Review: Beauty in the Ashes by Micalea Smeltzer



Note: This ARC was provided by the author via Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Beauty in the Ashes is a standalone romance novel written by Micalea Smeltzer. It was originally released in July of 2014 and has been re-released almost two and a half years later. It's the story of Caelan Gregory, a broken young man who has experienced such immense loss in his life and is barely able to keep his head above water, dealing with his grief with the aid of drugs and alcohol. The only things he has left are his pain and his painting and he has no intention of letting anyone into his self-imposed prison. But then he meets his new neighbor, Sutton Hale. As much as he wishes he didn't, Caelan wants to get close enough to Sutton to get to know her, but he doesn't realize right off Sutton's always present desire to fix anything that's broken--and that includes people. There's something about Caelan that tells her that he needs her, but will it be too late before Sutton realizes he could break her too?

I felt torn by the time I finished reading this book. The first two quarters of it had me fully committed to all things Caelan and Sutton, but then I just felt lost by the turn of events. I felt cheated in a way. Gah! It's difficult to explain without going into detail, and while I know that there are probably readers and bloggers who've already read this book, there are still those who haven't, so I need to take them into consideration and not post spoilers. Let's just say that when I read the reviews on Goodreads and then I read the book, I got what many reviewers were saying. While I never got to read the original release, I'm guessing that the new addition to this second edition is the epilogue, which does give us the happily-ever-after ending, just not how they may have been expecting. Beauty in the Ashes has the perfect title because you can find love even when you think there's none left to find. Four stars. ♥

Re-Release Date: 06 December 2016

Date Read: 06 December 2016

Learn more about Micalea Smeltzer.

Purchase Beauty in the Ashes on Amazon | Kobo.

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