NEW REVIEW: Beautiful Burn (The Maddox Brothers Series #4) by Jamie McGuire

Beautiful Burn by Jamie McGuire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Lp6JYg
Google Play: bit.ly/1Ncb8i1
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1I4LScs
B&N: http://bit.ly/1T59ioP
iTunes: http://apple.co/1TKgDd4
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1LroGFq

Fresh out of college, Ellison Edson has fallen through the cracks of rock bottom. While staying in her family’s vacation home in Colorado, her behavior has finally gained the attention of her parents—but not in the way she hoped. Cut off from the millions she’s always taken for granted, and left alone to fend for herself, Ellie spirals further out of control, making a mistake she can’t take back.

Like his twin brother Taylor, Tyler Maddox is a member of the Alpine Hotshots, fighting wildland fires on the frontline. As arrogant as he is charming, Tyler’s nomadic lifestyle makes it easy to contain his relationships to one night. When he meets Ellie at a local party during off-season, her extreme personality and dismissive attitude fascinates him at first, but as his feelings deepen, Tyler realizes that the crippling inner demons of the woman he loves might be the strongest enemy any Maddox has ever faced.

A leap of faith...

I am going to be gratingly honest when I say that after the first few chapters, I was done. Done. Ellison was not a character I wanted to read about. I had no desire to continue. However, I decided that I needed to stop and decompress before doing anything rash. So I did. I set the book aside, and after much deliberation decided that Jamie McGuire has more than earned my trust over the years. I owed her some blind faith. It was time to take a leap.

So I lept.

I lept right into Tyler Maddox.

Next to Travis, I am almost certain that Tyler has to be my favorite Maddox brother. Yes, I just went there. There was a unique softness to Tyler that I never picked up on with any of the other brothers. Yes, they all have huge hearts wrapped in tattoos, but Tyler was different. Tyler is different. He didn't need a woman to tame his wild Maddox ways. He had already grown into that man. In Tyler, being a Maddox wasn't a characteristic, it was a quality.

Ellie took a lot more time to win me over. I realize now that Jamie McGuire very much intended for me to feel all sorts of hostile disdain for Ellie in the beginning. We were suppose to see her at her worst, and it was bad. So bad, it made me not want to read anymore. Definitely a new meaning to the phrase, "rock bottom." I'm so glad I didn't give up. Her growth was amazing. However, since the book encompassed such a huge amount of time, requiring large time gaps between scenes, it was sometimes hard not to see her initial transition as rushed. I kept on having to remind myself about the passage of time.

This was a reoccurring problem for me throughout the book. The big gaps sometimes gave the essence that something was missing, and I missed it. I missed the in between.

I guess it's always a problem of wanting more.

Speaking of more. My absolute favorite part about this novel was the time Ellie spent with the Hotshots. I cherished every moment. I would have loved more, more, more of this. There was so much this book had to include, so I understand things having to be scaled down, but I would have loved more scenes of Ellie and her boys. More scenes of Ellie at the fires. Seriously, I could read a whole book about Ellie and the Hotshots. When they all stood up for her at the bar, I died. I seriously died in a gooey puddle on the floor, and I might have even clapped. I just loved everything about this, them....the whole thing. Loved!!

The end was a bit rushed for me and I seriously could have done without the whole Paige drama, but Tyler and the Hotshots made everything worth it. Tyler's unconditional heart is what made this book so special. Hell, Ellie even won me over in the end, but it was Tyler that held everything together. I'm so glad I lept.

READ ON!!

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