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Thursday, September 4, 2014

ARC Review: Irons by M.J. Fields


Irons is the first book that I have ever read by M.J. Fields, but this one sounded so good that I just couldn't pass it up. I was really looking forward to the sexy soldier falling for his best friend's little sister and them helping each other heal and deal with the pain of losing him together. At first I really thought that I was going to love this book. But as the story continued, this book fell apart and turned into a mess. I was honestly so frustrated and confused by the end that I really didn't know how it had even got to that point with the way the story started.

Jax was born into a military family, and it was his legacy to continue to serve his country. He attended the Naval academy to become a pilot like his father and grandfather along with his best friend Will. But after Will is killed, he returns home and must face things with Will's family. Will's sister Francesca (Frankie) has always liked Jax, and decides to let him know before he leaves how she feels. Still being young and in high school, Jax lets her down easy and heads out to live for a year in Florida. Three years later, Jax still hasn't moved on from Florida and he also hasn't been able to forget his feelings for Frankie. When he comes across her a few times, he knows that he should stay away but they both find it hard to fight what is between them any longer. But they both must deal with the motivations behind their feelings as well as the past. Things between them are anything but easy, but can they find a way to make it through together?

I could not connect with Frankie at all. This chick was a hot mess. She was immature and was constantly acting like a child. I realize that she had lost her brother, but I honestly didn't understand why she was the way she was. I liked that she was committed to finding a way to help others in a way that she couldn't help her brother. I thought that it was a great cause and a worthy direction for her future. But I just didn't like her and didn't like how hot and cold she ran. Jax was likable but he felt like a huge contradiction to me. He was supposed to be this player bad boy that of course didn't do relationships. He initially fights what is between him and Frankie, but then suddenly a switch flips and he is just changed. It didn't work and wasn't believable to me at all. I found myself really questioning which him was the real him, the past or the present. The relationship between Frankie and Jax should have been a clear connection with their shared history and the feelings between them, but honestly the whole thing felt forced to me. While there was attraction and chemistry between them, I felt like there was also a lack of steam.

Another big problem for me was that the story itself was confusing and hard to keep up with. It felt rushed and would seem to jump around a lot. Often times the scenes almost seemed to end abruptly or be cut short. It was hard to figure out what was happening or where the story was going. Then about half way through the book it seemed like the author starting just throwing in random things for drama and to increase the suspense. The story already was complicated, and I felt like that was just too much. It wasn't clear where things were leading, but I kept reading hoping to find out what happened at the end. I knew this was the first book in the series, however I had no idea that the ending was a cliffhanger. After going through everything, the lack of ending was what really sealed the deal on my rating. I just couldn't believe that we had gone through all that for a non ending that will continue in another book. This one already felt forced and I didn't like the characters, so I really had no interest in seeing what would happen after finishing this one and it being left open. Honestly this book just didn't work for me from start to finish. I was hoping for more but in my opinion it didn't deliver.

**ARC Provided by Xpresso Book Tours**

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