#klarsen

A few months ago, I signed up for the ARC of “The Tutor” which was my first K. Larsen book and I absolutely loved it, so when this came about, I knew I had to read it. If you have not read it, be advised, this review may contain some spoilers from Nora and Holden’s story. I suggest reading The Tutor first because you will be a little lost otherwise. While I did like this book, I was on the fence between a 3.5 and 4 star rating for a few reasons. Ultimately though, I had a great time reading it.

We meet Liam as he is checking out at a grocery store, and he sees a magazine article covering the story with Nora and his brother, Holden. We’ve learned about his past in The Tutor, through memories, but we never met him. I thought this concept was fabulous and was pulled in right from the get go. At first, he’s curious about Nora, the girl who knew his brother so well, but it doesn’t take long before it turns into obsession and stalking.

I wonder about this sustained, distorting, euphoria I get from my time with Nora. It’s thrilling knowing she doesn’t realize we’re spending time together. The anticipation of what it will be like when we finally meet, makes me buzz with energy.

I simply watch her.

For now.

Since everything happened with Holden, Nora hasn’t been doing too hot. Her anxiety is through the roof and she’s not really seeing much of a point of it all. Of course she loves Eve, Lotte, and Aubrey, and everything is going really well with the charity organization they started, she’s just not dealing well with her feelings that she still has for Holden. She is unaware of Liam’s watching her and so when he introduces himself at an event for her charity, she has no idea it isn’t the first time he’s seen her.

I exit the stage without breaking eye contact with those jade eyes. I am lost in my mind. Lost in Holden. It is as if he is here. Watching me. Waiting for me. One heel slips on the second step. Gasps sound around me as I tilt sideways as flail in the air. Time decelerates. I can see the shocked faces of those I pass as I tumble toward the ground.

Strong arms catch me.

I shriek, suspended in air.

“You’re okay. I caught you.”

She’s instantly intrigued by the way he reminds her of Holden. The more time they spend together, the more she thinks she may able to actually have a real relationship with someone. She even tells her therapist about him. He plays a really great part at sweeping her off her feet and she is falling hard. She introduces him to Lotte and Eve and while they’re freaked out about how much his eyes are like Holden’s, he eventually wins them over too. He continues to watch her and stalk her. That was one thing I didn’t particularly like, was how long the stalking lasted into their relationship.

All this was as a way to get back at his brother, but he can’t deny he’s attracted to her and the more he gets to know her, the more they realize how compatible they actually are. In some ways, their unconventional needs compliment each other. He finds himself getting anxious and excited about seeing her every time she leaves. He tells her things he’s never told anyone. As hard as he fights it, he does start to realize how much he really cares for her and doesn’t want her to ever know who he is. That he’s her ex-lover and ex-captor’s brother.

I think back, try to pinpoint when things changed for me but I can’t. It was a slow build, a plodding journey. My hate for Holden led to my salvation. Nora has given me nothing but acceptance and trust and somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to give her the same. Somewhere in my manipulation, I was manipulated into wanting her.

This book was a pretty quick read, and was a fun story. There were a few really cute scenes and concepts that I enjoyed so much. For me personally, I just felt Liam came off as creepy and not in the same hot-creepy as Holden. I think it had a lot to do with the watching her in her house when they were so far into their relationship that just made me feel that way. I felt that while he did get some retribution, he got off easy. I would have liked to see him had to pay for his actions a little more. I think that’s the main reason for the three and half stars. I guess I’m team Holden.

Cherry Garcia Ice Cream. Perfect.

Genre: Dark Romantic Suspense

Stars: 3.5

Heat Detail: 3-Explicit

Available October 2, 2017

Book Link: The Brother on Amazon

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟This the first book I’ve read by this author and I was blown away. I not only enjoyed the story itself, but also the way it was delivered. And I have to mention the cover. I was in love with in immediately. The details are wonderful. The warning at the beginning states “This is not a romance” and while that’s true, it is a story about different kinds of love. It is told from multiple perspectives allowing the story to be told from many sides. Go into this book with an open mind and you will have quite the ride and a fantastic reading experience.

Right off the bat we meet HIM, an obvious psychopath who is searching for his next victim. He finds them by running ads in the paper, saying he is searching for a tutor for his little sister. He desires a certain type of girl and has a checklist of sorts. He is determined to find the perfect one.

Nora Robertson is a quiet girl who has been dealt a bad hand in life by being orphaned without any responsible family to care for her. She is intelligent and resourceful and is able to care for herself along with the help of her best friend, Aubrey’s family. She is focused on raising money for her next semester in college and isn’t much of a social butterfly, so when Aubrey begs her to go to party, she reluctantly agrees. Things go wrong that night, and bad things happen. She is beginning to feel antsy so when she sees the ad for a tutor, she thinks it may be the escape she needs. And the job is only for three months.

                               “There’s really no visiting while you’re away?”

                I frown at her. “Nope. I can mail you letters when we go into town for stuff. He doesn’t have internet or electricity. He said they live off the land and you know, it’d be too expensive to run all those power lines up to his house.”

                “Are you camping or tutoring?”

The story isn’t told from beginning to end, and very early in the book, Nora is hurt while escaping him. She is telling her story to the doctors and detectives on her case as you see her adjusting to life in the modern world. The professionals and the people in her life don’t understand her need to protect him and think she is suffering from Stockholm and PTSD, however she isn’t unaware of what kind of man he is.

                “He’s not a serial killer.” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

                “Then what would you call him?” Agent Brown cocks her head at me.

                I mull over it, biding my time because I don’t know what I would call Holden. “I guess a serial abductor,” I say on a shrug.

                “You think you would have lived?”

                “If I didn’t do anything wrong, yes.”

Nora is frustrated with her own feelings as well as the judgment that seems to come from everyone around her. Everyone else just truly wants to help, unfortunately, that means arresting him. She misses the mountain and everything on it. The modern world is too loud, the food is too bland, and she feels so out of place. Everyone wants to fix her and she doesn’t think she needs to be fixed.

                “I think my greatest error was believing that if I cast a lovely net, I would only catch lovely things in life.”

Every book effects every reader in a different way, but for me, this story is about love. The way it comes in many forms, and how loving someone doesn’t mean excusing their actions. Just because you love someone, it doesn’t mean you must allow them to hurt you in any capacity. This was a five star read for me pretty much from the beginning. As the warning suggests, this is a dark read that touches some tender topics, and I personally feel they are relevant. I had such a great time reading this book and was so thrilled to find out the story is not over. I will be reading book 2 as soon as I can get my hands on it. I felt this book held everything I want in a book. Nearly every emotion was evoked while reading and that is why I love books so much. I am a definite fan of this author and cannot wait to see what is in store for these characters.

                “Only ever you.”

Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1546307702/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496202875&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=the+tutor+larsen&dpPl=1&dpID=51ShRKpmcWL&ref=plSrch