Finding Serenity ~ T.E. Black ~ NEW RELEASE and REVIEW

When it was good, it was great. 

When it was bad, it was worse. 

My life turned into a whirlwind of destruction before I even got the chance to love her. 

She could have been my angel, my saving grace; I never gave her the chance. 

I gave myself a taste of her angelic kiss, convincing her to love with everything she had. Then I destroyed her. I destroyed both of us and I felt nothing as I did it. 

 I didn't feel anything in my sorry state. 

 We both had secrets and both of them would have destroyed us in one way or another. 

 Hers could have possibly been bigger than mine, but I doubted it from the start. 

I knew I had the quality of devastation within me the entire time. 

 After all, I'm the king of lies. 

 I'm the king of addiction. 

 I'm the king of turmoil. 

 I'm the king of motherfucking heartbreak.

Goodreads ~ Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)

Elizabeth's Review

3.5 Stars - Worth A Reader's Time

Review Copy Provided by Author

For me, the last quarter of this book is what made it worth reading. I enjoyed the rest of the story, but how it ended made some earlier frustration worth it.

We met both Trent and Shay in Finding A Way. Finding Serenity picks up not long after the end of Finding A Way and we see the characters from the first book appear here frequently, but reading Finding A Way is not necessary to appreciate this story.

Both character have issues that they are dealing with. For Shay, it's a dead-beat ex husband who chose booze over their little girl. This means she has to work two jobs to make ends meet. For Trent, its grief over his mother's illness and his own drug abuse. I had a hard time connecting to both Trent and Shay. With Trent, it was that I just couldn't understand how he would welcome oblivion over spending time with his mother and the "girls" he claims to love. He also knowingly and repeatedly sabotaged his relationship with Shay. With Shay, my issue was that as a mother, she had already had to deal with one addicted spouse, why would she knowingly introduce that into her house again?

When things were good between Trent and Shay, they were great and fun to watch. The bad times were frustrating and I kept wishing for Shay to stand up for herself and her daughter. When things bottomed out, I was thrilled with how Trent responded to the dramatic wake up call.

Okay - you've probably read all that and are thinking "you said this is a book worth reading." It is - Finding Serenity is not a light-hearted fun read. It deals with serious issues and I think the fact that I struggled with connecting to the characters has to do with the fact that my own life experience is so far removed from what they are dealing with. Ms. Black does an excellent job of putting the reader into Shay and Trent's heads so you can see what they are thinking, even if you don't understand it. Trent appears to be the stereotypical little boy who wants attention and doesn't care how he gets it. Shay fights with him until she can't anymore. Then we get to watch their highs and lows until they get it right.

If you liked Finding A Way, I think you will enjoy Finding Serenity as well.