Riding Out the Storm (Perfect Storm #3)

Mari Carr

Blurb:

You can’t outrun a storm…or the fire it sparks.

There’s a legend surrounding the Storm one touch, and they’re bound to the love of their life – forever.

But Maverick Storm stopped believing in legends the day Ella Decker disappeared.

Once the girl who claimed his heart, Ella vanished after a summer of stolen kisses, whispered secrets, and first love. She left behind only a cold, cruel letter – one that shattered him in ways he refuses to admit. Now he hides behind a bad-boy reputation, runs his family’s small-town winery with his brother, and drowns everything else in one-night stands. Love? That’s for fools.

Ella never meant to break Maverick’s heart.

But under her father’s brutal rule, survival always came first.

So, she walked away…and stayed gone.

Until now.

With her past buried behind a pen name and bestselling romance novels, Ella returns to Gracemont for one reason: to face the boy she once loved—and maybe, just maybe, rewrite the ending that was stolen from them. But Maverick is no longer the sweet, loyal boy who used to kiss her in the shadows. He’s the legend now. The one who doesn’t call. The one who doesn’t stay.

He’s harder. Rougher. Dominant.

The kind of alpha who takes control – and doesn’t let go.

Themes: Contemporary, Second Chance

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

Normally I am full of words and have so much to say when it comes to my reviews so I have to apologize in advance to my fellow readers and of course Mari Carr, because my review is going to be much briefer today. My life recently has become a crazy whirlwind with work exploding, an all-new adventure of house hunting, packing, and planning a move that all has to go down in less than a month, and the general anxiety, emotional stress, and physical pain that comes will all of that when you are single, lacking support, physically disabled, and ADD and OCD. So, all that said, here is the best I can currently do to share my opinions…

We finally get Maverick’s story and I am so thrilled to have been one of the lucky ones to read why he is such a wild Storm (sorry couldn’t help myself) but mostly I am sad to see that he has been living almost half his life without the other half of his soul. Mari Carr returns with a bang in the latest Storm story as she brings back together two lovers, ripped apart at a young age and finally getting a second chance at a love they both never realized was quite so integral to their lives until recently. I am a huge fan of this series and was so thrilled to know that Maverick was going to get a second chance at love, because I was very afraid his story might have been darker and perhaps more permanent or something. Maverick Storm fell hard and fast for Ella Decker when he was just a teenager, but when she disappeared into the night, never to return he thought for sure that what he’d felt couldn’t have truly been the Storm Gift (or Curse) of true love striking. But now that she has returned to Gracemont, Maverick is conflicted emotionally, but definitely not physically because she still pulls him and every time they touch the chemistry and passion is only stronger. Ella loved Maverick, but she was terrified of his certainty of their future at such a young age and when they were forced apart she wasn’t brave enough to run back to him. Now she is determined to prove to him that she will stick and as their relationship gets deeper the love that blossoms right back to life, like a plant that has just been dormant under the winter snow, she is determined that nothing will ever come between them again. I loved the way we got to see glimpses of the love story between Maverick and Ella in their teens as we also got to see them in the present becoming friends again and navigating their new friendship and slowly the relationship that they chose to rebuild. Maverick is obviously a passionate, strong, loving, determined and alpha man that is willing to put in the time, effort and affection needed to prove to Ella that he is going to be there for her in every stage of their lives and to stand beside her in any battle she needs to wage. Ella has a lot to face in this novel, not only her past in Gracemont, but her grief, and the trauma that has ruled her life from an abusive and neglectful family, and watching her finally be able to grow from that and have the faith in herself and her future in order to move on was beautiful. I really needed this story at this time in my life and the strength Ella found, along with the passion and love Maverick and all of the Storms shared with her gave me hope for my own rocky future, so thank you very much Mari. I always love your stories, but this one was really needed and welcomed right now and I am dying for what comes next for the Storms and the folks that always seem to not only steal their hearts but enrich their family and add to the greatness that is their ever-growing clan. Bring on the Storms!