Review for Obsession (Drawn #2 – Aaron) by Lilliana Anderson

TITLE: Obsession (Aaron)
SERIES: Drawn #2
AUTHOR: Lilliana Anderson
PUBLICATION DATE: May 30, 2014
PUBLISHER: Independent
PAGES: 300 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: From author
RATING: 4 bows

At the end of Drawn, our lovely author left us with a massive cliffhanger. Now she gives us a choice, which hero do you want Etta to end up with? If you choose Aaron, then this is the story for you. If you prefer Damien, then you need Redemption. In Drawn, we follow Etta’s relationship with Damien and his obsessive need to keep her close. Now, he’s in prison for started a pub brawl that landed several people in the hospital and Etta is trying to rebuild her life and learn to be a mother. She can see know that what she had with Damien wasn’t love, it was nothing like the feels she now has for Aaron and when Damien shows up at her doorstep, she wants nothing to do with him…..but will he allow her to make that choice?

While I didn’t love Etta in the first novel, here I really connected with her. She is doing her best to move on and build a life with Aaron, though she doesn’t want to tie in down in her drama initially. She doesn’t have many options left in her life except to try and be the best parent she can and be grateful for all of Aaron’s help. He literally swoops in and saves the day, helping her with everything she needs while not pushing for the relationship he really wants. She really shows a lot of growth here, coming to terms with the relationship she had with Damien and realizing that it wasn’t really a relationship at all, just an affair with a man who would let her know him as well as she wanted. We also get to see her devotion to Evie, who is the cutest little girl ever. In my head, she was more or less a black-haired version of little Anna in Frozen. I loved watching her stand strong against her pull towards Damien because we know it will never work.

Then we have Aaron, my beautiful sweet Aaron. The man has the patience of a saint, not only waiting for Etta throughout the Damien episode but also waiting during her pregnancy and after Evie is born and just waiting in general for her to make a move. He was prepared to move on with his life and let her go, if it was what she wanted. Thankfully, it’s not. This time around, she wants him as much as he wants her and they are magical together. They have that perfect relationship we all dream about, with love and trust and complete devotion to each other. The way he is so head-over-heels for Evie as well just had me falling for him all the more. It takes a strong man to love his enemy’s child as his own.

Then we have Damien. I was never a Damien fan, but I almost feel sorry for him here. In Redemption, we see him really put an effort into improving himself and getting well enough to really win Henrietta back. After watching him really put some effort into it, it was very sad to watch him spiral out of control here. I feel like his life in Redemption was the best possible scenario and this was the worst, but the more likely of the two to occur. The odds of Damien getting Jordy (or someone like him) as his cellmate were much higher than him getting Keith (who was in cellmate in Redemption). Without Keith’s presence encouraging him to improve, he worsens because a violent prison life is likely to have that effect. Why would he change when his ways make him the top dog in this life? And while fighting to stay safe in jail, he’s obsession with Etta only worsens. I don’t think I would ever want him to win Etta back because I don’t believe that would ever really work, but I would have liked to see him get a happy-ish ending. Maybe not a wife and kids, but just a life solidly on the redemption path. The thing he does at the end broke my heart a little. It doesn’t redeem him completely but it’s hard not to let it bring out more emotion.

I really think that Redemption was the fairy-tale ending, with everyone getting to ride off into the sunset with their happily ever after (Damien with Etta and Aaron finding love with someone new) and this is the realistic path. Under that logic, I should really like Redemption more because I’m a big (HUGE) fan of the happily ever afters, but I really don’t think it would have worked. I don’t think Etta would really be capable of forgiving Damien and moving on with a life with him after everything he has done. The way this story works out was a much more depressing ending. Aaron & Etta (and Evie) do get to live happily ever after, but Damien’s fate isn’t very happy…which is why this gets four bows instead of 5. I kinda felt like that was how this was going to end. Once Damien shows up at Etta’s house, this is the only real logical way the story could play out, but I kept that hope alive that maybe it would turn out differently.

In the end, I like this story better than Redemption and even more than Drawn, but it wasn’t perfect. I loved the idea that we get to pick who she ends up with and that they aren’t just the same story with different endings. I love the idea that different choices set you down different paths. For anyone else out there like me who wants to read both novels, you will get a bit of repeated material at the beginning. The start off the same, with very minor differences, but once you hit the halfway mark, things go drastically different as we see how those choices effect their lives. I also love the idea that the two novels present together with regards to Etta. If you read both, you can clearly see that, whether she admits it or not, her desire for Damien is completely within her control because she gives in to it in Redemption but fights it here. That simple choice, give in or fight, changes everything. I have wholly enjoyed this journey and encourage everyone to give it a shot. How can you not want to read a novel where you have the power to choose who Etta will end up with?!?!

