Thrive

by Aly Martinez

[stacey_is_sassy]

***IT'S ALIVE***

Hurt so good…

I locked myself in my bedroom to read this one and finished it in a day. My son copped a gobful from me when he walked into my room (without knocking), and caught me out as I was blubbering like a baby. A slight over-reaction, but when I’m invested in a story like I was with Thrive, *ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK* (but bloody knock FIRST). Sometimes, love hurts.

I finished Thrive with a big goofy smile on my face. I’ve read the first in the series and I knew that Aly Martinez likes to make us suffer a little. This is not a field full of blooms where the couple holds hands skipping along, singing a song, kind of story. It’s gritty, a little messy and a whole lot of heartbreak…and I loved it.

Each section tests your perseverance, stamina and even at times, morals. I got to the end of Thrive and patted myself on the back for getting past my judgemental indignation when the characters did something wrong. I knew that there was a reason for the bad decisions made and I hoped that as time went on, the characters would learn and grow from their mistakes. They definitely learned from their mistakes but unfortunately, the punishment was long and at times unearned.

This is the kind of story where you watch people suffer for love and cross your fingers in hope that they will survive and make their way back to each other. Every hurt that Mira suffered, you can’t help but feel bad for her, while also thinking that she deserved/asked for it a little. With Lark, he didn’t fight hard enough for his love and he paid for it. But, 17 years is a long time to pay for a mistake and neither of them really deserved it.

Reading Thrive hurt so good. Every tear that leaked from my eyes made every smile that followed worth it. I loved that both Mira and Lark found strength in each other. Their quarrels were at times hilarious because you knew that they were just getting their frustrations out. This is a couple who know each other well, spend 17 years apart and just living, to come back together and just fit again. It was sad but beautiful too.

The connection between the characters jumped off the pages. It was funny because I could see it, the people around them could see it, except the bloody knuckleheads themselves couldn’t see it. I loved that when they reconnect, they don’t automatically jump into bed to “work out their troubles”. There were conversations that were hard and feelings of abandonment that needed to be overcome before things progressed. It showed the skill of the author and maturity of the characters which I adored.

I loved catching up with the gang from the Guardian Protection Agency. We meet some new characters that I really like and some old ones that it was great to see again. I really hope we get to experience a lot more of the Guardians love stories.

My first attempt at writing this review was scrapped. I struggled to put down in words my love of a story that made me cry, fume, snicker, snort, smile and shudder. The emotional highs and lows made the journey amazing to watch play out. The ending made all the suffering worthwhile. I can't get enough of Aly Martinez's mad skills and the Guardian Protection series.

Stacey is Sassy, received a complimentary copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.