Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.
For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.
The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…
Title: Confess
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: contemporary / Romance
Rating: 5 Stars
Reading Age: Mature Readers
I’ll admit, when I first came across Colleen Hoover her popularity turned me away from her work.. I’m not proud of it, but there it is. Man, am I glad, so glad, that I picked up Ugly Love one day and introduced myself to her writing. Now she is on my auto-buy list and I can not wait to devour everything she creates.
I don’t know what it is about me, but for some annoying reason I can see plot lines unfold before me in paths. This is crazy annoying because I love reading so much but I am very rarely ever surprised by any book. Plot twists are often predictable and I end up getting frustrated with myself, and the book.
I have not had this experience with Colleen Hoovers work. Yet.
Oh my gosh! It’s like taking that first breath of fresh air after being stuck under the blankets for to long! Not only are her characters just beautiful and human but I have not yet been able to see anything coming. From the very beginning I experience the ‘wait…what?’ moments, where events unfold that I didn’t see coming, and don’t worry, unless it’s a series like Never, Never, it all comes together in the end. I love this! I love that for once, finally, I am reading something where I can’t see around the next bend. I can’t even express just how much I love this!
God, this story pulled on my heart. With the concept of random strangers confessions becoming art, its addictive! Reading all these confessions, putting things in prospective. Opening yourself to your own confessions. I’m not sure about anyone else but this book definitely made me think hard about what my confessions would be. I found it very validating. I don’t know how Colleen Hoover comes up with these ideas, but please don’t ever stop!
“Tell me something about yourself that no one else knows. Something I can keep for myself.”
I felt for Auburn and her struggles she faced in this book, her character had spent years being belittled and bullied by her family. She grew in strength throughout the book with Owen’s support. Be aware I’m trying hard to avoid spoilers here. I want everyone to experience those surprising moments throughout this book. I’ll just say it was really nice to read a female protagonist who was introverted, and not in the shy way of inexperience. But a quiet personality. She had a silent strength that really showed itself toward the end of the book and she was willing to do anything for those she loves.
“It’s amazing how you don’t realize just how alone and scared you were until you have someone by your side to support you.”
Owen. I’m pretty sure he just space jumped right to the top of my book boyfriend list. A talented artist that is holding so many secrets, who only has three contacts on his phone.
“I’m scared I’ll never feel this again with anyone else,” I whisper.
He squeezes my hands. “I’m scared you will.”
I spent the beginning of the book loving him, the middle of the book wondering how Colleen could create this amazing character and then put him in these situations that I just couldn’t make sense of, at the time. But true to her work, and again with the ‘wait…what?’ and ‘Ahh‘ moments, it all makes sense when the book begins to wrap up. Then I loved him even harder. Owen is, everything, all at once.
“He kisses me like he’s giving me every kiss he wishes he could have given me the past, and every kiss he’ll wish he could give me in the future.
All at once.”
I think it’s pretty obvious that I love Colleen Hoovers work. And I can’t wait for her release of November 9 in November. She is a creative genius. If you haven’t experienced her work yet then GO! Whats holding you back? You wont regret it, you may even learn something about yourself.
“I love you so much.” His voice is breathless and full of fear. “I’ll love you forever. Even when I can’t.” My tears fall harder at his words. “And I’ll love you forever. Even when I shouldn’t.”
worms and bibliophiles 