Book Review: TORTURED by Kate Givans

Title: Tortured (Tortured Soul #1) Author: Kate Givans
Series: Tortured Soul Series, Book 1
Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Publisher: Kate Givans
Publication Year: 2014

More than a year after the death of his best friend, Josh is still tormented by the past. Everything changes when free-spirited Willow barges into his life. She challenges him, helps him feel something other than the overwhelming pain, sadness, and anger.

There’s just one problem.

Underneath that carefree spirit, Willow is elusive and secretive. Josh believes she may be fighting a few demons of her own, but the harder he tries to uncover the truth, the more she pushes him away.

Can Josh get her to open up before it’s too late? Or will he discover that some secrets are better left untold?

I’ve read quite a number of novels about moving on & Tortured belongs to my Top Ten Favorites! Kate Givans captured the emotions of love, acceptance, trust & hope in Josh & Willow.

Josh thought he’d be forever imprisoned by guilt after his bestfriend Brad died in his hands. He couldn’t work properly, he was getting left behind in his studies, he didn’t want to drive a car, he couldn’t even take a look at one.

Then a bird-girl showed him how to break out, let go, fly away, be free.

Willow, a spirited girl, helped Josh get his wings back, but there seems to be something holding her back to the ground. A secret she never liked to share, even to Josh, after all the good things she’d done for him. When Josh wanted to get intimate with her, she scurried back to her nest and hide.

After reading the last chapter of the book, I was left hanging in the air. What’s the big secret Willow has been hiding?

Now I’m getting tortured guessing and thinking and anticipating the next book!

K A T E   G I V A N S 

Hello! I’m new adult and contemporary romance author Kate Givans. Those closest to me might say I’m quirky, clumsy, and a little off-key . . . but they also know there’s more to me than my oddities and eccentricities. 

I’ve always been a bit of a book nerd, reading almost anything I could get my hands on. Now I’m fortunate enough to be the one writing the stories. No stranger to the darker and more painful aspects of life, I drag my complicated characters through unimaginable losses and pain–domestic violence, death, sex trafficking, child abuse, and more. But because I’m obsessed with creating more empathy, understanding, and compassion in the world, those same characters often find the happily ever afters that seem to evade us in everyday life.

In addition to my fiction writing, I contribute annually to the End the Silence Campaign. I also blog about parenting at Growing Your Baby, and I provide non-fiction copywriting services. In my “spare” time, I also offer formatting services to other Indie authors.

I’m also a wife and mother of five with a serious coffee addiction. I like to dance for no reason at all, I’m a day-dreamer who loves to play with the voices in my head, and somewhere in the midst of all the fun and crazy, I remind myself to “breathe” and enjoy the life I have.