Truly by Carmel Rhodes

Thank you to Wildfire Marketing for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

TRULY 

By Carmel Rhodes

Release Date: June 11

The summer after senior year was supposed to be the best summer of my life.

It was supposed to be full of adventure and self-discovery and making love under the stars.

It was supposed to be about losing myself and finding my way.

Only, it wasn’t supposed to start like this.

I wasn’t supposed to go to that party.

He wasn’t supposed to notice me.

The hot jock with the trust fund and chip on his shoulder.

My ex-boyfriend’s brother.

Noah Tedesco is so far out of my league he might as well be playing a different game.

Noah wasn’t supposed to look twice at a girl like me, but he did.

Now that I’m on his radar, my life will never be the same.

Truly is a dark coming of age romance that explores themes of dub-con and non-con and happily ever after. Proceed with caution.  

Buy Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3ctUsrL
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2WubrEM
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/35X04rP
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/363SN9W 

Review

This is the first non con romance that I have ever read. I was very hesitant about how this was going to be a romance between Tru and Noah especially when the non con scene happened. But Rhodes did such an amazing job of writing these broken and messy characters that by the end of the story I was rooting for their romance. This book is also a sweet dark romance which seems odd to say but that is really the juxtaposition Rhodes brings to the story. All the characters in the book felt so realistic to me and I am honestly sad that I am leaving these characters behind.

Truly is a girl that I think so many will relate to and I really enjoyed seeing her grow stronger as the story went on. Her best friend, Becca, is the kind of best friend we all deserve and I love how they love each other unconditionally. And Noah, wow did that boy take me through all the emotions. Noah is a beautifully flawed character who carries a lot of darkness inside him but he also has the capacity for so much more which is what made the ending of this book so rewarding.

What Noah and Tru has is the very definition of a dark romance and I really appreciated that Tru fully realizes this. We get to see her struggle with the toxicity of their relationship as her feelings for Noah grow. Tru is also having to deal her breakup with Devin and all the messiness that he is Noah’s brother brings to the table. All three of these characters also have painful pasts involving the death of a parent and Tru is having to come to terms with the loss of her mother as she goes on the road trip. The emotions of this story were strong and they really helped me to bond with these characters.

I am now a huge fan of Carmel Rhodes and I want to read all of her backlist because I am blown away that she has written such a complex story that has me rooting for this romance that started off in one of the worst ways possible. There are a lot of people that will not like this romance, which is completely valid, but if this synopsis seems like something that you might be interested in then I highly recommend it. I know that this is one of those rare romances that I will revisit again and again.

Meet Carmel Rhodes:

Writer of words. Mother of Joy. Wife of Compassion. I like to write stories about real people who go through real struggles, and come out the other side stronger. I also like to write smut. Welcome to my brain. It’s a little screwed up, but always well intended.

Connect with Carmel Rhodes:
Newsletter:  http://eepurl.com/c_8Rh5
Website: https://carmelrhodes.com

Facebook:  https://facebook.com/authorcarmelrhodes
Facebook Group: https://facebook.com/groups/299310880471688 

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Carmel-Rhodes/e/B074R6BC53/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17070667.Carmel_Rhodes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author.carmelrhodes/?hl=en
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/carmel-rhodes 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCarmel

~Cassie