Book Review Marked Part 1: The Missing Link by J.M. Sevilla

Marked Part 1 [The Missing Link] UK
Marked Part 1 [The Missing Link] US
~1st Person POV

I was unfortunately sick yesterday and I went over my To-Be-Read list when I came across this book. I completely forgot about it. I don't know why, but good thing my friend told me it was recently featured in a blog she was reading. I finally got to read it and boy was I glad I did! This deserves to be part of my favorites list! I am suffering from extreme book hangover and I love and hate it at the same time.

Synopsis from Amazon:

"Part one of a two part series. 

There are three things Lily Evans immediately notices about her new neighbor, Jay Lincoln. The first is his monstrous size, the second is the malicious way he glares at her, and thirdly, but most importantly, the three scars that mark his right eye. She knows the smart thing to do is stay away, but she has never met or seen anyone like him. The more time she spends with this frightening yet captivating man, the harder it becomes. He can make her hairs stand on end but he also has a sweetness to him that tugs at her heart. Soon she finds herself merged into his world full of murder, revenge, and deceit."

I'm not exactly sure where to start, but I guess I could say it broke my heart. I am so happy I get to feel tortured and in pain while reading this book. I've put my tab down several times just because I was too annoyed or angry to continue reading. When our heroine felt jealous I felt it too! Crazy I know! All  true! I felt like I needed to come out of the story and actually breathe. I was sick while reading it and I was told to read lighter books, but how can I resist!

I loved Lily. She was strong, she's persistent and she did not come on as annoying at all. I love how she was not as annoyingly insecure as most heroines, and how strong willed she is. She has her hesitations, but she does what she wants still, even if it means getting close and having her heart broken. Lily is now also one of my favorite heroines, she's there with Sarai/Izabel from the In The Company of Killers Series. If you haven't read it yet, I've recently made a book review about book 1, just click here. Anyway, Lily recently ended an abusive relationship with her two year boyfriend Will. She comes back home to live with her mother and brother[let's include her step brother too]. On Christmas night, her mother sees their new neighbor bring home a bag from Taco Bell and tells Lily to invite him to dinner. You get how it starts out?

I absolutely enjoyed how our hero Jay has his hesitations and how he came off as frightening and reserved at first, but suddenly shows these really sweet gestures. I really do love him, even though he has all these scars and a dark past he must overcome. Don't they all? We still love them though, well I certainly do. I've never been a fan of bad boys in real life, but books have a certain way of making me feel like we all need a little bad boy in our lives. This book is no different. I found myself wanting Jay, when he's supposed to be marked as 'not my book boyfriend type'. Why? First, the buzz cut. I often find myself liking ones that are long enough that it could look like he just had some 'fun'... if you know what I mean. With Jay though, I could make an exception. I don't know why, maybe it's him as a package. I could see how his image fits his personality and it makes it work. Second, the scars: Usually, we get the perfect Adonis who looks like he was God's gift to women everywhere. Don't get me wrong, Jay looks pretty damn good in my mind, but you know the generic bad boy with the throngs of adoring women, they all pretty much look perfect. Jay's scars and the story that goes with them still captured me and made me put him on my favorite book boyfriends. I could go on and on about how I adore Jay and how he forced himself into the same room as my perfect heroes, but you have to find out for yourself and see if Jay would fit with your list.

This book got me laughing and chuckling to myself several times. It also had me gripping my pillow and furrowing my eyebrows at a lot of the scenes. My heart honestly ached and I wanted to cry it all out, but for some reason I can't. There was a time when I feel like I want to cry along with the heroine because I felt was she was feeling, but I can't cry at all! It was so frustrating! Maybe because I sensed the pain he left her with was only his 'way to make things better for her' but why did it still make my heart feel like it was being squeezed. It ended in such a cliffhanger though, so I feel frustrated while writing this review. I read that the second book will come out this march 2014, but that will take so long! If you can't handle a 'cliffie' put this on your to be read list! It's worth the wait. I would not pass up on this book if I were you.



**SPOILER WARNING**
At one point I was really mad at Jay for how he acted inside the bar. That was one my 'put the tab down and breathe' moments. I saw this from the author's facebook page.
"Author J.M. Sevilla
January 3
I've had some readers message me in regards to the club scene, worried about Jay's behavior towards Arianna. You can rest assured that Jay had his reasons for acting the way he did and not once wanted Arianna that night in the club. Hopefully those that it bothered can breathe a little easier in Part II when things are clarified early on in the book."
But still, why does his actions annoy me so much. It was the only thing I disliked in the book. Lily made friends with Arianna, but I am not that friendly or forgiving. It turned down from Hate to dislike when she tried to help them out in the end. Sorry, maybe I need to see more of her good side?


☆☆☆☆☆ ~ 5 Stars!

I want more!