Blog Tour + ARC Review & Giveaway: Awaken by Nina Lane

Posted in 5 hearts, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews by Lacey

Click the banner to follow the tour!

Title: Awaken
Series: Spiral of Bliss #3 (full reading order below)
Author: Nina Lane
Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Cover Design: Victoria Colotta of VMC Art & Design
Event Organized By: Literati Author Services, Inc.

“I love that you love me, professor.”

“I love loving you, beauty.”

Since their intense, passionate beginning, Professor Dean West and his wife Olivia have fought dark secrets and betrayal in order to save their marriage. Now reeling in the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Liv and Dean are driven further apart by a vindictive threat to Dean’s career.

Struggling to stand on her own for the first time in years, Liv is determined to defend her husband and prove herself. Then an unexpected letter dredges up old insecurities and endangers Liv’s newfound independence. As Dean fights for his professional life, he is forced to confront his worst fear when he discovers that he can’t protect his beloved wife from her own painful past.

Buy Links:
Amazon US • Barnes & Noble • Kobo • iTunes

“You and me, professor.”
“You and me, beauty.”

Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t even know how to describe my love for this series! It’s beautiful, phenomenal–Nina Lane perfectly portrays Liv and Dean’s emotions, the strong, unwavering love they have for one another, as well as the heartbreak that the two of them go through. These two characters… oh my. Dean and Liv sucked me into their story from the very first page of the very first book, and they continue to have me hooked up until the very last page of this last book.

Awaken picks up where Allure left off, and Dean and Liv are separated physically, but never emotionally. The two of them have gone through such heartbreak and tragedy, and I never doubted for a second that they wouldn’t patch up their marriage, their heart-stopping romance. There’s just something so beautiful and special about Dean and Liv’s romance. You can feel the intensity of the love they have for one another, the support that they have for each other. This series is not the usual romance, because the main characters are already married, but that doesn’t make their romance any less beautiful to read. If anything, I’d say that their marriage heightens the love, passion, intensity between them. God, I just really, really love this series.

Liv makes me smile so much. She’s sweet (and so adorable sometimes), and yet she’s strong, stubborn, and fierce in regards to her husband. I loved how she has so much room still to grow, and she does. I felt so proud of her, and Dean too. In Awaken, Liv and Dean learn to stand on their own. They learn to overcome their struggles, never once losing their steadfast love for one another. And oh my god, have I mentioned how much I love Dean? I truly, whole-heartedly love this sexy professor. He makes me swoon so freaking hard.

My husband doesn’t just love me. He knows how to love me. He knows what I need and when I need it, sometimes even better than I do. He knows how to unfold all the tight, rough parts of me and smooth them out with one glide of his hand. He knows how to prove that he — and only he — understands every crevice of my soul. He knows how to remind me that I am forever safe within his heart.

I love love love the romance. The passion, the beauty of it, I can’t even begin to describe. I just love it so damn much. Liv and Dean have a perfectly imperfect romance, which is just all the more remarkable after all the pain, hurt, and heartbreak they experience. It’s not an easy road towards a happily ever after for these two, but the journey getting there is stunning to read.

And I am just in awe with Nina Lane’s writing! It’s beautiful, it’s lush, and it’s exquisite to read. Her writing really makes me fall in love with the story over and over again, because I’d read these sentences, or even these paragraphs, that are just filled with emotion. It’s breathtaking, really. So if anything, I recommend reading this series for the writing. BUT it’s not just the writing that makes this series incredible! Dean and Liv West have a captivating and beautiful romance that warmed my heart, that made me smile and giggle and sigh, that made me fall in love, and I just can’t recommend this series enough. But now that the series is finished… I’m going to miss Dean and Liv so, so much.

Love the one who proves to you that happily ever after is only the beginning.

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Spiral of Bliss series

#1 ~ Arouse: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Allure: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Awaken: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

USA Today bestselling author Nina Lane writes hot, sexy romances and spicy erotica. Originally from California, she loves traveling and thinks St. Petersburg, Russia is a city everyone should visit at least once. Nina also spent many years in graduate school studying art history and library sciences.

Although she would go back for another degree if she could because she’s that much of a bookworm, she now lives the happy life of a full-time writer. Nina’s novel The Erotic Dark hit #1 on Amazon’s Erotica Bestseller list.

