Blog Tour & Review 🍬 Hidden Barriers 🍬 Sara Shirley
Hidden Barriers by Sara Shirley
Hidden Barriers is the second book in the Barriers Series and is considered a stand-alone and doesn't contain a cliffhanger. overlap with the first book in the series, Frozen Barriers. I would not just suggest you read Frozen Barriers, I demand it because it is a fabulous book and a great intro into this great group of characters.
🍬 🍭 Josh & Sam's Story 🍭 🍬
Love has been hiding for too long. What happens when it reveals itself?
Josh Page, a Massachusetts State Trooper, wants nothing more than to put his first love behind him. His career is all he’s ever known for the last ten years. Seeing her is a constant reminder of what he could have had if he had not put his career first years ago.
Relationships and dating women have never been part of his lifestyle. He continues to have meaningless sex with women as an attempt to distance himself from his past. That is until he opens the door and a sassy roller derby girl stares back up at him.
Samantha Daley’s past haunts her. After college, she spends years building a new life with new friends, roller derby, and a bustling business under her feet. Her past suddenly comes rushing back after just one phone call.
Afraid to love, she never imagines a life where one man can turn her world inside out and make her reevaluate what she wants in her future. Almost instantly, she’s attracted to the man in front of her. He pushes her trust to a new level and is willing to take a chance with her.
Will Sam be able to handle the reminders of her troubled past enough for her to be with Josh, or will it be Josh’s secrets that threaten to tear them apart in the end?
**For mature audiences. 18+. This book contains sexual and abusive situations, and strong language.**
JOSH
The feeling of sleeping in your own bed is comforting in and of itself. When you fall asleep in the arms of a beautiful woman, that’s peace. The moment you wake up next to the woman who’s quickly taking your heart in her hands, comfort and peace cease to exist. This is absolute euphoria.
I’ve been lying here watching her sleep for a while now. The sun has been slowly creeping its way into the room through her windows, illuminating the glass chandelier over her bed. Rainbow prisms dance against her walls as I gently push aside a stray hair, so I can just watch her sleep.
I already knew I was quickly falling for her, but after last night, I knew she was it for me. Yeah, true, we’ve only known each other for a short time, but when you know, you know. There is still so much about her that’s a mystery, but I could spend the rest of my days willing to find out.
Lying here, facing her, I push that pesky stray hair from her face again and wonder how it was that any man, let alone her ex-boyfriend, could ever want to hurt her. The heinous things he did sickens me. What could have run through his head to want to take her life? She’s the most angelic creature, and I have to wonder what could have been.
Where would I be now if Stone actually succeeded in killing her that night? My body tenses immediately at the idea of her not being here with me. Even now, I don’t have any power to help keep that asshole behind bars, but I’m definitely going to find out everything I can about the fucker, and I will protect Sam the best I can. If that means giving my life for her, then I’ll do it. If I already took an oath to serve and protect strangers, I will gladly put my life on the line for her.
SAM
I move away from Josh who continues to talk on his phone with my brother. I scuffle my heavy legs through the room over to the kitchen cabinet I need. Josh watches me with concern written all over his face, but I know there isn’t anything I can say to make him leave. If I thought not having space before this was bad, unless by some miracle they find Stone soon, there won’t be any way I can handle Josh’s overprotective nature for another week.
I pull open the cabinet and grab the bottle of Jack, foregoing the shot glass. I shut the cabinet door and twist the top off the squared bottle. As I bring the bottle to my mouth, the stinging smell hits me first before I tilt my head back and chug until I can’t take the burn anymore. I straighten my head, coughing as the burn wears off in my throat until I feel the warmth coat its way into my system. Only this isn’t what I need right now.
I stare at the bottle in my hand and start laughing hysterically before screaming at the top of my lungs. As I continue to scream and laugh, tears well in my eyes, but not before I catch sight of the girls rounding the corner to see what’s going on. Josh stands there, silently watching me mentally break down. Nick storms through the front door, most likely thinking the worst has happened, considering his hand is already on his holster ready to draw his gun. All of them think I’m losing my shit and quite possibly I am.
For three years I was safe and happy with my new life and friends. I had just found love and a future with a man who was willing to deal with all my bullshit, and in less than a few weeks, I’m back to where I was three years ago. Everything I worked so hard to overcome is disappearing in a flash.
