Raine is the first title I've read by author J.C. Valentine - the alter-ego of Brandi Salazar - but I guarantee it will not be the last. I made the mistake of starting to read it at bedtime and only slept for three hours before having to get ready for work. I read it during lunch break the next day and finished it in the wee hours of the morning. Literally, if I didn't have to put it down, I wouldn't have.

Raine is dating Camron and, though she cares for him, she is not as happy as she could be. Sometimes she wonders if the rumor mill is true, that Camron doesn't really care about her but, in the interest of self-preservation, she casts doubts aside - until one fateful night during which she experiences Camron's true nature firsthand.

Cast out by her parents at the news of her pregnancy and rejected by Camron and his family, Raine has nowhere to go and little means of support. Even so, she refuses to give up on her baby - doesn't consider abortion and isn't comfortable with the thought of putting her child up for adoption. In the midst of it all, Raine finds an ally in the most unlikely of places.

Raine brought me into its tangled web of deceit, lies and family drama. It drove home the point that things are not always as they appear to be. It also reminded us that, sometimes, the people with better character traits are the ones who are often overlooked. Of course, for me living in a society where favoritism abounds, Raine reminds me how devastating favoritism could be on so many levels for so many people, the favored and the - shall I say - scorned?

I would definitely recommend that you read and review this title but be prepared to really dislike some of the characters - not only for the things they do but the degrading things they say with such comfort, just to make another person feel miserable and worthless. Ugh!

To learn more about Raine by J.C. Valentine, please visit its page on Amazon.