Thoughtless

by S. C. Stephens

[Cocktails and Books]

I'm not one that likes books about cheaters. It's not situation that I would purposefully put myself in and stand by and watch if it was a friend of mine. But there was something about this book, when I read the blurb, that said read me anyway. I'm sooo glad I did.

Kiera Allen packs up her life in Ohio and follows her college sweetheart, Denny, to Seattle. Her parents tried to talk her out of it, but Kiera is in love and can't bare being separated from Denny. From the very first night they arrive in Seattle, Kiera's new life is not what she thought. Denny works, a lot, and she finds herself drawn to Denny's childhood friend and their landlord, Kellan Kyle.

Kiera is a very naive and immature 21 year old woman. She's needy and clingy with Denny, which leads to disaster when Denny has to leave Seattle for a business opportunity in Tuscon. She spends hours obsessing over if/when Denny will call and then even more time when he doesn't. She mopes around and cries...a lot. She was irritating as hell. She may have tried talking herself out of the instant attraction she felt for Kellan, she soon turned her neediness on him. Holding his hand, inappropriate touches, snuggling on the couch...all things a person in a committed relationship shouldn't be doing with their roommate. And when one drunken night results in her unfaithfulness to Denny, she can't resist the pull of Kellan while she tries to re-establish her connection with Denny. Of course, for a woman as immature as Kiera, trying to juggle Kellan and Denny results in disaster.

Kiera isn't the only one to blame for this whole mess. Kellan makes it pretty difficult for Kiera to say no to him. He wants her. Not just for sex, like he has other woman in the past, but because with her he finally feels as if he matters. Kellan had a horrible childhood and the scares have left him trying to find anything that makes him feel wanted in loved. And while he flip flops back and forth with being a complete ass and pushing Kiera away, to being an ass and doing whatever he can to get her, you want Kellan to be with her because she does ease those childhood scars...even if she's creating new ones in their place.

There is A LOT of drama to this story. Lots of crying, anger and sex. But at it's core, we have two people who have found their soul mate and need to build their relationship. Could they have gone about this a different way. Absolutely. But given how young Kiera is and how mess up Kellan is, you knew from the beginning this wasn't going to be easy. It wasn't. But when we come out on the other side, Kiera and Kellan learn a lot about themselves and what they need from each other in order to have a relationship that works.