Ugly Love: A Novel

5 “liquid” “my new favorite words” “We’ve got this.” Kisses, Holy bananas Colleen Hoover just demolished me. Completely and 100% blew me away…not that I’m surprised or anything because she never ceases to amaze me but…OMG! Let the book hangover commence because this one is going to be a doozy to recover from. I was pulled in from the beginning and giving the angsty ride of my life…and I loved every second of it!, Elizabeth Tate Collins…where do I begin with Tate. I freakin adored her…I couldn’t help myself. I can’t even tell you the exact moment when it happened or what pushed me over the edge…she took me by storm. Tate really is a force to be reckoned with. She’s so freaking smart…already a nurse at the age of 23 and pursuing her master’s degree in nursing…she’s driven, focused and determined…genuine, kind and caring…but she’s not a pushover. I loved her sense of humor…she’s sweet, funny and sassy. She’s got her own little quirks but I just found them more adorable. I liked her attitude and I think, as usual, the key for me was that I was totally emotional connected to her. Everything she felt…I felt. I related to her in some ways, but that wasn’t even the half of what drew me to her. Tate is a very compelling heroine…she’s just one of these extremely relatable girls that is easy to fall in love with…and it’s easy to see why Miles did as well.., ‘Something strange is going on in my chest. A flutter, flutter kind of thing. I hate it, because I know what it means. It means my body is really starting to like Miles., I just hope my brain never catches up.’, Miles Mikel Archer…oh Jesus Lord in heaven this boy, where do I even begin. He stole my heart…held my heart…he crushed my heart…and then he healed my heart. As closed off and emotionally detached as Miles was, I was still incredibly drawn to him…and that’s saying something considering I am an emotional reader. I think it’s because the glimpses of emotion that we get in the beginning from him are like moments of gold…I clung to those because they were just…so amazing! Knowing how much those affected me…how could I not want more?!? I swear…the moment he stroked Tate’s foot and cracked a smile I was DONE FOR people. Just done. I know…I sound crazy, but that boy melted my heart and he continued to do so for the remaining 80% of the book. Oh Miles…Miles Miles Miles…every time I thought I had no more feels left to give…he painfully extracted them from my body…every time I thought he cannot be more perfect (yes…even with his walls!)…he proved me wrong with his words and actions. Miles is very understated…he’s sexy but it’s not shoved in your face and he doesn’t act like a conceited @#% hat. He’s successful but he doesn’t brag about it or let it go to his head. He’s sweet, kind and thoughtful…but its like he doesn’t want anyone to know. But Tate knows…, ‘I’ve always been a sucker for the quiet types of guys. Primarily because most guys talk too much, and it’s painful having to suffer through every single thought that goes through their heads. Miles makes me wish he were the opposite of the quiet type, though. I want to know all the thoughts that pass through his head. Especially the one thought that’s in there right now, hiding behind that unwavering, stoic expression.’, Hmm…how do I describe Miles and Tate…hot…sensual…electric…passionate…just YES! How can it not be? Their relationship is based of one thing…sex. Now…before we get crazy, it’s not erotica, it’s tasteful but it’s still sexy as hell. Heck…everything about Miles and Tate was sexy and addictive…I truly could not get enough of them. I thrived off of Miles and Tate together…they are just that amazing. You could see even in the littlest things how happy and complete he made her and as much as he tried to fight it, I could tell she was chipping away at that hardened shell. It was hard though…seeing the impact of his decisions and what that did to Tate…it hurt my heart, but…I never once questioned her decisions. I was waiting for that point when I would get frustrated or angry with what Tate was doing…it didn’t come. I got it…because I understood her feelings for him…I would have done the same thing! Truly, the thought of her walking away from him killed me more than the angst they were experiencing., ‘He brings his hands up and slides them through my hair, brushing his thumbs across my cheeks. He inhales a shaky breath while looking down at my mouth. “You make it so hard to breathe.”, He punctuates his sentence with his kiss, bringing his lips over mine. Every remaining part of me that had yet to melt in his presence is now liquefied like the rest of me. I try to recall a time when a man’s mouth felt this good against mine. His tongue slides across my lips, then dips inside, tasting me, filling me, claiming me., Oh….my., I., Love., His., Mouth.’, Tate and Miles are so…unique. I loved that we got both of their POV’s…I love the way both of their POV’s are presented…and I’m being intentionally vague on that because I don’t want to spoil things because that was part of the surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting to get both but it was honestly genius and a totally different approach. I guess…the best way for me to describe without giving too much away is that I fell in love with Miles twice…which is probably why he got to me so deeply. You get to see two very different sides to him, both of them are amazing and wonderful (hence…the falling in love) but that’s where my struggle began. Now…before I go on, we’ve established, I love Miles…I love everything I know about him and every second I learned more I fell more…I love the good, the bad and the ugly…I felt like a part of my heart broke with him…I shed tears for him…flaws and all he is still perfect in my eyes. So…here’s the problem…I was so connected with Tate and feeling