Sandy M’s review of Pieces of Me by Shiloh Walker
Romantic Suspense published by Shiloh Walker 25 Jul 17
Shiloh Walker is one of those authors who has taught me to never doubt her. She will always pull me in with her characters, consume me with her story, and make me read into the wee hours of the morning. In this book Shadow will break your heart while at the same time making it soar with her newfound courage. Dillon will lay you flat with his gentleness, kindness, and alphaness when it comes to Shadow and trying to make her whole again. I couldn’t put this book down. No wonder Shiloh Walker is one of my all-time favorite authors.
Shadow thought she’d had it all when an older man swept her off her feet and married her in no time. Happiness was fleeting when she became his prisoner, trapped in the dark for days, weeks, months, years on end. Beatings and torture are the only things that intervened that buffer of silence. Then one stormy day, it seemed her luck changed. Free of the monster, it’s been three years since she came home to Pawley’s Island in South Carolina. Yes, she’s free, but her issues are far from over, one of which is her ex-husband, who still stalks her in a variety of ways.
Aside from her house, it’s the beach in her backyard that soothes some of her troubles. She goes there to sketch and draw, especially when it comes to the handsome, hot man who also spends a lot of time nearby. Shadow can’t get the nerve up to say anything to him, so she always heads home with erotic images of him in both her head and her sketchbook. Then comes the day everything changes, when she leaves one of those sketchbooks on the table at the beach. Racing back to find it does no good. It’s gone.
Luckily it is Dillon who found it and returns it to Shadow. He’s been drawn to her for a while now, and this is his opening to get to know her better. Little by little he inches his way into her life, fighting her PTSD and OCD every step of the way. The more he learns of her traumatic past, the more his admiration toward her grows and the more he wants to be in this awesome woman’s life and bed.
While we watch their relationship grow, despite both of them fighting the attraction to a certain point, Shadow’s scum ex does his best to keep her afraid and ensconced in her home. But now he has Dillon to contend with. I love seeing his confidence throughout the book, knowing all the while the man won’t get past Dillon in the end. I couldn’t wait for that. What the scum also doesn’t anticipate is Dillon’s impact on Shadow. The more her confidence grows, the more we know he’ll probably end up with a double whammy before too long.
When some secrets are revealed, your heart stutters that maybe this is too big for Shadow to overcome again. Betrayal is the one thing she can’t tolerate. But when more information sees the light of day, when you realize Shadow isn’t the only woman to have gone through such hell, you know Dillon and Shadow will definitely be okay when all is said and done. It’s the getting there that will have you holding your breath while you hope for a good outcome.
I’m always in romance reader heaven when a new Shiloh Walker book hits the shelves. This one is right up with there with her very best. Be sure to pick it up soon.
Grade: A
Summary:
Obsession can be deadly…
Nobody knows that better than Shadow Harper. It seemed like a dream come true when a rich, suave older man noticed her during her second year of college. Stefan Stockman seemed to love her obsessively. He came into her life and swept her off her feet, seduced her, married her…and then slowly, eventually, that dream come true became a living nightmare.
Now, three years after she finally escaped him, she’s trying to put her life back together. Haunted by memories, struggling with post-traumatic stress, she spends most of her time locked away in her home on Pawley’s Island, a small town on the South Carolina coast. Her rare moments of joy come from her trips to the nearby beach.
She compulsively checks the locks on her doors, makes sure she has her cell phones—five of them—and if she misses something on her schedule, it throws her into a panic.
When she accidentally leaves a sketchbook on the beach, an anxiety attack seems imminent. Her art has become her salvation, her sanity, and losing even one sketch is like losing a piece of her soul. When she returns to hunt for the sketchbook, already fearing it’s gone for good, she’s surprised to find it still sitting there, saved by a sexy fellow beach lover—the mysterious Dillian Jenkins.
He’s brash, bold, brutally handsome…and gentle. He’s the exact opposite of the man who’d tormented her for years, and Shadow finds herself slowly, almost reluctantly, falling for him. Even obsessing over him.
When her ex-husband once again intrudes on the happiness she’s finally discovering, Shadow turns to Dillian. But will she find shelter there…or another betrayal?
Read an excerpt.
