Sunday, September 20, 2015

Release Day Blitz and Book Review: Sins of Sevin by Penelope Ward




Title: Sins of Sevin
Author: Penelope Ward
~ SYNOPSIS ~
What happens when the one you want is the only one you can’t have? 

My name is Sevin.

Homeschooled and sheltered by my ultra-religious family, I was always taught that lust was a sin. 

Elle was the girl who’d been carefully chosen for me.

After a long-distance courtship, I’d be moving into her family’s guesthouse so that we could get to know each other in the months before the wedding.

Boundaries were set: no inappropriate touching, no kissing, no sex before marriage.

I’d accepted those rules and my fate.

Until I met the one I wanted to sin with.

That was when restraint became a problem…especially since "the one" wasn’t Elle. 

It was her sister, Evangeline.

You know what they say about best laid plans.

My name is Sevin, and I have sinned.
I think it's safe to say that we ALL know that I love a good triangle love story.....LOVE THEM. And I crave angst....like, CRAVE it. So, this one? YES!!! I can't stress enough that this book is a must read. It's a very emotional ride with some angst and tension built right in, along with a tear or two. I'm not sure 'how' or 'what' I'm feeling, but it's something you should experience. Seriously. This was so good. And this review wont even be able to convey what I'm trying to say. It just wont. 
OUCH!! My heart....ok? Ouch.
Just....WOW.
So, based on the synopsis....I jumped right in. By the end of the prologue, I was messaging my friend with a "holy shit!" message....and then after the first chapter, I was done for. Hooked. Captivated. Sucked right in. I read all night and couldn't put it down. I am now sitting here.....just in a weird place. Like, I didn't want it to end and then.....it just did. I was crushed!!!! But, that's only because the angst and the storyline itself were that engaging. It was intense and it was so perfect. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. I was fascinated by this book....it really had me reeling. 

I will say this....I did eye roll at the 'family' situation and how Elle was 'chosen' for Sevin, but I had to accept that as part of the story and it was actually the perfect scenario for the story and allowed it to play out as well as it did. I did figure out one rather large plot twist early on, but the WAY it played out was so so so so SOOO hard to deal with. It left me speechless. Flabbergasted. So upset....and hurting for Sevin. Please keep reading the story.....that's all I can say. It's worth the read.

◆ Intense? Uh, yes.
◆ Angsty? Very much so.
◆ Heartbreaking? On a level I'm not sure I can explain.

So, to put it mildly, the love between Evangeline and Sevin is intense...it's palpable. The tension is thick between them and time seems to stand still. It's one of those attractions that stuns a person speechless....and I loved that!!! But, Evangeline was not his. Elle was his, and that is what made this story as compelling as it was. I loved the dynamic between Evangeline and Sevin and how drastically different it was between Elle and Sevin.

Sevin, for all his 'sins', was the epitome of a real man. One that couldn't fight the honest feelings he was feeling, but one that, when the time came, did what he was supposed to do. And that was HARD. It was so hard because it wasn't what his heart wanted to do. And I loved that aspect of the story.
Loved.
It.

~Nothing that's worth it comes easy. But when the payoff comes, it can be spectacular.~

True, real, honest emotions surrounded his heart and soul, but they also messed with his mind. He warred with himself and his heart, and it was legit. I really felt for him...but I felt for Evangeline, too. She had guilt; serious guilt, and that was so hard to watch her go through. But, it was equally hard to watch him suffer through it as well. There was a lot of pain and suffering on the emotional level and it was SO freaking good!!! (I sound evil....)

~Wanting someone you knew with absolute certainty you could never have was the very definition of agony.~
My heart ached for Evangeline....I'm not sure I ever felt concern for Elle's feelings, and that doesn't sit well with me, but Elle was immediately in love with Sevin. Kinda like a puppy love, but she had no honest idea what real love was. So, I think for me, that allowed me to connect more with Evangeline and Sevin on a more emotional level immediately. But with these emotions and actions came guilt and consequences.

~My bed was made, and I had to lie in it. What I wanted....craved...didn't matter. It was just unfortunate that the one woman who made me feel alive was the only person in the world I couldn't have.~

The extent of emotion in this story that surrounded me was definitely mentally draining....which was so good to feel. At one point, I had to put the book down and just let it all filter through. I just needed to absorb what I was reading, feel what I was feeling and take it all in for what it was worth. I love a good book that will push you to feel and place you in the feelings of the character directly, and this book did. I loved it! 
I want to tell everyone to read this. 
Soak it up. 
Absorb it. 
Enjoy it. 
It will wrap you up, break you down and spit you out. It was emotional turmoil at it's best. It honestly pains me to think about everything they went through, together and apart. But it was SO good!! I loved how much it wore me out. For some reason, lately, that seems to be the desire I have in the form of books. Seriously.....read it. 

~Unconditional love isn't possible without forgiveness.~
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*



SINS OF SEVIN EXCERPT
Copyright © 2015 by Penelope Ward

As he gulped down the water, I watched his Adam’s apple moving up and down. I used the opportunity to glance over his sweaty body up close. The top of his underwear was sticking out of his jeans. The smell of him was intoxicating, a mix of cut wood, sweat and cologne. I thought about our talk the other night, how he’d confessed his sexual history. As much as it disturbed me, knowing he’d used that body to give a woman pleasure made me weak with desire. I could only imagine what that would feel like with him.

Elle would find out.

I was still looking down at his abs when he said, “Thank you.” My eyes immediately shot up to meet his incendiary stare. 

He’d caught me checking him out. 

“You’re welcome.”

His mouth curved into a smile as he handed me back the glass. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you much this week.”

“Yeah. I’ve been busy.”

“I have something for you,” he blurted out in a way that indicated he was anxiously waiting to say it. 

“For me?”

“Yeah. Wait here, okay?”

Sevin ran over to where his truck was parked and grabbed something out of the open window. 

He returned to where I was standing and handed me a CD.

“What is it?”

“If you like the Smiths, you’ll like some of the songs on here. I included a few Smiths songs—the ones from your favorite album, but there’s also The Lemonheads, The Pixies...and Pulp.”

“You made this?”

“Yeah. I made it for myself and burned you a copy.”

“Thanks.”

He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Number ten is my favorite.” Then, he walked away. I immediately took it back to my room and dusted off my old portable CD player.

Lying down on my bed with the sun streaming in, I drowned out the world and listened to every song. When it got to number ten, I paid special attention, knowing he’d specifically called that one out.

The name of the song was Like a Friend. I later found out it was by Pulp. With each lyric, my eyes became heavier until they welled up in tears. The words described to a tee exactly how I’d been feeling about him. The singer was shouting out all his feelings about his friend, that she was everything he shouldn’t want, everything that was bad for him, but yet he couldn’t stop wanting her. He’d take what he could get even if that just meant being friends. Every single line spoke to me. It was the first time I realized that maybe I wasn’t alone in my torment. This situation—whatever was happening between us—was taking a toll on him, too. 

I must have listened to the song five times before I went over to the window and looked down at him. At one point, he finally looked up and noticed me. He squinted his eyes to see me through the glare of the sun. I still had my headphones on. He knew I had heard number ten. 

The look on his face when our eyes locked only confirmed that number ten wasn’t just a song. 

It was his way of speaking to me.






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~PENELOPE WARD~
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor, before switching to a more family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 10-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island. 

~Social Media Links~ 



~Other books from Penelope Ward~
Cocky Bastard
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1WwPzkC 

Stepbrother Dearest

Gemini

Jake Undone (Jake #1)

My Skylar

Jake Understood (Jake #2)
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