Volition by Shawn Kirsten Maravel
Source: ecopy from author
Charlotte Rush would be the first to admit that her life is no rollercoaster ride. Her days are laced with ordinary and at times boring monotony. But with a heart that finds itself frequently broken she’s happy to say that she’s content.
When her friends convince her to spend the night out at a club to let loose and maybe even find a guy, she finally admits that her life might be missing something.
No sooner does she let go of her inhibitions does she find herself waking up in a dark hotel room in the presence of Joel, a man who carries mystery in his eyes and familiarity in his smile. Against reason Charlotte decides to trust him based solely on one thing. Somehow, she is sure that she knows him.
In a race against time to find answers and to solve the crime committed against her Charlotte finds herself falling for him. However, with nothing but mystery surrounding him she can’t even be sure that he’s the hero at all. While knowing all of the right things to say he still manages to tell her nothing. As a battle is waged over the innocence of her cryptic stranger, Charlotte discovers that much greater danger awaits her. And the mysteries behind who and what Joel is will lead Charlotte to discover that heaven and earth are not so far apart.
I really enjoyed Volition. I know that may sound strange after you just read the warning above, but this book isn’t so much about rape and the victims as it is about love and becoming a strong, good person. Charlotte has been through a lot. She doesn’t even like to go out to clubs, and the one night that her friends finally drag her out, something awful almost happens to her. The rest of the book deal with the aftermath of this night, including a strange new addition to her life- Joel.
Joel is one of those guys that is so perfect. He is too good to be true. Granted, Joel has a reason for being so utterly good, and even though it’s a “secret” it was pretty obvious to me right away. I love how innately good Joel is and how much he cares for Charlotte, but I would have liked to see a few more faults in him. Something to make him seem a little more realistic. But it is pretty hard to not like Joel; he is just so loyal. I’m glad that even though Charlotte was smitten with Joel from about day 2, she still realized how strange his appearance in her life was. I would like to think I would act logically too and not get swept up in the romance of it all if a strange man “saved” me and promptly took me straight to a hotel room and then proceeded to have many unexplained occurrences surrounding him. But even though Charlotte tried to act rationally, she just couldn’t stay away from Joel. But the more I got to see the two of them together, the less it bugged me.
I really liked that the whole trial process was explained and that we got to know some of the other girls that this had happened to. And then the end of the book was like a whirlwind. Most of the book is set at a moderate pace, but the ends sped things up considerably. All of a sudden a bunch of stuff was happening that I totally didn’t see coming! The ending totally shocked me, and left me really wanting to read the second book to see how the story would all end. Even with its serious themes and nature, Volition was a really sweet romance to me. I really hope everything works out for Joel and Charlotte in the next book.
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| 3.5/5 gavels |
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