You Own Me by Mary Catherine Gebhard - ARC Review

You Own Me by Mary Catherine Gebhard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


3.5 Stars to 4 stars

This is a story of how hard falling in love can be. It’s not about flowers and romantic dinners, it’s about sacrifice and hard work. Lennox is a broken soul on the run from her abusive ex-boyfriend. She left her life and everything in it behind in Seattle, moving to Santa Barbara in an effort to start over. She knew it would be difficult, lonely and sometimes downright miserable. She did not however know that she would meet the man she would love forever. The man she would soon discover she couldn’t live without.

Vic is a man with a secret life and a damaged past. He avoids intimacy and lives a simple life to hide the violence he came from and the violence he currently lives with. Lennox is the girl he never expected, the love he never thought he deserved. He should leave her alone, but he can’t their connection is too strong. She could shatter his heart, but he needs her like he needs to breathe. Are they both too shattered by their pasts to truly be able to have a happily ever after?

"I'll love you until you break my heart. I'll give you the broken pieces of my heart as an offering to you, because you own it." 

My Review:

This book had a lot going on, a crazy ex-boyfriend, mental illness and secret lives. Lennox has some big issues with depression and self-worth. She lost her mom to suicide when she was young and her father became aloof and detached soon after. I felt like Lennox craved love and acceptance and tried to find it anywhere she could. Then when she found it, she became so scared she didn’t know what to do with it. Her insecurities is most likely why she allowed ex-boyfriend to victimize her until she realized it was life or death she needed to leave.

When she tries to start over somewhere new, she first falls in lust then love with the secretive hot guy in her building Vic. Vic has some pretty messed up issues as well, coming from an abusive childhood he doesn’t know how to have a healthy relationship. Until Lennox makes him want to be the man, she deserves. It was the moments when they both truly expressed their hearts to each other that I could not put the book down. Their sexual chemistry was off the charts, Vic was a dominant lover, but caring for his woman as well which made me love this character. Lennox could be a bit erratic, not knowing what she really wanted. However, she usually concluded that Vic was whom she wanted.

The ending is not your typical happy conclusion for a romance novel, but I think it was the necessary one. Lennox and Vic are not your ordinary couple they are complex characters with many vulnerabilities. The both stole my heart and I wanted to know how their story ends. There are twists, turns, and obstacles that break them apart yet make them stronger at the same time.

"I'm not sure if there is a future for me and Vic, but there sure as hell isn't an expiration date. What did that make us? "

I believe this is Mary Katherine’s first full novel, at times it was a little wordy for me certain parts could have been told in less time. The majority of the book was told to us by Lennox, at the end, we get some of Vic’s points of view, but I would have liked more of what he was thinking throughout the book. That was a missing element for me. I felt like Lennox was telling me the story instead of experiencing it with her. However, for me, I began to think of it as if I was reading her diary, getting to know what was going on inside her head. I recommend the book it is not a light read it’s a deep story that will sometimes make you chuckle at their banter and others you might want to punch Vic for his stupidity. In the end, you will care what happens to this couple.

RECEIVED A GIFTED COPY FROM THE AUTHOR IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

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