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Pinterest

Grand Prize: Personalized paperback set of The Spiral of Bliss Trilogy, keychain and Alice in Wonderland Teapot w/matching cups
2nd Prize: Personalized paperback set of The Spiral of Bliss Trilogy, keychain and Hand-stampled necklace
3rd Prize: Personalized paperback copy of Awaken

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12Jan2014

ARC Review: Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn
Series: Games #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Forever) in exchange for an honest review

A biker. A tattoo artist. A love to last a lifetime.

Maddox Cross has always had to be tough. When his father went to jail for murder, the teenager took care of his sister and mother. Now on his own and working security at a night club, Maddox wants to become a tattoo artist-a dream that comes closer to reality when he falls for the hottest, most tatted woman he’s ever seen. She’s wild and beautiful, and Maddox will do anything to be with her.

Bee Malone came to town to open up her new tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Since being kidnapped as a young girl, Bee has had trouble getting close to anyone. But when she meets Maddox, she sees that under his hard biker’s body is the sensitive soul of an artist. What starts out as a sizzling one-night stand soon becomes so much more.

Bee wants Maddox to join her tattoo business, but letting him into her life means revealing all her most intimate secrets. And as the past begins to intertwine with her present, Bee fears their love may not be as permanent as their ink . . .

Masquerade was phenomenal! It was slow, but poignant. I loved how the characters grew on me throughout the book, and Maddox and Bee’s story went straight to my heart. The writing flows so well (I’m definitely going to read other books by Nyrae Dawn), and some quotes just popped out at me, making me think and feel so much. When I started reading, it was a bit hard to get sucked into the book, but by the end of it all, I truly, wholeheartedly enjoyed reading Masquerade. It was the culmination of everything–the slow, sweet romance, the complexity of main characters, the wonderful writing–that had me smiling by the end of the book.

Masquerade is the third book in the Games series, but can be read as a standalone. I don’t really like starting a book that’s not the first in the series, but I made an exception for Masquerade. And it didn’t disappoint! The main characters from the other books in the series do appear in Masquerade (Maddox is the brother of the heroine from Charade), but Nyrae Dawn worked the story well enough that I didn’t need to have read the previous books. So if you want to jump in the Games series and start Masquerade first, like I did, you can!

I loved, LOVED how the main characters developed throughout the book. Maddox and Bee start off as closed, private individuals, but with good reason. Maddox kept quiet about his father’s secrets, secrets that ruined his family. His guilt makes him lost, and he has no direction in life anymore. Bee was kidnapped when she was young, but her kidnappers were ‘good’ people. They loved her, even though they stole her, and when Bee was discovered, the kidnappers went to jail. She loved those parents, but she feels guilty about loving them, because they kidnapped her. And she can’t be the good daughter her real parents want, since Bee ended up being a girl with tattoos who didn’t want to go to college. Bee doesn’t know who to love anymore, she doesn’t know what love means anymore, so she becomes lost herself.

These two lost, tortured characters eventually find their way towards each other. Bee and Maddox hook up one night, believing they’ll never see each other again. But it turns out that Bee is the tattoo parlor owner that Maddox wants to apprentice at. Bee reluctantly decides to give him a chance, recognizing in him the guilt and anger that she once, and still, feels. And that one decision gives the two of them a chance at love, love that they never really believed they would ever find. But it’s definitely not an easy road getting there.

Want. We both want each other but we know it’s not smart to act on it. I hate it but love it at the same time.

Bee and Maddox agree not to sleep with each other again, but… there’s some seriously hot chemistry between the two. The two of them spend a lot of time together at the tattoo parlor, and eventually they start opening up to each other. They don’t really talk, but they learn about each other through the other’s actions. I thought this part was very beautiful, how the two of them learn about each other not through words, but by actions. The romance builds up slowly, but it’s so, so sweet.

Through each other, Maddox and Bee learn to move past their guilt and inner pain. It was truly heart-wrenching at some parts of the book, and my heart cried out for Bee and especially Maddox. Both of these characters have so much depth and growth, and I loved reading their journey towards happiness–with each other.

Christ, we have all lost so fucking much. Parents, kids, dreams–way more than our fair share. We’ve hurt people we’ve loved and we’ve hurt ourselves and we’ve been lost. Through it all, we’re still fucking standing.

