Twosome Twosday: Raw by Belle Aurora

Twosome Twosday:  RAW

Title: Raw

Author: Belle Aurora
Release Date:  1.2.2014

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Synopsis

***Author Note: This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong.*** 

Growing up the way I did, you’d think I’d be more screwed up than what I actually am. 

Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street. 

Best decision I ever made. 

Now, at the age of twenty six, I’m educated, employed and damn good at my job. 

My friends have become my family. 

Like me, they know what it’s like to grow up unloved. But the saying is true. 

The world makes way for those who know where they are going.

That’s me.

I know where I’m going and I’ll get there eventually. 

On my own terms and at my own pace. 

But then there’s him. 

I feel his eyes on me. 

I see him hiding in plain sight. 

He watches me. 

 He makes me feel. 

It’s unconventional.

But it’s real.

I’m sure you’re wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.

So am I. 

This isn’t a story. 

This is my life. 

 Heather's Review

5+++ Broken and scarred smooches

I have been in such a reader’s funk lately.  After a while I start to think that I’ve imagined that magical feeling that some books are capable of delivering.  I wonder if maybe I have just read too many books(is there such a thing?).  The magic is gone.  I am immune to it… and then I read a book like Raw and I know that these masterpieces are still out there!  However few and far between they may be.

Lexi and Twitch were each dealt a pretty shitty childhood.  Abuse, neglect, homelessness… you name it.  Where Lexi used her past to better herself and help others in similar situations; Twitch was broken by his. 

 

Lexi and Twitch meet in the creepiest of circumstances.  She knows that she should be afraid of him, and at at times she is, but Lexi can’t seem to stay away.  

He’s a raging fire.  And I’m a fragile moth fluttering into the flame.  Sooner or later, I’m going to get burned.  I know this.  Will I even survive the heat?  ~Lexi

Twitch is the definition of a bad boy.  He is a tortured, damaged soul.  He is vile and just downright mean at times.  But, oh that Twitch, how he will capture your heart and never let it go.  He knows what he is and makes no excuses.  Twitch goes after whatever he wants and Lexi is what he wants… no holds barred.

You know that thing people have that tells them they’re doing something wrong or pushing too far?                   

Yeah.  I don’t have one of those. ~Twitch

What Twitch doesn’t expect are the feelings he begins to develop for Lexi.  When you take an emotionally unbalanced person who thrives on control and put their heart in someone else’s hands, you get a whole lot of crazy.  Poor Lexi is in for the ride of her life!

 “When it’s good, it’s the best and most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.  So good… but when it’s bad…it’s bad… and really fucking scary.” ~Lexi

“I’m not a good person… You think a person like me deserves your type of goodness?  No.  I’ll tell you right now that I don’t… The thing is, I’m selfish.  And I don’t give a fuck about what I deserve.  All I care about is what I want.  And I want you so fuckin’ bad that I’d do almost anything to keep you.” ~Twitch

So much happens in this book and I have to refrain from telling it all.  But you deserve to be shocked, surprised, disgusted, and moved in the same ways that I was.  In the end Twitch gets a chance to prove just how unselfish he can be.  How an unexpected conquest turned out to be everything he never knew he needed in his life.  While some feel that this ending was not enough.  I feel like it was perfection.  It brought Twitch’s story full circle and while it is hard to let these characters go.  I feel like Belle did an amazing job of giving us all that we needed.  I don’t see how a sequel could match or top this book.  It is one of my absolute favorites ever.  If you haven’t yet, I urge you to read this book!  It is truly amazing!

I don’t want a knight in shining armor.  I want a knight in scuffed armor.  I want my knight to be real, and dark, and savage.  I want my knight to be a survivor.  Someone who’s been tested and got through his trials.  Not some pussy in gleaming metal. ~Lexi

Selene's Review

5 Dirty Smooches

I can make excuses. 

I could say I was just a damaged kid that grew up to be a broken man.

I could. 

But I won't.  - Twitch

It's been a while since I've read a book like this .... disturbing in a lot of ways yet too damn good to put down.  RAW follows Lexi and Twitch's journey ... a journey full of pain and heartache.

Lexi has worked hard to turn her life around.  With a less than ideal childhood, she finds a second chance in her foster mom and starts a new life in Australia.  She's twenty-six and a case worker helping troubled youth.  It's her passion and her calling.

Twitch has worked hard to build a different life for himself.  At twenty-eight, he is a self-made man ... he has built an empire.  And he is broken.  An abusive start in life and living life as a teen on the streets has turned him into a heartless, dangerous, and somewhat psychotic man.

I don't like labels.  I won't be defined by words like normal, unbalanced, or damaged.  There so much more to me than words.  I have layers, just like the next person, and if you picked me apart layer-by-layer, you'd find a blackened crust where my  heart should be. - Twitch

Twitch is stalking Lexi.

He's everywhere.  And I mean everywhere.  It almost seems like he knows where I'm going to be before I know ...He never acknowledges me.  He doesn't ever make a move to meet me.  He just...is. - Lexi

And she's a little hot for him, he haunts her dreams and fills her fantasies.  But one fateful day, her stalker saves her from a would-be attacker.  Let me say it again, her STALKER saves her.  Funny enough, in the arms of her stalker, she feels no danger, no fear.  Twitch begins sneaking in her room at night to help her sleep, to comfort her.  But is he really there to comfort her?  Are his motives to seduce her, to gain her trust pure?

The story is told from both Twitch and Lexi's point of view and we learn early on that Twitch's motives are anything but pure.   As they spend more time together, Lexi learns more about Twitch and the kind of life he leads.  And despite the fact that this should discourage her, she can't let go of her feelings for him nor walk away.  And despite his motives to hurt her, Lexi's beauty, both inside and out, begins to win Twitch's heart.  She loves him and refuses to give up on him. She wants more than anything to help him, to fix him, to stand by his side as he rights his wrongs.  

I don't want a knight in shining armor.I want a knight in scuffed armor.I want his helmet to have dents.  I want my knight to be real, and dark, and savage.  I want my knight to be a survivor.  Someone who's been tested and got through his trials.  Not some pussy in gleaming metal.I don't want gleaming metal.  I don't need a fucking knight.I need a fearless warrior. - Lexi

In the end, Lexi realizes she can't save Twitch.  But maybe, just maybe, he can save himself.

About the Author

Belle Aurora is twenty six years old and was born in the land down under. 

At an early age she fell in love with reading. Boredom one summer had her scouring the bookshelves at home. She stumbled across Sandra Brown's Breath of Scandal and fell in love with romance. 

Having been brought up in a loud and boisterous family of Croatian descent, she developed a natural love for dramatics and humor. Only some years ago had she discovered a new love. Humorous romance novels. 

Kristen Ashley and R.L. Mathewson had opened a brand new world where she could lose herself yet feel safe and at home in their stories. Belle has been known to become a screeching banshee while anxiously awaiting their newest titles. 

Belle never thought she would write. It had never interested her until recently. Friend-Zoned began to form and in February 2013 Belle typed the words Chapter One. And she fell in love. 

With words. 

With writing. 

With a creative imagination she never knew she harbored. 

Keep an eye out for this cheeky author.

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