And so begins the journey of Jolene as she claws her way out of the dark with the help of Cameron Bowen. These are a few words that come into my mind when I think of what Jolene Bergio had to endure for 10 years of her life being held captive as prisoner. As a victim of human trafficking, her life and innocence was stolen from her. Happiness, love and freedom ripped out from her. For 10 years, she endured what no one wants to experience where monsters still lurk in the dark.
The lost of hope was inevitable but luckily for Jolene, an angel came to her rescue. With her help, Jolene was finally able to escape and run away from the monsters she feared. For the first time in 10 years, Jolene saw hope shining through. Fearful and alone, Jolene found herself in Florida in a small coastal beach town of Amelia Island. With the little money she had, she rents out a beach cottage.
In that one moment, Jolene found solace and peace with her newfound freedom. Not wanting to be found, she is hesitant to give out her name to people. Little did Jolene know, another angel was sent her way in the form of Cameron Bowen, who happens to be the owner of the house Jolene is renting.
The once cheerful and happy Cam was replaced with a man just going through the motions. But that all changes, when Cameron meets Jolene. For so long, Cam thought Olivia was the one but as it turns out, the one who truly owned his heart was the blue eyed brunette renting his beach house. Cam knows there is something that is burdening Jolene since she is fearful of letting people know her name and being touched. As a therapist that works with victims of sex and human trafficking, Cam has his suspicions of why Jolene is fearful.
Being the ultimate sweetheart, Cam aka Dr. Surfer Man tries to befriend Jolene since there is something in her that ignites him. He is drawn to the beauty of Jolene inside and out. Slowly, Jolene begins to let her guard down and let Cam and his friends enter her life. Feel the hope and love shine through her darkness. Let there be light…. And so, begins the journey of Cam and Jolene. What a beautiful, emotional, and touching journey it was. Trust was one major step that Jolene had to overcome and luckily for her, Cam made it easy.
He brought back life to Jolene. Sparks of happiness and love soon began to radiate off both them. Pieces of brokenness, darkness, and emptiness were slowly beginning to crumble and fade. Jolene finally saw the light. And Cameron Bowen was her light. His love burned so bright that it was fire to her heart and soul. So what happens when the monsters Jolene feared comes back haunting her and threatens to erase the traces of the light Jolene tried so hard to find.
See a Problem?
Will the darkness takeover? He was the shining knight. He was prince charming. They say love heals and he did just that with Jolene. He was her sun. He was her protector. Simply, he was hers and he did everything in his power to make her see that their love will save them.
He was just simply perfection. This book blew my mind and I loved it. Leigh is such an amazing talented author. She literally took her readers on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Not only did she take her readers on emotional ride, Ms. Leigh raised awareness on human trafficking. She did not sugacoat it but expose the raw and gritty side of where darkness and monsters exist.
Intertwining layers of public awareness, she was able to incorporate a beautiful love story. Cam and Jolene love was breathtakingly beautiful It was so honest, raw and vulnerable. It was a love that stole my heart. A story that made you believe that heroes are real. For Jolene, she found her hero in Cameron Bowen.
The pain, emptiness, and fear that Jolene felt literally gutted my heart. Jolene was a woman exposed. Her sadness and brokenness was written all over her face. I truly felt every ounce of her heartbreak, loss, fear, pain, love and happiness. What I truly love about this book was that Ms. A journey of finding love and letting it heal you. A journey of letting light in. And most importantly a journey of hope. A hope for tomorrow. View all 12 comments. This is pretty much what I kept saying to myself over and over as I read this book: Jolene is broken and fearful, yet feisty and strong.
She afraid to be touched, until she turns into a seductress. The story started out good, Jolene escapes her life as a prostitute after 10 years and takes a bus from Chicago to SC to find a new life. She dyes her hair, is watchful, and finds a place to rent. Then it all goes do This is pretty much what I kept saying to myself over and over as I read this book: Then it all goes downhill. She won't tell anyone her name, or anything about herself.
