Out Of The Ashes

by Diana Gardin

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

Out of the Ashes tells the story of Paige Hill whose life changed after surviving a fire that took the lives of her family. It’s a story of survival and finding the strength needed to move on from the pain of one’s past.
Out of the Ashes began with the heroine leaving the hospital after spending time in the burn unit recovering from burns received in a house fire. The same fire that killed her entire family. With her best friend by her side she enrolled in college. She’s determined to make for the time lost. Paige struggles with self image, due to the scarring from the burns, and PTSD. Despite all of this she displayed an admirable level of strength.

Now Paige is just looking to survive college, so the entrance of Clay into her life came as a complete surprise. A surprise, which she cautiously welcomed. Soon the tow became inseparable. However, Clay’s past indiscretions threatened to tear them apart. Clay was a love them and leave them type of a guy, but all that changed when he met Paige. None of the girls he was with before could hold a candle to Paige. She was definitely it for him, but one particular female didn’t seem to get that memo.

Clay and Paige were great together. I loved how he saw beyond her scars to her beautiful soul. It took sometime for Clay to break through Paige’s walls. However, when he did their relationship developed rather quickly. Despite the fast pace at which their relationship developed the romance felt authentic.

I enjoyed Out of the Ashes, although there were parts where the pacing felt off. First of all it ended with a cliff-hangar, which I never saw coming and secondly it left me wondering if Clay and Paige’s relationship would survive these turn of events.