Review: Inevitable by Angela Graham

AMAZON | KINDLE

Inevitable (Harmony Series #1) by Angela Graham
Contemporary
Angela Graham (May 24, 2013)

Rating: A
Heat: Warm

Heroine: Cassandra Clarke – Teacher, Going through a Dry Spell
Hero: Logan West – Playboy, Single Dad

 

 

 

Synopsis:

After experiencing a humiliating breakup, twenty-two-year-old Cassandra Clarke is fresh out of college and living a simple solitary life without any intentions of pursuing love anytime soon.

When the estate next door sells, the last thing Cassandra expects is the unnerving attraction she feels for her sinfully handsome neighbor, Logan West, the young and charming single father with a playboy reputation.

It’s through Oliver, Logan’s four-year-old son, who keeps popping up in her childhood tree house, that she slowly begins to catch glimpses of the compassionate and wounded man Logan has hidden beneath his strong exterior.

Cassandra knows it's wrong and that she's heading for another heartbreak. Logan will never be able to give her what she wants…love.

Review:

Cassie Clarke is twenty two years old and fresh out of college. She’s recently moved into her grandparents old house and is trying to prepare for her first year as a kindergarten teacher. Life is simple. Life is quiet. After a bad breakup—nothing says you're over like finding your boyfriend in bed with another woman—Cassie has given up dating. Given up on men in general, since none seem to do anything for her anyway. That is, until her sexy new neighbor moves in next door.

Logan West, a rich and successful single dad, has just moved into Harmony to be near his sister while she goes to college. Logan is… Logan will break your heart, that's for sure. It's easy to fall for him but definitely not easy to like him all the time. He is a manwhore—constantly bringing strange home when his son’s away. And poor Cassie seems to be made all too aware of that fact. Repeatedly. It stings, each and every time, let me tell you. But when you see him with his son, his protectiveness and his devotion, you know there is more to him than he’s willing to show.

Cassie and Logan spark the moment they meet. The man seems to get under her skin almost immediately. No one can rile Cassie up like Logan, whose flirty ways only seem to bristle instead of charm her. Until she starts to—slowly—see the man beneath all that ice, behind the playboy veneer. And Logan's son, Oliver, plays a huge part in that. You can't help but be captivated by Oliver in all his four year old innocence and joy. Both Cassie and Logan always put Oliver first. Always. Even if it means Cassie can never give in to her attraction for Logan. Not if it means hurting Oliver, which neither wants to do.

Cassie and Logan have a very sweet and complicated romance. It may not be filled with lots of hot sexy times, but I was captivated by them nonetheless (and considering my often smutty ways, that's saying something). Cassie and Logan have a friends-on-the-verge-of-lovers romance that is full of jealousy and anger and more than a few hurt feelings.... But there is also friendship and respect and a lot of vulnerability. Neither one wants to trust the other only to have it blow up in their face again. It’s not easy for a relationship kind of girl to love a guy who only gives one night.

Inevitable sucked me in and didn’t let me go until the very end. I loved watching Cassie  fight her attraction for her love ‘em and leave ‘em neighbor. How can you resist a man who makes your whole body light up, even when you know it'll only lead to heartache? You can’t. I felt for Cassie so much. And I felt for Logan and his damaged, broken self too. I cried. Then cried some more. Then wanted to cry again because it ended... in a cliffhanger. A doozy of a cliffhanger, really. The story takes a very dramatic turn at the end. Expect a few tears to fall. Not sure how long we have to wait for the next book but, really, any amount of time is too long.

Favorite Quote:

"Logan, we can't," I breathed, pulling myself back to reality.
Every part of me wanted to kiss him back with the same passion that radiated off him, but I knew that he couldn't give me what I needed. I wanted a real relationship with a shot at a real future. Logan was sweet and gorgeous and said all the right things, but I couldn't let myself forget, he was also a notorious playboy. I was nothing more than a small town teacher, searching for my epic love, not just hot sex with a friend.