Heart of Light
That is until about 24 hours have passed, then she has a new BFF and a guy she's pretty much in love with. So of course she's spilling her guts almost instantly. Sure, Jolene's been forced into having sex with hundreds of men and cannot stand to be touched, but Cam has sexy silver eyes and great abs, so of course she can totally trust him! Plus, he calls her cute nicknames like "tomorrow", "baby steps" and "peaches". Apparently Cam was in love with someone named Olivia from another book I think , and has been in a funk for TWO YEARS since she's been gone, but within 24 hours of meeting Jolene he's practically planning their wedding.
He's a 38 year old doctor, who acts like he's a teenager in love for the first time. I didn't understand what he saw in Jolene, who pretty much spends all her time overreacting and running away. I found her exhausting. The reason I'm giving this two stars instead of one, is that when Alex again from another book I think enters the picture and the story gets more action focused, it's much more tolerable.
At least until Jolene turns into Sarah Connor and I'm once again rolling my eyes. Finally, while there were hardly any typos in the book, there was one glaring exception. One cannot shoot heroine into their veins. I have never read any of this author's work before, and sadly I probably won't read any more.
I wanted to DNF so badly, but I didn't. I think everyone of my book friends did so I said I would take one for the team to star it. The main event in this book is the instant love factor. Here we have a girl who has been held captive and sold as a sex slave since her eighteenth birthday, however she has found a way out. She jumps on a bus and immediately heads to a beach is No just no. She jumps on a bus and immediately heads to a beach island in Florida. There she meets Cam who immediately hates her upon hearing she has rented "the" house that the girl he is in love with stayed at, which he also owns.
After a little berating from his friends he suddenly changes his tune and wants to know more about the mysterious stranger whom is living in his beach rental. They both within a twenty four hour period can't be away from the other, and are all each other think about. Meanwhile here comes one of her Ex rapist senators that follows her all the way down to the island while she was on a bus, plotting his exploit.
He rapes her one night and threatens to send her back to "him" her old owner. The very next day she is in Love with Cam and thinking about how hot he is and how much she wants him. Are you Fing kidding me? You just got raped and you want to go sleep with someone else? I wouldn't even want to look at another man let alone think about one no matter how much I loved him.
You can't do this it doesn't even seem real when you do this. Yes I know this has tons of 5 star reviews, but mine isn't one of them. Sorry if this seems harsh, but I know my group of readers won't like it. To much eye rolling from me, and to much instant love. View all 5 comments. Did I read the same story? This story was all over the god damn place. I am going to rant and probably give away spoilers. It isn't going to be pretty. The female lead, Jolene, was recovering from a broken heart She was 28 years old when she finally escaped from a vicious I allotted some leeway for messed up emotions, confusion and mood swings BUT, if I had been savagely used and abused for 10 years That is 12 months times Cam, the male lead who is in NO way a hero They have a disastrous immature first time meeting.
A psychiatrist should have known better than to get romantically involved with someone that was CLEARLY suffering from something very traumatic. You do not jump in to dating and sleeping with someone you barely know!!!!!! So unprofessional and a total turn off. My eyes were rolling. My stomach was rolling. It was around this point that I nearly gave up reading, but I was curious as to how much worse this could get There are no warm and fuzzy feelings.
Being inside the female lead's head was like being inside a balloon blown up by air from your lungs I am sorry for being so brutal but this book did not make sense. It was pure annoyance. Then to add insult to our intelligence, one of her sadistic abusers just happened to see Jolene escape and follows her, stalks her then proceeds to demand sadistic sexual submission or he will turn her in to her previous captor. She is beaten and raped repeatedly and says nothing!!!!!!!!! First off I will say that I am a huge fan of the Beautiful Mess series and Cam was my favorite character when it was all said and done.
He was such an nice and understanding guy, you just wanted to see him get a HEA of his own. In the Heart of Light Cam is still in Florida, still feeling the loss of Olivia even after a couple of years. In his heart he knows she belonged with Alexander, however that doesn't mean it was easy to let her go. Cam has a great job, is good looking and wants to share hi First off I will say that I am a huge fan of the Beautiful Mess series and Cam was my favorite character when it was all said and done. Cam has a great job, is good looking and wants to share his life with someone special.
Thinking that isn't possible, he meets the beautiful Jolene at his beach rental.
