Title: The Debt
Author: Tyler King
Series: none
Genre: new adult, contemporary romance
Hadley saved my life . . . and I ruined hers
Hadley's my best friend. We share a house, our friends, a life. She knows all my secrets . . . except one. My desperate need for her is inked on my body, it's the best I can do. But Hadley needs to hear the words . . .
Growing up as foster kids, Hadley made me feel whole-sane. And what did I do? I destroyed our chance to be together. I ran out on Hadley when I should have stayed, and something broke between us. Now I'll do anything to fix it.
I'll never leave her again. I won't ever let her feel afraid again. But the more I try to protect her from my pain, the more I just make things worse. I'm terrified that if I tell her everything, she'll never forgive me. I'm even more terrified that it may be too late to make her mine. I have to try to give her what she needs . . . it's a debt I'm determined to repay.
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FLO'S REVIEW
The Debt by Tyler King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4.5 **perfect storm of heartbreak and tragedy** STARS
“I‘M SO FUCKING IN LOVE WITH YOU AND YOU SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF ME.”
I was thoroughly impressed by this book. Tyler King is a first time author and I truly think she is a writer we will hear a lot about in the near future. It’s been a while since I had such luck with taking a risk on an unknown author, but thankfully a friend steered me in the right direction.
The Debt is a male POV, standalone contemporary romance, that could technically be categorized as a second chance love story, with some darker elements, a lot of angst and sarcasm to balance it all out. It’s about two people who met as small children in foster care, about the childhood trauma they endured and the subsequent struggles in life. The book delves quite heavily into the mental state of the characters and explores the ways in which Josh and Hadley safe each other in more than one way.
“I’m always singing to you, Punky. No one else matters.”
The best way I can describe the relationship between Josh and Hadley is - they are dysfunctional together. As mentioned above both met in foster care under dire very circumstances and ever since there has been an unspoken bond between them. They take care of each other. Which is sometimes not an easy task. The story jumps between flashbacks, Josh’s sessions with his therapist and the present, where they live together attending college and trying to conquer their demons.
Both characters have some severe emotional and maybe even mental health issues. That alone is rather problematic, but their past and present is so woven together there really is no escaping. Along the way and through many trials and tribulations they have become each other’s crutches, which is both a good and a bad thing.
I think this is all I'm going to give you about the story, the rest has to be experienced.
“This complicated, infuriating woman had never been easy. Our lives would never be simple. I didn’t love her because it was painless. We were a fucking mess and sometimes it hurt. But she understood me the way no one else could. And I’d never give up on her without a fight.”
The most important part first. The writing is exceptional and it becomes clear very fast that the author has a degree in creative writing. From the first page I was hooked and really sucked into her effortless and thought provoking style. I read The Debt within one day and I highlighted so many parts at some point I had to stop myself. The book is chock-full of wisdom and inspiration. And I loved the way music and art plays a big role and is integrated into the story.
The whole book is written in Josh’s POV, a voice I really enjoyed. Female characters and their antics often times have a way of getting on our nerves as a reader so being stuck in a male head is a very welcome change every once in awhile. Josh leads through some very difficult topics with humour and self-deprecation. He is self-aware but limited by his demons.
I love the connection between Josh and Hadley, it’s deeply rooted and despite some very serious ups and down there isn’t much that can actually tear them apart. Especially once they got their ‘shit’ together the lighthearted sarcastic humour between them is almost like a short hand. They just know each other and it comes across quite beautifully on the page. Not to mention it's really hot.
All in all a book I would recommend for someone who likes a little depth and angst with their love stories, as well as terrific writing. Definitely an author I will pick up again.
**ARC very kindly provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
EXCERPT
Hours later, just after 8:00 a.m., I was
still awake when the woman next to me stretched and reached for her phone on my
nightstand. Propped up against my headboard, I watched the silhouette of a
leggy blonde dressing at the foot of my bed. She shoved her tits into a push-up
bra and wiggled her way into a tight black dress.
“It was fun,” she said. “See you around,
MacKay.”
“Later.”
She tiptoed away with her shoes in her
hand and closed the door behind her. I knew I shouldn’t have brought Kate home,
but at the time I didn’t have the clarity of mind to do otherwise. Women had
always been transient in my life. This one was no different.
I pried myself from the covers, then
crossed the room and stood at the floor-length mirror beside my dresser to
inspect the new ink peeking around the right side of my rib cage. The skin
there was still tender and swollen, a result of six hours under the needles to
continue the design that decorated my back. Bear was an artist with an
implement of pain.
My eyes fell to the framed photo lying
facedown on my dresser: a younger me in a tux, standing onstage with my
adoptive parents beside a piano before my first sold-out concert. It was one of
the happiest days of my life, and I couldn’t bear to look at it.
I was skinnier then, and lanky. Hadn’t yet
grown into my body. Next to my pale, freckled parents, I stood out like one of
those exotic adopted children of yuppie celebrity parents. Dark skin. Black
hair. Green eyes. People told me I was “interesting” to look at, to gawk at. So
little by little I covered all the pretty bare flesh in tattoos.
The first piece I ever had done was of a
raven with its wings spread wide across my chest. The tips of each broken wing
nailed down. I was seventeen then. After my first sitting, I came to understand
why people said tattoos were addictive. I suppose I became a glutton for pain,
because when Bear’s wife offered to put a hole in my lip, I let her stick a
needle through my face. For shits and giggles. At twenty-one, I had two full
sleeves. My dad only asked that I keep the modifications within reason. I was a
bit fuzzy on that definition.
From the top dresser drawer, I grabbed a
tube of antibacterial ointment and applied two fingers’ worth to the new
tattoo. My stomach growled. It was empty and angry from last night. So I sifted
through the field of laundry-pile bunkers scattered around my bedroom until I
found a black shirt and dark jeans on the passable side of clean.
When I hit the landing at the bottom of
the stairs, I felt a pair of knowing brown eyes watching me from the living
room. Nothing good ever came from the morning-after ritual. Even so, I couldn’t
help but glance at my roommate curled up on the leather couch with her laptop
open and earbuds hidden under her long dark hair. She held seven fingers over
her head. Hadley averted her gaze back to the computer screen rather than look
for my reaction. Like she didn’t give a fuck.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than
wait for the walk of shame?”
“Don’t you have an appointment to get your
dick swabbed for STDs?”
“Fuck off.”
“Get bent.”
And so everything was par for the course
on a Sunday morning. I held out my middle finger as I turned toward the
kitchen. That was fun. Let’s do it again next week, shall we?
I had yet to decipher her scoring system. Asking for clarification would only
validate her participation in my sex life.
Neither of us enjoyed living together. My
parents’ house in the middle of nowhere was too big for two people and not big
enough for the both of us. Since my dad left to take a job in New York during
our freshman year of college, every day was a special kind of torture. But
Hadley needed me. And as much as I couldn’t stand being near her, I wouldn’t
abandon her again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tyler King was born and raised in Orlando, Florida and graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Creative Writing. As a journalist, her work has appeared in Orlando magazine and Orlando Business Journal, among other publications. She is a proud army spouse currently living in Virginia with her husband.
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