I really loved A Terrible Love, and I have been looking forward to reading A Brutal Tenderness, which is A Terrible Love from Cas' point of view. First, let me say that you do need to read A Terrible Love before reading A Brutal Tenderness, otherwise you will not truly understand, enjoy, or get the full impact of the story. Even though this is the same story, Cas' version is completely unique and different from A Terrible Love, so it is definitely not like reading the same story again, which is something I really enjoyed. Again, if you don't read A Terrible Love first though, you will not appreciate or get it to the degree that it is designed and written to be. Not only is A Brutal Tenderness told from Cas's point of view, but you also get to see a whole different side of the story, including the back stories of many of the characters in the book. This adds a whole new depth and dimension to the story , which is something that was not a part of book one. Therefore, when you read that this is a companion novel to A Terrible Love, that is exactly what it is, and I thought it was wonderful. Not only do we see what was going on in Cas' mind, we get to see things from the FBI perspective regarding the case, as well as getting to know the other agents involved, their roles, and how everything played out from their side. In addition, there are several chapters that focus on Thad, which are told in the third person, allowing you to get inside his head. Another thing I enjoyed was the ending, which goes into much more detail than what we see in A Terrible Love, including several chapters with details of what goes on between the ending of A Terrible Love and the epilogue one year later, so there is quite a bit of new material included.

All that being said, I love Cas - he is a loose cannon, all alpha, hot, badass as badass can be, and he loves and protects Jewell fiercely. He isn't perfect and he doesn't always know how to express himself verbally in the best way, which is something that makes him more human and more real. I loved getting to know him up close and personal, and getting inside his head and seeing and experiencing things from his point of view. Marata Eros has done a brilliant job with this series, not just writing a sequel, but bringing two halves together which make a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed this dark romantic suspense and most definitely recommend A Terrible Love and A Brutal Tenderness.



Quotes:
Her face is so full of expression. I wonder if she realizes everyone can see down to her toenails.

Her large eyes plead with me not to mention our interlude, and I don't, even though I feel like peeing in corners to mark my territory.

It's all I have, all I am. A brutal tenderness is all I am capable of giving.

Playing hard to get is for guys who have never been in love. The lucky f**kers.

"Babe," I saw, and she gives me the Look. Y'know, the one that women reserve to let you know when you're going to step in it. However, I've never been great on nonverbal female cues, not being a mind reader and all that bullsh*t. ( )

BRUTAL TENDERNESS OR TERRIBLE LOVE?
Originally posted on SnarkyMomReads

“A BRUTAL TENDERNESS” by Marata Eros is titled as a companion novel to “A Terrible Love“. These are New Adult genre novels written in the ‘He Said, She Said’ method – and “A Brutal Tenderness” is written from the first person perspective of the male lead character, FBI agent Cas Steele. This is a 250+ page read priced at $5.69 (ouch!) published by Simon & Schuster.

Overall, the story was a good read. Since I was reading an advance copy (in exchange for this review) I’m going to assume that (HOPEFULLY!) the formatting, structural and grammatical errors will be cleaned up by time of its publishing on August 24th. “A Brutal Tenderness” is written in the first person perspective, which as a reader I really don’t like, so I find my feelings on the book a bit skewed. I found it a bit too heavy on the stream-of-consciousness and pop psychology and a bit too light on the story in places. I also had a hard time figuring out who was who / what / where. I think that’s why this is in the New Adult genre – because old ladies with Mom Brain like me just really feel the need to pull out a piece of paper to keep track of the players, especially in this situation where you are dealing with agents who flit between their real names and aliases. Also, since this was written in first person, there isn’t as much narrative explanation of who the people are — you have to read and dig through to figure it all out. This Mom Brain just got tired from doing that.

Since I’ve not read “A Terrible Love”, I can only assume I am not missing out on the basics of story – so I would feel comfortable saying that although this book is linked to the other, it’s easily read as a standalone. This is also marketed as an erotic romance, so do expect sex – but nothing too explicit or spicy. Do I feel the urge to go read the book written from Jewell’s point of view? Eh. NO. Didn’t hate this book – just didn’t really like it due to the items mentioned above. You, however, may have an ENTIRELY different take on it! ( )