What's Left of Me by Jennifer Loring Series: Firebird Trilogy #2
Published by Limitless Publishing LLC Publication Date: July 26th 2016
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Recovering from years of living the superstar hockey life wasn’t easy, but now Aleksandr Volynsky finally has everything…
He’s married to the love of his life, expecting a daughter, and has a new job as an assistant coach with his old team, the Buffalo Gladiators. His happiness is short lived, however, when a sexual assault allegation surfaces, and Alex is forced to cooperate with an investigation for a crime he didn’t commit.
Stephanie Hartwell is juggling her dream job with marriage and motherhood, but she’s not convinced she’s doing any of it well…
Stephanie’s stress level goes from bad to worse when she’s diagnosed with a serious illness. Battling declining health and the critics who question her commitment to Alex in light of the allegation, she makes a decision that could change their relationship forever.
Alex is afraid he’s about to lose everything—especially when he sees Stephanie’s friend kiss her…
Devastated that his life is spiraling out of control again, Alex turns to his friend, Natasha, a Russian pop star. Convinced that Stephanie and her friend Brandon are having an affair, Alex resumes his self-destructive behavior.
What Alex doesn’t know is Stephanie has been conducting a secret investigation of her own. She learns the truth behind the sexual assault—a truth no one, especially Alex, expects.
With everything now out in the open, can Stephanie and Alex commit to a fresh start for the sake of their daughter, or will the ghosts of their pasts finally tear apart everything they have left?
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Manic Readers in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
I first have to say I loved Firbird the first book in the Firebird Trilogy. The story of Alex and Steph was well written especially in regards to mental illness. The series is a continuation of their story but it seems to be more episodic in nature. This takes place about 8 months after Alex and Steph were married and the story was more focused on Stephanie’s issues. Dont get me wrong Alex does have a story line but at the end of the day Stephanie is the one who takes care of things.
My concern about the book is Stephanie’s character – she makes some choices that are extremely questionable. Her character is going through a lot of “stuff” but the way she handles things makes it hard to relate to her. Alex is great as usually but he is a little to passive for me especially when it comes to their daughter. I get that he is an emotional character with a lot of issues that I still think are depicted well in the book but I think he could have been tougher. In the end there is a happy ending and a third book coming out so I hope both characters can bounce back stronger then ever.
