Overview: Clara
One phone call was all it took. A voice on the answering machine, a man oblivious to what calling me would do, uprooted my entire existence. He revived old hurts, dug up past nightmares. He destroyed everything I’d built for myself.
But I found bliss through Grey, in Grey.
Grey
I had no idea that making a simple phone call, one that devastated me because of the reasons behind it, would make me question my truths, my friendships, everything I held dear in my little town. Calling her was the best and worst decision I’d ever made, but it brought her to me, to Bliss.
And I could never take that back.
Finding Bliss is a story about redemption, love, and finding true, irrevocable bliss. It’s about new beginnings and the heights attainable.
Not intended for readers under the age of eighteen due to language and sexual situation.
Purchase Links: Amazon
Publishing Date: September 18, 2015
Stars: 5
My Review: Life has a way of giving you exactly who you need at exactly the right time. Clara and Grey together work well and fit like puzzle pieces. This is a story of finding peace, accepting yourself, moving forward, and finding all the joys life has to offer. The writing, story, and characters all kept me hooked until I finished the last page of the epilogue which is how Finding Bliss achieved 5 sweet, bright, and hopeful stars.
Clara's a workaholic at a law firm as her surrogate father's administrative assistant. She has almost no life outside of work and she likes it that way because she doesn't have to think of her brother, her own shortcomings, or the past that has left her emotionally damaged. While Clara is fragile, she is also strong. I found that I liked Clara and liked her even more when she fell into Grey.
Grey's just a small town country guy living in the town he grew up in and running his family's bed and breakfast with his sister. He reaches out to Clara in order to inform her of her brother's death which leads them to meet. Grey's charming, sweet, understanding, strong, protective, witty, loyal, and everything that Clara could ever want or need. When they first meet neither could help the pull they felt towards one another.
The story has several obstacles Clara and Grey must overcome in order to live a joyous, love filled life. The more Clara trusts and leans on Grey the stronger the bond between the two become. There's always one that needs more than the other in a relationship and Clara just happens to be the emotionally needy one. Grey gives Clara more than she could have ever asked for and in return she gives him all that he could want. They are a team and don't even have to communicate with words sometimes.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the delicate subject that it sheds light upon, domestic abuse. Throughout the entire story domestic abuse is a driving force that is discussed at length and brought to the forefront. I find that these topics are best understood when in a situation someone can sympathize with as in a novel such as this. I would like to give Cassie Strickland a massive thank you for writing such a detailed, heartbreaking, and lovely story that deals with such a sensitive and very real issue.
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