Book Review: The Hurricane by R. J. Prescott

Blurb: Emily McCarthy is living in fear of a dark and dangerous past. A gifted mathematician, she is little more than a hollow, broken shell, trying desperately to make ends meet long enough to finish her degree. 

Through an unlikely friendship with the aging, cantankerous owner of an old boxing gym, Em is thrown into the path of the most dangerous man that she has ever met.

Cormac “the Hurricane” O’Connell is cut, tattooed and dangerous. He is a lethal weapon with no safety and everyone is waiting for the mis-fire. He’s never been knocked out before, but when he meet Em he falls, HARD. Unlike any other girl he’s ever met, she doesn’t want anything from him, but just being around her makes him want to be a better person. 

They are polar opposites who were never meant to find each other, but some things are just worth the fight.

First of all I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: At first sight you might think that this story is quite unoriginal and predictable: broken fragil girl meets bad boy fighter who changes after falling in love with her. Well, you are wrong then, The Hurricane is so much more! R.J. Prescott handles many difficult and controversial topics in this story and handles them with tact but with honesty. The characters and their story really got to me and I really enjoyed seeing them grow and mature.

The book is told from Emily's point of view. Her life hasn't been easy, she has been severly abused by her step father and has just only gotten away from him. She is trying to rebuild her life and leave her past behind, something extremely difficult as she is sure her step father will find a way to find her again. When she meets Cormac O'connell, she is afraid even of her own shadow.

Cormac instantly recognises the fear in her eyes but he is determined to help her and become her friend, someone she can rely on. What I really liked about Cormac is that he was true to himself. He did what he said and didn't play games. Many NA novels base their plots on the bad guy playing difficult to get or always hiding his true feeling. Cormac O'Connell is the opposite. His feelings were always clear and he was not afraid of showing them. This made for a refreshing change.

So, as you can imagine, Cormac and Emily fell in love pretty quickly. But taking into account both their pasts, this was no surprise and it didn't feel rushed in the story. What I enjoyed about their story was how they complemented each other and made each other better and always tried to work with each other, discussing their options and never lying.

The secondary characters were really interesting too, from Cormac's gym buddies who were like a big family to Em's university friends, they all added to the story and made for a very entertaining read.

The story was never boring, always hot and sweet and very well written. I'm sure I'll be checking R.J. Prescott's future novels. 

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