Blog Tour: ARC Review + Giveaway: Wish for You by Marquita Valentine

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Title: Wish for You (Boys of the South #4)
Author: Marquita Valentine
Publication date: January 19th 2014
Source: Received from tour host and author (Thank you, Julie from AToMR Book Blog Tours and Marquita!)
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



There's only one place in the world Lacey Evans feels normal--the roller derby track. When she laces up her skates and fastens her helmet, she'd powerful and in charge. She knows exactly what to do and say. The rules are clear and penalties are given for those who don't follow them. But in the real world, she's far from powerful and in charge. She never knows exactly what to do or say For years, she counted on one person to be exactly who he said he was--her best friend, Wyatt Tanaka. Only she changed the rules on him, without any warning, and now she's the one being punished.

Marine Veteran, Wyatt Tanaka, came home to a hero's welcome. Only he's hiding a secret that makes him anything but a hero and could potentially destroy his life. He's doing the best he can, trying to cope with the guilt, and the pain of the girl he loves pushing him away by doing all the things he'd sworn not to. With Lacey's new rules, he has nothing and no one to hold onto. Nothing to keep him from feeling dead. Instead, he allows nameless women, bars, drugs, and drinking consume him. 

Then one night, he goes too far, gets in too deep, and when the truth comes out…will Lacey push him away or help save him?

(Image and summary taken from Goodreads.)

Review:

Let me start this review off by saying how appropriate and hot that book cover is. Seriously. Moving on... Wish for You was more emotional than I thought it would be and I was astounded as to how deep the story actually went. It's like Marquita Valentine was able to put all the missing emotions from the other books and placed them all here, it was very overwhelming but was way-played. If there was one guy I wanted to get with somebody, it was Wyatt (and Beau) and I am so happy to have been given the chance to read Lacey and Wyatt's story because what a story it is...

I remember Lacey from the previous Boys of the South novels and I was always amazed at how great of a friend she is. She is the type of person who prioritizes others before herself and even when she is hurting, she keeps it to herself because she does not want to burden other people but the thing is, Lacey does not know how loved she really is. Her genuine niceness is what brought her down in this book, Lacey was forced to take a step back from her relationship with Wyatt because of how inadequate his parents thought she was, and it hurt having to read about her insecurities and how much pain she went through during their break up and trust me, Wyatt was not helping by acting like such a vengeful tool. There was so many things being thrown Lacey's way and I was so amazed by how she coped with them and how she did not give up after going through all those life-altering decisions. More than that, Lacey's panic attacks played a significant role to the story's progression and reading about her "problem" along with all the crap she had to deal with broke my heart. Even though Lacey is a shy but fun girl, she is a far cry from the normal feisty and witty heroine we always read about, but she definitely has a place in my heart because her bravery and determination and willingness to love and forgive have shown me that you do not need to be fierce to be a strong and capable heroine.

Aaaand it does not stop there because there is still the issue with Wyatt. Oh, Wyatt, Wyatt, Wyatt, what shall I do with you? It was interesting being able to read a book told from a soldier's point of view who does not just suffer with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) but along with other very severe and serious... illnesses. I was able to get a deeper understand to what some soldiers may be going through and what they are struggling with, it was very hard to read about. Wyatt is broken, plain and simple. He tries to find the pieces of himself by doing drugs or bedding multiple women, especially since Lacey, his only salvation, had left him. It was painful reading about how Wyatt slowly but surely destroyed himself because he was such a great guy and the fact that he would allow himself to get this low would disappoint anybody because it just showed that he was giving up on everything. There were also some other things that greatly impacted me in this book but I cannot mention them (I hope curiosity gets the better of you and you end up buying this book. Hahaha!) When Lacey and Wyatt are together, they are great and they balance the other out but when one of them leaves, the balance tips over and that creates an even rift between the two. For people who love each other deeply, they needed to learn how to trust each other more and as the story went on, you really saw that building of a more sustainable relationship happening between the two.

Wish for You is a deeply emotional novel that will either make or break you... or both. This was what I was waiting for from Marquita Valentine and as the series goes on, I only keep getting more and more impressed by her Boys of the South series. I absolutely cannot wait for Beau's book, he has always been more favorite! To say that I am a firm believer of Wyatt and Lacey relationship is an understatement, their love is a testament that we can overcome any obstacle if we believe in ourselves enough and let ourselves depend on and trust others.

Rating:

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About the author:

New York Times Bestselling Author, MARQUITA VALENTINE, writes small town romances that are anything but small. She met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man -- and if that doesn't work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children. 

You can find her here: 

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