Literary Misfit: Blog Tour & Review: The Only Shark in the Sea by DelSheree Gladden

Friday, October 16, 2015

Blog Tour & Review: The Only Shark in the Sea by DelSheree Gladden

Vance Sullivan has always been the rock everyone turns to for help…

His work with patients recovering from traumatic events makes him the perfect person to help his friend, Guy Saint Laurent, with one of his Date Shark appointments. When Vance meets hesitant, frightened Natalie Price, he suspects she’s hiding the truth behind her fears, and he’s drawn in by a need to help her.

Haunted by a terrible event from her past, Natalie can’t even endure being touched without suffering a crippling panic attack…

She doesn’t know why, but Natalie feels Vance might be the only one who can help her put the pieces of her life back together. Despite the tension their arrangement causes with his girlfriend, their bi-weekly sessions seem to be helping…as long as he keeps his promise not to push her to reveal more than she’s ready to share.
Suddenly the tables have turned…

When Vance suffers his own unspeakable tragedy, asking for help is the last thing he wants to do. Drowning in grief and guilt, crushed by betrayal and lies, Vance needs a lifeline.

Natalie has no idea why anyone thinks she can help him, given her own deep-rooted fears—but she knows she has to try.

A twisted notion of justice makes the danger all too real,
and Vance and Natalie realize it might take one broken soul to mend another…

REVIEW

The Only Shark in the Sea was my first book by DelSheree Gladden, but it won't be my last. The premise was intriguing and sucked me right in, unsure of exactly how things would proceed.

Vance is a noble guy, he wants to do nothing but help others through their problems and be able to lead normal lives once they move on from being stuck in the past. He not only feels this way about his patients but also people in his own life. When Vance finds himself working with Natalie, he's struck differently about her than other patients. She's like others he has helped, but in many ways, absolutely different.

Natalie is afraid of everything and everyone it seems. Contact bothers her, being around people frightens her, let alone allowing someone close enough to touch her. But she wants to get over this innate sense of self-protection. She wants to normalize herself, not to have a relationship, but to just feel human.

There is alot going on with both Vance and Natalie, and I won't go into details, because that would spoil the story, but the fact remains, they are the perfect person to help the other work through things. There is a lot of emotions, a lot of hurt and pain in their pasts and present, and with each other they find someone to just talk it through with. Someone to open up to and allow inside. A genuine true friend, needed at just the right moment its most important.

Natalie overcame a lot, and I enjoyed watching as she opened herself up more and more and told her story. She was such a strong person, suffering from guilt and shame, when she had no reason to be. I hurt for her, but I also rejoiced for her as she stood up for herself and struggled to get over her own setbacks and realign her limitations to look toward the future.

This book had lots of sweet moments, but overall was emotionally charged with a few little twists here and there. The charcters were so well defined, that it gave great joy to see them somewhat happy after harrowing times.

DelSheree Gladden was one of those shy, quiet kids who spent more time reading than talking. Literally. She didn't speak a single word for the first three months of preschool, but she had already taught herself to read. Her fascination with reading led to many hours spent in the library and bookstores, and eventually to writing. She wrote her first novel when she was sixteen years old, but spent ten years rewriting and perfecting it before having it published.

Native to New Mexico, DelSheree and her husband spent several years in Colorado for college and work before moving back home to be near family again. Their two children love having their cousins close by. When not writing, you can find DelSheree reading, painting, sewing and trying not to get bitten by small children in her work as a dental hygienist. DelSheree has several bestselling young adult series, including "Invisible" which was part of the USA Today Bestselling box set, "Pandora." The Date Shark Series is her first contemporary romance series, and her first book in her upcoming new adult series, The Ghost Host, will be releasing 2015.

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DATE SHARK (Date Shark #1)

Amazon ~ B&N

SHARK OUT OF WATER (Date Shark #2)