her pain…so I was getting double duty pain…with her and for him…it sometimes felt like I was being ripped in two. The struggle is real…, ‘A kiss is so much easier than what we’re doing. When you kiss, you can close your eyes. You can kiss away the thoughts. You can kiss away the pain, the doubt, the shame. When you close your eyes and kiss, you protect yourself from the vulnerability., This isn’t us protecting ourselves., This is confrontation. This is a standoff. This is eye-to-eye combat. This is a dare, from me to Miles, from Miles to me. I dare you to try to stop this, we’re both silently screaming.’, I could babble on and on all day about these two…but that’s not all there is. There are two other very important men in Tate’s life and I thoroughly enjoyed the relationships she had with them. First…her brother Corbin…he is the typical older brother, super protective, loving to a fault and no one is good enough for his little sister. I liked their closeness…at a time when Tate needed someone, he was there for her in his own way and they had a very easy relationship…except when it comes to Tate’s dating life, but I thought it was cute that he was so caring and wanted what was best for her. In all honesty…if it wasn’t for Corbin…there would be no Tate and Miles…so it’s really all his fault. Then we have Cap….his real name is Samuel but it just looks weird calling him that cause…well, he’s Cap. He’s an 80 year old man that turned into one of Tate’s closest friends and I don’t think I could have loved their relationship more if I wanted to. He was this little injection of comedic relief, his timing was perfect and there is no other word for Cap besides awesome., ‘“What do you think would make a man never want to experience love again?”, Cap doesn’t answer my question for at least five floors. I eventually look at him, and he’s looking right at me, his eyes narrowed, producing even more wrinkles between them. “I suppose if a man lived through the ugliest side of love, he might never want to experience it again.”, I contemplated his answer, but it doesn’t help much. I don’t see how love could get ugly enough for a person to just shut himself off from it completely.’, Of course the writing is absolutely flawless…it’s Colleen Hoover, there was never any doubt in my mind. I’m in awe of her. I literally don’t feel like I’m reading when I read her books…it’s an experience…I live it with the characters. I immerse myself in her stories and I think it’s genuinely impossible not to walk away from them a changed human. Every sentence blends perfectly…the flow is smooth…I’m just effortlessly pulled in. It’s torture to stop reading and you never want the journey to end. I liked that this book was a little different from some of her others…but it still had that CoHo vibe to it – her tone is still there, the characters still have that special edge that make them classically hers, but it was just a little more mature. Seriously, the one common thing with all of her books is the level of emotion that she pours into them…especially this one. Every time I think there is no way she can out do it…can make me cry again…can angst my heart out more…can create characters that I can love to bits and pieces…and yet she does. Every. Single. Time. It’s brilliant wrapped in genius dipped in amazing…shot straight through my brain and into my heart., ‘She’s absolutely beautiful. Her hope is beautiful. The smile on her face is beautiful. The tears streaming down her cheeks are beautiful., Her, love, is, beautiful.’, I am a self professed clinger…and I’m struggling to let go of Miles and Tate but…I can’t deny…Ugly Love is a perfect standalone. Do I think Corbin deserves a book? Your darn tootin’…that boy is a man whore and I LOVE my man whores…he is a recipe for awesome in the making when combined with Colleen’s brain…but that still doesn’t change that I couldn’t have asked for anything better than the way Miles and Tate’s story ended. It was perfection…big red bow and all. I laughed…I cried…I loved…it was beautiful and ugly and everything I wanted and I will never look at water the same way again.

“It may be a small piece at a time, but my past is yours now. All of it. Anything you want to know, I want to tell you. But only if you promise me I can also have your future.”, Tate discovers Miles in her brother’s doorstep the first night she moves in. He is inebriated and speaking about “Rachel” nonstop. She doesn’t understand what is going on and why he is there. This is the start to this emotional and heartbreaking love story you will not want to put down., Colleen Hoover is a genius storyteller, plain and simple. I’ve read Slammed, Maybe Someday, Without Merit and It Ends With Us. I’ve loved them all, but after reading Ugly Love I can easily say that this was my second favorite CoHo book that I’ve read so far!! Breathtaking love and anguish is what you will experience, but so worth it in the end!!, And the cover… The more I look at the cover the more I cry. Colleen is so freaking amazing that she matches her cover to the cliffhanger of this story. I’m mesmerized by her writing style and making the readers be so involved in the story that you can’t stop reading it., Colleen’s writing is absolutely flawless. I’m speechless in describing her writing style. I literally don’t feel like I’m reading when I read her books…it’s an experience…I live it with her characters. I immerse myself in her stories and I think it’s genuinely impossible not to walk away from them after the last sentence is written., I loved that this book was a little different from some of her others…but it still had CoHo vibes all around., Let the real book hangover begin because this one is going to be alot to recover from. I was pulled in from the beginning and given the angsty ride of my life…and I loved every second of it!! ♥️♥️