Change of Heart (Fostering Love)
Publication Date: September 6, 2016
Contemporary Romance
Forever
Reviewed by Kini
Blurb
They’ve spent their lives pushing each other away, but what will happen when they need each other most?
Anita Martin doesn’t expect much from life. Growing up on the street, bouncing from one foster home to another, she learned to rely only on herself. Even after she finally found a loving family to take her in, she was still an outsider-something Abraham, one of the family’s older sons, never let her forget.
Abraham Evans doesn’t know how Ani always manages to get under his skin, only that’s she’s been doing it since they were teens. She is-and always has been-undeniably gorgeous. But he’s never met anyone as pissed off at the world as Ani.
For fifteen years, Ani and Bram have agreed on exactly one thing: they can’t stand each other-until one night when their anger gives way to passion. Yet even as Ani and Bram begin to secretly seek comfort in one another’s arms, they remain emotionally worlds apart. When Ani’s life takes a dramatic turn and she realizes she needs more than Bram can give, their fragile, no-strings relationship unravels. One way or another, Ani is determined to survive. But when Bram finally admits his true feelings, he may discover Ani has moved on without him…
I read the first book in this series and absolutely hated the hero. I feel like the statute of limitations is over and I can openly talk about the reason I hated him. He took the heroine’s children away from her. It’s all too complicated to explain, but it was the worst. It made me cry. And I couldn’t forgive him and found no redemption in his character. Anywho, the rest of the people were solid and she planted some seeds for a relationship between two of the secondary characters, and I was interested in reading about them. I also wanted to see if she would give me another despicable hero that would make me hate read. She did not.
Bram and Ani are adopted/foster siblings. Bram and his twin brother Alex were placed in foster care and then adopted as young boys after their mother passed away. Ani was put in the system much later, in her teens, because her mother was neglectful. Ani and Bram had an incident as kids where he thought she was stealing from their parents, she wasn’t, he manhandled her a bit and they’ve hated each other since then. They’ve spent the last several years antagonizing each other at family functions. At a family dinner Bram rushes off, Ani follows him and discovers him participating in an open mic night. They end up engaging in some borderline hateful banter and then have almost hate sex in her car. Their relationship progresses with lots of ups and downs from there.
I did enjoy the romance between Bram and Ani. I also enjoyed the way they fought with each other. They cursed at each other and even engaged in some name calling. It isn’t with malice, but rather passion. I like it when couples keep it real. They had some hot sex. And Bram is actually pretty sweet at his core.
“No just relax,” he ordered. I don’t want to relax,” I replied, reaching up to clench his hair in my fingers. “Shh. Close your eyes, Ani. Just let me get you there,” he said sweetly, running his fingers up and down my belly.”
I liked them together and their progression from enemies to lovers was quick, but not too unnatural.
This books uses the enemies to lovers trope, of which I am a fan. Much like the last book, there are a lot of things that are hard to talk about in this book without giving spoilers. But the key thing to know here if the author revels in playing with your emotions. If angsty is your thing, you will probably really enjoy this book. The author really wants to pull at your heartstrings. I am a jaded romance reader, so all this felt a little much to me. There are a ton of secondary characters and I feel like the author intends to write about all of them. It was a little hard to keep all of them straight. BUT she also did a good job of setting up what I believe to be the next couple. Thankfully, the jerk hero from book one had only a few appearances in this book and they were minimal. I could have done without some of the angst, but overall solid read for me.
Grade: C+
Review for previous book Unbreak My Heart
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