*****5 Absolutely Amazing Stars*****

There are certain things I’ve come to know and appreciate in life: books keep me happy, coffee keeps me upright, and Lex Martin writes one helluva phenomenal book.

I have loved each and every one of her books so fiercely. She continues to be not only one of my favorite authors, but an author I can count on for an exceptionally good and fulfilling read. She never fails to deliver a story that weaves together the perfect amount of undeniable heat and connection, the most thoughtfully crafted and all-feeling level of emotion, and an effervescent vibrancy that is tangible through ever extraordinary word she writes.

It’s pretty suffice to say that I love her books, her characters and stories, and her writing, hard. Reading a new book from her is something I so look forward to because I know without a doubt that she will literally give me it all between the pages of her books. She’ll give me the feels I crave, the romance that makes me melt, the vibrancy and life that is beyond mesmerizing to experience, and everything else in between that makes me love what I’m reading even more.

Shameless was a book that was equal parts beautiful and emotional and meaningful, while simultaneously making me blush and melt and fall so wonderfully hard for everything that Brady and Katherine were sharing. This book was romantic, it was fun, it was full of feels, and it was real. So genuinely real, with real, easy to love and understand characters that were spectacular on every page. The distinctive authenticity and life and spark that Lex Martin created within Shameless is something I know I won’t soon forget. (It’s something I’m missing already, now that I’ve finished the book.)

This book is about what happens when life throws you one seriously emotional curve ball you never saw coming. It follows two phenomenal characters as they try to figure out what in the world they’re going to do after that curve ball is thrown, and how they’re going to handle everything that curveball leaves in its wake. This book is about how that curveball throws Brady and Katherine onto a path they never expected to be on, yet how that path just might be exactly what they never knew they needed in this new normal they find themselves in.

Shameless is an immensely enrapturing story of loss and meaningful emotion, and how new life and love and hope might just be able to grow from that loss, if these characters just allow themselves the chance to have it.

The opening of this book finds Brady and Katherine thrust together unexpectedly, after an unimaginable loss ties them to each other in ways they never expected to be. He’s a cynical tattoo artist who’s got a lot on his plate, and she’s a dreamer who’s trying to put her life back together. He just lost his brother, and she just lost her best girlfriend, and now they have to figure out what in the world they’re going to do with all the heartache they now share. Throw in the fact that Brady was left with sole custody of his one year old niece Isabella, and you have the makings of one downright phenomenal story as these two try to put one foot in front of the other, while simultaneously trying to fight the intense attraction they have for one another.

What ensues between them is heartfelt, emotional, and meaningful to say the least, and experiencing what they share together and what they start to feel towards one another is nothing short of spectacular. It’s real, it’s honest, it’s kind of messy in the most genuine way, and it isn’t always easy, but it’s oh so wonderful and so damn worth it, and you will be invested in them right from the start. You’ll live and breathe and feel every word of this book with Katherine and Brady, which will have you hoping with everything you have that these two can figure out a way to take their not so easy situation and turn it into something more.

Brady was a character that pretty much stole my heart, and my ovaries, from the moment I met him. He’s certainly got a presence about him that will have your attention from page one, and the more you get to know him, the more you’ll see that that man has a heart of gold. He’s doing everything he can to keep it together, to make up for the regrets he feels with his brother, and to be there for his baby niece who has just lost everything she knew. You really get to see all that Brady does to figure out what’s right for him and his new future with Isabella, what needs to happen between him and Katherine, and what’s best for everyone.

I am telling you that along the way with him on his journey to discovering all of that, you will fall so hopelessly in love with him. I know I did. He is one of the most thoughtful, charming, and heart melting male characters I have read, and his tenacity, determination, and level of heart will have you beyond smitten with every bit of him.

Katherine is a female character I related and connected to on so many levels. I found her to be honest, sweet, and beautiful, both inside and out. She is so selfless and so endearing, and she is just trying to figure out what it is she wants from life and what truly makes her happy. Over the course of Shameless you learn that Katherine has been through a lot, and that that emotional upset is what brought her to that Texas farm in the first place. She was looking for calm and ease and solace, which is exactly what she found until one fateful night when everything changed, but then Brady enters the picture and makes it all mean so much more once again. He’s a game changer, and as much as she says she won’t fall for him, she can’t help but be drawn to his heart of gold.

In Shameless, Katherine is trying to figure out a lot of things about herself, Brady, and the life that she lives. The events of this book push her, and Brady for that matter, to realize what is truly important, what is truly worth fighting for, and the possibilities that can come when you meet that one person who literally changes everything.

Shameless explores the budding relationship Katherine and Brady share, and how the intense sparks and connection they have might just lead them both to something they so desperately crave. He’s trying his best to hold back, and she’s wearing her heart on her sleeve, and as much as they want to explore the world of feeling they share for each other, they both know there’s an expiration date on it all. They develop and honest to goodness friendship that soon turns into something much more than they bargained for.

That more is real, it’s raw and vulnerable, and it’s messy and emotional as hell, but at the same time it shows them what they could really share together if they only take that leap of faith and risk their hearts in order to see what could happen.

Lex Martin creates the most inviting world in Shameless with Katherine and Brady. She throws you knee deep in that good old Texas charm, with some amazing supporting characters that make it all the more memorable. Experiencing that charm and that wonderful world will have you even more consumed by this book. It will also have you feeling like you’re experiencing every lick of it.

Lex’s extraordinary writing gives you it all with these characters. She puts you in this book whole heartedly, she invests your heart right from the start, and she gives you so many exceptionally crafted moments to experience with them.

You’ll laugh with them, cry and hurt and feel right along with them, and you’re going to be consumed by the feelings and the intensity of the pull Brady and Katherine share towards one another. The more you read, the more you’ll get them and understand exactly what they want and so desperately need. You’re going to love them, you’re going to want to hug them and occasionally shake some sense into them, and more than that, you’re going to hope with all that you have that they can find a way to figure it all out, and make something more out of what they share.

I could literally go on and on about how phenomenal this book was, how vibrant and emotional and meaningful and wonderful it was, and how much I absolutely loved it. It was a fulfilling read all the way through, and it highlighted the true writing and storytelling talent of Lex Martin. I already know this will be one of my top reads of the year, and I can’t tell you enough how literally amazing it was to read and experience.

Shameless gave me two wonderfully distinctive characters trying to make the best of a situation neither one of them expected to be in, and it showed what happened between them as they tried to figure out exactly what they needed and wanted, for themselves and from each other. Their story pulls at your heart, it makes you feel every emotion under the sun, and in the end, it gives you a story of the extraordinary possibilities that can bloom even in the darkest of moments, if you only take that leap of faith and give into it all.

I loved everything about this book. I loved Katherine and Brady. I loved me some Isabella. I loved their journey and story together, and I loved every phenomenal aspect Lex Martin encapsulated into this book. Shameless is one of those perfect reads that reminds you why you love reading so much in the first place, and I truly can’t recommend it to you enough.

Read this book. Embrace its feels. Fall hopelessly in love with Katherine and Brady. Invest yourself in them, and what they so authentically share. Give yourself over to Shameless and everything it has.

It’s worth it. They’re worth it. And everything you get you get within the pages of this book is worth it.

I am telling you: run yourself, don’t walk yourself to this book immediately and experience the literal amazingness it has to offer. It would be wrong not to.

 

 

 

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