Title: Instigation
Series: Clandestine Affairs Book 1
Author: Tessa Teevan
Release Date: April 20, 2015
5 Rafe Stars
ARC received from the lovely author for an honest review
I’m going to start this review by saying that this is unlike any of the previous books written by Tessa Teevan. From sweet and funny to charming and sexy and now, suspenseful and intriguing, Instigation is a sure book that will leave you hanging on to every word that Tessa Teevan writes.
Gabriella “Brie” Latham is a young woman who has no one in her life. Being an only child didn’t help especially with her parents passing away. She’s left alone and wandering through her life. Brie, 22 years old, fresh out of college, looking for a job, and uprooted from her hometown an hour outside of Chicago to Philadelphia. I couldn’t imagine myself being in her shoes and how she was portrayed made my heart ache. Even in just the first pages, I can already feel how lonely she might be and how much she is struggling.
But that was until she met the alluring Adrian Morningstar.
Adrian Morningstar is a knight in shining armour. An answered prayer. A prince charming. While Gabriella was spending her time on her computer in a coffeeshop, looking for a job, in comes Adrian who helps Gabriella with her coffee. He was a prince charming, alright. He charmed the hell out of the unsuspecting young woman. Good-looking and seductive, how is that not going to attract beautiful and lonesome? Adrian used all of his charms to his advantage. It worked. It worked for me as well, if that counts! He made me smile and swoon until I wasn’t anymore. There are secrets and deception. Does he know from the start who Gabriella is? Why did he approach her that day at the coffeeshop? What are his plans for her? And why now?
“My mind reels, wondering if everything between us has been a lie. It couldn’t be, could it?”
After years of being with Adrian, the earlier days a whirlwind of romance and then when that whirlwind slowed down it became mostly of Brie conforming to what Adrian wants her to be. She stopped working as a receptionist and became Adrian’s assistant, they live together, Adrian provides for her. It’s safe to say that everything she has, Adrian gave her. Remember when I mentioned earlier that even from the start, her loneliness is palpable? That is the reason I can sympathise with her and her decisions. It’s understandable. It may not be how you or I will go about life but it worked for her at the beginning. I wanted to be her friend, someone she can at least talk to and someone who can give her advice or some friendly reminders. She didn’t have that and Adrian was there to be her person.
When the sparks started to dwindle and Brie started to realise things haven’t been the way it is for a while now. Something has changed and now she wants out. But how can she leave? Where will she go? What will she do? She has nothing. She has no one. She has nowhere else to go. And I wanted to just drag her out of Adrian's house already! It pains me how much she wants to get out already but can't because of Adrian.
Not until Rafe literally popped in her life.
Unexpectedly.
Yet a welcome distraction
… and a possible escape.
“Never again will I fall for a pretty face. Or well, in this case, a ruggedly handsome one.”
Rafe slightly creeped me out at first. No, really. It may be hot but that first meeting was awkward. But unlike with Adrian who made me smile at first and made me want to punch him eventually, Rafe creeped me out but made me smiling as the book progresses. He’s a mysterious guy with his own agenda but even with that, he genuinely cares for Brie. He wanted to take care of her, help her, and not just by making her dependent on him like what I felt Adrian did but by making sure she can stand with her own two feet and providing her support and even friendship. I loved him for that!
Rafe is such a sweetheart. I will always think of him fondly as that creep from the start but he's the creep who made me giddy and feel hopeful for Brie. Although, Tessa did a turn and got me thinking who the heck Rafe really is.
Tessa Teevan managed to bring out all these contradicting emotions from me with these 3 characters and their story! I didn’t know who to root for, who to dislike, whether I should be happy about that one thing or be frustrated because of the other. And these emotions? The author pulled it off. It left me on the edge of my seat and thinking “What the hell is going on in here?!” and Adrian? I’m thinking Tessa has a soft spot for making not-likeable characters a lovable one (*ehem* Branson Wellington *ehem*). I think Adrian has something to tell us and I'm waiting to find out what it is!
Stars: 5 stars
Recommended to: If you like stories that make you think, with a bit of suspense… this is Tessa Teevan’s wonder book! Go get this!
POV: First person. Alternating POV.
Series: Yes. The Clandestine Affairs Book 1 of 3.
Extra Comment: Yes, this ends in a cliffhanger. No, you don’t have to wait long before the continuation comes out!
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