Review: Retreat by Jay Crownover

Every once in a while, you need to get away from it all.

I was a woman on the edge, shaken and shattered after a breakup that felt like it tore my entire world apart.

My best friend, sick of watching me drown in misery and melancholy, harassed me until I agreed to go with her on a week-long wilderness retreat.

She promised days spent bonding and getting in touch with our inner bad-asses.
It was supposed to be all about the two of us roughing it and making do with the bare minimum. She assured me we were going to be pushed to our limits in ways that were unimaginable. Neither one of us could have ever guessed just how right she was.

Nowhere in the glossy brochure did it say anything about the fact I was going to have to battle the insufferable but deliciously rugged and sexy trail guide instead of the elements. The brochure also forgot to mention the part that warned when you left civilization behind, there was no place to pack your inhibitions and fears.

I was told that I would be facing a week where the only thing I should expect was the unexpected. However, no one mentioned that I was going to have to fight for my life…and my heart as soon as I ventured into the unknown.

I was a pro at hiding from my feelings but when it came time to face a real threat, one that could change everything, I learned I was more of a no surrender, no retreat kind of girl.

Retreat is a standalone novel, the first in the Getaway series which centers on the hardheaded and brokenhearted Warner brothers and the women that dare to love them.

These boys are very good at putting the wild in wilderness.

Review

Forget everything you know about Jay Crownover books and go into this one totally blind.  Trust me on that. This book, is amazing, but it's not what you are used to from Jay and therein lies the beauty of it, because it means the range of what to expect from her writing will continue to grow.  

I'm not going to give out a lot of details in my review, because as I said, this book is best enjoyed going in blind.  But what I will say is that this book was full of everything needed to make it a winner. There was deep emotions, suspense and danger lurking, and two people finding something with each other that was unexpected.

Cy and Leo both were intriguing characters, sucking me into the book and leaving me hooked.  I really enjoyed the underlying issues for both of them and how they found a deep connection among each other.  I enjoyed the fact that the setting wasn't at all what I was used to and that it added another element to the story, it built up the lurking danger, but also increased other parts of the story.

Retreat is one of those books that you think you know what to expect, but once you are in the middle of it you are completely blown away by all that's being presented in an unexpected way. There were many surprises for me within this book, not that they were hidden things, but just the way the pieces all fit and how it all came together.  I really enjoyed the way Crownover laid it all out over the story and kept me hooked and rooting for these two.

I loved each of the characters in the story and look forward to learning more about them all in the rest of the books.