Review: Penance by Sarah Buhl

Penance. a love story by Sarah Buhl

(The Böhme series #1)

Genres: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Releases Today, May 17th!

Demons of past mistakes haunt her. Mistakes of
past demons haunt him.

Strangers cross paths every day. Moments are shared with a smile — the opening of a door, a nod of hello, or help with directions. Most don’t listen to that quiet intuition telling them that something different can be found in this stranger. There is connection and understanding in their eyes. There is truth in their smile. There is an entire life waiting to live. What happens if that intuition isn’t ignored and strangers begin to listen?

It happens every day, someone, somewhere, chooses to listen, and love begins.

This is the story of two strangers who made that choice.

Haunted by the passing of her sister and believing she was the catalyst to cause it, Hannah Anderson lives a walking death. Afraid to embrace life and burdened by guilt, she refuses to accept more than just getting through every day. She believes she doesn't deserve happiness.

Consumed by anxieties and self-depreciation from childhood, Wynn Hawthorne shelters himself from the world. Content to live behind his camera and within the quotes that comfort him, he avoids people. He holds himself back from experiences because people always disappoint.

Together they learn that their pasts do not define them and that forgiveness is the hardest thing in the world to accept.

The Good:

• The characters
• The realistic love story

The Bad:

• Nothing. Penance. is perfection.

The Gif:

Because I know that Sarah is fangirling right now with me at this gif.

  You guys ready? 'Cause it's about to be gush and feels overload in here. Grab a boat. We're swimming in feels.

  Whenever Sarah popped into my email to request a review, I was like YESPLEASESIGNMEUP. The synopsis got my attention immediately. It totally set my standards way high for this book. And Sarah? She exceeded them. Penance. is such a beautiful story. I was not ready for it to be over.

Women have read books or seen movies where guys with tattoos and
motorcycles are feral men waiting to find a woman to ravish. A fantasy
exists in their minds of a tattooed beast that enters their lives and alpha male's their ass. They imagine he will throw them over his shoulder bellowing "mine" and ward off other men. Women see it as a declaration of devotion. Fucking weird.
-Wynn, Penance. 

  So. I have this issue with New Adult male leads. I usually get really pissed off really fast because of the way they act. Abuse is usually a glaring problem for me in NA. Wynn, on the other hand, made me so happy. Whenever he snuck into an abandoned building to photograph it? Well, there went my heart. I loved his character. He was perfect. I mean, obviously he wasn't. He was flawed. But I love him because of those flaws. The same goes for Hannah. I adored her. They're both very complex. Sarah is a genius at building characters. I was just not ready to let them go whenever I finished this book.

  Their romance made me so happy. It was believable. It was sweet. It was everything I wanted it to be. It wasn't cliche. It wasn't instalove. It fit with the characters. I'm so glad that Sarah stayed true to Wynn and Hannah and let the romance develop the way it did.

  This is a beautiful book. Sarah has so much talent as a writer. She tucked away all of these hidden gems into the story. She told the story of two people who fall in love against the odds. Am I gushing? I think so. I don't know how else to tell you guys. You should read this book! It's not like the usual offering of NA books, and I think that fans of the genre will love this different perspective.

**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Sarah Buhl.