Jolene is finally free. After escaping a hellish situation, she has landed in Florida, in Cam's beach house. Jolene has spent the last ten years in the worst way possible, so to say she's a bit cautious is stating it mildly. Jolene has zero trust for anybody, especially men. All of her life she was either let down or used by men and she has had enough.
Hiding from her past, Jolene is trying her best to be "normal". Befriending Benny, Cam's bestie and Benny's girlfriend Elsie, Jolene starts to actually feel a bit of the freedom she craves. Of course things aren't going to be easy and the drama ensues. Her past is catching up to her, she is running out of options, including Cam. She's gone from dark to light, back to the dark. Leigh we get action with our romance. While I liked the story, I didn't like it for Cam. I felt like the romance was rushed and would liked to have seen him with a different type of girl. I didn't feel any connection to Jolene while reading, although I felt for her plight towards freedom.
This amazing author has done it again. She's written another awesome suspense story with romance wrapped all around it. Cam is a fantastically sweet surfer man not boy who loves with his whole being. Which is why I loved him so much in the Beautiful Mess series. I love his character.
Does that say it all or what! Where do I even start. To think what has happened to her in this book actually goes on in this world of ours in unreal and will draw you in and keep you there This amazing author has done it again. To think what has happened to her in this book actually goes on in this world of ours in unreal and will draw you in and keep you there. Right next to Jolene. I loved this story.
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- Marty Feldman (Italian Edition);
- Pediatric Rheumatology, An Issue of Pediatric Clinics - E-Book (The Clinics: Internal Medicine).
- La filosofía contada con sencillez (Contado con Sencillez) (Spanish Edition);
Human trafficking isn't something you read a lot about and T. Leigh wrote about in a way that sticks you right in the middle of what it could be like from many angles. From the victim, and the people who love them, to the creeps behind it all. This book gutted me but in the most awesome way. Get your tissues stocked and ready.
Sometimes in your darkest moments ya just need a little light. This book reminded me that no matter what your "dark" is always look for the "light" and you will find it. The Beautiful Mess Series Again, all my DNF gets one stars. To be free from the darkness. This book was a turbulent wave of emotion for me. I cried, I laughed, I had my heart broken more times than I can count, but most of all - I felt hope. Hope for the beauty of love, for the power of a strong spirit, and hope that good really can triumph over evil.
Leigh touches on some very real, horrific crimes that unfortunately, a lot of females fall victim to. After finishing this story, I found myself completely in awe of her and her writing ability. The way that she managed to portray the seriousness of the topics without glorifying or romanticizing them in any way, well to me, that truly is a gift.
While its no secret that I am a fan of darker reads, the truth of the matter is, the subjects in this book are issues that are often ignored everyday in the real world. Jolene is a survivor. Held captive and forced into prostitution for 10 years, she has become an expert at survival, protecting herself the only way she can. Freedom comes in the form of a caring couple that work tirelessly on a plan to smuggle her out of her prison. Desperate to put as many miles between herself and the Hell she lived through as possible, she runs until she can go no farther.
Landing in quiet Amelia Island, she begins the torturously long process of healing. Cam Bowen is a jerk. Nothing his best friend Benny says can get through to him.
He spends his days focused on his patients in his practice, and his free time out on the water enjoying the Florida surf yes, insert mental image of hot surfer man here. Discovering that Benny has rented out his beach house is not news he takes lightly, and when the occupant bears a startling resemblance to her, he explodes.
When Benny rents her the quaint little beach house, she warily trusts puts her trust in him while stubbornly refusing his attempts at friendship. Her freedom was dependant upon no one getting close to her, on her being invisible. Convincing her to stay after he all but threw her out becomes one of his greatest challenges, but the more he spends time wither, the more he knows the rewards will be profound.
I enjoyed the way Cam and Jolene slowly began to open up to each other and to heal the broken bits of themselves. She is a woman running at full speed to catch up with her own life, dying to experience everything at once, but terrified at the same time of letting anyone too close. He falls for her and he falls fast. These two are the perfect example of that. But know this, I will kiss you. Jolene escaped and found someone who loves her.
