Sunday, September 15, 2013

Laura’s Review: Blind Obsession by Ella Frank


This book is so hauntingly beautiful I still am suffering the hangover effects and over a month later.  This book has me begging for a sequel but know that if one was created it could ruin the story all at the same time!!!

Basic Summary:  Gemma Harris, a growing but still somewhat unknown journalist has been given the chance of a lifetime.  She has been offered the chance to move to France for several months to Chateau Tibideau, where a famously gruesome crime took place.  Chantel Rosenberg was a beautiful musician who fell in love with Phillipe Tibedeau, but whose body was found not far from their home, leaving many unanswered questions and all the blame put on Phillipe.  For a long time he kept silent and refused to tell his side of the story, when he finally ready he offers Gemma Harris the position to tell his side of the story honestly but she has to live with him to get the whole story.  Their journey to the truth is filled with twists and turns, with an so tragic its almost too heart breaking to imagine. 

What I Love About This Book:  This book just sweeps you right in almost immediately.  Gemma Harris walking into this beautiful French chateau that once was full of life but now is just a hollow memory to once was.  Phillipe Tibedeau is an amazing artist and almost immediately through his beautiful and now famous paintings you see the love he once had for Chantel. 
            What’s so great about this book is that it isn’t just a typical love story, it picks up after the happily ever after.  Where most romance novels begin with a new and budding relationship, this one starts with the end of relationship.  Gemma walks into the chateau and is immediately swept away by Phillipes good looks and Chantel’s memory, and as the story goes on and the scenes get hotter Chantel and Gemma become intertwined.  Every other chapter takes place in the present with Gemma falling more and more in love with Phillipe, and Phillipe reliving his beautiful romance with Chantel through Gemma.  Phillipe has Gemma pose for the paintings he did of Chantel that became world famous but no one knows the stories behind each one, and what acts lead to each beautiful painting.  The other chapters slip into the past between Phillipes memory and Chantel’s journal; you don’t get a romance between Gemma and Phillipe but between Phillipe and Chantel as well. 
            Throughout this whole book, you have not one idea how this book will end, you only know how you want it to end.  The details of the past and present are so beautiful and mesmerizing you immediately get swept into this story.  Your heart breaks for Gemma when she starts to fall for Phillipe and you are just crushed to read about a man who has lost the love of his life in such a sad and tragic way.  This book isn’t listed in the paranormal genre and I get why it’s not but Chantel’s ghost is very apparent throughout the book in more ways than one. 
            I have always been a fan of classical music, growing up playing the piano and violin I would listen to it all the time.  Chantel was a popular violinist and because this aspect is added into the book, you not only get two love stories side by side you also get a soundtrack for the entire book.  You can almost hear the recordings Phillipe has of Chantel playing for him.  It adds to the many elements of this storyline that create such a bitter sweet story.  By the end of the book you are broken by what happened to Chantel and cannot imagine what those last moments of her life must have been like for her and for Phillipe.  He is a broken man living with the ghost of his past, not willing to move on.  You pray that Gemma would somehow be able to snap him out of it, but aren't really sure if that will happen.  Most romance novels create the love of someone’s life but this book answers the question; what if a man lost the love of his life? What then? 

Cons:  The reason I gave it 4 and not 5 stars is because of the ending.  Not because I didn't love it, I did, but because of the massive book hangover I had after reading this.  There was such a huge part of me that wanted a sequel I could scream because there wasn't one.  But at the very same time, if there was a sequel the ending would've have been so poignant and made me talk myself down from the ledge realize some stories are just meant to be.  This is definitely one those endings that just has to be. 

Overall:  If you love hot sex scenes with yet another hot alpha male in another country then this book is for you.  If you are looking for something cheery and playful then this book isn't for you.  The details in this book are amazing and you can so clearly picture the chateau, Phillipe’s moods and expression, and the ghost of Chantel that haunts him every second of everyday.  This book is truly amazing, and it makes me want to read whatever else the author puts out.  Blind Obsession has definitely made a me a huge fan of Ella Frank.

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