And can I just talk about the writing again? I freaking fell in LOVE with Nyrae Dawn’s writing. I highlighted so many quotes that spoke to my heart. Everything is so raw and emotional, and Nyrae Dawn portrayed everything perfectly.

This quote is one of my favorites from the book:

Reality. It’s not living a lie like so many of the people we know have done. It’s not treating life like a game of charades or living behind any type of façade. Life is fucked up, it hurts, and it’s not always pretty, but damned if it can’t be beautiful too.

I highly, highly recommend reading Masquerade or anything by Nyrae Dawn, if her writing is just as good in her other books (which I will definitely be reading soon!). Masquerade is packed with emotions, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the romance between Maddox and Bee is so real and honest and beautiful.

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Games series

#1 ~ Charade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Facade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Masquerade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

7Jan2014

Blog Tour + Review, Excerpt & Giveaway: Vendetta by Autumn Karr & Sienna Lane

Posted in 3.5 hearts, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews by Lacey

Click the banner to see the tour schedule!

Title: Vendetta
Authors: Autumn Karr and Sienna Lane
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Forbidden)
Release Date: December 15, 2013
Tour Organized by: As the Pages Turn

Please note: this is not dark romance.

I am not a good man.

I have lied and cheated and stolen. I’ve decided between life or death, like it was my due. None of it matters, not anymore. These are not my sins.

I see her raise her hands, the dark metal she’s clutching reflecting the moonlight. Her finger trembles as she cocks the gun pointed at me. Her eyes are cold, determined, but I know.

I know her.

My name is Devon Andre and I confess my sin. I am not a good man because this is the woman I love.

She pulls the trigger.

* Standalone contemporary romance.
* Mature reader advised due to sexual content and strong language.

Purchase Link:
Amazon US • Amazon UK • B&N • iTunes • Kobo

Vendetta is one hell of a book. It’s fast-paced and intense, and hello, have you read that blurb? Now that is the way to hook a reader in. Vendetta was nothing like I expected, with both good and bad parts, but overall, it’s a book that I’d recommend to those who like angst and mafia books.

Devon and Leighton are very much like Romeo and Juliet. They both belong to opposing mob families, and they are supposed to hate each other. Devon even more so, because Leighton’s father supposedly killed Devon’s family. Vendetta is told through both Devon and Leighton’s POVs, and I absolutely loved their voices. They’re distinct, and so easy to read and connect with (even with the whole mob aspect).

Leighton gets kidnapped by Devon, and Devon holds her hostage in his family’s home. She’s not treated poorly, but she doesn’t get to do anything. Devon has been waiting for the day when he can finally get revenge for his family’s death, and even with Leighton in his hands, he can’t kill her. There’s an entire mystery that surrounds Devon and Leighton, as if they have history, and we learn throughout the book just who these two people really are and they’re relationship with one another. Do they hate each other? Or do they love each other? There’s a very thin line between those two questions, and I really enjoyed reading and learning more about Leighton and Devon.

And oh my gosh, the action and intensity of the book is incredible! It’s heart-pounding for sure. I wasn’t too into the romance, because I couldn’t really feel the connection between Leighton and Devon, but the plot and action were amazing. I loved this part of the book. There were so many twists, and the book is very fast-paced once the action starts. There’s death and murder and even more kidnappings, and I couldn’t put Vendetta down for a second.

I’ll admit, I wish the romance could have been better. I’m still not sure how I feel about Devon and Leighton. I have mixed feelings about this book, but the blurb and story hooked me in, and the writing was great, so I’m in between a 3 and a 4.

3.5 hearts!

I shake my head, muttering another curse. I should have just left her there. It’s not like I have an overwhelming urge to play her knight in shining armor. God knows she’s not a damsel in distress. The woman is poison, like all the Moores are. Unfortunately, despite what people think about me, I can’t stand men hitting women, and I’m sure as fuck George wouldn’t have minded taking another swing at her. We may be criminals, but we’re not complete assholes.

She moans again as I put her in the backseat of my black SUV and buckle her in. I round the back, and open up the trunk, looking for something to bind her with. I shake off the fleeting thought that maybe she wouldn’t fight me. It’s Leighton Moore, for fuck’s sake, of course she would.

