{"id":3238,"date":"2013-06-21T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=3238"},"modified":"2023-01-16T07:27:53","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T12:27:53","slug":"review-arouse-spiral-of-bliss-1-by-nina-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=3238","title":{"rendered":"Review: Arouse (Spiral of Bliss, #1) by Nina Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\r\n <\/div><\/div>\n
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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Romantic, passionate and heartbreakingly beautiful.<\/b><\/p>\n

As many people have said before, this is not your normal romance book. While we all love our \u2018boy meets girl and they fall in love\u2019 stories, this is the \u2018after\u2019 book – what happens five years after the beautifully swoony hook up, when the hero and heroine are still blissfully in love, but hit a rough patch. And in beautiful, emotional, heart wrenching detail, in this book – we get both.<\/p>\n

I love the concept of this story, and don\u2019t want to get too descriptive, because it\u2019s best to just throw yourself into it and feel it all because OMG, the feels in this book are off the freaking chart! I fluctuated between swooning like an idiot, having my heart broken (multiple times) and actually feeling physically sick at what these two go through.<\/p>\n

Five years after meeting, Dean and Olivia (Liv) have been happily married for three years, they are still as madly in love with each other as they have been since they met, they love their life together, and they still have an intense passion for each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the day we met, I haven\u2019t wanted anyone but you,\u201d Dean says.
\nMy heart jumps a little.
\n\u201cNever looked at another woman,\u201d he continues. \u201cNever thought about one. It\u2019s always been you, Olivia.\u201d
\nMy white knight.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Through flashbacks we get to see the beginning of their relationship and their epic, epic courtship. Nine years older than Liv, Dean is \u201csuccessful, authoritative, experienced, sophisticated, assured<\/i>\u201d. Liv is not. Having survived a terrible childhood, she has dragged herself out of hell to create a good life for herself, and although she has grown to be strong and independent, she still struggles with her past. When she meets Dean, she finally finds somebody that she can open up to and trust for the very first time in her life, and he proves to be everything that she could ever want and need.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want you to walk away,\u201d I said.
\n\u201cGood.\u201d The lines between his eyes eased with relief.
\nI gripped his wrists, a knot of fear binding my throat. \u201cBut you\u2026 you might want to go,\u201d I warned.
\nDarkness flashed in his expression. \u201cWhy?\u201d
\nMy eyes stung. I swallowed hard.
\n\u201cHere be monsters,\u201d I whispered.
\nA heartbeat of silence, brewing with danger, filled the space between us. Then Dean tightened his hold on me and, with his thumbs, brushed away the tears that spilled down my cheeks.
\n\u201cLiv,\u201d he said, his voice rough with tenderness, \u201cyou don\u2019t have to be afraid.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause I\u2019ll slay monsters for you.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

*sniff*<\/p>\n

Oh my God, the man is incredible! Both protective and respectful of Liv, he leaves her in no doubt as to his intentions towards her, but he is gentle and proves himself worthy of her, and the story of them coming together had me swooning and grinning like an idiot as I both watched and felt them fall hard for each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you want to touch me?\u201d I whispered.
\n\u201cMore than I want to breathe.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They create an amazing life together, but one innocent conversation leads to feelings that are kept hidden, mistrust, secrets revealed and bad decisions, until it spirals out of control and Liv and Dean find themselves in a situation that they don\u2019t know how to escape from \u2013 even though they both desperately want to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to lose you,\u201d I whisper.
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll never lose me.\u201d He slides his hand to the back of my neck \u2026 \u201cI\u2019ll be here, beauty. Waiting for you.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Most of the book is from Liv\u2019s POV, which I loved, because being in her head allowed me to understand her feelings, so I could appreciate the things she said and did. Later in the book it switches to Dean\u2019s perspective \u2013 and not a moment too soon so that we his side of the story as well. And watching them individually try to deal with everything that they are going through is devastating! I had many \u2018OMG\u2019 moments, and sat reading with a hand over my mouth as things between continued to disintegrate. And what makes it so emotional is that it\u2019s so realistic – anybody who has ever been in a relationship can relate to their story, and that makes it even more brutal.<\/p>\n

Through it all, their love and passion for each other is still incredibly strong, and even though it changes as they both react to their situation, it\u2019s still there, and you never doubt how committed they are to being together. So as hard as it is to read, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe this was meant to happen, this discovery of cracks where now a different, new light can shine through.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Beautifully written, this is a truly heart-wrenching story, and I devoured every single word. It\u2019s one of those books where you reread passages over and over again just to let them sink in, and I absolutely loved it. Ending on a bit of a cliffhanger, I can\u2019t wait to delve straight into the next book.<\/p>\n

4.5 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spiral of Bliss\u00a0series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \"\"\u00a0 \"\"\u00a0 \"\"\u00a0 \"\"\u00a0 \"\"\u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

Arouse (#1)<\/strong> (Dean & Liv)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Allure (#2) <\/strong>(Dean & Liv)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Awaken (#3) <\/strong>(Dean & Liv)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrive (#3.5)<\/strong> (Dean & Liv)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Break the Sky (#4) <\/strong>(spin off – Archer & Kelsey)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Adore (#5) <\/strong>(Dean & Liv)
\nBuy: \u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Always (#6) <\/strong>(Dean & Liv)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback Review Romantic, passionate and heartbreakingly beautiful. As many people have said before, this is not your normal romance book. While we all love our \u2018boy meets girl and they fall in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,49,9,29],"tags":[188,48,189],"class_list":["post-3238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-feeeeeeels","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-nina-lane","tag-review","tag-spiral-of-bliss"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Arouse.jpg?fit=150%2C228&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-Qe","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}