Lightning Crashes

by Marla Holt

The Tower Upheaval, Crumbling Foundations, Chaos, Awakening

The Sun Enlightenment, Joy, Success, Vitality

Rachel Ferrer fled the church when she was eighteen, burying her trauma to chase her dreams only to have them thwarted when her husband died shortly after their son was born. Now she and her tarot-reading roommate do their best to get by.

Nicolas Rivera should be happy. He answered his call to the ministry and has held a position in the church he grew up in for more than a decade. He’s married and he loves his kids, but something in him has shifted, and the life he thought he wanted doesn’t feel like it fits anymore. When his childhood best friend’s widow reappears in his life, Nicolas tells himself that his desire to be near Rachel is altruistic.

Until it isn’t.

Rachel and Nicolas have been on the periphery of each other’s lives for years, but when their worlds collide, attraction sparks, lightning crashes, and the walls they have been hiding behind begin to crumble.

Lightning Crashes is an exvangelical romance that examines what happens when we build our lives on faulty foundations and what can happen when we leave that behind and step into the sun. Follow Rachel and Nicolas down the path of temptation, through their yearning slow-burn, and into their happily ever after.

543 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 18, 2022

About the author

Marla Holt believes in second chances, romance, and the radical notion that everyone deserves a happily every after. She's living her own fairy tale, writing contemporary romance novels in her Kansas farmhouse with her husband, three boys, three cats, and flock of imaginary sheep. Follow her at marlaholt.com or on Instagram as @marlaholtauthor

Reviews

[Jacquelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marla Holt's "Lightning Crashes" was a surprising and interesting read. At first, it seemed to drag with a ton of narration, yet just before the second part in the first book, it started to pick up steam. The author's use of imagery and other descriptions helped to create vivid pictures of the scenes and helped to create a melancholic and pensive tone. I liked the foreshadowing that the author used to let us know what was leading up to the resolution. The second book was a page-turning narrative that packed a lot of pain and sorrow then hope and exoneration into a well-crafted plot. Furthermore, the wonderfully created characters oozed with chemistry throughout. To top it off, the author's use of imagery and additional vivid details helped to create a solemn turned hopeful tone. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel.
I received an advanced copy of this book. I am voluntarily giving my honest review.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Marla Holt for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I think my favourite part of this book was Naomi's character- as a fellow tarot/witchy lover I really loved how it was linked in as I've never read a book with a witchy character!
Overall- I did find the story engaging and interesting. At times it did get slightly repetitive and slow but in general it was great!
I was happy to see Nicholas and Rachel get their happy ending after so much heartache

[Carrie Lansberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I loved the original duet but having it all in one book for me made it a more enjoyable and cohesive read! The new cover is on point with the tarot theme of The Tower and I love it!!

[Marla Holt]

I reread this whole thing in anticipation for the launch. The "sun" section of this book makes me so happy. Every time I come to the end I have a gigantic smile on my face.

3/23 - The new Hozier songs made me nostalgic for Rachel and Nicolas, so it was time to visit them

[Manisha Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is definitely worth the read . You won't regret reading this book . The storyline and the characters are great .

[Hailey Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC! I dnf at 20% through. I am fine with priest/religious figure kinks and I’m fine with cheating kinks but my goodness I couldn’t keep reading about this pathetic grown man. He is married with kids and can’t make it to read books to the kids because he is at a bar lusting over the female MC. I would have loved this book if he was portrayed as a good father but it just sounds like he wants nothing but to stick it into
Rachel.

This this like Priest by Sierra Simone but he’s a deadbeat.

Additionally, the original cover is much more on track with the quirky 2020-2022 style cover. This isn’t a fun romcom, it’s a sexy guilty pleasure (which I so badly wanted to enjoy!!!)

[Rebmay · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Though the author’s warning had me prepared to hate these characters and storyline, I found I could not do so. They garnered my compassion and reluctant understanding instead. Their emotional conflicts and struggles are sometimes difficult and heartrending to read about, but I found that I could not put this book down.

