Jerk of My Dreams #17

Jerk. Asshole. Douchenozzle. Admit it- you hate to love the jerks. That alpha male character who is so arrogant and rude but sexy as hell. That foul mouthed douche bag of a man who rocks your traitorous heart. We've all read them and we've all liked them to some extent. In real life you wouldn't touch the man with a ten foot pole. But in the fictional world? Nothing can stand in the way! Everyone would be lying to themselves if they didn't admit that the meaner the man, the further we run... Towards them! *sigh* 

That's what this weekly meme is about- those jerky delicious men! Each Friday this meme will go up, and you can share your jerk anyway you want: review, interview, lines and quotes, giveaway of a book. However you want! All you have to do is sign up HERE and follow the linky. Any time you comment on someones post, leave your link so that person can comment back.

Holy.
Freaking.
Shit.



My mind has just been freaking blown, no joke. I don't think I've read a book this epic in forever ever. I can't even... I don't even know... Where do I...

I literally don't even know where to begin when writing this review because my thoughts are just all over the place. I guess I can start with the most important factor about this book first: The hero, Bastian.

First things first: The man was the epitome of asshole, and that's not an exaggeration. Now for all of you out there who prefers a man with a vagina, then Bastian isn't going to be for you- With that being said, anyone who knows me knows that mean heroes are the love of my life... I live, breathe and sleep jerk heroes. I've come across some pretty bad-ass and crude characters in my life but Bastian is a man from an entirely different league. Not only was he a complete and total ass-hat, but deep down inside he truly had a heart of gold and his love for the heroine, Raine brought tears to my eyes.


"I'll always be yours," I told her. "No matter how much of an ass I am, you know that, don't you? You know even when I'm being a fucked up asshole, I still love you right?" ~Bastian

Honest to God, there isn't a hero out there who tops my feelings for Bastian. I loved him that much. He's addicted to cigarettes and alcohol, and is the furthest thing away from a gentleman that you could find. But when he loves, he loves hard and he loves deep and it's the kind of love that we all live for in our romance novels. The story is told strictly through his POV, which isn't something that I'm typically a fan of yet it worked for me in this book. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I think being inside Bastian's head was absolutely necessary for readers, otherwise he would have ended up coming off as extremely cold. Seeing things from his perspective though, really made your heart emotionally invested in his character. He went through so many changes throughout the story and hit some pretty low moments as well. Being on the outside looking in, I don't think you'd see him as anything more than a complete asshole... But being able to know him on a personal level from the inside out really showed you what a truly broken man he was. He's literally one of the most tortured heroes I've ever come across. He was utterly broken and had been completely screwed over by life for as long as he could remember. In turn, it caused him to trust no one, when deep down all he really wanted was to love and be loved in return.
As for the heroine, Raine... I truly loved her. She was so damn sweet and was able to see through Bastian's tough exterior. She stood by his side through some incredibly difficult times and was able to cut through his tough shell in order to see the real man that was underneath- And trust me, it was no easy task. Loving Bastian takes courage and guts and the woman had it in spades. The thing I loved and respected most about her is the fact that from the beginning, she believed that there was something worth loving in him. She continued to take his mood swings over and over again yet was still able to see the good in him throughout it all. She was so innocent, sweet and vulnerable, yet so confident and strong as well... All of which only grew to epic proportions the deeper there relationship grew.

I literally had no idea what to think going into this book. I took a quick glance at the synopsis and knew that it sounded intriguing but what really got my attention was all of the high ratings and reviews- The book was flooding my news-feed and after many recommendations, I ended up diving into the book head first. I'm not going to spoil this story for anyone because quite frankly, going into this story without knowing any detail about it is what made it all only that much more beautiful. All you really need to know is that this book revolves around two people who truly learn the definition of survival in every sense of the word.

Initially, I was worried that it would drag quite a bit since it supposedly revolved around just the hero and heroine. Yet, never once did I find myself bored at all- There was just so much going on in the story that I never had the chance to get distracted by their isolation. There was such deep sadness at times, as well as some serious steamy and dangerous moments that literally left me on the edge of my seat through every turn of the page. The author, Shay Savage has some God-given talent and it shines in her captivating writing- She's definitely going to be an auto-buy for me from here on out. All-in-all, I honestly can't recommend this book enough... It was so much more than anything that I ever expected and it would be a mistake to pass it up.

★FYI: This story does NOT end on a cliff-hanger. I'd say it ends more on a "happy for the moment" note- The epilogue does show some issues hidden in the background with promise of more to come, but the ending will still be enough to satisfy you until the next book is released. :)