Blog Tour: Falling by E.K. Blair

Sometimes it takes someone else to show us what we are truly capable of becoming.

Suffering from years of violent abuse, Ryan Campbell has learned how to keep people from getting too close. But when you shut yourself off, people get hurt along the way. Never caring much about others, Ryan creates a world in which he doesn’t have to feel. 

When Ryan meets Candace Parker, all of his walls slowly begin to crumble. Not sure of the truth of who she is, he feels his mind is playing tricks on him. Unable to force out the thoughts that consume him, Ryan is haunted by visions that torment him every time he looks at her. He finds himself swallowed by guilt and blame, but he’s unwilling to turn his back on the one person that could possibly save him.

You’ve heard Candace’s story in Fading, now hear Ryan’s.

Melanie says...

"Sometimes the things worth keeping are the things we have to work for." - Donna

 

Falling is book 2 of the Fading series and is written in Ryan's POV. I think that it could be read as a standalone but to get the full effect of the story, I suggest reading book 1 and 1.5 before diving into this one.  This review contains spoilers if you haven't read then previous books but if you have then nothing I write should spoil the story because Ryan's story is in the same time period as Candace's & Jase's POV's.

 

Ryan Campbell has a troubled past and feels that he incapable of love and just never thought that it was in the cards for him. His father was a nasty drunk and extremely abusive to Donna (Ryan's mom) and Ryan. After he died in a drunk driving accident after stabbing Ryan, Donna and Ryan were finally free of the terror they lived through. Neither of them ever told anyone of the abuse and they went on with their lives.

"Pain is a reminder you’re still alive.” - Ryan

 

One night while getting ready to leave the bar that he owns, he hears screams and goes to the rescue of a girl being raped. Seeing what he saw haunted him and it changed him. He stopped having superficial hook-ups with random women because he no longer wanted to use someone for his own personal pleasure.  

"I’m almost thirty. I’m sick of going out all the time to just fuck random chicks. I’m tired.” ... Gavin’s the same age as me, and I know he’s perfectly happy doing the shit that he does, but it doesn’t make me happy anymore. It never did make me happy; it only made me numb. - Ryan

You know how most of the rest of the story play's out, and at times it got a bit redundant after reading Candace's POV and then Jase's POV but I really enjoyed being in Ryan's head. It answered all of the questions that I had after the first two books.

I see it. No. Suddenly, reality stabs into my chest, and I feel everything I never wanted to be true pour out of me. Time freezes. I can’t breathe, and the panging inside of me is unbearable. I know I can’t deny what I see, but I do. Because it can’t be. It just can’t. God, don’t let it be. Slow motion. Everything moves in slow motion as I bring my hand to her hip, and with a trembling thumb, I drag it across what I can no longer blame on head-trips. I brush it again, not wanting to believe what my eyes see. A thin black outline of a tiny heart. That tiny heart from that night. The thud of my chest is painful; it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life, and before I know it, she slings hers arms around me, but I’m in shock. I can’t fuckin’ move. I’m too scared. It can’t be her. Not her. Not that girl. Not my girl.

Squeezing my eyes shut, it’s all I see now. Her bloody thighs. Her beaten face. Her shredded nails. “God, please! Stop!” I hear it. Her voice. Her shrieking, desperate voice. Opening my eyes, I’m jittery. She has to feel it. Her body is clung tightly to mine, and I realize that I’m not touching her. I feel like I can’t touch her. Like I don’t know how, but I force myself to. And when I cautiously wrap my arms around her, I feel her shaking too. And now everything is clear. I can’t pretend that I don’t know exactly why she’s shaking. - Ryan

Ryan's pain when Candace leaves him is palpable. They chest hurt and I cried for his pain even though I already knew how the story ended. I didn't think that it would affect me the way that it did. It was so emotional and painful. I cried reading about his pain even though I knew that Candace would find her way back to him.

It almost hurts to look at her because I know this will be the last time I will probably ever see her. I can’t take my eyes off her. I don’t ever want to. I’d hide back here forever if it meant I wouldn’t have to stop looking at her. As tiny as she is, she made the biggest impact on me. I’ve never loved as hard as I did with her. I don’t know how anyone could ever love her more. With everything we went through to get to the point we were at, knitted so tightly together, I never thought there could be a possibility of us unraveling like we did. But we did. - Ryan

The book doesn't end like the first book. It keeps going with a wonderful HEA. I was at 80% thinking that the rest was going to be teasers for upcoming work but the book didn't end until I was at 100%. You need to read it the get the full effect of this powerful love story. So don't skip it because you think that you know the whole story, because you don't. Just read it - you won't be sorry.

5 Stars!

Falling Playlist

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USA Today bestselling author and International Amazon bestselling author, E.K. Blair takes her readers on an emotional roller coaster with her FADING series. A former first grade teacher with an imagination that runs wild. Daydreaming and zoning out is how she was often found in high school. Blair tends to drift towards everything dark and moody. Give her a character and she will take pleasure in breaking them down, digging into their core to find what lies underneath.

Aside from writing, E.K. Blair finds pleasure in music, drinking her Starbucks in peace, and spending time with her friends. She's a thinker, an artist, a wife, a mom, and everything in between.