4.5 “OMG” “Even when I shouldn’t.” “fate” Kisses
Well…surprise surprise - Colleen Hoover did it again. Confess just devoured my heart…brain…soul…all of it was just sucked up into 320 pages of unputdownable bliss and I was simply helpless to the awesomeness. I’m not joking…I Could. Not. Put. This. Book. Down. I finished it in less than a day…I was captivated and entranced…possibly even hypnotized – I mean, we are talking about Colleen Hoover, the woman is a genius with words. I really don’t know what to do right now. I’m beside myself because I seriously am not ready to let go of these characters. Welcome to Book Hangover…party of me.
Auburn Mason Reed…well, this chick held my heart in the palm of her hand from basically the second paragraph and she never let go of it for one second. There is something about Auburn that pulls inexplicably at every single one of my heart strings. I want to comfort her…hug her…protect her…because she’s never had that. Life hasn’t been fair or kind to Auburn…and surprisingly you would think that would result in a negative attitude or a huge chip on her shoulder…but she takes everything in stride. She does what she needs to do and she makes the best of it…ignores the pain and the emptiness and just remains resolute on moving forward. That takes an enormous amount of self will and determination cause I’ll be honest, if I’d been through half of what she had…I can’t say I would have made it. I ached for Auburn to have some kind of peace…happiness…something just for herself because good Lord did she deserve it…and lucky for me she got all of that and more in the form of a gorgeous boy with beautiful green eyes.
‘“I’ve been wanting to do this since the moment I laid eyes on you,” he whispers. His mouth connects with mine, and at first his kiss is like the one I gave him in the tent. Soft, sweet, and innocent. But then the innocence is stripped away the second he runs one of his hands through the back of my hair and slides his tongue against my lips.
I don’t know how I can feel so light and so heavy all at once, but his kiss makes me feel weighted to a cloud. I slide my hands up his neck and do my best to kiss him the way he’s kissing me, but I’m afraid my mouth doesn’t even compare to his. There’s no way I could make him feel like he’s making me feel right now.’
Owen Mason Gentry…my sexy artist with a ginormous heart. Owen is…a lot of things…so many amazing things...where do I even begin. Well…he’s kind and generous...incredibly thoughtful…sweet and sincere…funny…charming…oh who am I kidding, he’s completely swoon-tastic. He has a cat – which in my book makes him awesome…plus he named it Owen…and it’s a she, really? I can’t even with how amazing he is. I already said he was an artist…but he’s also incredibly talented, which makes him 10 million times sexier, but what led him to painting and what he paints takes everything about his art to a whole new level. The confessions and what he does with them is…like giving a visual representation to a secret…a fear…an emotion…a dream. I mean…it’s truly a mind-blowing concept and something you just want to dive into headfirst and never re-surface. When I say Owen has a ginormous heart it might be the understatement of the year. I’ve never met someone more self-sacrificing…more giving…he never thinks of himself first and while he may not have a lot of people in his life, he would do anything for those he loves. And…lastly…the most amazing thing about Owen is that his initials are OMG. :-)
‘His mouth meets mine again, and he lands a kiss as soft as velvet against my lips. He slowly moves his head until his mouth is directly over my ear. “Is this it? Is this how it ends?”
I nod, even thought it’s the last thing I want to do. But this is the end. Even if he were to change his life completely, his past choices still affect my own life.
“Sometimes we don’t get second chances, Owen. Sometimes things just end.”
He winces. “We didn’t even get a first chance.”’
I loved everything about these two. From the moment they locked eyes I had a smile on my face and even through every angsty second I could not help but fall more in love with every little nuisance that was revealed. From the same middle names…to all the different ways they connected…they just got each other and I felt every second of their connection. I reveled in it…and considering the way Auburn and Owen’s relationship develops, that speaks volumes. I’ve always said that if I can feel the emotions from the characters...nothing else matters…so when it was actually brought up how many days they had spent together, I kinda had to do a double take because it felt like so much longer. They had this brilliant chemistry…it was effortless, the way everything was blended together just aligned perfectly and I really fell hard for these two, my heart simply overflows with love and adoration for Auburn and Owen.
‘“You’re being unfair.”
“No, I’m being selfish,” he says.
“It’s the same thing.”
He takes a step toward me. “No, Auburn, it isn’t. Unfair would be giving you an ultimatum. Being selfish is doing something like this.” His lips connect with mine with strength and purpose. His hands slide into my hair and wrap around the back of my head. He kisses me like he’s giving me every kiss he wishes he could have given me in the past, and every kiss he’ll wish he could give me in the future.
All of them, all at once.
His hands drop to my back and he pulls me against him. I’m not sure where my hands are at this point. I think I’m holding on to him for dear life, but every part of me other than my mouth has just gone completely numb. The only thing I’m fully aware of is his mouth on mine. His kiss is all I know in this moment.
All I want to think about.’
