Review: Tattered Innocence by Ann Lee Miller

Tattered Innocence by Ann Lee Miller
Romance
Published: February 27, 2013


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Synopsis: A tale of passions indulged, denied, and ultimately forgiven:

On the verge of bagging the two things he wants most—a sailing charter business and marrying old money—Jake Murray’s fiancée/sole crew member dumps him. Salvation comes in the form of dyslexic, basketball toting Rachel Martin, the only one to apply for the first mate position he slapped on craigslist.

On a dead run from an affair with a married man, Rachel's salvation is shoving ocean between her and temptation.

Rapid fire dialogue and romantic tension sail Jake’s biker-chick of a boat through hurricanes, real and figurative. A cast of wannabe sailors, Rachel’s ex, Jake’s, a baby—go along for the ride.

The many-layered story weaves together disparate strands into a seamless cord. Mother and daughter look eerily alike—down to their lusts. Their symbiotic bond, forged in the blood of childbirth on the kitchen floor and cemented by their secrets, must be cracked open. A son must go home. Sin must be expunged. 

Tattered Innocence is for anyone who’s ever woken up sealed in a fifty-gallon drum of their guilt.

Review: I received a copy of this book to give an honest review.  At first when I started to read this story I wasn’t too sure I would be able to follow along.  I don’t know too much about sailing and the list of terms at the beginning of the book did scare me a little.  However once I really got into the story I couldn’t put it down.  I read more than 75% of this book in one night staying up until well after 3 am.  This story was one that I will remember for a long time it was a captivating story that pulled at the strings of my heart right to the very end.

The story is about two people Rachel and Jake.  Rachel applied for the job of first mate on the Smyrna Queen to escape her former life having had an affair with a married man, Bret.  For Rachel when their affair is taken too far sees no other choice than to run away she didn’t just sleep with a man before marriage she slept with a married man who has his own family.  What bothered me most about Bret is that he really wanted to have his cake and eat it too telling Rachel he loved her but he married his wife and wanted to stay for the children so in my eyes I can see why Rachel has ran away.  Her affair with Bret has cost her more than just in her eyes her self worth in the process she has alienated herself from her family more than anyone her brother Hall who she practically raised since he was a baby. Jake is a man who fulfilled the dream that he and his grandfather had which was to run their own cruise boat someday since his grandfather’s passing he has seen what matters in life and quit his corporate job and bought the boat the Smyrna Queen and fully restored her only to have his life come crashing around him on the Rachel’s first day when his fiancee Gabrielle decides that she cannot marry him that day and runs away back to her family in Arizona.

The friendship that formed between Rachel and Jake never had a dull moment here you have a woman who’s running from a married man and a man who is lost since his fiancee ran from him.  They fight their attraction to one another at every turn Rachel because she believes Jake is still in love with Gabrielle and Jake because he thinks Rachel wants a forever kind of ending he doesn’t think he can give her since he thinks he can’t love again after Gabrielle left him.  That all changes when Bret shows up as one of the guests on the boat and Jake poses as her boyfriend to get him to leave her alone. This book was about learning how to find forgiveness or oneself for their sins and finding that God will still be there for you in the end.  Rachel finding forgiveness in herself for her guilt and Jake finding that God is still there for him at the end of the day and discovering at the end of the day that you can find love again even after you have lost the only person who have ever loved.  I loved this story and the characters in it.  I laughed and I even cried at the end when the baby came into the picture.  (What baby?  Who’s baby?  You’ll just have to read the book to find out)  This was a great late night read that I will read again and again and keep on the permanent shelf in my Kindle and I cannot wait to read Ann Lee Miller’s other books in the future especially since Avra’s God is about two of the characters from this book!