Review: Fiercely Emma by J. Bengtsson

FIERCELY EMMA

J. Bengtsson

Series: Cake #3

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Released: July 11, 2017

Source: Audible Audiobook

Rating: 4.25 stars

Emma, older sister of renowned rock star Jake McKallister, has crafted a quiet existence for herself. Fiercely independent, scorned at work, and indifferent to relationships, she’s spent the past decade trying to move on from the crime that shook her family to the core. Living by a promise she made to herself as a distraught sixteen-year-old, Emma has sworn off marriage and children… until a chance encounter with a scruffy hitchhiker throws her orderly world into chaos.

A wild child raised in mayhem by a teenage mother, fearless Finn Perry cruises through life as the perennial nice guy. Now a struggling actor, he supports himself by performing daredevil stunts. At a crossroads in his life, one thing has always remained constant in his world: Finn’s desire to start the family he never had. The mystery woman who rescues him from the side of the road sure seems like the perfect person for the job.

I am so hooked on this series. I love stories that can provide drama without devolving into melodrama. Stories that have characters who are complex and flawed and never feel like cookie-cutter tropes. And Bengtsson delivers all of that and more. Here the story turns to Jake McKallister’s older sister Emma. When the family fell apart, it was sixteen-year-old Emma who stepped up and kept things running. Not only the basics – making sure her younger siblings were fed, getting them to school – but also becoming the emotional support they desperately needed. After seeing what her mother went through during that period, Emma was determined to live her life free of attachments, negating any chance of feeling such heartache and loss.

Finn could not have been more opposite. This was a guy who was full of optimism and was determined to make the best of any given situation. That’s saying a lot considering his inauspicious beginning in life: born to a fifteen-year-old mother and raised in the most lackadaisical way. Finn was the opposite of Emma’s uptight demeanor and that, combined with his humor (I laughed out loud so many times at Finn’s quick comebacks), was chinking away at the walls she’d built.

One of the things I love about this series is how Bengtsson continues to address the trauma Jake went through, from the viewpoint of each sibling. Because, obviously, it impacted the whole family in a major way and had lasting effects on who they were and how they interacted. Here there are flashbacks interspersed throughout the story which show how Emma was affected and what life was like immediately after Jake returned home. Those scenes were the ones that hurt my heart and brought me to tears. Watching this family that I have come to love struggle and hurt and try to bring Jake back into their fold, and seeing Jake at some of his lowest points… it was devastating.

But overall this was Emma and Finn’s story and I enjoyed these two so much. Emma knew that by closing herself off from potential pain, she had also closed herself off to love and connection and real happiness. The way she opened up with Finn, allowing herself to be spontaneous and take chances, was so fun to watch. And that ending put the biggest smile on my face.

I listened to the audio version and, once again, Andi Arndt and Zachary Webber’s narration was like listening in technicolor. They don’t just read dialogue, they make these characters feel like living, breathing people. I highly recommend the audio versions of this series, but no matter which format you prefer, I can’t recommend this series highly enough. You need the McKallister clan in your life!

LISTEN TO A SAMPLE HERE:

J. Bengtsson Author · Fiercely Emma Chapter Eleven - A Great Trier (Zachary Webber)

YOU CAN FIND FIERCELY EMMA HERE:

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