Book Release Blast for Counted by Noelle Adams (REVIEW)…..

 Childhood friends become something more in this contemporary marriage of convenience dealing with the harsh realities of illness.  Keep reading to get a tempting taste of Counted by Noelle Adams, along with my impressions of it, then add this book to your shelves.

Their marriage will only last for three months.

Eve Carlyle has known Jude Gregory most of her life as the odd, brilliant, reclusive son of her father's billionaire client, but he's never been important to her. Not until he proposes marriage out of the blue. He's not in love with her, but he's dying. He has only three months left to live, and getting married is one of the final items on his bucket list.
She feels sorry for him, so she says yes. After all, it's only three months of her life, and it can be her final gift to him. They can get married, and she'll take care of him as he gets sicker. They can even consummate the marriage and act like husband and wife.
But she's not going to fall in love with him. Love was never part of their agreement. His final days are counted, and loving him would be her biggest mistake.

BUY AT AMAZON here.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

As a quadriplegic, I'm drawn to stories featuring less than perfect characters.  I'm drawn to the realities of their lives and the emotional high and lows that make up each day.  With this new release Ms. Adams has crafted a book that pulled me in and spat me out a time or two.  In presenting the harsh realities of life and death, she put me through the emotional wringer, leaving me teary-eyed and in the fetal position a time or two.

The premise of this book is simple as childhood friends, who are opposites in many ways, engage in a marriage of convenience after he's diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.  Encouraged by his mother's dying words, he's determined to work through his Bucket List, all with the support of his new wife by his side.

Jude and Eve are thrown together quickly and it took me a while to warm up to them, especially Jude.  He's studious and stoic, weighed down by the knowledge of the pain to come, so the care and warmth Eve brought to their pairing was much-needed and greatly appreciated.  Their time together was teeming with harsh realities and tears over their time together racing towards a conclusion.  Along with some moments of happiness and joy were moments depicting the ravages of cancer.  These scenes broke my heart and it made me admire Eve all the more for her standing by Jude.  From these emotional lows, to a few moments of smiles and affectionate interactions, this book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions.  Knowing there was a time limit on their pairing added extra weight to this story.  Though I knew what kind of conclusion was coming, I still kept hoping Ms. Adams would veer in a different direction.  That's not to say that the ending was disappointing...at least not for me.  It was an ending that pulled at my heartstrings, was realistic, and left me feeling at peace.  On a whole this was a quick read taking readers on an emotionally intense journey of living life to the fullest, embracing love in all its forms, while actually communicating what's in your heart.  It deals with the concept of religion and facing mortality head-on, it's bittersweet and poignant, and I'm still thinking about it long after reaching The End.

My rating for this is a B.

*I got this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn't stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her hands on and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.

She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances.

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