ARC Review: Kane's Hell by Elizabeth Finn

Book Title: Kane's Hell

Author: Elizabeth Finn
Series: Standalone
Release Date: May 1st, 2015
Genres: Contemporary/Erotica Romance

Kane and Helene were the best of friends until a nightmare devastated them… Hopes were destroyed, dreams shattered, a budding teenage love torn to pieces. Eleven years later their lives are nothing like they once were. Time has changed them … and not for the better.

Helene is smart, driven, and accomplished—her education and achievements a smoke screen hiding the frigid and fragile child wounded long ago.

Kane is equally obsessed with his coping mechanisms—fighting … drinking … screwing … compulsively destroying himself one vice at a time.

When their paths collide again, their past becomes an obstacle no coping mechanism in the world can protect them from. But confronting the past so they can heal in the present is no easy task. Can Kane reach Helene and recapture what used to burn so warmly between them, or will his own self destructive demons pull her into his hell?

A woman determined to look forward. A man always looking back. A love desperate to be restored.

“You’re the brightest, warmest star in my universe. You’ll never be less than everything to me.” 

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Kane's Hell by Elizabeth Finn is a story filled with a lot of pain from the past yet hope for a happy future. Kane and Helene were best friends since childhood. He was the popular "player" while she was the quiet loner. Their differences didn't matter because they had a special connection, a connection they never thought could be severed. Until one dark night at age seventeen. All the carefree innocence teens savor...gone. The next day, so was Kane. Gone without a trace, leaving Helene to pick up the pieces alone. 

  “I needed you, and you left me. You left me in this place to deal with… everything on my own.”

Helene has lived the past eleven years since that night buried in her studies. She's never spoke of the events, internalizing her pain, letting it fuel her desire to succeed academically. A doctoral student at Penn State Hazleton, she's currently teaching a Philosophy class when her past comes colliding with her present. Kane is back...a student in her class.

   

  Kane, in the other hand, has lived the past eleven years punishing himself for the events of that fateful night. Binge drinking, fights, one night stands...he's done anything BUT succeed. But when he hears Hell is back in Hazleton, he can't resist the chance to see her again. He knows it's a mistake, knows the past needs to stay buried yet she's a draw he can't resist. 

  "I want all of you, regardless of the fact I deserve nothing from you." 

  Kane's Hell is a torturous second-chance love story that elicited a plethora of emotions in me. The events of eleven years ago are trickle fed via chapters from the past. It's also in dual POV which puts the reader front row center in each of their heads. This was impeccably done. Sometimes back and forth timelines muddle things for me. Not so here. 

 It's no secret my love of this author. Her plot lines and writing style just click for me- always filled with all kinds of angst and emotions. When I'd read this book had a bit of darkness, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. That being said, I think it's imperative this book have a bit of a disclaimer. The scene from that fateful night is a bit graphic. Not because it's super detailed, more so because Ms. Finn has such an innate ability to invest her reader's hearts fully into the story. Because of this, the scene affected me more than books that are much more graphic. It's just her way and also why I love her stories the way I do. 

 

I t's fair to say Kane and Helene have a lot of struggles ahead. Both have chosen to deal with the past in their own non-therapeutic ways. Yet their connection stays strong from the day they see each other in that classroom. There's trust to be rebuilt yet their feelings have never changed. She is the one positive thing in Kane's life. Is it so bad to want it back?

   

 Can Helene trust Kane again? Trust him not to cut and run when the going gets tough? Her brain says one thing. Her heart another.

   

 I can't review an Elizabeth Finn book without highlighting the awesomeness of her sex scenes. Holy smoking panties she can write dirty talkers! I think that's why she's the whole package for me as far as authors go. She writes fairly complex plot lines of events that could clearly happen to anyone. She writes angst like no other- firmly grabbing ahold of the reader by the heart strings with thorough character development. You can't help but be emotionally invested in their love story. And the sex. Well, that's in a category all it's own. Scorching. It's read like erotica but not like the commonplace erotica we see in most books. And, most importantly, she always gives her readers a happily ever after. She may rip our hearts out of our chests throughout the book, but in the end, she heals us completely.

 

I'd highly recommend Kane's Hell to all Elizabeth Finn fans, to fans of angsty emotional second chance romances, and those who love a tortured hero. Kane is the ultimate tortured hero you just want to curl up to and make it all better. Helene is perfect for him. She's a tough heroine who's been through a lot of ugly as a teen and has persevered. When she could totally cut and run from Kane, she digs deep within her psyche and chooses what's right for her...not for anyone else...for her.

   

 Advanced review copy graciously received by Elizabeth Finn in exchange for my honest review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Elizabeth Finn is a multi-published contemporary romance author. Her passion is creating stories packed full of angsty believable conflicts, characters who leave you rooting for them, and romance that might just short-circuit your e-reader. She likes her characters flawed and scarred, but they always find the best part of themselves on their journey, and her readers find themselves devoted to her authentic, honest and heartfelt voice.

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We're giving away THREE e-book copies of Kane's Hell courtesy of Elizabeth herself! 
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Contest ends on May 1st 2015.

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