Veiled Innocence by Ella Frank REVIEW

Lust and Love are the two most misinterpreted and misrepresented concepts in our daily lives. So much so that the most frowned upon actions steer our emotions and our subconscious down a path most hopeless romantics call forbidden love. A teenage girl named Addison Lancaster begins her senior school year lusting over a man named Grayson McKendrick, her new History professor. Pinged at the center of this entanglement is a girl figuring out how to deal with a troubling life, and a man in the middle of piecing his life back together after returning from Europe. Student – Teacher love, the perfect recipe for a complete disaster. This is my review on Veiled Innocence by Ella Frank, a love affair that will leave your mind wandering for days.

Addison Lancaster. Eighteen. A high school senior with an athletic career in track. The favorite of the bunch with a questionable boyfriend named Brandon. Mr. Grayson McKendrick. Thirty-two. The new high school history teacher. Returned from a trip to Europe to be with his sick father and start his career as a professor. First day of class, Addison is late to History. First day of class, Grayson wants out. Addison runs into his class, they both turn to each other and the loins start a-burning.

Here's what I was thinking at first: this is going to be another cheesy love story with improbable circumstances and incomplete outcomes. Just one of those sappy romantic novels where poetic language is spilled onto the page like knocking over a cup of coffee on a table. I agreed to read the recommendation, but that doesn’t stop us from judging the book by its cover. In this case, judging the book by its genre, erotica. But once again, the power of storytelling has proven to be the bigger of the two. I was not expecting this kind of story.

This novel is interesting; definitely not the style I choose to dive into. The story flips between the present and the past. In the present time frame, Addison speaks with a family counselor, Doc, about how certain changes in her life are affecting her, trying to figure herself out. When the story flips and the reader is taken into the past, we are given the clear story of Addison's love affair and the events leading to the need of a counselor. But just as with any good storytelling, the past is not only told from Addison's, but also from Grayson's, point of view. It was, to say the least, executed in manner that doesn’t leave the reader dumbfounded. Clear markings stating the tense of the story are dully noted at the top of each chapter or at the end of a characters point of view.

Throughout the novel, Addison internalizes her connection with the world through this mental clock. Tick. Tock. It seems to depict the method in which she deals with issues she doesn’t know how to confront. Much like an introvert would. Here’s the funny thing about Addison’s character, her transformation. Going from excellent grades, a track career, and a loving attitude, to a horrible boyfriend, sexual advances with a history teacher, with a side of this nasty personality. She was no longer the Addison that everyone knew to be. And we get to see both sides of her. It made me sympathize with Addison and thus I judged her less and less as the story progressed.

It's wonderful, actually. It just goes to prove that we aren't always the way we are because we choose to be. Sometimes, life forces us to mold our figure into something that we aren't. It helps mask the identity of truth. We don’t mean to. We most certainly don’t do it on purpose, but we allow the dark spots in life to manipulate and change us into people we don’t even like. Addison depicts this transformation when the story reveals her father's abuse and her family's neglect toward Addison. What's more is that the neglect comes from her family as a way to blame Addison for the death of her brother, Daniel. Unfair, if you see it from my point of view, but therein lies the root cause for Addison's seductive traits, her desire to be wanted through the eyes of lust. But Addison isn't the only character to undergo drastic change.

Grayson McKendrick, in his most intricate ways, depicts a broken man who is returning home to restructure  his life and to be available for his sick father. He confides in his father with what is occurring in his life after meeting Addison, but doesn’t mention age or situation or name, just mentions that there is a girl in his life. And the response his father gives him makes the situation even more troubling for Grayson. When the school counselor, Miss Shrieve, takes an interest in Grayson, Addison takes a jealous interest in Miss Shrieve and plans a sabotage on any intentions she might have.

“Life’s unexpected, Gray. Hearts come and go. If you want hers, then take it.”

Not what I was expecting in this novel. The intensity between present and past Addison and how she overcomes her dilemma is one reason I kept turning the page. Ella keeps the enigma going until the very end and does so with incredible skill. And for those wondering about the sex scenes, your imagination is your wonderland. The words pop right out of the book and leave the movie playing in your head. in other words, it was raunchy, dirty, and  hot damn.

But no book is without fault and this is the part of the review where I dissect it all. Beginning with the ending. It was unbelievable. I don’t and can’t see that happening. It was like Addison went from eighteen to twenty five and Grayson stayed thirty two. It was like right out of the movie The Notebook, only if instead of a house in the country side, you were at The Louvre – Paris, France. And just the fact that he waited for her? Did he have nothing better to do? Like try to maybe enjoy a meal around the block or maybe get some work done? Did he even have a job? I’m too practical for things that touch the subject of love. for example, who waits at the Louvre for someone to arrive every day for god knows how long? Then there’s the legitimacy of the entire love affair. Grayson would not have escaped so easily if this happened at a school near you. His face and life would be butchered and on display on every news station in that area and areas bordering it. Again, I can’t follow the love segments unless it makes sense, but then again, that’s why we call it love, right? It doesn’t make sense. It serves to be misunderstood and misrepresented. If it was so easily understood then we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

Overall, I enjoyed it. The internal dilemmas between the characters made them stand out for themselves, their complicated yet forbidden romance was captivating, and all the characters surrounding the protagonists felt real. If you’re looking for a worthy novel with a combo of erotic tension, great character development and a well flowing story line, this is the book for you. And yes, the sex scenes were written with incredible detail and steamy passion.

This novel is only out on the Amazon Kindle library. Ella Frank is also the author of The Exquisite Series, The Temptation Series, an Erotica novel, Blind Obsession, and many more, also part of the Amazon Kindle library. Till next time…