Fear of Falling by S.L.Jennings-a review

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FEAR OF FALLING by S.L.Jennings

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 18, 2013

I can’t remember the last time I felt completely safe. Security seemed more like a luxury to me, reserved for those who were fortunate enough to have picture perfect childhoods. For those who didn’t bear the ugly scars that keep me bound in constant, debilitating fear. I’ve run from that fear my entire life. But when I met him, for once, I couldn’t run anymore.

He scared the hell out of me in a way that excited every fiber of my being. It wasn’t the tattoos or the piercings. It wasn’t the warmth that seemed to radiate from his frame and blanket me whenever he was near. It was just…him. The scary beautiful man that threatened to alter 23 years of routine and rituals, and make me face my crippling fear.

My name is Kami and I am constantly afraid. And the thing that scares me the most is the very thing I want.

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REVIEW: FEAR OF FALLING is the latest contemporary new adult novel from author S.L. Jennings. Although the story focuses on Kami and Blaine, this is a story of recovery-a story about survival following years of horrific abuse at the hands of Kami’s father and the emotional aftermath of trying to survive in a world of bitter memories and broken dreams. And this story is about three friends-three friends who know the horror of abuse and rejection at the hands of someone who professes to love and cherish. Only, surviving sometimes comes at a cost when the past catches up and wants revenge.

Kami would never consider herself a survivor, in fact, she considers herself broken and beyond repair. While her room mates Dom and Angel, act out their buried pain and anger, Kami withdraws into a world of her father’s making. Hoping to move on, Kami finds herself falling for a man who promises her that he will never let her fall. But Kami’s fear of falling has her pushing everyone away. When the people around her get too close, Kami runs without looking back.

Blaine is the man with whom Kami is falling in love. But fearing rejection and a broken heart, Kami will never allow anyone to come close enough that could physically or emotionally destroy the fragile hold she has on her own sanity. Blaine is no ordinary man; he is the man who promises that he will never let her fall and if she does he will be there to catch her. The relationship is slow to build as Blaine understands that Kami must fight her demons but he is willing to fight right along side with her. But growing up in an abusive home Kami knows that promises are hollow and she pushes Blaine once too often and in the end, will discover that the monsters from her dreams are real and at her front door wanting to finish what he started years before.

Fear of Falling is a story with a HEA but it is also a story of recovery, starting over and letting go. And it is also a story of three friends who each have a story to tell. Kami, Dom and Angel know what it is to be broken and it is their friendship and understanding of what each has gone through and experienced that is the glue to that keeps them together.

S.L.Jennings has woven a storyline about a topic that is prominent in many of today’s headlines but a topic that can find itself buried in the sand along with many other issues that the public refuses to acknowledge. S.L brings the horrors of abuse front and center and in doing so reveals the tragedy and the aftermath of recovery-one step at a time.

Reviewed by Sandy