COURTNEY REVIEWS: SAVING AMY by NICOLA HAKEN

Series: stand alone
Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Nicola Haken
Publication Date: 6/26/13
Format: ebook
Pages: 353
Source: Received from author for review

Eighteen year old Amy’s surname may be Hope, but her life contains anything but. She drinks, she sleeps around, she cuts… anything to help her escape the agonising existence growing up between her mother’s drunken wails and her father’s fists. But nothing works. There is no escape. And Amy wants out…

Enter Richard Lewis – the doctor responsible for saving Amy’s life after her drink and drug-fuelled suicide attempt. Thanks to his own hidden demons, Richard is drawn to Amy and her situation, and despite the incessant warnings from both his own mind and his jealous ex-lover Joanna, he feels compelled to help her.

But how will Amy feel when she discovers Richard’s attachment to her is born out of his own guilt? He was her last resort – her last chance at being saved. Can anybody save Amy, or has she finally reached the end of a very long, torturous road?

(Not recommended for younger readers due to language, scenes of self-harm and sexual content)

 

 

 

 For a person like me who is very hands on and mechanical having been an orthopaedic nurse for my entire nursing career so far and being less than thrilled that my first clinical rotation is going to be in psych...I sure am drawn to books with a lot of psychological aspects, internal emotions, and hard to bear topics. Saving Amy is definitely like that in that the story is centered around her suicide attempt and her abuse at home.

I am a very emotional person, which I have mentioned before...but not just in the sense that it doesn't take much for me to cry. During this book I could feel her emotions of fear, isolation, desolation, and indifference to certain situations that she put herself in. Amy lives from moment to moment hoping to survive, until she just decides that she doesn't care. She gets involved heavily with drugs and encounters Dr. Richard Lewis for the second time.

I was skeptical of this plot line...with Richard. He is 28 and she is 18. He is a doctor and she didn't finish high school. I wasn't sure for a very long time, okay the entire book if he was sincere. He has his own demons and you wonder what his motivations are for helping Amy so much. I honestly was unsure how together they were until the epilogue...but I loved the epilogue! It was the perfect ending and far into the future so we really get to see how things turn out.

Richard and Amy are an unlikely pair, but I think the main reason that I was skeptical of their relationship and 'good times' was because she doesn't really deal with any of the choices that she has made or the trauma that she has been through. He helps her with it tremendously, sure...but for it to be so fresh and a new love and trusting in a new person...I wish she would have found outside, completely unbiased help much earlier. Joanna has 99.9% to do with this. She is a substance abuse counselor and if you don't want to cunt punt her before you are done...no words! Sorry! She didn't help...if you couldn't already tell.

This is my second book by Nikola and I liked it, including the English phrases. No, they probably weren't supposed to be in there since it is set in Seattle, but I always enjoy them! This story is not for the faint of heart, and has several scenes of drug abuse, physical abuse, self harm, and suicide...so be prepared. But it was a genuine representation for me, and a real story of the harsh realities of life and finding love even if it is mainly love for yourself.

Purchase Saving Amy 

            

About the author:
I live in Rochdale, England with my wonderful family. I have two novels under my belt (Inevitable and Saving Amy) and am currently working on a new book to be released in the next few months.

When I'm not playing with my imaginary friends I can usually be found looking after my four adorable (sometimes!) children (five if you include the dog, six if you include the hubby!) or studying towards my English Literature degree.

All in all I'm just an ordinary mum with an addiction to reading about hot book guys, writing about hot book guys and Pepsi Max!


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