Playing With Fire is one of those stories you simply want to immerse yourself into. Grace and West bring forward a genuine, pure love shadowed by jealousy, secrets and violence.
Their journey meets a great deal of obstacles meant to stop them in their tracks of finally owning up to their feelings but they eventually overcome everything, finally enjoying and experiencing real, happy life together.
- Part 1: One Broken Couple’s Love Story In Playing With Fire
- Part 2: The Broken Player And The Scarred Phoenix Characters In Playing With Fire
- Part 3: A Similar Book To Playing With Fire
Part 1: One Broken Couple’s Love Story In Playing With Fire
Grace’s only precious hand me down from her mother was a flame ring. It looked cheap, but her mom loved it heaps, thus it was priceless for Grace.
Her mother wished to die and reborn, but when she overdosed, only one of her wishes came true. She died.
Years later, laying in the hospital bed, Grace could only hear people coming in and out while pitying her. She couldn’t move though. She was in induced coma to recover after the terrible fire that engulfed her home.
Tucker, her boyfriend, used to come by on daily basis, but after a while he couldn’t just keep waiting for Grace to recover. He was young and he needed to live his own life.
Hurt, but conscious, Grace refused to open her eyes to attempt to stop her boyfriend. Only after he left did she wake up and started crying. After all, she knew that the fire must have left terrible scars of her once beautiful face.
She knew that beauty was temporary, but she had no idea that hers would be so short-lived.
West was driving when a dear jumped in front of the vehicle. It goes without saying that the car was totaled and the boy was blamed. He was considered an evil’s spawn, trouble seemed to follow him everywhere.
Now in college, Grace worked as a waitress together with her best friend Karlie. They were usually ignored by their school mates, as Karlie was seen as brainiac and Grace as the scarred emo girl.
West on the other hand was the hot bad boy that every girl wanted. He was known to be a troublemaker and a one-night stander. He and his buddies hung around with Tess, a beautiful teenager every girl wanted to befriend.
Grace was secretly jealous of Tess. She used to be Tess when all boys doted on her and she was the most popular girl in her school. Now, she hid because of her scars. Boys taunted her and girls mocked her. But no one knew her story and how she got the scars in the first place and she wasn’t willing to tell either.
Grace’s calm life changed all of a sudden when West got a job where she worked. He needed extra money, as the sums he was getting when fighting at the Plaza weren’t enough.
Grace was totally disapproving Karlie’s decision to hire West and she didn’t hesitate to voice her opinion. Making a ballet innuendo, she wasted no time in telling the boy that he would work in the food truck when she would join a dance team.
Instead of responding to Grace, West sent her a pair of ballet shoes and a note telling her she should start practicing.
Although seemingly irresponsible and a cold-hearted guy, West was actually the one person his family depended on. He entered the fighting business to cover his college expenses, pay for his rent, save money for when he finishes college and, on top of that he was also helping his parents financially.
Overwhelmed by responsibilities, he became cold. Working with Grace will soften his heart and slowly he will realize he has fallen in love with her, a girl who was just as broken as he was. Will their relationship work?
Part 2: The Broken Player And The Scarred Phoenix Characters In Playing With Fire
Let’s be honest here. L.J. Shen has created the perfect characters for this novel. I like both Grace and West as they never seize to make me smile with their tasteful jokes and bickering. The constant stings between the two of them gives the novel that young teenager vibe it needs.
Grace is just as broken and scarred as any girl in her situation would be. Her blow is even more hurtful as she used to be the school popular cheerleader and now she hangs out in a place when most people don’t even know her name, nor do they want to know it.
They only care about mocking her regarding her scars.
Grace lives in her own shell and she’s afraid to come out. Hiding underneath her cap and clothes, she likes to pretend to be invisible but the truth is that her presence is acknowledged, especially after everyone realized that the school’s womanizer set his eyes on her.
To every girl’s dismay, Grace wasn’t just a one-time thing for West. He protected her and stood by her side, even when they had nothing to do with each other. The truth is that he always looked past her scars and only saw a beautiful young woman who deserved to be treated better.
Playing With Fire Grace tries to juggle between school, work and her sick grandmother, which will turn out to be harder and harder for her. Surprisingly, or not, West is always there for her to give a hand.
West on the other hand is the lonely type. He even avoided his family as much as he could. He settled for sending money to them on weekly basis, but he didn’t want to keep in touch with them. The only person who managed to put a smile on his face was Grace and she was also the one who made the boy stop wishing for death.
Part 3: A Similar Book To Playing With Fire
Looking for more thrilling books such as Playing with Fire? You should check out Playing With Fire, on Dreame.
Andrea and Liam grew up together. Their families hoped they would get married one day, so they kept pushing the two of them towards each other. The constant meddling from their families eventually had Andrea and Liam despise each other and avoid one another like plague.
After a long time of ignoring each other, the two of them admit their feelings, prompting them to spend one night together. Years later, they meet again and their sparkle ignites again.
Will they finally be together?
