Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 671 KB
• Print Length: 384 pages
• Publisher: Omnific Publishing; 1st edition (21 Nov 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
• Each day, Livia McHugh smiles politely and acknowledges her fellow commuters as she waits for the train to the city. She dismisses this kindness as nothing special, just like her. She’s the same as a million other girls—certainly no one to be cherished. But special or not, she smiles every day, never imagining that someone would rely on the simple gesture as if it were air to breathe.
  
  When the moment comes that Livia must do more than smile, without hesitation she steps into the fray to defend the homeless man. And she's surprised to discover an inexplicable connection with her new friend. After danger subsides, their smiles become conversation. Their words usher in a friendship, which awakens something in each of them. But it’s not long before their bond must prove its strength. Entanglements from the past challenge both their love and their lives.
  
  Blake’s heart beats for Livia’s, even if her hands have to keep its rhythm. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love never fails. Love never fails, right?
  
  In an interwoven tale of unlikely loves and relationships forged by fire, Debra Anastasia takes readers into the darkest corners of human existence, only to show them the radiant power of pure adoration and true sacrifice. Complicated families and confused souls find their way to light in this novel, which manages to be racy, profane, funny, and reverent all at once.
• Cover: Dark, simple and relevant.  Exactly what I like in a cover.
• I really enjoyed this book. It's a fairly dark and gritty contemporary that still managed to incorporate a beautiful romance.
• Blake is homeless, and no one gives him the time of day, but Livia stands up for him against thugs.  They then develop a friendship which transforms into a romance.
• Blake was so sweet, you couldn't help but love him.
• We also get to see his 'brothers'.  Cole, a would be priest, and Beckett, a hardened criminal- we really get three romances in this book.  Blake and Livia, Cole and Livia's sister Kyle, and Beckett and Eve.  
• The second two aren't as developed as Blake and Livia's.
• I didn't really buy into Cole and Kyle's romance, it was just too sudden and implausible, plus I wasn't overly keen on either of their characters, Kyle in particular really grated on my nerves.
• Beckett and Eve I enjoyed more.  Beckett has done some terrible things, but to survive and protect his fraternal 'brothers', and Eve's backstory broke my heart, but she totally kicks butt!  I can't wait for the sequel to see what happens to them because it can't end the way it did for them.
• A lot happens in this book!  Just when you think it must be drawing to a close...BAM!  Plot twist.
• The pacing was great- I was never bored, and was hooked.
• I do highly recommend this book!  However, be warned of mature content- drugs, sex, violence and language.  So if you find this things offensive or just don't like to read about them, this may not be the book for you.
• But I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
• 4/5 stars!