Series: Tattered & Torn #3
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Release Date: June 21st, 2022
CW: kidnapping, domestic abuse, gun violence, threats and blackmail, misogyny
The last thing I want is for my new roommate to see the scars I’m so desperate to keep hidden, especially not the ruggedly handsome man who steals my breath and sends my heart into overdrive.
But something tells me that Beckett has demons, too. I see it in the shadows haunting his gorgeous eyes and the way he looks at me with gentle understanding.
As our unlikely friendship becomes so much more, forces from my life slink out of the shadows. And we could both lose everything we’ve fought so hard for—down to our very last breaths…
With every book in the Tattered & Torn series, I fall more and more in love with Catherine Cowles’ writing and the worlds she builds. There’s just so much going on, so much to love and enjoy and at the heart of it, it’s stories about real people that captivates you from the moment you pick up a book. This series is a lot more emotionally nerve-racking than I thought it would be, but somehow that is what I love about it. The twists, the turns, the suspense and the unknown factors lurking in the darkness all tied together with a beautiful love story and family dynamics makes for the perfect romantic suspense.
“She was more than gorgeous. She was captivating. Her beauty was the kind that stole your breath, but it was the authenticity of it that held you rapt.”
Hidden Waters might only be the third book in the series, but since we met her in Tattered Stars I’ve been waiting to find out more about Addie. As Everly’s cousin, she’s also gone through the struggles and pain of being raised in a patriarchal community where women are property and they are not meant to do anything else but serve the men, have babies and look after the home. We know that Addie was able to get out of it thanks to Everly and Hayes, but the fear is never gone. She’s still looking over her shoulder and whatever goes bump in the night still scares her and rightfully so. She’s such an incredible character. Having suffered at the hands of her father, Addie fights against all of it on a daily basis. She doesn’t let the misogyny, threats and past mistreatment get in the way of her having a better life. She wants more for herself and she’s going to get it. I can’t even express just how much I loved Addie and how desperately I wanted to protect her from everything!
And if we’re talking about Addie, then we have to talk about Beckett. I love that in the first two books, we only have him mentioned in passing till he shows up after Hadley gets hurt in Falling Embers. So for most of this book, he’s still a mystery and as Addie gets to know him, so do we. Beckett is a soft hero, in my opinion. He’s seen the ugliness and pain in the world and he’s been in the middle of situations that would scare a weaker man, but at the end of the day, Beckett’s heart leads the way and that’s so clear in this book. As a doctor, Beckett has tried to help communities across the world, but there’s only so much he can do when guns, drugs and violence persist in the places where he visits. And now that he’s home, he’s not only working as a local doctor, he’s also doing everything in his power to help Addie and others like her. And the way he cares for Addie made me tear up a few times. It’s instinctual and it’s so beautiful. He’s selfless and giving, he’s got the whole protective and possessive hero thing down pat, but then he goes and does something soft and you fall so deeply in love with him, you forget that there’s darkness lurking in the book!
“Beckett’s hands carried a warmth I’d never experienced before. As if they had a light in them that poured into me. I could feel the calluses on his palms and fingers that I knew carried stories. I wanted to know each tale.”
Addie and Beckett’s relationship goes from being strangers to roommates to friends and finally lovers. And through it all, you get to see the incredible way that Beckett views Addie and vice versa. I liked that despite their obvious attraction to each other, the feelings took time to develop. It felt real and relatable and it really hit the spot in terms of the progression their relationship took.
As always, the Easton family coming together and being there for each other is one of my favourite things about these stories. They’re so fantastic in their own right and so loving. I love Beckett’s relationship with his siblings—especially the way he and Shiloh are reconnecting—and I definitely wouldn’t have complained if we got more of those scenes. It’s also so interesting to see how different everyone’s relationship is is with Mama Easton, especially if you’ve read Falling Embers and seen the pain and struggling Hadley goes through.
I also definitely loved Laiken and her friendship with Addie. It was slightly unexpected, but at the same time, it made me so happy. Plus, knowing that Laiken’s story comes next has me super excited, because that little preview at the end was the perfect teaser to get me amped up about this story! And while we’re on the topic of teasers, that glimpse of Whispers of You has me itching for 2023, because I am ready for all of it!
I never know what I’m getting with a Catherine Cowles book and somehow, that just does the trick for me to pick them up constantly.
Thanks to Social Butterfly PR for generously providing me with an advance copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
anna reads here 