Review by Dottie: Withering Hope by Layla Hagen

Withering Hope

By Layla Hagen

Genre: 

Contemporary Romance

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Teasers

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Synopsis

***This is a STANDALONE*** 

*** Withering Hope is the story of a man who desperately needs forgiveness and the woman who brings him hope. It is a story in which hope births wings and blooms into a love that is as beautiful and intense as it is FORBIDDEN. *** 

Aimee’s wedding is supposed to turn out perfect. Her dress, her fiancé and the location—the idyllic holiday ranch in Brazil—are perfect. 

But all Aimee’s plans come crashing down when the private jet that’s taking her from the U.S. to the ranch—where her fiancé awaits her—defects mid-flight and the pilot is forced to perform an emergency landing in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. 

With no way to reach civilisation, being rescued is Aimee and Tristan’s—the pilot—only hope. A slim one that slowly withers away, desperation taking its place. Because death wanders in the jungle under many forms: starvation, diseases. Beasts. 

As Aimee and Tristan fight to find ways to survive, they grow closer. Together they discover that facing old, inner agonies carved by painful pasts takes just as much courage, if not even more, than facing the rainforest. 

Despite her devotion to her fiancé, Aimee can’t hide her feelings for Tristan—the man for whom she’s slowly becoming everything. You can hide many things in the rainforest. But not lies. Or love. 

Withering Hope is the story of a man who desperately needs forgiveness and the woman who brings him hope. It is a story in which hope births wings and blooms into a love that is as beautiful and intense as it is forbidden. 

Note: This novel is recommended for 18+ due to sexual content and mature themes.

Star Rating

(5 Stars)

Review

Whew! What a book!!! I'm actually still reeling a bit after just finishing this read and I feel a serious book hangover coming on!!

This book is one of those finger-gripping, exhausting, adventurous reads that will leave you feeling a bit like you just survived being stranded in the jungle. It is a romance, yes, and it is also more.

Aimee, a corporate attorney is engaged to her childhood best friend and on his private jet en-route to her wedding at his ranch in South America. She lives by lists; she's highly organized and looking forward to the wedding she has been dreaming about. She is kind, always talking with her fiancé’s family's staff like they are dear friends and always buying them Christmas gifts and inquiring about their welfare. Her driver is Tristan, who doubles as her finance's pilot for his private jet. At the last minute she finishes a project for work and decides to leave for South America ahead of schedule. She is meeting, Chris, her fiancé, whom is already at the family ranch in Brazil. The jet encounters turbulence and then engine failure and Tristan, a very experienced pilot, realizes he must prepare for an emergency landing.

Tristan is a very quiet, very capable man who observes a lot but says very little. Once he lands the plane in the jungle, he makes Aimee his priority; doing anything he needs to do to keep her healthy and safe. He has a history (and has some PTSD) but tries to hide it from Aimee. He doesn't want to disturb her with his nightmares and keeps himself as separate and professional while also using his survival skills to keep them alive. But hope of rescue drops as time goes by and he realizes he must include Aimee as part of the team to keep them both alive as they wait for rescue; a rescue they begin to doubt will ever come. They begin to depend on one another. They begin to talk with each other. She cares for him when he is injured and he does the same for her with their limited supplies.  They learn to live off the land and fight the elements together. He has nightmares, and she talks with him. She can't sleep, and he talks with her. They develop a strong bond.  Tristan has secretly always felt she was a very special woman. He finds peace in her presence:

Before I fall back asleep, I acknowledge that last night, for the first time in years, I found peace in my sleep. I know what brought it. Or rather, who brought it. My peace carries her smell and sounds like her voice. It feels like her touch. But I have to give up that peace. With a bit of luck, she'll think that last night's nightmares were caused by the fever. Tonight I will return to sleep in the cockpit, though I never wished for anything as intensely as I wish now to be by her side.

As time goes on, feelings begin to change between them. They experience some scary encounters where they realize how important they have become to each other:

"Can I tell you something very selfish?" he asks. "Can't wait to hear it."  "A small part of me wishes we could stay here forever."  "How can you say that?" I snap my head up, raising my eyebrows. He takes a deep breath, cupping my cheek with his hand, his thumb caressing my lips. "Because I've found something here I've never had before. Hope. You gave it to me. And I have you here. You're more that I've ever had, and more than I'll ever wish for."  He stops, as if what he planned to say next is too painful to express.  But I don't pull my eyes from him. "If we go back, things will be like they were before...and I can't bear losing you."

As time goes on, feelings between them continue to grow:

"You don't need me to survive," he says. "You're right.  I don't need you to survive. I need you to live."  I bury my head in the crook of his neck, grateful to be feeling his pulse against my cheek. "You don't need anyone. You're like a star, Aimee. Stars shine from within.  They don't need anything else."... "I'm not a star," I whisper. "I'm a satellite rotating around you. You're the star. I need your light to shine."

This book caused my emotions to run the gambit. There were times when I would set down my Kindle and walk away; unable to bear dealing with what was happening (a rarity for me). I smiled, I cried, I found myself very anxious and worried. I would tell myself I have heard good things about this book so it can't have an ending people would hate. I found myself falling in love with this couple. I am not a fan of cheating, like at all. But this book didn't offend me. It is written in such a way that discovering new feelings felt natural. Aimee felt appropriate feelings of confusion and wonder and self-reflection as her feelings for Tristan began to grow. They were put in an extreme situation and this type of setting is a game-changer. And then there is the epilogue...that is what took this book straight into 5-star status. My heart is still beating in my chest after reading that, but it must have certainly changed its rhythm for a moment or two.

I absolutely recommend this book. It is definitely an adventure. The feelings are often raw and made me stop and reflect. It's the type of book where you wonder while reading it how you would survive in their shoes. (I actually also learned some interesting survival information.) Just be prepared to feel like you've lived a bit of an adventure when you've finished reading it; it is definitely worth reading!

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