{"id":4412,"date":"2014-02-08T09:01:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-08T17:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=4412"},"modified":"2017-03-08T10:42:36","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T15:42:36","slug":"review-cold-blooded-beautiful-beautiful-2-by-christine-zolendz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=4412","title":{"rendered":"Review: Cold-Blooded Beautiful (Beautiful, #2) by Christine Zolendz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy: 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

\u201cHer demons, well, they played very well with mine, and when we were together, neither of us had to babysit them, they went off on their own, leaving us be.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Christine Zolendz takes us right back into the mood of\u00a0Brutally Beautiful<\/a>\u00a0for the continuation of Kade and Samantha\u2019s story. And like the first book – it\u2019s dark, traumatic, cynical, and sinisterly funny.<\/p>\n

Kade and Sam are both still struggling with their demons, but finding happiness together, and I loved seeing them all loved-up and committed. There are still secrets between them though, as Sam hasn\u2019t revealed all of her past to Kade yet\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to tell me what\u2019s going on. Tell me something, babe. I can\u2019t do this anymore, this sick twisted worrying, I need more of the story.\u201d The sad smile he offered me pulled at my insides, \u201cI don\u2019t want half of you, or bits and pieces, baby. I bloody want all of you.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, he gets all of her \u2013 in horrifically, excruciating detail. And OMG, it\u2019s some VERY hard reading as Sam\u2019s full backstory is finally revealed. And as the horror from her past comes screaming back into her present, we get a very dark, somewhat brutal book that shows us how people cope with their own traumas, as well as with the trauma endured by a loved one, and OMG, the feels are INTENSE! This is a really emotional read as we watch both Kade and Sam suffer through some very dark times \u2013 in their own unique ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cSod off! Psych 101. There are five stages of grief and I\u2019m owning that shit. They ARE\u00a0<\/em>my\u00a0bitches.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The story is told in a conversational writing style \u2013 like Kade and Samantha are telling us their stories, and I really liked it. It not only gets us right inside of their heads, making things really personal, but with Kade\u2019s brilliant snarkiness, and Sam\u2019s sarcasm, it helps gives the story some lightness. There is actually a really good mix of humour in with all of the darkness. And it\u2019s been done really well. I wouldn\u2019t have thought I would be laughing in the middle of all that goes on in this book, but I did. What can I say, I like my dark humour, and Kade does it so well!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should be getting dressed too, instead of slumming it in your sexy-pjs all day, cuddling up under those covers. Sniffing my soap,\u201d she smirked.
\n<\/em>Fuuuuck. She knew I sniffed her soap? Cinnamon-motherfucking-apples. I bet she doesn\u2019t know about her underwear\u2026<\/em>Yeah, can you see my smirk?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God, I love him! He\u2019s rude and nasty, but something about him just appeals to me!<\/p>\n

Come on, it\u2019s me, Mr. Dark and intriguing with a side of fucked up.\u00a0<\/em>Yeah, I\u2019m pretty much priceless.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, he is! And it doesn\u2019t hurt that he loves and adores Sam with a fierce passion that had me swooning madly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had told her I was falling in love with her, a few moments before my body claimed hers for the first time months ago, the utmost bloody disgusting clich\u00e9 for a writer, but I did it. It was pure deception. Because I wasn\u2019t falling, I had plummeted the minute I saw her, and have been lying at her feet ever since.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The conversational style also brings a touch of voyeurism to the story, and I confess I felt really awful when Sam tells us this:<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my God. Your warped curiosity wants to know anyway, doesn\u2019t it? Fuck it. As long as it\u2019s not you, right? As long as the story is about someone else and you can get to feel bad, get to be part of the experience a\u00a0<\/em>bit, and then walk away without all the years of anger and fear that really comes with it.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, I felt totally smacked down after that one! But you\u2019ve gotta hand it to Sam, she totally deserves to stand proud the way she does. You think you\u2019ve read domestic violence stories? You haven\u2019t seen evil, sinister and downright sadistic until you meet her ex-David. OMG, it\u2019s a wonder the woman is alive and mentally intact after all that she has endured! It\u2019s actually a really hard read at times. The brutality is so openly and graphically depicted, that I found it quite disturbing. But it all paints a very clear picture of the absolute hell that Sam suffers, and shows us just what an amazingly strong and resilient woman she is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI earned my strength\u00a0when a sick psychotic man took the perfect world I built for myself, shook it like a snow globe, and smashed it up against a wall. I have earned every breath I\u2019ve ever took, while being choked at the hands of a madman.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Truly, truly horrifying!<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s all woven into an all-consuming and passionate romance and an amazing relationship. Yes, it may be a little obsessive at times, but the way that Kade and Sam are together, trying so hard to protect and heal each other, despite what they are going through themselves, is truly beautiful. And I loved watching the changes in them as they continue to heal together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not my job to change or fix you\u2026my job is to love you with no expectations of you ever being anything more than what you are. If you change at all, I will love what you become, whatever it may be.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yet through it all they still maintain who they are, and the banter and teasing continues throughout.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, love? Guess what today is?\u201d
\n\u201cSmack Kade in the fucking face day?\u201d
\n\u2026 \u201cOh, you\u2019re bloody brilliant, love. No that only happens on Sundays.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book is shocking, funny, sad, and swoonily romantic. The writing is beautiful and the story is full on from start to finish, with some really big moments – both good and bad – that took my breath away. I read it in one sitting, unable to put it down, and with my emotions all over the place the entire time. I felt completely wrung out after finishing it.<\/p>\n

While I think that technically,\u00a0Brutally Beautiful<\/em>\u00a0could be read as a standalone, this is definitely going to appeal to the fans out there who want more of Kade and Samantha. And the ending\u2026 if you want to know\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/span>Spoiler <\/div>
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Yes, it\u2019s a HEA. Thank God! And we even get an epilogue that is set two years after the HEA. Honestly, I found it a bit cheesy, and OTT on the happy considering where the two of them were at during the book, and all that they endured. It seemed a bit unreal, and I must confess I did roll my eyes. But I was happy to get it, so I\u2019m not going to be took picky about it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

4 stars.<\/p>\n

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The Beautiful series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Brutally<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Cold-Blooded<\/a><\/p>\n

Brutally Beautiful (#1)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Cold-Blooded Beautiful (#2)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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

Buy: Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback Review \u201cHer demons, well, they played very well with mine, and when we were together, neither of us had to babysit them, they went off on their own, leaving us be.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,52,173,49,9,29],"tags":[250,137,48],"class_list":["post-4412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dark-gritty","category-drama","category-epic-romance","category-feeeeeeels","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-beautiful","tag-christine-zolendz","tag-review"],"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\/Cold-Blooded-Beautiful.jpg?fit=150%2C234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-19a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412","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=4412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}