Revelry by Kandi Steiner

                                              ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis:
Wren Ballard is trying to find herself.

She never expected to be divorced at twenty-seven, but now that the court date has passed, it’s official. The paperwork is final. Her feelings on it aren’t.

Spending the summer in a small mountain town outside Seattle is exactly what she needs. The peaceful scenery is a given, the cat with the croaky meow is a surprise, but the real kicker? A broody neighbor with nice arms, a strange reputation, and absolutely no interest in her.

Anderson Black is perfectly fine being lost.

He doesn’t care about the town’s new resident — he’s too busy fighting his own demons. But when he’s brought face to face with Wren, he can see her still-fresh wounds from a mile away. What he doesn’t see coming is his need to know who put them there — or his desperation to mend them.

Sometimes getting lost is the way to find yourself. Sometimes healing only adds a new scar. And sometimes the last place you expected to be is exactly where you find home. 

Excerpt:

I had just grabbed my oversized hat and slipped my sunglasses on when I spotted Anderson walking up the drive with a large trash bag slung over his shoulder. He wore a simple, black V-neck and distressed jeans, an outfit way too dark and hot for the heat. A light sheen of sweat gathered on his neck as he made his way toward my cabin, his eyes hidden behind all-black sunglasses.

"Change your mind?" I asked, not even fighting the grin on my face as I walked outside and leaned against the banister.

Anderson squinted up at me, his boots heavy as they hit each stair. "About?"

"Tubing?" I asked. That was why he was here, right?

"Oh." He shook his head as he hit the top stair, shrugging the bag off his shoulders to hold it by the neck in one fist. "No, I have somewhere to be..." His voice trailed off, and even through the tinted shades of his glasses I felt his eyes on my chest. I'd strapped on my favorite boho print bathing suit and paired it with a dainty gold chain that wrapped around my neck once before dipping between my chest and crossing over my ribs.

He sniffed, holding the bag out toward me. "I just came to drop these off. My clothes. Well, the ones that could probably use a little TLC."

My eyes lit up and I reached for the bag, but Anderson snatched it back, brows shooting up into his forehead.

"No frills, Wren."

I threw my hands up in surrender. "I promise."

He smirked, just slightly, and handed the bag over, tucking his hands in his front pockets.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" I asked, peering into the bag at my project before setting it just inside the cabin and locking the door behind me.

"I can't," he said, lips pressed together. He was tense, the muscles on his forearms tight as he glanced around at pretty much everything but me.

I opened my mouth to ask why but was cut off by the sound of a truck flying into my drive, tires sliding against the gravel.

Tucker was in the driver's seat with Davie in the passenger. Sarah and Yvette sat in the back, laughing with their hands up as the truck skidded to a stop. They were both sprawled out on a pile of tubes, wearing bathing suit tops and tiny shorts.

All of their faces froze when they saw Anderson.

"Hey, you ready, Wren?" Tucker asked warily, his eyes moving from where Anderson stood in front of me, to me, and back again.

"Yeah, one sec!" I called back.

I turned to Anderson, but his eyes were hard on Tucker, jaw ticking under his skin. When he faced me once more, an anchor fell from my throat into the pit of my stomach, immobilizing me completely. Because even though I 'd tried to convince myself I was wrong, I recognized the look in his eyes.

Possession.

And when his nose flared and he took one big step toward me, our chests brushing, his hand reaching out to rest almost imperceptibly on my hip, the anchor in my stomach exploded into flames, burning a desire so fierce I inhaled a toxic breath and didn't let it go.

"Be careful, okay?" His eyes locked on mine just before he leaned in and swiftly kissed my cheek.

He turned on his heel and jogged down the stairs and past the truck. Sarah called his name, but he didn't acknowledge her, just kept his gaze forward until he'd disappeared from view.

And then everyone looked at me.

*I received an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I started reading this book because I haven't read a lot of books where the heroine is divorced. I had read Weightless before and really enjoyed it so I had a feeling that this book wouldn't let me down. I have to say that Revelry didn't let me down.

When we meet both Wren and Anderson they are both in pretty bad places emotionally. Wren is coming off of the heels of being divorced and Anderson is not really focused on living his life and instead is existing day to day. They can recognize the pain that the other carries and I believe that this is what draws them to each other. They are both searching for meaning and understanding and I believe that the find those things in each other. 

I really appreciated the word of the day at the beginning of each chapter. It was a creative way to title the chapters as well as let the reader know what the chapter was about or what was to come. I also thought that the name of the book was inspired. I couldn't grasp why a book that started out so melancholy would have the title Revelry but it made much more since later on. 

I enjoyed both of the main characters and even a few of the secondary characters even though we don't learn very much about them. I have to say that I liked Anderson more so because his personality didn't seem as forced as Wren's personality. I'm not sure if that was the author's intention but it may have been because she is trying to not change even though she is still grieving the loss of her marriage. People tend to change and grow as they go through trials and losses in their lives. Even so, it turned me off to Wren a bit because I felt at times she was trying to hard to be her "old self". 

I really liked this book! I feel that Kandi Steiner doesn't sugar coat the issues that she has her characters deal with and is honest about what happens in relationships. I especially appreciated that in this book! The characters may have found each other when they needed help facing their issues and learning to face their new realities but that doesn't mean that their relationship will be perfect. Timing and learning to deal with your own issues are also important when wanting to have a relationship with someone.