Connected by Kim Karr

Title: Connected
Author: Kim Karr
Series: Connections #1
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 20, 2013)
Length: 364 pages
Format: paperback


Description from Goodreads:

What if a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ could happen twice?

Suffering from a past full of tragedy, Dahlia London's soul has been left completely shattered. Happily ever after is a far cry from reality in her world. But, when she is reconnected with her past, the bonds that form are irrefutable.

When River Wilde, lead singer of The Wilde Ones, comes back into Dahlia’s life, the intensity that fires their relationship combined with underlying feelings that have never died lead her to believe she has met her soulmate.

Struggling with confusion as old connections fade and new ones begin, Dahlia's grief begins to lift--but guilt remains. River wants to be the one to mend all that is torn within her.

But with a past that is never really gone, can their future survive?

My Thoughs:

Connected by Kim Karr is a new asset to the world of romance writing. Her first novel Connected stole my heart. Dahlia London has had tragedy strike many times in her young life. Everything horrible that can happen seems to happen when it comes to her loved ones. After a tragedy that has left her reeling for years Dahlia realizes it is time to start joining the world of the living again. On her first outing she meets with a man from her past, someone who she felt an instant connection to, someone she could easily lose her heart to…River Wilde. River is no longer the unknown performing at the university student center, but an up and coming rock star. He has never forgotten his one brief encounter with Dahlia and sees this new meeting as fate. He just needs to convince her that to give them a shot. And in one of my favorite tag lines ever, “What if a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ could happen twice?”

This story has everything; a damaged heroine, the hottest and sweetest guy ever, danger, heartbreak, love, and healing. Dahlia has had life hand her one lemon after another, but eventually with the help from Rider life starts to get a little sweeter. She has a hard time letting go of her past and it constantly shows throughout the book. Heartbreak and the death of loved ones is always going to be difficult to move on from so it was understandable that she was the way she was. Now, to my favorite topic… River Wilde. River has to be one of my favorite book boyfriends ever and is the complete package having everything a girl could want. He is moderately rich, successful, can sing like a rock god bird, is caring, patient, and has to be one of the most loving book boyfriends I have ever read about. If every man was like him there would be no breakups and no divorces. You can’t get much better than River Wilde. My only complaint about these two characters and relationship in general was that River’s patience and devotion to Dahlia was somewhat unrealistic. He has held a torch for a woman he met five years ago and for only a couple of minutes? This and the fact that he is seemingly flawless were a little hard to believe. There are a few supporting characters in the book, but none of them have a major role. I wish I/readers had gotten to know a couple of them a little more. Their friends and family sound awesome and could have fluffed out what is almost a two character book.

As far as the rest of the book is concerned it was awesome. The pacing is perfect, the emotions are raw, and the love and sex are a wonderful mixture of passion, love, lust, and general sexiness. The fact that there is a small amount of mystery involved really takes the plot to a whole other level and ushers in an ending that left me with my mouth hanging open and “googling” for how I could get my hands on the sequel. If you love romance, heartbreak, and learning how to heal this is definitely the book for you. I give this book a 4 ½ STAR rating. 

***According to Goodreads the sequel Torn should be available on October 1, 2013.