Tuesday, June 27, 2017

The Debt Series by M. O'Keefe [Review]

The Debt Series by M. O'Keefe
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Debt
0.5. The Debt - Kindle
1. Lost Without You - Kindle
2. Where I Belong - Kindle

Molly O'Keefe
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The Debt by Molly O'Keefe
The Debt (The Debt #0.5)
Date read: June 3, 2017

Synopsis (Goodreads):
LOVE AND SECOND CHANCES ARE NOT FREE

For the five kids who live at St. Jude’s Home for Court Placed Juveniles, life is a nightmare.

Carissa, the youngest, has been there the longest. And barely speaks. Rosa is sixteen and pregnant.

Simon keeps his head down and studies, hoping to get back the life he lost.

Beth and Tommy, in the middle of the darkness, have found each other, and all they want is to be together. But when they get caught making out at school, it puts everyone in danger. Tommy is used to the beatings from their foster father, but when Beth is singled out for punishment, Tommy can’t sit back and let it happen.

AND ALL DEBTS MUST BE PAID

What happens that night rips apart the lives of the five teenagers forever.

After the blood has been spilled, a bargain is made. A deal with the devil that should have solved things. It should have fixed everything.

But nothing is free - not love, not innocence, and certainly not freedom. And sooner or later, all debts must be paid...
Thoughts on The Debt: I hit a point early on in this book where I had to put it down for a bit because I could SEE something bad on the horizon and I didn't feel like I was emotionally equipped to handle it. (To be fair, I got a lot of sun today and my cold, dead heart can't handle EMOTIONS on top of sunlight. So part of this may be on me. But part of it was totally not on me, too. Because EMOTIONS.)

This is the setup, guys. This is where the wheels are put in motion and they're some mighty big wheels. The St. Jude's kids are in a bad place and they make a series of choices that leave them with only one way out. Well, I guess they could have taken their chances with the police, but I somehow doubt that would have turned out any better.

Book 2 awaits!


Lost Without You by Molly O'Keefe
Lost Without You (The Debt #1)
Date read: June 14, 2017

Synopsis (Goodreads):
ALL DEBTS MUST BE PAID

Tommy

Seven years ago, I thought I could save Beth, the girl I loved from the monster who was supposed to take care of us. I thought I could keep Beth and all the other kids at St. Jude’s Home for Court Placed Juveniles safe.

I failed. Badly. Now we all have blood on our hands and owe a dangerous man a very dangerous debt. We don’t know when he’ll come calling for payment, but when he does – we pay, or we suffer.

When my turn comes, I’m ready for anything.

Except seeing Beth again.

LOVE IS NEVER FREE

Beth

No one ever tells you that the cost of having your dreams come true is literally every single other part of your life. Yes, I’m a huge pop star these days, but I’m pretty much a mess, too.

I’ve spent my life hiding behind disguises, make-up and costumes, all to protect myself from the kind of pain that comes from revealing your true self to someone.

I did that once. With Tommy. The only person I ever loved. It didn’t turn out so well.

And now, with everything else falling apart around me, I’m suddenly in the backseat of his car.

Being kidnapped.

And the past we’ve both tried to run from is catching up with us.
Thoughts on Lost Without You: Okay. So. Things have gone a little sideways since the night the kids at St. Jude's protected one of their own from what the Pastor had planned. Some of them haven't been seen from since while others have tried to stick together. Somewhat.

Tommy is drifting. Beth--the girl he sacrificed everything for--has gone off the radar and his only old contact is Simon. And there's that debt hanging over his head. He has no idea when it will be called in or what he'll be asked to do, and he's sort of in a holding pattern.

Then the moment happens and his life shifts irrevocably off course. With Beth in his orbit again, all those old feelings bubble up. But...BUT...if he doesn't follow through with what he's been asked to do, he'll be in a world of hurt.

Meanwhile, Beth's a hot mess. HOT. MESS. And her secrets look like they have secrets. While we don't have all the answers we need to fill in the blanks, a picture is beginning to form and, well, things don't necessarily look good. Tommy's in trouble and Beth needs to do something about it.

Somehow.

I'm ready to see how this all plays out.



Where I Belong by Molly O'Keefe
Where I Belong (The Debt #2)
Date read: June 22, 2017

Synopsis (Goodreads):
THE GIRL I LOVED IS THE WOMAN I CAN’T HAVE

It was simple: Pay the debt and I stay out of jail. Pay the debt and I stay alive.

But I sacrificed it all for Beth.

I didn’t pay what I owed. I’m sure punishment is coming, but I can take it - as long as Beth is safe. Away from her mother and everyone else who would hurt her.

I gave it all up for two days with her. And it was worth it.

She always was.

THE SECRETS WE KEEP ARE WHAT TEARS US APART

We’re supposed to be done. Over. Tommy goes his way, I go mine. Cue the heartbreaking music.

I’m supposed to forget him, but I don’t think I can. And when the danger closes in on Tommy, we’re on the run again. From Bates. From my mother. From our past. And there are no safe places to hide.

Except one. And it’s the place that will hurt Tommy the most.

But maybe it’s time for me to face my past. My demons.

Maybe it’s time for me to save Tommy for once.
Thoughts on Where I Belong: Holy wow. Tommy and Beth. Those two are messed up, but perfect for one another. The fact they spent seven years apart because of what happened *that night* is sort of heartbreaking. On the other hand, I don't think Tommy would have got the closure he needed if things hadn't worked out the way they did.

But let's backtrack for a second. When Tommy disregarded the orders he was given in terms of dropping Beth off, he put himself in a bad situation. BAD. Like, dudes are gunning for him and all that jazz. Considering Beth is a fairly well known pop star and they're still traveling together, this makes things problematic.

But Tommy can't walk away from Beth when she's in danger. So he sucks it up and they end up in the one place Tommy never dreamed he'd be. Literally never dreamed it. It was so far off his radar, it wasn't a blip. On top of that, he had Beth in his bed, but he's trying his hardest to shield his heart from the inevitable loss of her.

It's ROUGH.

Meanwhile, Beth is coming to terms with her own past. All of it. Her reasons for being at St. Jude's. What happened to all of them *that night*. She's been a pro at pushing everything aside, but things are bubbling to the surface and she has to choose between continuing to hide and losing Tommy for good or dealing with it all.

I REALLY liked these two. They're messed up and ragged around the edges, but they were right for one another.

Guess what? There are more debts that need to be paid. (Which I'm excited about! From a literary standpoint. I'm sure the characters will be dragged down and roughed up a bit, but that's what makes like FUN, isn't it?!?!)

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