Salvaged

7:00 pm 12 June 2017

Salvaged was my most anticipated book of 2017. I have been wanting Poppy's book since we met her back in the Marked Men series. She was so broken I cried for her. I couldn't imagine who Crownover would bring into her life in order to heal her, but Wheeler is the man for the job! Salvaged is the salvation of two people who have been hurt; two souls who need and deserve each other! This book was everything I anticipated and more.

Jay Crownover's Introductions in her books are always ones I read. There is always a bit of insight into her process and into the character evolution. I find her words in the intros fascinating! She is the only author whose intros I actually have highlighted passages from!

In order to do these two justice, it took some digging deep, some honest self-evaluation and self-examination, on my part to get to the soft center of myself that I usually keep hidden from the world.

Once the story started, the tears began for me. I was tearing up from the prologue and it kept going until about the 25% mark when things got a little lighter. But seriously: Wheeler's tragic past, Poppy's tragic past, and an abandoned puppy! Too many emotions!!!!!!!

"I can count on one hand the number of times in my life someone bothered to ask if I was okay, Poppy"-Wheeler

These two are just heartbreaking yet beautiful. Wheeler has such a need for belonging and family since he grew up without one. Poppy has such a need for independence since everyone in her life controlled her and abused her. The beautiful thing is, they both thrive with the other! Wheeler is able to care for someone and Poppy is able to trust someone. They feed the needs of the other. This isn't a story of a hero saving a broken girl, or a heroine saving a sad boy. Its a story of two broken people making the choice to accept the love and compassion of another. Crownover has written Poppy and Wheeler in a deep, dynamic way that shows us what a person is like long after a life changing event. The struggles that one encounters in the days, weeks, and months of a very traumatic time are different that the struggles of someone whose trauma happened years ago. Where Poppy and Wheeler are in life its the stage of years after some of their trauma and they are just starting to realize what their coping mechanisms have cost them. Its incredibly powerful and very emotional.

Salvaged is that rare story that comes along and gives you something you never knew you needed. It reminded me that sometimes, you have to save yourself with the help of others. Sometimes, what you have is an illusion that slips through no matter how tight you try to hold. Sometimes, you have to listen to your inner voice and learn to trust again. What Jay Crowonver does with Poppy and Wheeler in Salvaged is help us learn to live life.

POV: dual 1st
Tears: oh hells yeah
Trope: tortured hero, domestic violence
Triggers: Poppy was abused by multiple men throughout her life and her ordeal includes physical abuse, verbal abuse, kidnapping.
Series/Standalone: stand alone within in an interconnected series (but really, you should at least read Rowdy from the Marked Men series before reading this so you understand Poppy)
Cliffhanger: no
HEA: yes