This plot…gah…it’s not called Confess for nothing…so many secrets…so many little details…so many things that could be spoiled…hence the reason why I’m not really talking about it. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out what the secrets were that they were keeping…but it really didn’t matter - that didn’t make me want to hear it directly from the characters any less. And trust me knowing the secrets beforehand did not change the emotional impact it had on me when the truth finally came out. There’s a million different ways to write a heart wrenching scene…but I promise you, Colleen has a direct line to whatever controls my tears…because she nails it every time. I mean I knew when I was crying two pages in on the prologue this book was going to be a doozy, but I was blown away. It was everything I needed…the entire emotional rollercoaster set to level 10 – and maybe it was because I was so connected and invested in these characters but I felt everything so deeply and I couldn’t stop loving it. I guess that my only complaint would be the ending, it felt a little…abrupt. I have come to expect a full story…a complete experience…and not that I didn’t love the insight that we get after the final chapter (I truly loved it)…I guess I was expecting an epilogue or maybe a little bit more closure. After I sat back and thought about it…I was fine with the ending…I don’t have to have everything spelled out for me, but I guess I was just a little surprised.
‘“I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me. Because I know that if you walk out that door, then ten years from now…twenty years from now…we’ll wish we had listened to our hearts when we think back on tonight.”
“That’s what scares me,” I tell him. “I’m afraid if I listen to my heart once, I’ll never figure out how to ignore it again.”
Owen lowers his mouth to mine, and in a whisper he says, “If only I could be so lucky.” His mouth connects with mine again, and this time I’m very aware of every part of me. I’m pulling him to me with as much desperation as he’s pulling at me. His mouth is everywhere as he kisses me with relief, knowing this kiss is me agreeing to whatever he’s asking of me. It’s my way of telling him he can have tonight.’
Confess is a classic example of why Colleen Hoover is an absolute must read for me…her books demand to be read because they’re just excellence personified. She has this unique capability to create characters that steal my heart...compel every emotion out of the spectrum…concocts unique and original plots…and then packages it all up nicely with writing that blows my mind. I don’t even know how to explain it and do it any sort of justice. Her dialogue is some of the best that I’ve ever read…she is able to infuse the deepest emotions into the most simple of things – in fact everything she writes feels like it just bleeds emotion, and that might be why her books are like crack to me. She can have me dying laughing and bawling crying, sometimes all in the same chapter…heck it could be in the same paragraph…and while her books are no where near erotic, she’s still able to make things sexy and give you those feelings without taking it to that level. Plus anyone that can work the line ‘Texas is turning me into a whore.’ into a book…is seriously a genius.
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So good!
Overall Assessment:This is the second Colleen Hoover I have read, and I devoured it in less than 24 hours. I enjoyed the first CoHo book I read (Hopeless), but not enough to want to go read everything she has written. However, Confess changed that. I absolutely adored this book! I’ve actually already finished another one of hers and will be posting that review soon. :)The story starts with Auburn, our female protagonist, speaking with an attorney but the reader isn’t made aware of why until about 1/2 way through the book. It’s clear that the matter Auburn is discussing with the attorney is something that will take a lot more money than Auburn currently has. A defeated Auburn leaves the attorney’s office and notices a help wanted sign on an art studio. She is immediately drawn to the artist in the studio, the enigma that is Owen Gentry.Owen Gentry knows Auburn from her past, but neither she nor the reader knows how or why. Seeing her again makes him believe in fate, and he knows that he has to have her. Unfortunately – life, in the form of misunderstandings, loyalty to family, and bad luck interfere Owen and Auburn’s love story.As with most CoHo books, this story is told from both of the protagonist’s POV. This is probably one of my favorite things about her books, as I love the in depth look into both the character’s heads.Another great thing about this book is that Colleen Hoover had some paintings commissioned just for this book! I love that it adds to the reader’s experience. The art is absolutely beautiful, and I’ll probably be buying a couple prints from her shop. I can't link it here, but just go to her shop on her website.What I liked:– I love the immersive experience Colleen Hoover gives readers by incorporating real art into the book. It’s so unique and really adds to the visualization of the characters.– Both Auburn and Gentry are realistically flawed. They don’t always make the right decisions, but they try to do what they think is best for the people around them. I appreciate when characters make mistakes and aren’t perfect little unrelatable unicorns. Their mistakes are also not face-palming “are you freaking kidding me” ones either. You know the ones I speak of – the ones where it feels like the author put in in just to make a plot twist or cause angst between the two love interests, but it goes against everything we know about the character. Yeah, none of those.– The complexity of both Auburn and Gentry. Kind of goes along with my above point, I suppose.– The twist reveal at the very end. Oh my stars.What I didn’t like:– Not really a didn’t like…but a show of how vindictive I am, lol. I wanted to see Trey get in trouble for all the crap he pulled. What a jerk.Final Thoughts:– Oh, and lastly, the book is being made into a show on go90! It does look like they’ve changed a bit for the show, but I read an interview with CoHo about it and she explains why some things needed to be changed. I can't link it here, but it's on her blog.
Top reviews from other countries
EshaBiswas90
One of the best read and must read from COHO
Reviewed in India on February 2, 2024
EshaBiswas90
Reviewed in India on February 2, 2024
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Julia
Disappointed
Reviewed in Sweden on September 6, 2023
Julia
Reviewed in Sweden on September 6, 2023
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