Well, before you call out the parade — you should know that T. Leigh is a brilliant mastermind. The dark, sinister monsters never truly disappeared, they simply laid in wait for the opportune moment to reclaim Jolene for their own. Is love enough to protect her? The past meets the present in a war that started years before Jolene was born. Devastating loss and unthinkable pain. This is a story that will affect you with the simplest of phrases, the smallest of words.
It's just too much. Believability [image error] http: And, there are apparently other sex slaves on lockdown there as well?!? Nah, I don't think I care for your oceanfront property in Arizona: Her photo could already be plastered all over the news. Again, you can take that oceanfront property somewhere else. Jolene has escaped captivity in Chicago and has set out to hide in Florida. She calls about a rental and agrees to meet the landlord. Now, this chick can't stand for the guy that helped her escape to touch her because she's so traumatized and all, but yet she gets in the car with a random stranger to go look at the rental property?
Wth kind of sense does that shit make?!
The Light in the Heart by Roy T. Bennett
Jolene is described like a wounded baby deer, but her first interaction with a stranger shows her to be aggressive: You can give me a ride. But keep your hands to yourself," she retorted rather snidely. She wants peace, freedom, and to lay low. So, when landlord dude asks her her name, she replies "I'd rather not say..
The less you know about me, the better off we'll both be. It's not like those kind of answers would peak vs diminish the guy's interest, much less be not be a huge red flag not to rent his property to some nameless chick that insinuates just knowing her name could be dangerous. The above interaction also features him saying multiple times what a good guy he is and how she should "trust" him.
Ooookay, yeah, I tell random strangers all the time 'hey I know I just met you literally five seconds ago but you can trust me' DNF Didn't take long for this to be a clear no-go for me. This book was beyond amazing! TK Leigh is a master story teller. I didn't think she could top the Beautiful Mess books, but boy was I wrong! I wanted to love him but my love for all things Alexander and Olivia kept me on team Alex. The Heart of Light is a stand alone novel. You do not need to read the Beautiful Mess series to read this book.
It's been 2 years since his he This book was beyond amazing! It's been 2 years since his heart was broken by Olivia and he hasn't been able to put her out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried. That was until he saw the beautiful woman standing on the porch of his beach house, her beach house. Cam was furious at his best friend Benny for renting out the house, especially to someone who looks so much like Olivia. Cam was a total rude ass to Jolene when he met her.
Jolene was finally able to escape the evil she had been forced to live for the past 10 years. She just hoped she was safe at Amelia Island. Jolene couldn't imagine going back to that man and being forced to do all the terrible things. She wanted to "feel" again and not be numb. Just the thought of being touched made her sick.
Cam realized that he was being a jerk and he found himself drawn to her amazing blue eyes that held so much emotion. Emotions he'd seen in his own sisters eyes. He knew she was hiding from something causing her so much pain. Cam is able to slowly build Jolene's trust and allow her to "feel" for the first time in 10 years. Will that be enough? Jolene's past wasn't far behind and all her fears were becoming a reality again.
She is forced to do unthinkable things to protect those she has become close to. This is causing the light to slowly burn out that Cam had pulled from her darkness. Will Cam be able to save her, or will he lose the one person to make him feel love again? This book put me thru a wonderful emotional ringer.
It is heart stopping, gut wrenching and beautiful. I am suffering from a horrible book hangover with puffy eyes from crying so many tears. Talk about a book hangover! Not sure what I just read, but wow!! This was an intense mind blowing type of book. This will be a book that sticks with me for quite awhile. I will definitely be needing a recovery book after this one. Now after all of that being said I think the only negative I found was some repetitive phrases, and though it got a bit much for me ie: I just sort of rolled my eyes and moved on.
In this book you meet Jolene. She belongs to a human trafficker that is masquerading as a savior of women and a hotel owner. He has his hands in everything; FBI, police forces around the country, government, pretty much everything. With the help of a very sweet older woman that works as head of housekeeping as well as many others she is able to escape, but for how long she doesn't know.
She does everything she can to conceal who she is and where she is going. Then you meet her light in the darkness Cam or Dr. She and he both try to keep their distance and fight things, but struggle tremendously.
The Light in the Heart
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