Book Review: Blu (Violet Chain, #3) by J Kahele

Synopsis

Pearl has lived under the hard hand of a vicious man for years and when she finally makes her escape, she is hit by a car and wakes up in the hospital. She doesn’t remember anything from the night before, except for the comforting touch, of a beautiful man named, Christopher Blu.

Blu learns that Pearls life has been a circle of degradation, hurt and pain and he wants so bad to help her through it, that it completely envelopes his life. He cares for her and there is a mutual attraction between the two. But he's not sure if what he feels for her is real, or if it is just his compassion for a woman who has been so brutally scarred by her life.

This book is intended for mature audiences only.

Review

“What are you doing? We don’t stop here.”

Rita / Camille, on the issue of stopping a car dead in the road whilst another is coming in the opposite direction. – Mulholland Drive, 2001

Each of the Violet Chain books have upped the ante in terms of drama and sexual liaisons. Blu is strikingly different from its predecessors, so much so that it can be viewed as a standalone piece. But reading the other stories first will serve to make reading Blu a more enriched experience.

My initial interest as a male reader tipped unsurprisingly towards Pearl, who in a well constructed sequence is found to be the victim of a car accident, but that is only the start. With the chapter focus on a specific character, readers can get to know both Pearl and Christopher (the eponymous Blu of the title) with ease.

"Pearl feels like a real character to me." 

That is not to say Pearl’s back story is easy to stomach, but it is certainly an interesting take in a hot romance genre, and I especially loved these scenes, even though I felt a lot of empathy for Pearl as a character.

Like all of Miss Kahele’s female protagonists, they are strong willed and courageous, but never one trick ponies, nor do they lapse into cliche. It’s easy to overlook flaws in men and women when we read such characters in books, but Pearl feels like a real character to me and so I think this is possibly the author’s best work to date.

Some readers may find the profanity and very strong sex scenes offputting. In another way, one can consider this story as packaged – for mature audiences only.

Miss Kahele knows how to reward her fanbase, and Blu is no exception, offering a sneak peak at book four in the series. What I really like about the Violet Chain series is how certain characters appear again and again – it is storytelling at its most seamless and takes an author of merit to pull it off. 

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Book Review: Hidden Truths by J Kahele (Violet Chain, #2)

Synopsis: Violet and Chain are trying to build a loving and trusting relationship, but life has a few more obstacles to throw at them. 

Violet wants to know more about Chain's rocky past with his father, whilst Chain is more interested in getting Violet to commit to their relationship in a more permanent way: marriage.

To complicate matters, Chain's past holds a secret that could tear them apart forever, and he will do whatever it takes to keep the secret hidden.

Review: "I don't care what it costs." - Chain Alexander, Hidden Truths

In the context of his statement, and the scene in which it takes place, our MC Chain Alexander is a man that I believe many men would like to be like. Powerful, rich, good looking, great taste in women...he would appear to have it all.

He is a confident man who knows what he wants. In book one he comes across a little bullish and possesses the kind of self belief that would make people shrink in his presence. 

What was clear that this high flyer has fallen completely for our other MC, Violet, and it's a roller coaster ride as the book reaches its close. 

I think the series has to been viewed in the context that book one is really part one, so I was more excited at the prospect of a second book in the series rather than think the ending of #1 left me hanging. It did - but in a good way. There is nothing wrong with that.

The revelations about Chain unravel in a paced and measured way, ensuring we are gripped until the very end of the tale. 

I would suggest that author Miss Kahele knows what her fans want, and she delivers here in spades.

I still find Violet a likeable, enjoyable character. She doesn't play hapless waif to Chain - she is a strong character, a woman that also knows what she wants.

The mature scenes are exactly that - from the opening pages Hidden Truths is brutal but utterly realistic.

Let's see where book three takes us!

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Book Review: Violet Chain (Violet Chain, #1) by J Kahele

Synopsis (from the author): After catching her fiancé with another woman at their engagement party, Violet Townsend's world is turned upside down. 

Desperate to numb the pain, she falls into the arms of charming, young entrepreneur Chain Alexander. 

Chain, a notorious womanizer of Philadelphia, not looking for anything more than a night of pleasure with a woman, is drawn to Violet instantly. There is something about her that he needs and wants so desperately and it’s not just sex. 


But Violet is resistant. Can she open her heart again after having it broken so brutally? And more importantly, should she? 

Review: Easily one of my favourite authors, J Kahele once again gives us a strongly narrated adult romance, but with a heart. 

The opening scenes in the book show Violet being viciously and brutally dumped for a fleeting moment of sexual gratification by her ex-fiance Harrison.

He's an idiot, pure and simple. At this point in the story we don't know that much about Violet, but as the tale progresses it is clear that H made a mistake. Unfortunately for him, there is to be no second chance, as Violet becomes the focus of Chain, our main male of the piece.

There's also a wonderful scene featuring Violet's brothers, Vince and Victor - despite having the same initial which one might think leads to some confusion, it doesn't. I loved it, and it gave the book some light comedic relief.

It's fair to say that apart from Archie in Miss Kahele's Crazy on You, her male characters tend to be super rich, super good looking....something I can't relate to all that well! But Chain, for all his apparent good fortune, seems to be her best characterised male to date, and I for one am pleased to see this progression from the author.

The story it told from Violet's perspective, but also Chain's. This is something I am noticing in a lot of stories of late. If they are all as well written as this one, I won't be complaining.

Violet Chain works because the story - a broken heart, finds one to mend it. But this is the tale at its most basic level. It is much more than that, and ends strongly that will have you screaming for more.

Whilst fans of Miss Kahele await a possible third installment of the Mine series, this will do very nicely indeed!

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