Fishing out the cable ties, I go back and secure her wrists, then her ankles. It doesn’t seem like enough. I don’t want to see her eyes when she wakes up, which could be any second now, so I remind myself to hurry the fuck up. I take off the scarf from around her neck, feeling the silk under my fingers for just a second. Then I pull out my pocketknife, and slice it in half. I blindfold her, and then gag her with the other half.

At this point I know it’s probably overkill, but I’ve never kidnapped a woman before, so who knows? Plus, it’s Leighton. She’s not just any woman.

Of course I know Leighton Moore. I only wish I didn’t.

I knew who she was the first time I laid my eyes on her. It didn’t make any fucking difference in the grand scheme of things. I was doomed to keep seeing her and not being able to do anything about it.

Shaking off that thought, I finally get in the car and start it, backing out and getting the hell away from this place.

When I’m far enough away, I pull over into a secluded woodland area on the side of the road and just sit there, my car idling. What the fuck do I do with her? I could take her to my place, I guess, but I’m barely ever there. Most of the time I’m either at my uncle’s house or I’m out, working. I take out my phone and stare at it, contemplating. I glance back at her, and realize I have no choice. I have to call my uncle.

Sienna Lane and Autumn Karr are two friends with a joint love of reading, writing, candy, and Disney heroes (and Disney songs, of course.)

When they aren’t scheming against fictional characters, or talking about their favourite books, you can find them ogling tattooed models and trying to figure out how to get them to do a cover shoot for their next book.

Together they wrote VENDETTA, releasing this December, and hopefully many more books to come.They love to hear from readers, so don’t hesitate to contact them through their Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/18TGRU9).

Connect with Sienna and Autumn
Facebook • Sienna’s Goodreads • Sienna’s Facebook • Autumn’s Goodreads • Autumn’s Facebook • Blog

Autumn & Sienna are offering up the following:
(2) Signed copy of Vendetta
(2) $10 Amazon Vouchers
(5) eBook copy of Vendetta
(2) Vendetta swag pack

The tour wide giveaway is open internationally. Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST 01/20/2014.

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2Jan2014

Blog Tour + Early Review & Giveaway: Rome by Jay Crownover

Posted in 4 hearts, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews by Lacey

Click the banner to follow the tour!

Title: Rome
Series: Marked Men #3 (full reading order below)
Author: Jay Crownover
Genre: New Adult
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing
Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.

Cora Lewis is a whole lot of fun, and she knows how to keep her tattooed bad boy friends in line. But all that flash and sass hide the fact that she’s never gotten over the way her first love broke her heart. Now she has a plan to make sure that never happens again: She’s only going to fall in love with someone perfect.

Rome Archer is as far from perfect as a man can be. He’s stubborn and rigid, he’s bossy and has come back from his final tour of duty fundamentally broken. Rome’s used to filling a role: big brother, doting son, super soldier; and now none of these fit anymore. Now he’s just a man trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life while keeping the demons of war and loss at bay. He would have been glad to suffer it alone, until Cora comes sweeping into his life and becomes the only color on his bleak horizon.

Perfect isn’t in the cards for these two, but imperfect might just last forever . . .

Purchase Links:
Amazon US • Amazon UK • Amazon CA • Barnes and Noble • iTunes • Indie Bound

I have to say that I had the best time reading Rome! I was so excited to read Rule’s brother’s book, and it doesn’t disappoint. If you thought Rule Archer was hot, wait until you read about Rome. The romance was slow, but sweet, and went straight to my heart. Cora and Rome are perfect for each other, and I highly enjoyed their story!

Rome is not his usual self at the beginning of the book. He’s usually more easy-going and friendly, but leaving the army hasn’t been good for him. He feels like he has no purpose anymore. Oh, this poor, sexy man has so many demons. He has to deal with what he went through in the war, and now he has to cope with the fact that the people he loves dearly don’t really need him that much anymore. Rule and Shaw and everyone else love Rome, without a doubt, but they don’t need him to take care of them anymore. Rome, the loyal, protective, sweet man that he is, feels lost. But when he meets Cora, and a bar owner named Brite, he starts to have a purpose in life again.