****Thank you to Lilliana Anderson for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Redemption (Drawn #2 – Damien) by Lilliana Anderson

TITLE: Redemption (Damien)
SERIES: Drawn #2
AUTHOR: Lilliana Anderson
PUBLICATION DATE: May 30, 2014
PUBLISHER: Independent
PAGES: 300 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: From author
RATING: 4 bows

For those of you who read Drawn, you know we were left with a massive cliffhanger. Who will Etta choose? Well the beauty of this series is that we get to choose. We get a different sequel for each guy with completely different events. This is Damien’s book. Damien has spent the past three years in prison for the fight he caused the day Etta left him for good. A fight that landed a dozen people in the hospital. He knows he fucked up, but he is more determined than ever that when he is released, he’ll find her and make it right. Etta is trying to make things work with Aaron. She knows he is a good man and he’s always been there for her, but part of here still craves Damien. Can she continue to fight her desire for him when they come face to face or will she give in?

Okay, before I say anything, I need to tell you that I am wholly biased. I am Team Aaron and at no point have I considered jumping sides. Anderson stated at the beginning of this that she meant to make Damien un-redeemable and though she tries to fix it here, she did that jobs too well. For me, Damien is beyond salvation. I’m sure he deserves a happy life, but he needs to find it elsewhere. Even with him on his best behavior, I didn’t want Etta anywhere near him. Some things cannot be undone, you know? With that being said, here’s my take.

I had a rocky relationship with Etta in book one. I liked her but Damien makes her stupid and I hate girls like that. I hate girls who allow men to rule their lives and dictate their worlds. We’ve all met that girl who only ever talks about her boyfriend. No matter what topic you try to introduce to steer the conversation elsewhere, it always ends with “well he says blah blah blah.” Etta turned into that girl in Drawn and I was hoping to see her come out of it here, with the prolonged absence from him. She both does and doesn’t. She moves on some but still longs for him even though he was a controlling assface to her. And the minute he shows up showing the least bit of improvement, she more or less jumps in the sack with him. Which perturbed me. You have a child to consider now and him saying he’s changed doesn’t prove shit. You cannot have that around your child. For me, she just forgives him way too easily. They go through the semblance of a trial where they are separated and work towards making a better relationship. She seems a bit selfish here. I understand to an extent that she has still never really been on her own and made her own decisions but when she chooses to move away from Aaron, essentially cutting her ties with him, I saw red. This amazing man helped you when no one else would have and he has stood by you throughout your bullshit and loved your child as his own and THIS is show you repay him? There are not words for my feelings on that subject.

Damien himself was much improved here. He’s medicated to help his obsessions and manic behavior, but it’s not enough to make up for past mistakes. I understand psychological disorders have a great effect on people, but I don’t understand how people can ignore them to such an extent or refuse to seek help because of bad side effects. Do you not realizes that there are hundreds of medications for bipolar or mania or whatever disease you have and the side effects vary depending on what and how much you are taking? If one doesn’t work, try another! I like that he does see the light and realize he needs help, but I think Etta should be lost to him. He fucked up beyond recovery, cut your losses and move on. If you are very lucky, she’ll let you see your kid but that’s as much as you can get.

The plot and writing and pacing of this are as good as the previous book. It’s everything I was expecting in a sequel, with a story enthralling enough to compel me to finish it in a single day which is a feat for me. I will say that Lilliana has an amazing way of making you care for the characters you don’t even like. I really despise Damien and yet I found myself sympathizing with the selfish asshat. That was both amazing and infuriating because I didn’t want to sympathize with him. I wanted my hatred to prevail. Even though I’m 100% Team Aaron, this book made me wish just the tinniest bit that there was some hope for Damien.

All you really need to know is that if you are Team Damien, you’ll love this. You get to see him redeem himself in a lot of ways and attempt to earn Etta’s trust. He actually has a swoon-worthy side when he wants to and I can sorta see the attraction. If you are Team Aaron, then you’ll be angry at the way Etta treats him much of the time, but he gets his happy ending here…even if it wasn’t the one I was wishing for. Now I’m off to read the ending I was wishing for. Aaron, here I come!

****Thank you to Lilliana Anderson for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review****