Torn (Connections (Kim Karr), #2) (Connections, #2)

by Kim Karr

• ISBN10: 0698145100
• ISBN13: 9780698145108
• Publish Date: 1 October 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Penguin Group USA, Inc
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[EBookObsessed]

Connected introduced us to all the characters and gave us an insight into the connections between them. In Torn, Kim Karr amps up the storyline and makes everyone re-think whether those connections would truly hold up under the pressures that life will throw at them.

Dahlia London and River Wilde were just settling into their new relationship. A simple phone call stops them from the getting on a plane to Vegas that would begin their new life together as husband and wife. A simple phone call that turns their world upside down and they fear that their fragile new bond might not weather this storm.

Dahlia’s past has re-emerged from the shadows and will shake River’s confidence in Dahlia’s love for him. But it is not just Dahlia’s past that is the problem. The pressure from River’s future is causing undue stress on their already straining bond.

River’s brother Xander has set up a tour with a new record producer. Making music is River’s passion but going on tour is one of his worst nightmares. He hates the crowds and the bus and lack of privacy. Living on the road and standing in the spotlight are not what River wants. It is what his Dad wanted. River just wants to write songs.

If River won’t go on tour, the record company could destroy the band’s career and after years of trying, River doesn’t know if he could do that to his friends and to his brother. His relationship with his brother is strained, his friends know their careers depend on River coming on tour, and Dahlia is being left to fight her past all on her own. River needs to decide between the band and Dahlia and choosing one over the other is tearing at his soul.

River is cracking under the pressure of choosing between his friends and his one true love and if he doesn’t make a decision soon, he just might loose everything.

THOUGHTS:
Connection was an interesting romance with some nice characters. I would even go as far as to say it was even a bit hokey with how much the five minutes of flirting with Dahlia in a bar rocked River’s world, causing him to write a hit song about their chance meeting. Although we do know that Dahlia is so beautiful she cannot be forgotten. If it wasn’t for the last few pages that completely rocked the story, I would have judged it as a ho-hum, okay romance which was slightly gag-worthy with the obnoxious use of beautiful to describe Dahlia.

BUT–it is that last few pages that made me need to dive into Torn and see where Kim was planning on taking the story. I have to admit I was a bit hesitant that Torn would turn out to be the typical “what should I do” because Dahlia’s character was very wishy-washy in the beginning of Connected. She was interested in moving on with River, but afraid she was betraying the memory of her dead fiance (dead two years at that point), back and forth for quite awhile.

I don’t want to delve too much into the plot of the story here and risk ruining the surprises, but I was quite surprised to see that Dahlia grew a spine between Books #1 and #2 which made her a much more enjoyable and likable character, and that the story didn’t give in to typical romance storylines. Dahlia and River’s relationship was being tested on so many levels, but they fought hard for each other.

River and Dahlia go through more than your typical “does he love me like I love him” relationship stress and both bend under the pressure, but their relationship grows stronger because of it. The secondary characters were given enough story time to draw your interest to the upcoming stories in the series and if she continues to improve her series as we see between Connected and Torn, I have no doubt that she will increase her fan base as the Connected series continues.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

[Cocktails and Books]

3.5 stars

I had been anxiously awaiting the release of this book because I needed to know what was going to happen with River and Dahlia now that Ben was "back". I knew it was going to be a complicated story and I went into this thinking I may not be really happy with the outcome, but I have to say Kim Karr managed to take the very complex hurdles that stood in the way of River and Dahlia and have their relationship come out much stronger on the other end.

Ben comes back from the "dead" after the bad guys after him have been caught. Ben's thoughts are he will rebuild his relationship with Dahlia, despite knowing she was with someone else. All Ben can think about is getting his old life back, regardless of what may have changed in the few years he had been gone. I felt a little sorry for Ben, because he truly was forced to give up everything when this story took a disastrous turn. But then I would remember that everything that happened was because of something that he chose to do, even when he was told to leave it alone. Plus, he very arrogantly discounted what Dahlia and River had. He figured he could do what he always did when he screwed up with Dahlia and win her back over. The more he "tried" the more I really didn't like Ben and that made it very hard to sympathize with him. It seemed like he was more interested in just recapturing what he felt was his rather than really loving Dahlia.

Dahlia and River are obviously floored by Ben's reappearance. River is thrown and begins to question if Dahlia is going to stay with him. Dahlia is....so many things. Relieved and happy that Ben is alive, but then rightly upset and angered that he would have lied to her and put her in jeopardy because of a story. So while Dahlia fights with her feelings about the entire situation between her and Ben, she's also fighting with River and his insecurities. She's stuck in a horrible place, especially because she does feel a sense of loyalty to Ben, despite what he did. But what she didn't do through all of this is question what her true feelings are for River. River and Ben could both question just what Dahlia felt for them, but she was a rock when it came to her love for River and her determination that they were going to build a life together.

There were a lot of things that happened in this story, some of which will have implications further along in the series (such as Belle being the girl Ben cheated on Dahlia with), but I was happy with the conclusion to River and Dahlia's story. Despite circumstances that were potentially devastating to their relationship, River and Dahlia proved a strong love can pull through anything.

I look forward to reading more in the series.