~BLOG TOUR~ Patch Up by Stephanie Witter

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Skye followed her long time boyfriend to Seattle for their first year of college, but he dumped her after only a week. The relationship brought only pain and destruction in Skye's life, and yet, she can't bring herself to open up and live her life.

"What if I am already broken into pieces?"

She hates to be touched, hiding under her oversized shirts and behind her wild frizzy hair. Even her bubbly roommate can't reach her. And yet ...

"I'm the guy who knows how you can hurt so much that your insides feel like they're cut and bleeding."

The tall, handsome, and tattooed TA in her psychology class changes everything when he literally collides with her and confronts her. For the first time in a long time, she wants to try and open up to this guy whose dark, intense eyes can't hide his own pain despite his dazzling smile getting to her.

However, just when she's starting to live again, her ex-boyfriend comes back, breaking her time and time again, making it all the more complicated.

She wants to fight for herself and for this building thing with the TA, even when he pushes her away, but can two broken people patch each other up?

"I never thought colliding with someone could change lives, but it is possible."

* Due to some shocking scenes, this novel is for readers of 18 and up.

Buy Links:

AMAZON / AMAZON UK / B&N / SMASHWORDS

ARIANA'S REVIEW

4.5 - 5 STARS!!!

WOW.... My emotions are all over the place after reading this book! The story was a little different than what I expected, but in a good way. Duke and Skye were such incredible characters, and I couldn't help but feel my heart break bit by bit for both of them throughout the story. By the time I reached the end, my heart had shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. Parts had been picked up and pieced back together time and time again as I read, but I was still left with one little piece missing. Duke and Skye hold that piece in their hands. 

Both Skye, and Luke, have been dealt a horrible hand in this game of life. Sky had followed her boyfriend to college where he then left her. Since that day, he has been making her life a complete living hell... even more so than when they were together. She is so badly damaged that she hides in her own little shell, unwilling to open up and let anyone in. But if no one can get in, who will be there to help her pick up the pieces of her broken soul and put it back together again. This girl has been through hell and back, but she keeps pushing forward. I wish that I had half of the inner strength that she did because I don't know if I would have been able to pull through the torment that she lived through. She lives day to day with the fear that her next encounter with Sean will be worse than the last.

"All I think about is how my ex still has some kind of power over me, how I'm still afraid"

Duke is battling his own darkness, and each day is a struggle for him to make it to the next one. Outside he comes off as this confident, sometimes cocky, well put together man... but inside he is anything but. He is tormented day in, and day out, unable to move on from what has happened in his past. When these two broken people crash into each others lives, neither are expecting the drastic change that will occur within one another. The constant back and forth between these two at times was beyond infuriating! I found myself screaming in my head "just kiss already, dammit, just kiss!" The chemistry and tension between Skye and Duke was so intense that it had my heart pounding in my chest, and at the same time had me wanting to knock the ever living shit out of them for being so damn stubborn! The entire book was one hell of an emotional roller roller coaster which took me on one of the most intense, heartbreaking, and yet heartwarming rides I have been on in awhile. 

"With you and me, I don't know what anything means. We're pushing each other away and yet I don't seem to be able to let you go."

The hatred that I felt towards Sean, her ex, went above and beyond any anger I felt towards any other character in a book. He was such a sorry excuse for a man it's not even funny. So many times I wish I could have traveled into the book and taught him a thing or two... at times I was even playing it out in my head how to rip him from limb to limb. He was completely out of his mind. I kept waiting for the part that may make me feel a little bad for him, but it never came. I honestly could not find one single redeeming quality about his character. And I believe this is exactly what the author was going for. There was no silver lining when it came to him, no going from bad to good. He was too far gone, and way too messed up in the head. 

This was a story of loss... both of oneself, and of those we love. It was about being completely and utterly broken down on the inside and yet somehow finding a way to move forward. Of taking a chance on something you never thought you would again, and of finding the inner strength to take that leap of faith and hope that it won't lead you to the pain you once had before. 

"When I'm with you, I have to fight against you, against myself, and against our past and the present. With you it's like you make me feel again when I don't want to, like you make my heart beat louder and faster just by being there. Nothing is easy and that's why it feels so true, so real. It's not a fairy tale; it's not all hearts and flowers. It's harsh, hard, strong, and passionate and I can't wrap my head around it."

This was my absolute favorite line(s) from the book. I absolutely loved Duke <3