This first part of the book gives readers the background stories of Rachel and Nicholas, their beginnings, their relationships with the people they thought they would spend their lives with and how Rachel and Nicholas met. Then it details a life changing event and it’s complicated and tumultuous aftermath. In the second part of book, both Rachel and Nicholas must confront the pain, anger and betrayal they are feeling in order to move forward in their lives. They choose to do so apart from each other, though their souls retain a connection. Both rigorously examine their pasts, their choices and their inner demons in order to try to come to terms with what happened. Nicholas seeks therapy while Rachel uses her skills as a writer and blogger to purge her tumultuous feelings. They are also forced to confront the people who hurt them, to forgive them or not, and to forge a new normal for themselves. Though both Rachel and Nicholas long for contact with each other, the time they needed to heal and doubts have served to keep them from each other. It takes another horrific event to bring them together again, in a time and place neither expected. Their reunion takes them to passionate heights that they can finally explore, and serves to fuel a need to intertwine their lives again, this time as a couple who want forever with each other.

Nicholas and Rachel’s story does include a romance, but it is also a story of emotional struggles, healing and rebirth. It is very well-written, emotionally raw, and insightful. This captivating book is well worth the read. I received an ARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Summer Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOK: Lightning Crashes
AUTHOR: Marla Holt
PLOT: Rachel is a widow that's lost her husband Gabe, and is raising her son with the help of her friend Naomi. She's left the church and is a bartender. Nicholas is still a member of the church that he attended with Gabe and Rachel, and is dealing with struggles at home with his marriage, and it's really wearing on him, and he deals with temptations that wear on his faith. Rachel and Nicholas find themselves falling in love with each other, the more they see each other. Will Nicholas remain faithful to his faith, or will he find that it's better to walk away from the faith, and will Rachel and Nicholas work out, or will the memory of Gabe cause them to fall apart? This book was amazing and I absolutely loved it!!!
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Becki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my. I tried so hard with this book. I received an arc of this book and I take arcs *so* seriously- I hate to give up on them. In this case I made it to 50%, at which point I gave in and skimmed the rest.

My first issue- the reader of this book needs to be in a pretty specific subset- an exvangelical who doesn't really need any deconstruction in the story, a reader who likes sexual spice and longs for the One True Pairing *and* is not bothered by cheating.

Second issue- This book is long, it takes quite a while to read, but it's mostly a constant retelling of the same info. He's *so* into her... But he won't act on it... Because he's married... Still. That exact sentiment was repeated ad nauseum.

Third issue- I couldn't bring myself to care about *any* of these characters. I think it was because there was very little backstory, no nuance, and virtually nothing to signal their motivation.

Fourth issue- important plot twists just came from *nowhere*. I was ready to DNF this book at about 17%, but I really wanted to give it a chance. At 49% there was a plot twist that had zero setup and reset the entire story. Ugh. Halfway through the book and I honestly had no idea who the main male character was and honestly I didn't care. I felt like the main female character should have just walked away from the entire situation at that point.

I noticed that the two parts of this book have been presented separately and have *very* high ratings on Goodreads. I guess it goes to show that there is a lid for every pot.

My best to the author, publisher and #NetGalley. This just wasn't a good fit for me.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received an e-ARC from NetGalley

I really wanted to try and finish this book, but unfortunately, it just was not captivating enough.

I made it 24% into the book, and I’m not even sure where the plot line was going. There is too much jumping back and forth and unnecessary repetitiveness. The third person narrative is just not working for this novel.

I also had a very hard time getting past all of the grammatical mistakes. I know this was an Advanced Reader Copy, but there were so many that I stopped keeping track of them.

Rachel, Nicholas, and Blake are all boring characters with mundane lives. Nothing interesting to read about.

[Megs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this one with higher expectations than were realized but I got over it. The characters are flawed like normal humans, and everything didn’t wrap up too perfectly so that was nice. Not as much religious deconstruction as I had anticipated. Also it was formerly two books made into one, so it still reads like that.

CW for cheating, temptation to cheat, sexual abuse, religious trauma, miscarriage, and alcohol. Also, gets 🌶.

[Maria]

DNF at 18%.
I got this ARC without realizing that it’s a republishing on a duology, and I’m just not feeling it. I tend to avoid cheating as a trope or plot point, and I should have stuck with that instinct. I don’t think it’s a bad book, necessarily, but it’s not for me.

[Calley Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of all honestly, this one was tough to get through. I had a hard time following at first but once I got through about halfway, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The author does a great job of painting the images for you so you can picture yourself in the scenes, and though it’s a slow beginning, the characters are very lovable and understanding.

I am new to the romance reads, but starting to enjoy them more. I am glad the author decided to combine this story from two books to one larger one, and look forward to reading more. The cover is on point, quirky and I love it!

[Marla Holt]

Can be read as a standalone short story, or as a prelude to my Haunted House romance, Haunted Attraction.

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...