🍬 🍭 My Review of Hidden Barriers 🍭 🍬
There is no hiding the fact that I loved Hidden Barriers! I love Josh and Sam’s story. Josh is a broken man. He left his heart behind when he dumped his ex-girlfriend to pursue his dream of becoming a State Trooper thinking he was saving her from his career, he didn't realize what he was giving up until she moved on. Josh felt he could never love again, closing his heart off. Little did Josh know that the worst night in his brother’s life turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.
Sam crashes in to Josh's life quite literally, into his body and his heart all at once. He is instantly drawn to this feisty girl. When he bumps in to her again, he knows he just simply cannot walk away from this woman, ever.
I love Sam, better known as “Sammy Sweet Cheeks” on her roller derby team and for her sweet tooth. As sweet as she is, Sam comes with a past as well. One that is not going away anytime soon, in fact that past is getting out…of jail that is. Sam’s ex that tried to kill her is getting out of jail and with his violent past will be out for revenge. Can Sam let go of her fears and live the life she deserves?
“We all have something in our past that makes us reevaluate our future.” Josh knows his future is with Sam, he just has to show Sam that she is not a dirty little secret and move on from his past. Sam knows Josh is the sweetest and is “better than cake”, coming from a self-professed sweet tooth, that is priceless. I love how they grew together and overcame the ghosts from the past. Even though Hidden Barriers can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend you read [book:Frozen Barriers|21399694]. Frozen is where you meet all of these beautiful characters and they dig in to your heart, Hidden Barriers is when these characters dig to your soul and make you want to be a part of the extended Page family. Jeremy can melt your heart. Josh can cure your sweet tooth. I love, love, loved the epilogue and I also wonder what Courtney could have in store for us. I hope to find out someday (wink, wink). Five Candy Loving Stars! 🍬 🍬 🍬 🍬 🍬
🍬 🍭 Add this sweet piece of reading to your Goodreads HERE. 🍭 🍬 🍬 🍭 Get your copy of Hidden Barriers (Barriers #2) 🍭 🍬 Amazon US Amazon UK B&N
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If you haven't already read it, check out Frozen Barriers!
Frozen Barriers is the first book in the Barriers Series and is also considered a stand-alone and doesn't contain a cliffhanger. I will promise you however that you will want more of the Page brothers...you have been warned. ツ
❅ ❄ Jeremy & Emily's Story ❄ ❅
"Live your Dreams, Follow your Heart" Emily Cameron is America's newest figure skating star looking for her own personal identity. Her high profile life was never her dream, it was her parents. Jeremy Page is a minor league hockey player who always imagined himself playing for the NHL. A chance encounter has them crossing paths after several years apart. Which way will his heart lead him? Will Emily embrace his charm? Just when things finally fall into place, an unexpected event occurs leaving Emily reevaluating everything in her life. Can Emily escape from under her parent's intrusive ways and take a chance on love? Will Jeremy be able to break down the barriers that have held her back for so long?
Book 1 of the Barriers Series. This story does not have a cliffhanger. **Mature Subject matter. 18+ due to strong language and sexual situations**
❅ ❄ My Review of Frozen Barriers ❄ ❅
No Barriers need to be broken down here. Love will melt these "Frozen Barriers". What a beautiful debut novel! Jeremy Page. You delicious hunk. Hockey player that rules the ice with a heart of gold. He has a chance run-in, one that will change his heart and his life forever. I thought from this chance encounter that I was going to hate Emily. I thought maybe she was going to be an "ice queen" at first, but I ended up loving her. She came a long way from "Barbie" to the Emily in the Epilogue. Speaking of....I LOVED THE EPILOGUE! I also loved the appearance of Killer Buzz Float from Strings, so cool to "see" them in action. This was a beautiful love story. I loved how they both discovered that their dreams they once thought were everything, meant nothing without each other. Beyond the love, this book also had the right amount of wit. I love realistic banter, it allows me to connect with the characters. Growing up in the area the book is based was also helpful. When some of the "local" words came out I chuckled to myself. It also had a good cast of secondary characters, including one Josh Page, who I cannot wait to dig into a bit more in Hidden Barriers. I just know that boy has more to offer. These Page boys have it going on. Four HUGE stars!!!! ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄
❅ ❄ Melt the ice with this heart warming read. ❄ ❅ ❅ ❄Add it to your Goodreads HERE. ❄ ❅