Rebel’s Return by Victoria James – a Review
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Description:
Natalia Puccini has spent her entire life playing by her overbearing but well-intentioned Italian family’s rules…except the one time she took a chance on a bad boy and fell hard. She’s worked to get her life back on track so when Aiden McCann comes sauntering back into town with his heart-stopping smile, Natalia vows not to fall for him again. There’s no way she’ll let him mess with her perfectly planned life…and there’s no way she’ll let him near her heart again…
Now reformed and a self-made success, Aiden is tormented by regrets and secrets. He left Red River years ago filled with anger and resentment and a promise to never come back. But when his ill father needs help, Aiden knows it’s time to face the mess he left behind, and face the one woman he never got over. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or intriguing she is, though, because he’ll never be able to give her what she needs. As soon as his father is healthy, Aiden is leaving Red River…for good.
Review:
Two thumbs up for The Rebels Return by Victoria James. I absolutely loved Aiden McCann, he just stole the story for me. As all of you know I love a good story where the hero is the town bad boy with a checkered past and Aiden fell into that category for me. From his first appearance in the story I knew I’d be a gonner for him and Ms. James proved me right. Aiden’s past broke my heart and made me want to make everything better for him. He’s the type of hero you can’t help but root for and want to see get his HEA that he’s denied himself all these years. Every time I learned a little bit more about Aiden and his brother Dylan’s past, and why he left Red River in the first place broke my heart even more for him. However, even though I was sympathetic to Aiden and wanted him to be happy, he caused me much frustration at times. I wanted to shake him silly and tell him to just spit it out, the whole reason as to why he lied to Natalia and broke her heart before leaving Red River. I had an idea about the why, I honestly thought it was going to be Nat’s brother who cheated on someone, or was having an affair with someone and Aiden to protect Nat’s brother took the downfall, but I was wrong. I was correct in that it did involve Natalia’s brother, only he told Aiden to never see his sister again and to leave town or else, so Aiden did just that, rather then face his screwed up life and figure out a way to fix it. Thankfully by books end he finally grows a pair and tells Natalia the truth in front of pretty much the whole town. That scene had me cheering and shedding a few tears at the same time. Yes Aiden and his brother’s life went to hell after their mother passed and their father couldn’t deal with it and raise his sons, but Aiden didn’t need to go down the wrong path either. If it hadn’t been for Natalia then he really would’ve been lost. She helped him stay somewhat on the straight and narrow, but it’s because of her that he leaves town to figure out his life and straighten it out, make something of himself and hopefully finally be worthy of her.
Natalia was a breath of fresh air in an emotionally and angst filled story. She brought light and laughter to Aiden’s life and to the story. She’s that quirky girl next door that’s sweet as pie and can charm the socks off the grumpiest senior in town. Natalia balances out Aiden’s bad boy persona and brings out another part of Aiden he’s never showed to anyone but her. With Natalia he can truly be Aiden, let his vulnerability and insecurities show and she never judges him for it. If anything she loves him all the more when he’s like this, able to let his guard down and just be Aiden. Their scenes are funny and sweet at times, while others are full of emotion that pours off the pages and makes your heart ache for this couple.
The Rebel’s Return is a fast paced read, packed full with emotional angst, regrets, lost love with the hope for future love, all set in the charming little town of Red River, with it’s cast of quirky fun characters that only add to the charm of this beautifully written story.
Until next time, happy reading everyone!!
Reviewed by Marcie
Copy provided by Publisher
