Title: Last Tango In Forks
Author: AwesomeSauce76
Chapters: 15
Words: 88,635
Reviews: 3866
Summary: Bella Swan has spent a lifetime putting everyone else's needs before her own. Could a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger begin to change all of that? AU/AH
I have to admit, because of real life, I was late to get started on reading this fic. All the other Pervs were chatting about great smut and how much they loved it. I even saw Jeanne say she didn’t mind that this Jake was being mistreated, and I about fell out of my chair. So, I finally got to sit down and start reading it today. Needless to say, the day is not out, and I am done. This story has so many elements that I love. It is beautiful while being tragic. There is angst, but it never is pushed too far. Everything every character does Just. Makes. Sense.
I could quote something from almost every chapter that had me wound up until I was practically tackling Mr. Bethie when he came in the door, but the true magic of this story, for me, is in it’s leads.
When we first meet Bella, she is leading a predictable and contented life. She may have the inkling of wanting more in the deep recesses of her mind, but she is, for what she knows of the world, happy. She had a job she loves, a dad to take care of, and a fiancee who loves her. All of that changes with a simple sign in the window. “Apartment for Rent”. It is then that we first get a taste of the fact that not all may be perfect. After she finds an apartment that is empty except for a broken man in the bedroom, her world begins to shift on it’s axis.
Everything she has pushed to the back of her consciousness. All those things she has convinced herself over time she can live without. They ALL come crashing into her self-awareness. She realizes she is being used by her father as more than a crutch. She recognizes that she is in a passionless relationship. She acknowledges to herself that she is chained to a life in which she applied the shackles. Alas, she is still afraid. Afraid to tell Edward, who has breathed life, passion, and happiness into her life, that she wants. Wants him. Wants this. Forever.
Then there is Edward. When we first meet him, he is coming back home to bury his wife. His life is an absolute maelstrom. His wife has killed herself, but we learn that their relationship has been dead for years. They lived denying themselves real emotion while indulging in just about everything else. Now, Edward is free, by her design and he is adrift. Pretending to be a grieving husband and afraid to be the man he always wanted to be.
But, unlike Bella, we see his life finding calm as the story progresses. He is reconnecting with his family which he adored, but was forced apart by his wife. She convinced him that they didn’t want him, and he let himself believe the lies. Now, he is realizing that there is forgiveness and love to still be had. That all is not lost.
Then, there is Bella. She is his resurrection. Edward was a dead man walking. He had been sucked of his life by years of drug abuse and a loveless marriage. Now that he has someone real and right, and it scares the shit out of him. He doesn’t know how to do love. He doesn’t recognize it as he is feeling it, but he is starting to. He knows he wants her. That he needs her, but he has put so many rules in place that don’t allow them the final step into bringing them into the real world.
They are so close now. They have confessed things in the throws of passion and even screamed over a thunderstorm everything but that final word that will make it real. Love.
The last few chapters have edged their real lives closer and closer to colliding. I am anxious to see what happens when it does.
5 out of 5 sticks of butter (apparently for more than popcorn)
Author: AwesomeSauce76
Chapters: 15
Words: 88,635
Reviews: 3866
Summary: Bella Swan has spent a lifetime putting everyone else's needs before her own. Could a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger begin to change all of that? AU/AH
I have to admit, because of real life, I was late to get started on reading this fic. All the other Pervs were chatting about great smut and how much they loved it. I even saw Jeanne say she didn’t mind that this Jake was being mistreated, and I about fell out of my chair. So, I finally got to sit down and start reading it today. Needless to say, the day is not out, and I am done. This story has so many elements that I love. It is beautiful while being tragic. There is angst, but it never is pushed too far. Everything every character does Just. Makes. Sense.
I could quote something from almost every chapter that had me wound up until I was practically tackling Mr. Bethie when he came in the door, but the true magic of this story, for me, is in it’s leads.
When we first meet Bella, she is leading a predictable and contented life. She may have the inkling of wanting more in the deep recesses of her mind, but she is, for what she knows of the world, happy. She had a job she loves, a dad to take care of, and a fiancee who loves her. All of that changes with a simple sign in the window. “Apartment for Rent”. It is then that we first get a taste of the fact that not all may be perfect. After she finds an apartment that is empty except for a broken man in the bedroom, her world begins to shift on it’s axis.
Everything she has pushed to the back of her consciousness. All those things she has convinced herself over time she can live without. They ALL come crashing into her self-awareness. She realizes she is being used by her father as more than a crutch. She recognizes that she is in a passionless relationship. She acknowledges to herself that she is chained to a life in which she applied the shackles. Alas, she is still afraid. Afraid to tell Edward, who has breathed life, passion, and happiness into her life, that she wants. Wants him. Wants this. Forever.
Then there is Edward. When we first meet him, he is coming back home to bury his wife. His life is an absolute maelstrom. His wife has killed herself, but we learn that their relationship has been dead for years. They lived denying themselves real emotion while indulging in just about everything else. Now, Edward is free, by her design and he is adrift. Pretending to be a grieving husband and afraid to be the man he always wanted to be.
But, unlike Bella, we see his life finding calm as the story progresses. He is reconnecting with his family which he adored, but was forced apart by his wife. She convinced him that they didn’t want him, and he let himself believe the lies. Now, he is realizing that there is forgiveness and love to still be had. That all is not lost.
Then, there is Bella. She is his resurrection. Edward was a dead man walking. He had been sucked of his life by years of drug abuse and a loveless marriage. Now that he has someone real and right, and it scares the shit out of him. He doesn’t know how to do love. He doesn’t recognize it as he is feeling it, but he is starting to. He knows he wants her. That he needs her, but he has put so many rules in place that don’t allow them the final step into bringing them into the real world.
They are so close now. They have confessed things in the throws of passion and even screamed over a thunderstorm everything but that final word that will make it real. Love.
The last few chapters have edged their real lives closer and closer to colliding. I am anxious to see what happens when it does.
5 out of 5 sticks of butter (apparently for more than popcorn)
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