Welcome to the Shame Blog Tour! I am beyond excited to share with you an incredible book by the fabulous Rachel Van Dyken! Shame is the third book in the Ruin Series, an emotional and gripping New Adult series. There is more about this book, teasers, an excerpt and Tina’s Thoughts. This is a book that you will not want to miss!

Everything done in darkness, will eventually be brought into the light.

I ran, but all it did was keep me one step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new identity. But you can’t change your soul.

A fresh start at college was just what I needed. For a while, it worked. I was the party girl, the one that seemed confident, but it was a lie.

When guys kissed me–I felt only pain.

When they touched me–Nothing but fear.

Deep inside, every girl wants to be the beauty in the story, to find someone that will see you as their world.

But the truth? I was the beast. And as much as I wanted redemption, I wasn’t fool enough to think I’d ever get it.

Until he walked into my life.

I wasn’t prepared to fall for someone. My scars were too deep, the wounds too raw. But he offered me peace, he offered me security. I should have known it was just another lie–I should have known that falling in love with my professor was a bad idea.

But I was powerless to stop myself from falling.

And he was powerless to catch me.

Because the darkness finally caught up to me, and as fate would have it, a cruel twist almost bled me dry. But I’m stronger than I knew. I’m stronger than you think.

You think you know my story, but you don’t….after all everyone has Shame in their lives– and I’m no longer afraid to show you mine.

You can purchase your copy today at the retailers listed below.

Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Shame was a powerful, emotional, raw, and gripping story that had me intrigued and invested from page one. Rachel Van Dyekn is a maser of words and this book was no exception. This book is relevant and compelling to say the least. This story seems to have so much going on that at first I wondered if it would be overwhelming. There are journal enteries at the beginning of every chapter and dual POVs. However, the different approaches and perspectives allow for the reader to engage on many levels, connecting the hearts of the characters with the reader. This story deals with the hard and relevant situations, showing the real effects and consequences of bad choices, ones that can follow you forever.

This story is told in the perspectives of Lisa and Tristan, our two main characters. From the beginning you learn that Lisa has grown up in the spotlight from a career of modeling at a younger age and she has learned more about life and the darkness in the world by the age of 20 than most people will ever glimpse. Tristan is a man on a mission to find answers and learn the truth. He takes up a teaching position at the university to teach a class in order to meet Lisa and determine if she encompasses the person her has read of the pages of his dead brother’s journal. There are twists and turns in the plot that you never saw coming. Rachel has a gift of writing so deeply that you connect and then she beats your heart with emotions only to soothe it completely later!

Lisa was fantastic. Her character is so complex and deep. When you start reading this book, you have an insiders look into her mind and it is a sad place. She is full of regret, shame, guilt and fear. She has done so many things in her past that all she wants to do it be free, a new person who can shed the old skin she loathes and step into a life of anonymity. Yet she is forced to daily face the music, through threats and haunting guilt that she cannot be rid of. Her support group, including characters from the first two books in the Ruin Series, are such incredible people, yet she hides so much from them, determined that maybe it will go away if there is no extra emotion to fuel it.

Tristan was the perfect tortured hero for this story. At first I did not like him. Sure he was a gorgeous man, but his misconceptions and haughtiness caused my blood to boil. Thinking he had all the information he needed, he intended to trap Lisa in her lies and discover the truth that has been haunting him. Yet as the story unfolds, we see someone who is hurting and fearful, with no real malice towards the girl he longs to know and understand. His path of healing is intertwined with Lisa in such a great way. One cannot truly heal and thrive without the other.

Lisa and Tristan are incredible together. They connect in every way yet lies of omission of both the past and present cause them to be disconnected. Tristan hides his identity and connection to Lisa. Lisa refuses to speak about her past and the guilt and shame she lives with daily. As we watch Lisa shed her former self, it breaks you. As the reader, to see what has happened to her and the things she was manipulated into doing, you cannot help but have an emotional response. This story deals with complex human emotions and reactions. It deals with the areas of emotional and physical abuse, manipulation, bullying, and shaming. It gives us a glimpse into an ugly world where the victims and instigators are often muddled in the confusion. There are so many plot twists and turns that you will be reeling at the end. I have not cried in quite some time when reading a book but this story caused me to sob at the things that took place both past and present. Literal ugly tears that I could not stop.

This book and series is incredible. It deals with pain, heartache, raw emotion, deep woundings and shame. But it also relays a story of hope, healing, life and love. It was a beautiful coupling of the ugliness with the beauty that can only be seen by those who walk through the pain. Lisa was an incredibly compelling character that I will revisit again and again. Make sure to pick up this book and dive in. It will tear your heart up and sew it back together and you will never be the same again.

It was hard to explain the way he spoke to me; at times he was flirtatious and well… happy. Other times? It seemed like he was fighting another side of himself, one that was more reserved, uptight, controlled. And if you were to ask me which side scared me the most? I’d say both. Because both sides were dangerous to me — both pushed a person like me past the point of no return. His seriousness made me curious; his flirtation made me want more.

“Just dinner?” I asked. “Isn’t that against the rules?”

“Yeah, well…” He glanced down briefly before flashing a sensual smile, his eyes dilating. “…it seems to be an impulse I can’t really control around you.”

“Control’s overrated, you label-making fool.”

At that he laughed, a rich chuckle that had my entire body relaxing and heating at the same time. I took a step toward him and smiled. “So, rule-breaker, where are we going?”

He grabbed his messenger bag and keys. “You’ll see.”

“Cryptic.” My eyebrows arched as I crossed my arms over my chest. “This isn’t going to turn into one of those six o‘clock news things where the crazy professor takes the girl out then buries her in the woods, is it?” I tried to sound like I was joking, but the minute the words left my mouth, it was no longer funny. Suddenly, I realized how stupid it would be to go with him. I knew nothing about him, nothing at all!

He smiled, tilting his head toward me. “Why am I getting the sudden urge to pull out a list of character references?”

“Because I just scared myself,” I admitted out loud.

“You want my social security number?” He winked. “Credit score? First grade class photo? Oh, and by the way, in first grade I was nominated most likely to own a pet store… so, if you aren’t okay with that, we probably shouldn’t continue this.”

“This?”

“Dinner.”

“Because you liked pets?”

“I wanted to own a lizard farm.”

I covered my mouth with my hands and nodded solemnly. “All little boys have dreams.”

“A bully crushed mine when he told me lizard farms don’t exist.” He shook his head. “In second grade I was voted least likely to succeed, on account that I didn’t speak for the entire year.”

“Why’s that?” I took another step toward him.

He took another step in my direction and shrugged. “It took me a while to get over the lizards.”

“So you stopped speaking?”

“It was more of me trying to make the public aware of my outrage.”

“Ah, like lizard strike.”

“I made shirts.”

“Tell me, professor, is that when the label-making started?”

“No.” He nodded toward the door and started walking. I followed, genuinely interested in what he was going to say and hating that it was possible he was stringing me along only to go all cold-crazy-psycho on me again. “That was an entirely different situation.” He pulled the door open.

“What? No more stories?” I asked.

“Dinner.” He shrugged, his eyes a stormy gray. “I’ll tell you at dinner.”

“Bribery.”

“My trump card. Label-maker stories. You know, I do actually know how to romance a woman.”

“Well…” I cleared my throat and broke eye contact. “…since I’m your student, I’ll just take your word for it.”

“Right,” he said quickly then repeated, “Right, shall we?”

“Lead the way.” I forced a smile and tried to remember that this was dinner, nothing romantic, just my very sexy professor once again apologizing for being a jackass during class.

Want to know more about Lisa’s chosen family, Wes, Kiersten, Gabe and Saylor? Make sure to dive into the Ruin series for more of this incredible series!! The box set is only $.99 for a limited time only! Make sure to grab your copy today. It is available on Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble.

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor. She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com

For more of what Rachel is up to, check out her social media sites!

 FACEBOOK      TWITTER      GOODREADS     AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE