Beholden (Salvation #2)

Way too much angst, misery and drama. In this approx. 700 page 2 book series, the Hero and Heroin is separated over 50% of the time. While during the course of the separation, they each describe to us their heart wrenching pain and anguish of being apart from their lover.
As an avid romance novel reader, I understand the author has to present the challenges and heart ache that the couples will endure. But in this case their issues seem to be more manufactured to create and heighten the drama. In other words, these incidents could have easily been avoided by simple communication and overcoming their fears and guilt.. Instead, minor issue that most couple would have easily resolved became major catastrophic long term break ups for Jackson and Catherine.

For example: Jackson failed to disclose important information about his past. In which was utterly stupid because 1) as his Publicist she would eventually find out and 2) this information would not have a negative impact on their relationship. If anything, it may have brought them closer together with a better understanding of each other.

Another example: Catherine refuse to allow Jackson to explain. Instead she automatically assumed the worse
causing her months of heart ache, pain and anguish, . Ofcourse, when she finally listen to Jackson, after being
forced, she realized it was not as bad she thought….., Aaaugh,, so annoying.

My suggestions to the author.

As oppose to you having Jackson and Catherine burning up the pages of being separated, allow them to work through their issues early on, endure other challenges together, ie the ex fianc, allowing them to overcome any obstacles, and build a stronger unit as a couple. If you need an example of how it is done, I recommend you read :The Unscripted series by Tina Reber. While the couple had a minor breakup , as
the reader you got to witness a couple who fought for each other, build a stronger union, enabling them to endure any obstacles that came in their path.

This is part two of Catherine and Jackson’s story, told in a dual, first person POV. Catherine is more emotionally stable now; she’s got her emotional head screwed on straight…she’s strong and respects herself. She’s gained direction. This second part deals with Catherine and Jackson working through all the ups/downs of a young relationship and getting more personal with each other intimately. Not just the hot steamy moments, but learning one another. Their love play was so much fun…their teasing and humorous banter a delight. Their arguments and angsty controversy added fuel to their passionate fire. And the impending doom that was ever lurking in the shadows was perfectly conveyed. The drama and turmoil was raw and real. I loved Catherine’s stronger character. She gained my respect (lacking in book #1)

Beloved (The Salvation Series Book 1)

and many of her doubts and questions got answered. Most importantly was the resounding loss and heartbreak I felt at our fallen heroes…our military who sacrifice life and family to serve their country for our freedom(s). I don’t like to read books that make me cry or make me depressed, and while this book sometimes turned on the waterworks, the HEA gave me a brilliant smile and the endgame wasn’t depressing. Ms. Michaels conveyed our Military’s sacrifice with perfect clarity…and I sometimes bawled buckets. BUCKETS! This was a perfectly lovely conclusion, complete with a perfect HEA, of Catherine and Jacksons long tumultuous journey to find each other…and I loved it all. Brilliant writing.

I absolutely loved this series!! I loved Catherine and Jackson’s story. Ms. Michaels definitely didn’t disappoint her readers. Don’t forget the tissues!! This book is told from both Catherine’s and Jackson’s POV.

The book picks up where Beloved ends, with Jackson going off on a mission gone wrong, trying to rescue his teammate, Aaron. Before he left, he ended things with Catherine and destroyed her in the process.

When Catherine gets a phone call from Mark telling her that Jackson was badly injured, she and Ashton don’t hesitate to jump on the next plane to Germany. Ashton stays for a few days for moral support. Eight days later, Jackson still shows no sign of waking up. The doctors don’t know why, but he hears what everything, you read what he’s thinking and feeling. Catherine doesn’t even know if she’s going to be welcomed there when he wakes up. Things ended so badly when he left.

When Jackson finally wakes up, he’s in terrible shape. He’s suffered major injuries, he was shot three times: in the shoulder, leg, and stomach. But the damage is mainly to his leg and shoulder.

When he sees Catherine, he apologizes for the way he acted before he left, and tells her he loves her. She tells him she feels the same way. She flies back to NYC with him and moves in temporarily to help him out at night, hiring a nurse during the day.

She’s dealing with the publicity for his company’s product launch in a few weeks and is working on playing catch up. Jackson is having nightmares every night, but she knows that there’s something that he’s hiding from her. She doesn’t know if she’s being paranoid or not, but she knows whatever it is, it’s going to be big.

When the day of the press release arrives, a reporter asks her a question about his past and realizes Jackson, his friends, and family hid from her. Catherine couldn’t answer it and had to have someone else do the task. She was humiliated on TV and in public. When she finally goes back to his place, she refuses to talk to him. She tells him they are done, packs her bags and leaves.

At work, she gets a huge promotion. They want her to open up a office in California and run it. If she was still dating Jackson, she would have turned down the job. Now she welcomes the change and takes the job. Three weeks later, she attends Aaron’s funeral for Natalie’s sake. She knows that this will be the last time she will ever see Jackson, so Ashton goes with her for moral support.

When he follows her home insisting that she hear him out, she has no choice. Then she tells him her own news and says goodbye. He blames himself for withholding this big secret. Tells her she’d probably never taken the job if she’d known about it from the beginning. But he’d never told her and here they are.

Will Jackson ever win Catherine back? Or were they doomed from the beginning?

A must read!!!

Heartbreaking, giggle-inducing and full of all the things a good romantic suspense novel should have.
This picks up the story straight from the end of the last book. Our main characters, Catherine and Jackson, are no longer together and both are suffering from broken hearts. When Jackson is severely injured, Catherine doesnt hesitate to go to his side despite their differences. Can they work out their differences or have they both been hurt too much for even their strong love for each other to be enough?
Needless to say, things are never easy with this couple. Will they or wont they is a question that takes a lot of answering and you wont find out until the very end.
The tug at the heartstrings, the emotional rollercoaster and mental whiplash the author inflicts on her readers is real. The story pulls you in, grips you tight and doesnt let go even after youve read the last word. Book hangover? Yes. A massive one. Luckily, the next one in the series is waiting for me and I cant wait to dive in.

After the ending of Beloved I was broken. Seriously, broken. I was dying to read Beholden but at the same time I didn’t want to because, Jackson!

This one started right where the previous left off. I was straight into being an emotional mess and it was just a rollercoaster of emotions from then.

I wanted to bang their heads together a lot – I understood Catherine’s reluctance with the ending to her previous relationship, but I just wanted Jackson to break his hidden walls down and let her in! When he did though, wow. I just wanted to hold him as he’d had a heart breaking past too.

All in all I was really taken with this story, like with all of Corinne’s previous books I’ve read. Her writing is beautiful and just draws you in. Definitely recommend this duet.

4.5*

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member