Title: Shattered
Author: Tracy Wolff
Publisher/Year:  Random House Publishing 5/20/14
Length:   340 pages
Series:  Extreme Rish #2

Overview

Wild, fun, and impulsive, Tansy Hampton has a different look and a new passion every week. As a cancer survivor who spent the past several years waiting to die, Tansy has a fresh perspective on life—even if she doesn’t have a clue about what she actually wants to do with it. But she’s determined to find out, and that means making the most of her time while she still can.

Ash Lewis has poured every last ounce of his blood, sweat, and tears into reaching the very top of the professional snowboarding world—until the unthinkable happens. After the biggest competition win of his career, Ash’s mother and father are killed in a tragic accident. Unable to handle the idea of going back out on the snow to pursue the dream his parents shared with him, Ash feels that he has no choice but to walk away from snowboarding forever. Then he meets Tansy.

From the very beginning, their chemistry is intense. But while Ash can’t stop chasing the ghosts of what can never be, Tansy stays firmly focused on the possibilities the world holds for her—and for them. She’s already picked up the pieces of one shattered life. Now she’s determined to help Ash do the same.

My Thoughts

Coming from the shock that we got at the very end of the first book Shredded, i think that we were all wondering where this story was going to go for Ash, one of the boarders that we’ve come to know and love.  This 2nd installment takes us a few months into the future, where Ash is trying to recover from the news that his parents were killed in a car accident on their way to one of his competitions, and that his brother is now paralyzed from the accident as well.  Life as they knew it is completely changed.

Tansy, as the summary above notes, has finally gone into remission from her own bout with illness, and now she’s working for the Make A Wish Foundation, where there’s a little boy who’s dying wish is to watch Ash snowboard.  Of course, it’s an uphill battle for her as she’s  trying to come into her own as a ‘healthy’ 19 year old, and she’s trying to make dreams come true before it’s too late.

The path that this story takes is one of personal growth, getting past fears and uncertainties and learning to open up and listen, not just pretend to listen, but to actually do it.  Ash specifically has put himself into a position where he thinks he’s doing all the right things by his brother and by Tansy, but in reality, he’s not paying attention to what’s best for everyone, himself included.  We see this result in several fights, relationships broken up, families getting torn apart, just because folks are stubborn.

We go from Park City to Chile, from half pipes to avalanches, and then end up in a hospital, wondering if someone’s life will end too soon.  Different from the first book in this series, we get some of that passion and heat that Ms Wolff is known for coming back into play.  Where Z and Ophelia definitely had chemistry, there are scenes in this 2nd book that are sizzling and i think that it’s a bit of what i missed before.  I can only hope that we get more of that in the next book, so that we can see either Luc or Cam get some of what they seem to be missing.

So on that note, happy Monday and i’ll be back soon!