Cora was a bit frustrating, but she grew on me later on. This tough-as-nails body modifier has been dealt a crappy hand in the romance department, and has vowed to never settle for less than Mr. Perfect. She wants the best and certainly deserves a person who will give all of himself and his love to her when she is willing to do the same, but her standards might be a little high, or at least skewed. And all of her previous notions of Mr. Perfect start to dissolve when she meets Rome.

…I could see the idea of Mr. Perfect, this fictional ideal I had built up in my head, start to tatter under the force of everything that was Rome Archer.

Cora and Rome are not perfect people, and are in fact quite broken, but together, they make something sweet and beautiful. Because of each other, they learn more about themselves, and they support and heal each other only in the way these two characters can. And they’re just so freaking cute! I thought it was adorable that a feisty, tiny Tinkerbell of a woman and a big, hulking, protective man fell for each other. Opposites really do attract, huh? And they have an incredibly hot chemistry together!

Rome is another fantastic addition to Jay Crownover’s Marked Men series. And another amazing part to the book? We get tons more of the other characters, especially Rule and Shaw (who are my favorite!). Now I’m so, so excited for Nash’s story, which is next!

Favorite quote:

“Love isn’t perfect. It’s hard work and sometimes it’s more effort to be in love than it is to just run away. If you keep looking for perfect, the real thing is going to pass right by you.”

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Marked Men series

#1 ~ Rule: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Jet: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Rome: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Nash: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#5 ~ Rowdy: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (Oct. 21, 2014)
#6 ~ Asa: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (April 14, 2015)

I’m supposed to share interesting details about myself so that my readers get to know me so here we go in no particular order: I’m an natural redhead even though I haven’t seen my real hair color in years, I’m a big fan of tattoos and have a half sleeve on either arm and various other pieces all over the place, I’ve been in the bar industry since I was in college and it has always offered interesting insight into how men and women interact with each other, I have 3 dogs that are all crazy, I live in Colorado and love the snow, I love music and in all reality wish I could be a rock star not a writer or a bartender but I have zero talent so there is that.

I love to write, love to read and all I’m interested in is a good story with interesting characters that make the reader feel something.

Connect with Jay: Facebook • Twitter • Website • Goodreads

First Prize: Jay’s iPod with her library and Nash’s playlist before anyone else has it. All Three Marked Men books signed Rule, Jet and Rome
Second Prize: $25.00 Gift Card Amazon with signed copies of all Three Marked Men Books Rule, Jet and Rome
Third Prize: All Three Marked Men books signed Rule, Jet and Rome and swag
Fourth and Fifth Prize: Signed Copy of Rome and Swag

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1Jan2014

Review: Ricochet by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Posted in 5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Ricochet by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Series: Addicted #1.5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 1st 2013
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days.

Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he’ll realize what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him.

Progress. That’s what Lily’s striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family—people who aren’t aware of her addiction—she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows.

With Lily and Lo’s dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to “touch” proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin.

Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

I was debating whether I should review this book or not, since I zipped through this in order to read Addicted for Now, but what the hell, I loved this book, so I want to gush! It was so much fun to read, and there’s so much going on in this book. It’s actually a full-length sized novel, even though it’s book 1.5, but I was totally fine with that! Because I whole-heartedly adore this series! It’s become my new favorite series. I really can’t believe I didn’t start it the second Addicted to You came out. Actually, no–I’d rather the entire series already be out for me to read… because it’s killing me to wait for Connor and Rose’s story (Kiss the Sky), Ryke and Daisy’s (Hothouse Flower), and the rest of Lily and Lo’s. So if you haven’t read this series, please, please do. It’s incredibly well written, the characters are imperfectly perfect, and you’ll fall in love with every single one of them, like I did (with Connor and Ryke especially).

And I don’t think… I don’t think many people can really understand what it’s like to be so invested in someone–to share every single moment and then to have them ripped from you. We have an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship.
I know this.
And I’m trying to change, to grow beyond him, but why does that have to be a stipulation?
I want to grow with him.
I want to be with him.
I want to love Lo without people telling me that our love is too much.
One day, I hope we’ll get there. Hope, that’s all I have to go on right now. It’s my driving force. It’s literally what keeps me standing.

