Laura’s Review of Defying Fate (Fate, #1) By Heidi Lis

Synopsis

**(11/26/2015)-Extended & Revised**
Defying Fate has been completely revamped. There is no cheating and is not a cliffhanger. There is an HEA.
Warning: Recommended for readers 18+ due to language, extremely hot and explicit sexual situations and graphic violence. There are scenes of domestic violence.

Sometimes love can turn ugly.
Sometimes love can hurt.
Sometimes the best thing to do is escape!

Leaving everything behind Izzy Parker escaped the hell that had been her life. Driving as far west as she could, to get away from her evil past she ended up in Washington State.
Izzy’s new life is turned upside down when she meets her Harley-riding neighbor Braxton Ryles.
Larger than life Braxton is a biker with a mouth to go with it. Owning his own shop, he controls most things in his life. Living and loving hard, the only thing that means anything to him is his daughter Eve. Upon hearing they had a new neighbor move in, his curiosity gets the better of him when his daughter won’t stop talking about her. 

The instant their eyes meet, chemistry takes over and ignites into an inferno of lust. His sense of humor and her blushing tendencies seem to sizzle whenever they are together. The only problem is they both have troubled pasts, evil ex's that want to rip their new found happiness apart.

One-ex wants revenge; the other seeks vengeance.
What happens when their new found love collides with the ones who threaten to take it all away?
Can love survive? Or will their pasts burn their dreams of a future to ashes?
Love will be tested, hearts will break, and the horrors of the past will reveal a secret Izzy is desperate to keep hidden.

**This book is intended for mature audiences. ** 

What I Loved

I really liked the beginning of the book, the prologue immediately grabs your attention painting a picture of how frightened and desperate Izzy was.  Izzy traveled as far west as physically possible to get away from her abusive relationship and I felt from the very beginning the author did a great job showing how scary her situation was. 

Also I really loved the character of Eve, she was such a cutie and her just showing up at Izzy’s house to help her plant flowers was so adorable.  Of course this leads to Izzy meeting the sexy biker, Braxton Ryles living down the street from her and immediately sparks fly. The attraction between them was instantaneous and no matter the drama going on in either of their lives they always found their way back to each other. 

There was a lot of action and suspense in this story that definitely kept me on my toes from beginning to end.  I’m a sucker for drama and this one was packed FULL of it, give me a roller coaster ride any day of the week and I’m addicted! Also my heart really went out to Izzy so many times and I wanted her to be happy so badly.

Not So Much

        I think this book had the potential to be out of this world amazing but fell short for me on a lot of points.  The grammar and sentence structure definitely needed to be elevated and maybe better editing.  The conversations and descriptions never really felt natural to me, many of the scenes came of cheesy at times like they were all trying too hard to be real but came off corny.  When I’m reading a book I want conversations to flow how they would be sitting around with friends, but nothing felt organic it all felt forced. 

        Another item that really bothered me was the constant back and forth between Brax and Izzy.  I do notice that the story has been re-edited and probably the plot of the story has shifted from the original story.  But nevertheless, Brax breaking Izzy’s heart then Izzy instantly forgiving him happened way too much.  It just felt like the plot was on repeat rather than moving the story along or any sort of character development.  I would’ve found it acceptable if it wasn’t so repetitive, but because of the redundancy it made the story tiring and slowed down the pace.

To Sum It All Up!

       Overall I think this book has so much potential to be truly amazing.  Izzy’s story was definitely compelling and her drama immediately grabbed my attention.  But the conversations and actions of the character became too unbelievable for me.  I wanted to feel like Kara and Izzy’s friendship was real but the way they talked to each other turned me off more than it gripped my heart.  The same can definitely be said for the love story between Izzy and Brax. Nothing felt real it all and everything came off too cheesy or too dramatic. Plus, there was too much push and pull between them over and over again.  There is only so many times a dude can be an asshole before you cut him out of your life.  I get that Brax had a bigger plan for everything but he never showed the respect he should’ve had for the love of his life at all. 

        I did love some of the drama and suspense that took place throughout the story, it definitely keeps the reader on their toes and engaged in the story.  There is a lot that happens to Izzy as the story progresses so even if you don’t entirely agree with her decisions your heart certainly goes out to her.  The love scenes between Brax and Izzy was scorching, it was awesome to see how they couldn’t keep their hands off each other at times.  No matter how much Izzy fought her feelings for Brax she couldn’t ignore the attraction between them. 

        You meet a lot of characters in Defying Fate which set up the rest of the series really nicely.  I love stories that don’t just concentrate on the main characters.  I love when they back stories of the minor characters can come into play so when their story comes up in the series there is already a vested interest.  I just hope the rest of the series is written a bit better than this one was, and maybe less male chauvinism towards the female characters.

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