✯BLOG TOUR W/REVIEW✯ 'Because of Ellison' by M.S. Willis

Blurb

When I was nineteen years old, I lived for sex, drugs and a good party. I had it all - good looks, a fast car and a hot girlfriend. Nothing in life was more important. 

That was, until I met Ellison James….

Since the moment I first saw her she was a raging bull; tackling me in the mud and throwing out insults as fast as her tongue could form the sound. 

She was snarky 
She was rude 
And she pissed me off like no other woman could.

I lived beside her for a summer and in the three months that I walked by her side...

She opened my eyes
She changed my life
And she made me a better man

Buy Links

AMAZON US / AMAZON UK / B&N

Excerpt

“Why do you keep chasing after me, Hunter?”  I could tell how raw her throat must have been by the scratch in her voice.  I was thrown off by her question and it took me a minute to formulate a response.

I didn’t answer her immediately because I felt like everything, all the times we’d spent together, all the smiles we’d shared and the tears that had fallen, and all the years I wanted to share those types of moments with her in the future hinged on my response.  Why did I keep chasing after her?  To most, she was just another girl in small town who was struggling like the rest of us in an attempt to find a place where she belonged in this world.  Most of those people weren’t lucky enough to know her like I’d known her – they hadn’t talked to her, hadn’t been shown the depths that existed within her.  Much like the moon and stars that hung above us tonight, Ellison was a light that wasn’t easily contained.  She burned bright enough to break through the dense fog I’d walked in my entire life.  Because of her, I’d opened my eyes when I hadn’t even been aware they’d been closed – and for that, I’d chase her forever.

Clearing my throat, I reached up and pulled her hand from my cheek when I turned to look her in the eyes.  

Speaking quietly, I confessed, “Because you are a dream and someone once told me that if I had a dream, I should chase it.”  It was a simple explanation, but somehow I knew Ellison would understand the honest weight of what I’d said.

Her eyes blinked slowly as she studied my face and as usual, she did something unexpected.  She laughed.  The corners of my lips turned up when I tried to suppress my grin.  Her laughter sounded fragile, as if something so tiny could come along and break it apart - but it was there and my heart raced against my chest to hear it.

“That is probably the strangest thing I’ve heard you say yet.”

6 SOUL SHATTERING STARS

Oh. My. God. I have read some heart breaking books before, but nothing which has completely and utterly crushed my soul the way the story of Ellison and Hunter did. There is seriously no coming back and repairing myself after reading this. M.S. Willis has done it again with another phenomenal book. Completely different than the other stories I have read by her, this touched me in a way like no other, and hit extremely close to home. They say some people touch your lives and make it so you are never the same again, and well I believe the same to be for books. Because of Ellison is one of those stories. Heed the warning, and stock up on Kleenex… You are going to need it. I was warned, and I took about a month to prepare myself for what I was about to read, and the truth is, nothing can prepare you for the heartache which will ensue. 

With that being said, Because of Ellison is not all tears and pain. Actually, believe it or not, it had me laughing and smiling many times in the beginning. The banter back and forth between Ellison and Hunter was lighthearted and fun (although extremely aggravating at times because I just wanted them to be together already damnit!). I was even left with an extreme case of “Blue-Vag” (the woman’s equivalent to blue balls) at one point. But all the build-up was well worth it in the end!

Each and every character was extremely well developed, and you could not help but fall in love with the majority of them. Even the ones I hated still made me feel, and the only reason I hated them was because they were the “villains” of the story (not because they were badly executed). Ellison and Hunter have to be two of my favorite characters in any book ever (in my top 5) and I only wish that there would be more of them in the future. Ellison is strong, quick witted, and has such a remarkably huge heart. She is always looking to help others, and putting them before herself at times. Hunter is the exact opposite in the beginning. He is the spoiled little rich kid who cares too little, and parties too much. But his whole world changes once he meets Ellison, and the outcome is astounding. 

"But, more importantly, I'd met Ellison James and I knew that just knowing the girl was going to change my life forever"

M.S. Willis must be one of the most versatile writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading the work of. Most authors who are able to write different genres usually have one in particular which they forte in, but not M.S. Willis. She fortes in each and every type of story she writes. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors, and has remained that way since I turned to page one on the very first book I read by her. This is one author that NEEDS to be known by the world, and whose work will certainly leave a lasting impression among many.

About the Author

M.S. Willis is a romance novelist whose debut novel, Control, was released in 2013.  Although currently writing in the romance genre, Willis has plans to expand her literary pursuits into multiple genres and has no fear conquering difficult subject matters in her writing.  Willis is a native Floridian who is also a photographer and musician.  When not absorbing herself in written, visual or musical expression, Willis is an adrenaline junkie, a ‘closet’ video game enthusiast, and an avid outdoors person and nature lover.

FACEBOOK / TWITTER / GOODREADS / WEBSITE / MAILING LIST