Dear Adam ~ Ava Zova

Dear Adam by Ava Zavora
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5++++ emotional, captivating, obsessively readable stars!!



Summary:
“You’re the more real to me than any man I’ve ever known … ”

To book blogger Eden, Adam is the embodiment of every literary fantasy she’s ever had. Intelligent, wickedly funny, sexy, and attentive – he and his fascinating life seem right out of a novel. Their whirlwind relationship is so intense and all consuming that soon she can’t imagine being with anyone else.

But there’s one little thing that’s keeping Adam and Eden from their happily ever after.

They’ve never met. She doesn’t even know what he looks like.

Despite how hard she’s fallen for him and how he makes her feel, Eden’s doubts begin to threaten their passionate love affair. Why is he so mysterious? Why does he seem reluctant to meet her? What is Adam hiding?

Afraid that she’s being made a fool of, Eden is forced to choose between her heart and her head. Is Adam too good to be true, as her common sense is telling her, or is the truth more startling than fiction?

It's not often that I come across a book that so completely consumes my life. This book had me from the first paragraph, and completely captivated me.

"The best things in life are worth waiting for. When it's right," he said in a voice that was unshakably certain, "Name the place. Name the date. Name the hour. And I will fly anywhere in the world to meet you."

Going into this story, I wasn't sure what to expect really. Honestly, I was kind of looking forward to reading a story that might, in some way, mirror an episode of my favorite guilty pleasure TV show.



~For those of you unaware of the term "Catfishing" - it describes a person who deceives someone they are in an online relationship with by lying about their appearance, age, location etc~

Such a silly, silly girl I am.

While the summary of the book was definitely intriguing, it in no way prepared me for the true emotional rollercoaster that Dear Adam turned out to be.

"How I wish I could explore the labyrinth of your strange mind..."

Eden is a 34 year old book blogger (you go girl!!), raising her teenage son. One day, she ends up having a conversation via Twitter with a man who complimented her on one of her reviews. What starts out as a seemingly random encounter with a fellow bibliophile, turns into an intense friendship between two seemingly lost and broken souls desperate for a connection.

"I don't want to interfere with your life. I want to be your life."


Adam tells Eden that he is an Englishman living in Sicily. He owns several properties, is extremely vague about his profession, but that he plans on retiring in 2 years when he's 30.



Naturally, Eden is skeptical of what Adam tells her. But, as he begins to open up about himself, his past and his life...she completely falls under his spell and wants so desperately to believe that what he's telling her is true so she is willing to go along with him on faith. The two have conversations via Skype almost every night, but Adam stubbornly refuses to allow Eden to see his face. He has a seemingly viable if far-fetched reason for this, but Eden tries to overcome her doubts.

If you think you know how this story plays out after reading this far into my review...you'd be wrong. Like I was. Even though I was totally hooked on this story, I had it set in my brain that I knew exactly what was going to happen and how. I was wrong. Almost at every turn.

There was a point, at about the half-way mark...when the story takes a decidedly unexpected turn. It wasn't a complete shift in the overall plot, just an added element to the story that I never saw coming. And it added a whole new dimension to this already intense story, and I loved it.

It was like a magician had peered into my soul, divined it's secrets, then conjured you - a mysterious, masked man from a distant land drawn to me by my writing.

He had picked her from a dusty bookshelf and read her as easily as an open book.

This book held my attention in a steel vice from the moment I started reading. I dreamt about the story. I thought about it while working. It just completely overwhelmed my senses in the best possible way. Ava Zova is such a talented author. She managed to weave so much intensity, and emotion into a book that never stopped surprising me.

There are so many things I want to talk about regarding this book. But honestly, I refuse to allow myself to spoil the story for anyone. No matter how many times my emotions got twisted, no matter how many times I wanted to yell at both Eden and Adam about various things they were both holding back from each other...I never, for one second stopped caring. And that speaks volumes.

And while finding a happy ever after is next to impossible in the Catfish world, sometimes miracles happen.




But, as with every other element of this book...the ending wasn't at all traditional. Ava decided to included an additional chapter...an epilogue...that proceeds to turn the entire story upside down. Again.

And...it...was...fucking...brilliant.

It has been a long time since I have been this excited to get people to read a book as I am about Dear Adam. I consider it my mission to get as many people as possible to give this author, and this book a shot. It will be a ride you will never forget.

You were all the books I had ever read, all the fairy tales I wished were true, everything I had ever wanted. Someone strong, principled, honorable, intelligent, soulful, funny, poetic...

If you are a fictional character, then I am spellbound by a lie.




**This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review**