This quote basically sums up what Lily is going through in Ricochet. After the mess they were in during Addicted to You, Lily and Lo finally found the help Lo needed to fight his alcoholism and he’s off the rehab now, leaving Lily alone to battle her own addiction. Which is, ahem, to sex. And she can’t have sex during the three months Lo is in rehab, not only for Lo and their relationship, but also for herself. She has to fight her addiction just as Lo is fighting his own.

The authors are so freaking gooood at wringing out the emotions, the pain and desperation Lily feels. She’s terrified that she’ll fall to temptation without Lo there to help her, but she’ll fight through it for him, because the only thing she wants more than sex is Lo. And even though Lo doesn’t show up much in the book, we know that he’d give Lily the world if she wanted it. It’s this kind of intensity, this kind of connection, that I love about Lily and Lo and their relationship. They make me love them and feel so much for them, hurt so much for them, and in the end, cheer for them.

“I love you,” he says again, “and no other man will ever say those words and mean them the way I do.”

But I have to admit, a large part of why I loved Ricochet (and this series)? The fantastic secondary characters. We have more of Connor, Rose, Ryke, and a new addition, Daisy, all of whom are Lily and Lo’s closest friends and family. Don’t you just love books where the secondary characters are just as invigorating to read about as the main characters? I love it when authors can make me care and love the them just as much as the main characters. And Krista and Becca Ritchie do an excellent job at that. I fell in love even more with Connor, Rose, Ryke, and Daisy. Each of them have such distinctive personalities, strengths, and faults that I love to read about.

In Ricochet, we get bunches more of Ryke, the flaming asshole, and Daisy, the model and sixteen-year-old. I had to mention Daisy’s age, because in this book, Daisy and Ryke have something going on. They’re not together or sleeping with each other or anythign like that (because that’d be a hello to jail-time for Ryke), but they have something forming, and oh my god, I can’t wait for Daisy to turn eighteen! *evil, giddy laugh* Daisy and Ryke’s story is seriously going to rock my socks off. But anyway, the three of them plus Daisy’s friends have gone on a yacht to Mexico for Daisy’s birthday, and this was seriously the funniest part of the book. Lily is already a hilarious narrator, but with Ryke, the abrasive, rude, no-words-held-back guy, on vacation with her? Best thing ever. But I loved that even with the hysterics, Ryke truly does have a positive influence on Lily, and supports her throughout her abstinence.

“One,” I say in a small voice. “I will not look at porn.”
“I thought this was supposed to be a proclamation.” Ryke rocks on the balls of his feet. He leans forward and says, “I can’t even hear you.”
“Say it like you mean it,” Rose agrees with a supportive nod.
“Scream it,” Connor adds.
“I will not look at porn!” …
“Two. I will not masturbate!” …
“Three. I will not be compulsive about sex!” …
“And four,” I pause as I look at these final words. They mean the absolute most to me. “I will not cheat on Loren Hale!”

And so month by month, Lily tries her hardest to not have sex. She has the unwavering support of Rose, Connor, and Ryke, and she’s even started seeing a therapist. We also get to see various flashbacks of when Lily and Lo were younger, and they are so freaking adorable together. But with these flashbacks, we also see vaguely how Lily became addicted to sex. There are uphills and downhills for Lily and Lo in the past and the present, but at least now they’re choosing to fight their addictions and fight for each other.

No guy touched me. I didn’t touch them. Sex was the last thing on my mind tonight.
Each day feels like an obstacle.
And a victory.

Ricochet is more of a companion book to the series, but I’d still highly recommend reading it. There are things in Ricochet that are mentioned in Addicted for Now (book 2), and the storylines for Rose and Connor, and Daisy and Ryke build up more in this book. Ricochet takes place during those three months Lily and Lo are apart because of rehab, and we get to see how Lily copes without her lifeline. Fans of the series won’t be disappointed with Ricochet.

This book – and series – is the bomb. Seriously.

Reading Order: Addicted series

#1 ~ Addicted to You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Ricochet: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Addicted for Now: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.1 (Calloway Sisters #1) ~ Kiss the Sky: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.2 (Calloway Sisters #2) ~ Hothouse Flower: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.5 ~ Thrive: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Addicted After All: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.1 (Calloway Sisters #3) ~ Fuel the Fire: My Review •˜ Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.2 (Calloway Sisters #4) ~ Long Way Down: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.5 (Calloway Sisters #4.5) ~ Some Kind of Perfect: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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