Friday, February 28, 2014

LEAN ON ME BY NICOLA HAKEN


TAKE MY HAND VOL 3 

Synopsis 
Rachel Mason oozes confidence. She’s outgoing, adventurous and would chop off her right arm before caring what other people think of her or her disability. 

Right? 

Jared Mattheson on the other hand, is more than a little goofy and a whole lot of carefree. He’s happy living the bachelor life on his father’s credit card, takes nothing seriously and wouldn’t know difficulty if it slapped him in the face. 

Right? 

With Emily and Dexter away in the States, Rachel and Jared are left behind to keep each other company. They share the same sense of fun, their personalities bounce off one another perfectly and perhaps inevitably, they become best friends. But what happens when the lines of friendship start to blur? How will they cope when the sides of themselves they’ve kept hidden from the world for so long begin to show? 

Their journey together may have started with fun, games and alcohol – but it seems the future has other ideas. 
Turns out, even the strongest of people need someone to lean on sometimes. 

Reactions 
I had not read the two previous volumes but it was not a problem to enjoy this story. Quite original, this romance as the merit of having imperfect characters who fight not to show their weaknesses to others.

Rachel is in a wheelchair. Her handicap lead the author to speak about the society look at disabilities. The discomfort and the preconception that may accompany the handicap. 

Conversely, Jared is epileptic. His condition is not something you can see but his attacks have an impact on his life. They also are a disability. 

wo conditions that give substance to this romance by addressing issues of self-perception and the fear of being imperfect, outside the norm.. 

Certainly, there are some lengths but I found the originality of the story interesting enough. I had a good time with Rachel and Jared.



Sentence

"If I hadn’t have felt so stone-cold sober, I would’ve sworn I was drunk." 


*LEAN ON ME BY NICOLA HAKEN 
TAKE MY HAND VOL 3 

Traduction du synopsis
Rachel Mason respire la confiance en elle. Elle est ouverte, aventureuse et elle pourrait se couper son bras droit avant de se soucier de ce que les autres pensent d'elle ou de son handicap. 

Pas vrai ? 

Jared Mattheson de son côté est plus qu'un peu maladroit et facile à vivre. Il est heureux de vivre une vie de célibatire grâce à la carte de crédit de son père et ne prend rien au sérieux. Il ne saurait même ce qu'est une difficulté si elle lui giflé le visage. 

Pas vrai ? 

Avec Emily et Dexter partis aux Etats-Unis, Rachel et Jared sont laissés derrière à se tenir compagnie. Ils partagent le même sens de l'humour, leurs personnalités se mariant parfaitement et inévitablement, ils deviennent de meilleurs amis. Mais que se passe-t-il lors les lignes entre l'amitié et quelque chose d'autre commencent à se brouiller ? Comment vont-ils faire lorsque les côtés d'eux-mêmes qu'ils ont gardé caché au monde entier depuis si longtemps vont commencent à se montrer ? 

Leur voyage ensemble a peut-être commencé avec de la légerté, des jeux et de l'alcool - mais il semble que l'avenir leur réserve autre chose. 

Il s'avère que, même les personnes les plus fortes ont besoin de quelqu'un sur qui s'appuyer parfois. 

Impressions
Je n'avais pas lu les deux précédents volumes et j'avoue ne pas avoir été gênée pour entrer dans l'histoire. Assez originale, cette romance à la mérite d'avoir des personnages imparfaits qui se battent pour ne pas montrer leurs faiblesses aux autres.

Rachel est dans un fauteuil roulant ce qui a permis à l'auteur de parler du regard porté sur les handicapés. L'inconfort et les idées reçues qui peuvent accompagner l'handicap. A l'inverse, Jared est épileptique. Sa condition ne se voit pas mais ses crises ont un impact sur sa vie et l'handicape.
Deux conditions qui permettent de donner de la matière à cette romance et abordant les problèmes de perception de soi, du regard des autres et la peur d'être imparfait.


Certes, il y a des petites longueurs mais j'ai trouvé l'originalité du récit suffisamment intéressante pour passer un bon moment.

Source
*Arc provided by the author. I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

EXCERPT

Day 5 ~ Your future boyfriend x
Day five? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Seemed I was about to find out when a few seconds later, Jared let himself into my flat, waving his key proudly in the air and looking too hot for his own good in black jeans and a white shirt with just the right amount of buttons undone at the top.
“Fucker.”
“Good afternoon to you too, saffy. I see you got my flowers?”
“Day five?”
“Today is the fifth day you’ve still not said yes. If I were smarter I’d have started sending them on day one. But I’m not… so we’re starting at day five.”
“Well as long as you know you’re going to end up bankrupt,” I said dismissively, trying to ignore the warm feeling cocooning my heart.
“Nah. It won’t take that long,” he replied confidently. I simply shook my head, amused at his sureness. “You ready?”
“My hair is wet. Do I look ready?”
“You look beautiful.” A smile emerged on my lips without permission, even though I knew he was probably bullshitting me as part of his master plan. “Let me do your hair.”
“My hair. You… want to do… my hair?” What the…
“Sure,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly.
“Um… let me think. How about, fuck no!”
“I’m doing your hair.”
“You are not doing my hair!” I protested, gripping my hand-rims and wheeling away from him.
“I’ll catch you, saffy. I can run faster than you can wheel,” he teased.
“Seriously, I don’t get what’s gotten into you lately!” I stopped, throwing my hands in the air. Damn, I was laughing. I was supposed to be acting pissed off.
“Well I know what’ll be getting into you soon enough.” He strode over to me with a wicked grin illuminating his irritatingly gorgeous face. Then he bent down so his mouth was level with my ear, and when his breath swept across my heated cheeks my breath caught. Damn. “Me,” he whispered throatily.
Ah, fuck. I’m so screwed.

ENJOY THE PLAYLIST OF LEAN ON ME



AUTHOR BIO
Nicola lives in Rochdale, England with her husband and four children and she is the author of New Adult/Contemporary romance novels Inevitable, Saving Amy and the Take My Hand series. When she is not busy playing with her imaginary book friends (or talking about them with real life friends!) she can usually be found studying or carrying out her ordinary mum/housewife/all round slave duties!

SOCIAL LINKS

TRY YOUR LUCK AT THE GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 comment:

  1. It's refreshing to see people with disabilities as protagonists in books, particularly in romance. As a person with Spina Bifida, it would be good to read more books like this. Great Review!

    ReplyDelete

Blog Archive