finished it out of respect for the author. In the preview of the book the main characters are Mia, her brother Maddox and her boyfriend Gage. In the book it’s Mia, her brother Chase and her boyfriend Carter. There are a few other characters which honestly is too much. The story has inconsistencies and it’s all over the place. There are trips back and forth from LA to New York, there’s a stalker, there’s a mom with dementia, and there are drug dealers. Mia is weak and she’s rich and she’s also the most uninteresting person I’ve ever read about. In fact everyone is boring and one dimensional. I didn’t care about any of them. The research into rehab was sadly lacking because anyone who’s had someone in rehab knows the drug addicts in rehab are not allowed visitors for the first thirty days. This book was disappointing and I can’t recommend it at all.
Marked by Tiegen Harper was a beautiful story where Mia struggles with her insecurities and addiction with pills and alcohol. Shortly after an brutal discovery of her fathers suicide she can’t bare with emotions and decides to leave everyone behind and runs away with no trace. However Carter never gives up even that he can’t find her, but he knows he will always love her and wait for her. Once she’s found she puts more barriers up and won’t let him in. But love and support she gets while she’s dealing with her addiction and the rehab proves , finally makes her open up and with that she finally finds the courage to let her brother know what made her fall so deeply in depression.
I loved the way Carter never gave up on Mia and after he found out that truth how he still held on to her .
Mia was so tormented. Her life was both charmed and cursed and she couldn’t find balance. So she almost lost everything. When Carter and her brother swoop in to try to save her from herself, it gets ugly. But for all its unpolished, sometimes almost jumbled, rawness, her recovery and the healing everyone needs feel almost true to life. The end was a tad rushed, but I think it ties everything up nicely, especially since this story was more about the journey toward acceptance of self and acceptance of help from others than anything else. Raine’s story likely won’t be easy either, but I’d bet it’ll feel like the author bled her thoughts and feelings onto the pages for readers to feel the angst and pain and misery that comes with finding happiness with life.
Seriously this book packed a punch from the get go! There were times I literally threw my hands up screeching WTF?! And genuinely wanting to choke Mia for the way she behaved. But I could also understand her and feel her pain, I haven’t connected to a character in a long while like I did with her.
Carter was the right amount of fierce protector and gentle with his Mia, it’s was lovely to watch their life unfold.
This is most definitely not a “happy” story. Addiction, mental illness, dementia, trauma, terrible parenting/abandonment are all major parts of the story. Poor Carter carries the world on his shoulders, caring for others. Chase’s world revolves around trying to care for Mia. Mia is buried under depression, guilt and shame, fueling her addiction. Carter is literally the perfect guy for Mia. The epilogue made me tear up. Needs a little editing.
I enjoyed this book from the second that I started reading. It moves along at a comfortable pace for reading, has interesting characters that you want to know more about and see them succeed no matter what happens and a story that will keep you reading till the end. This book is a must read and needs to be on your TBR list, no doubt about it.
Marked is a heart-breaking story of addiction, suffering, love and redemption. Will true love withstand the tragic circumstances? This was a very enjoyable read with characters that are realistic and dealing with tragedy in very different ways.