Author: H.B. Heinzer
Series: Blessed Tragedy #1
Publication Date: March 14, 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Source: Bought
Description from Goodreads:
Maddie Neumann died the
day she pulled away from her parents' house determined to make her
dreams come true. She wasn't the perfect little princess she'd been
raised to be, all she wanted to do was rock. Everything Maddie was
tucked away in a box to allow for her re-birth as Rain Maxwell; a badass
rocker who answered to no one and lived by her own set of rules.
Rain's
world is shattered with one phone call from her estranged family. No
sooner does she get home than everything she thought she knew about her
life starts changing.
Colton Bradford knew there was something
special about Rain the moment they first met. Unfortunately, she had a
hard and fast rule about dating a bandmate so he was stuck in the
friends zone. When Rain is going through her own personal hell, will
Colton finally be able to make her see how he feels and convince her to
take a chance on love?
My Thoughts:
After an eighteen year sentence, the "princess prison" I was born into could no longer hold me.
Blessed Tragedy was not what I expected it to be. From the very beginning I thought this girl, Rain (Maddie), is going to be bad ass. I knew that the story was going to be told from a rocker girls POV, so I started reading the book expecting exactly just that- A rocker story but in a girls POV.
When we were around my family, I was Maddie but here in my room, when it was just us, I was Rain.
The main character Rain (Maddie) ran away from home to follow her dreams in becoming a rock star. Ever since she has developed two different personalities. This is one of the things I had a problem with. Why hide what you truly are? Just be who you want to be, and who you truly are. From the very beginning we get to know Rain- the rocker girl that has a family in her band mates-but we also get to know Maddie-sensitive, vulnerable, and caring.
It seemed that everyone was working to meld my two families into one.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't nice to see my worlds meshing this way.
A tragic event brings Rain back home to her family. This is were we get to see Maddie, because she transforms herself to the girl her family grew up knowing. Right after her arrival, her band mates met up with her. This is where the story flow got really slow. I just felt that the story was not going anywhere, and it was just stuck in this tragic event. Although, I did enjoy the connection and reunion between Rain, her family, and her band mates. Right after this the story flow starts to pick up :).
I'd spent many months defending the platonic state of our personal relationship. And now, I was the one having thoughts about Colton that didn't fall into the friends category.
Rain and Colton have an intimate relationship to a certain level that still categorizes as being in the friend zone. Does that make any sense? I seriously thought they were together when I read the first few scenes with them being really close to each other. Then Rain states from the very beginning that they are just friends! Back at Rain's hometown, Colton and Rain start falling out of the friend zone. I believe it is more than obvious from the very begging that these two are going to end up being together.
"I'll take someday." He gently lifted me, shifting our heads to the pillows. "I'll take whatever I can get with you."
I liked Colton's character. He is your typical rocker boy, but he is also sensitive, sweet, and cares so much for Rain. I will admit that I totally hated him in one part in the story. If a guy truly loves you he will never have doubts of what you say, and believe what other's say about you. That is basically what happens with Colton. But then he does the most amazing thing to apologize for his actions. You will just have to read Blessed Tragedy to find out what happens ;D!
True love means working through the mistakes to see if your love is strong enough to survive.
H.B. Heinzer delivered an emotional roller coaster ride with Blessed Tragedy. There is lose, grief, romance, betrayal, and forgiveness. I cried, laughed, and feel in love with some of the characters in the book. By the end of Blessed Tragedy I was an emotional mess.
H.B. Heinzer makes you think about finding out who you truly are, and how you can have the best of both worlds.
Final Verdict: 4 Stars
The reason I gave this book 4 stars was that the beginning was very slow for me. The pace did not pick up until half of the book, and then it got really good. Another reason was that I had a few problems with Rain's character. Other than that this was a really great read. I will be reading Blessed Fate, because I want to hear the story from Colton's POV.
Favorite Quotes:
As I started singing the chorus, Colton's rich voice joined me in perfect harmony. We sat together on the stage floor through the rest of the song.
There were five years of lost hugs to catch up on and only a couple of days to do it in
He'd bared his soul to me and I took his words and pulverized them.
The curse was it was getting harder and harder to be around Colton without feeling the awkward tension growing between us.
They might call it guy liner, but seriously, there is no 'guy liner' display at the store. It's eyeliner.
"Rule number one: always leave her wanting more." He laughed as I glared at him.
About the Author:
With the exception of three
years spent in the middle of Nebraska, H.B. Heinzer has called southern
Wisconsin home. During that time in Nebraska, she imagined one of her
favorite authors living on the far western edge of the county, just
south of the highway. At the time, becoming a novelist was a distant
dream for her. Now, she is the author living in that location.
Ironically, she later found out that same favorite author lives just
outside the town HB lived in for the first eighteen years of her life.
Now,
HB lives in the middle of nowhere but still close enough to the city to
not feel isolated. It's the perfect place to let her two kids run and
explore their huge yard, teach them about the food chain as they prepare
their first-ever garden and debate building a chicken coop. It's one of
those dreams that is only possible thanks to the amazing opportunities
that have come through writing.
Where to find H.B. Heinzer:
Where to Buy Blessed Tragedy:
