Bad Son Rising by Julie A Richman

Oh, this was my first introduction to Zac Moore and lordy, lord it will certainly not be my last.

I need to go back and do some more research on this man, because boy oh boy he is something else. With all the rights and privileges that money can buy, Zac has it all and wants for nothing, his world centres around him , just the way he wants the world to think it should be but this guy has hidden depths, but his façade is well developed and it is going to take something spectacular to shift his focus onto something or in this case, someone else.

A chance meeting with Liliana Castillo sets his heart racing, this shy girl steals his attention and when she shows no interest, hi sego is dealt a  blow that remains with him.

College is an eye opener for Zac it is a chance for him to show a little of what is really going on, on the inside. This handsome, rich and seriously cocky guy also starts to open up and to show that he has some very redeemable qualities.

We all carry our past with us every day of the week, it is how we decide to wear the coat of past pains and transgressions that ultimately define the opinion that the world gets to make of us on first impression. The real Zac, the one he hides away is everything that joe public would fail to see upon first impression… this guy is hiding some serious insecurities.

College give him the opportunity to show that he has grown, he has friends that he will do his damnedest to protect and help in whatever he can. But when it all comes crashing down he takes the hit to protect those around him and moves on to New York and a chance to redeem himself.

Fast forward two years and he takes the opportunity to head overseas to do some charity work – but more to the point he has been asked to look out for the one woman that didn’t fall for the infamous Zac Moore Charm- Liliana! Working in the Congo, Zac is taken with the fact that he can put his engineering experience to use and get to know Liliana in the process.

Volunteering comes easy for Zac but the impact that others have on him and that he has on their lives takes some getting used too. He ruffles more than a few feathers, least of all Liliana’s and her ever present English beau.

Getting to know Liliana is easier said than done, she tried to remain completely detracted from Zac and the womanising ways that he has brought with him from New York to the Congo.

It was a shame that she couldn’t see through his front and to understand that to Zac attack is the best form of defence, he thinks he has competition, so is fighting fire with fire.

It took me sometime to warm to Liliana, she was fairly standoffish at first and to that end it was difficult to get a handle on what was making her tick. But once she started to open up it was obviously that I had underestimated her, she was a strong girl with strong principles and a determination to find her way in the world. She was a jumble of fears and worries, but she held her one destiny firmly in her own hands and for that she had my admiration.

Opening up to Zac eventually gives us a chance to see a little of the spicy side of Lily – the daring minx juts desperate to get out – she could throw a surprise or two into the mix when necessary and caught Zac unawares on a couple of occasions – good on her!

But for much of the story I felt like she was almost a secondary character and that my main focus was Zac – after all the book was titled Bad Son Rising.

The evolution in Zac’s character was the most striking thing to me – he had the potential to be everything that his privilege and background would have considered acceptable but instead we found an inherently damaged young man who just wanted to be loved and to love unconditionally in return, his life had been a turmoil of events that had left him with a distorted view on life and more over on his impact on those events, he felt responsibility when he should have in fact felt nothing of the kind. He was a product of a damaged mother and some seriously fucked up women in the past!

Carried over a number of years, I felt the book bore the ability to dissect that time well, it gave us insight to how friendship, love and life are living breathing things that take time to evolve and grow.

It showed us that forgiveness really is a beautiful thing and that pain no matter how deep or self afflicted, it can be overcome, with time patience and understanding.

A great book which has me searching for more!