Claire Contreras

I loved this romantic suspense, that gave me a full ride with no breaks, this book seriously dragged me all over the place, all the twists and turns felt like I was in the best rollercoaster in the world, with no hands and going at extreme speed. I need to get this in audiobook someday to experience this fantastic ride again. All full of mystery and surprises, I love secret societies themes and how this story handled it all was amazing, one of the best suspense romance this year for sure, I show more totally recommend it, I couldn't put it down at all. Brilliant story! show less

Elle and Oliver. Oliver and Elle. They've been in each other's lives since they were kids, he is her brother's best friend and completely off limits. Oliver broke Elle's heart when he let her brother stand between then and chose to focus on his ambitious dreams. Elle used art to move on, but is now facing a heartbreak too staggering to get over easily. She goes to her brother, Vic, for support, but along with Vic comes Oliver. Oliver realizes now that Elle was it for him, but her emotional show more baggage is weighing her down and may keep them apart.

I was blown away by Kaleidoscope Hearts, I cried a lot, I laughed quite a bit, and most of all I really felt for the characters. Elle is one incredibly strong woman, even when her naivety got the best of her, especially in her past. She gave everything she had freely, connecting with not only every character, but also me as the reader, on a very emotional level. At one point I was cheering her on and fist pumped in the air. She's just a likable character and her baggage makes her relatable. Plus, I love her relationship with Oliver, both as a friend and as a lover. Their relationship was both funny and steamy, all at the same time. The relationship felt real, like one I would talk to my friends about, because I could feel Elle and Oliver's feelings, even when they were apart or going about daily life. I liked that it dealt with a heavy subject in a way that readers could both understand and relate to. Sometimes I find that an author throws a heavy subject in just to cause a scene, but it's never really dealt with. I felt like Elle matured, grew as her own person, and found what made her happy on her own as she was dealing with her grieving and the impossibilities of a relationship with Oliver. This was an incredibly moving read and I plan to recommend it to all of my friends. show less

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t help but wonder: if your heart is in LA, how could your home be in Manhattan? And where is min? I seem to have misplaced my heart so long ago and I don’t know where to even begin looking for it.

Let me start out by saying that I don’t think it’s possible for Claire Contreras to write something I WON’T read. She has an amazing ability to literally pull you in from page one. You are instantaneously engrossed show more in the characters and find it impossible to believe you haven’t know them your entire life. This continues page to page until the very last work is read, and you are left bereft, wondering how you will continue on with your life without these characters being in it. But then you realize something: they’ve been there all along and never really left. Characters this well written truly never leave you.

I don’t know what it is about him that makes me want to grab his face in place so that he’ll never look at anything but me. I’m not sure what bothers me more: the realization or the fact that I can’t remember feeling this way about anybody before him.

Catch Me is the journey of Brooklyn Harmon. We begin the story with a bang that leaves us questioning everything and everyone. You are given bits and pieces along the way, but until you learn the absolute truth, you truly never know the levels of betrayal and despair that Brooklyn feels and goes through. This girl purely and uninhabitably broke my heart. It is rare for a character to affect me the way she did, but it was there nonetheless. I could not believe the people in her life and how horrible they were, yet she seemed to not be too jaded about it all. I wanted to fight FOR her, hell, I wanted someone to fight FOR her!

My breaths are coming in short spurts; that’s the kind of need I feel for him. I need him to kiss me. I need it so much more than the damn oxygen I’m lacking in my lungs right now. I need it more than I need this plane to land. That’s how his warm touch on m face makes me feel. I feel like I’ll die if he doesn’t kiss me, but at the same time my heart might explode if he does.

Enter Nick Wilde. Whew……what a scorcher of a man! The chemistry between these two was instant, but not in a insta-love kind of way. Purely two souls seeing each other for the first time and reveling in the knowledge that they truly belonged. I LOVED their interactions and they way that they tested each other. Their humor and wit, their sexual energy (of which there is plenty), and their inane ability to just let each other BE. The knowledge that they were perfect just the way they were, and didn’t have to change for anyone. The confidence Nick instilled within her made me love him all the more.

That’s how this kiss makes me feel. Like I’m freefalling, like I’m dying, like I’m breathing for the first time. Like I’m high on ecstasy and a million expert hands are massaging me. This kiss is my life.

Forewarned reader, you will not come out of this experience unscathed. There are some real emotions and situations in this book, that aren’t too often talked about. Claire has a way of making it relatable, of making is understandable. Most definitely a 5 star read for me!!

“You weren’t meant to be more to me," I say, my voice wavering. “But that doesn’t mean you haven’t been enough.” show less

I am a sucker for brother's best friend kinda love stories so I was dying to read Kaleidoscope Hearts. I was hooked within the first couple pages and ended up reading the whole book in one day.

We meet Estelle who is going through a difficult time in her life. She lost her fiancé suddenly and she's beginning to move on with her life. She's moving in with her brother Vic while she gets on her feet, at least that's her plan until the doorbell rings. And there he is, Oliver Hart standing at her show more door with lunch in his hands. Her world is about to turn upside down.....again.

Oliver is Vic's best friend. He knows the rules he's suppose to take care of Estelle. Protect her like she was his little sister, the problem is he's in love with her and has been for a long time.

Estelle and Oliver have a history. One where no one knows their history but them. It all started back when Estelle was 16 and he was 19. They have this undeniable connection but life seems to always intervene. Estelle is left to recover the pieces of her broken hearts while Oliver always ends up leaving (yes he sounds like a jerk but trust me you'll forgive I promise). Now, Oliver wants to make things right and all he's asking for is one date.

"I don't want you to. Because it's my turn. Because I've let you go a million times before, and I don't want to miss this chance with you. Let me take you out. Let me show you how good I can be, and I'm not talking about fucking, I mean me. One date, Elle."

One date, sounds simple right? The connection Oliver and Estelle have is like a firecracker show, sparks everywhere. I was rooting for them because you this is not a case of instal-love it has grown over the years. Each mourning each other, living with the what ifs, should've, could've, would've happened. Do they just dare take a chance to just what could happen if the timing is right and will they tell her brother about their relationship? Or will Estelle be left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart yet again.

"Shattering hearts .... it's fitting."
"They're not shattering hearts, they're kaleidoscope hearts," I corrected him.
"What's the difference? You make them with broken pieces."
..."The difference is that it's already broken, but I use the pieces to rebuilt it. The difference is that the heart has a second chance, and maybe it'll get broken again but it's already shattered so maybe the fall won't be as bad"

Estelle struggles with the guilt of moving on. Does that mean she never really loved her fiancé? Or is it okay to move on? You see her battle with it a lot throughout the book. I really wanted to hug her and tell her it was okay to move on. Then we saw her battle with letting Oliver back into her heart. Each time she's thought that maybe just maybe this time was the right time for them to be together life just happens and Oliver ends up leaving. I understood why she was hesitant but Oliver was so dreaming I couldn't say no.

Oliver although he comes off as a jerk for always leaving or so it seems, he was a man in love. I respected his decisions although I didn't always agree with them but I understood why he made the choices he made. It made your heart swell and you just wanted to fall in love with him even more.

I loved the little flashbacks throughout the story, it really helped you understand Estelle and Oliver's story and how it got them to where they were at that point in time. I won't spoil it for you guys but that ending had in awe. show less