4 Smooches!

Synopsis

She’s careful, but wants to be reckless.
She’s cute, but wants to be sexy.
She’s innocent, but wants to be bad.

When ex-Olympic gymnast, Adaley Knight wakes on her eighteenth birthday she only has one wish, to leave the only town she’s ever known and start fresh.

Finding herself enrolled at a college across the globe, the once modest Adaley is almost unrecognizable. Her new persona dances on the wild side by sinking her teeth into the first bad boy she sees. The only problem is he’s not the least bit interested.

Ryle Benson, baseball extraordinaire and brooding campus bad boy keeps everyone at an arms length. Things have never come easy for him and the last thing he needs is getting involved with any female.

The tables are reversed as she tries to be bad, tempting fate, and he tries to fight his. The push and pull is half the fun. But what happens when one pushes a little too hard?

Review

Adaley had her life mapped out for her; gymnastics, gymnastics and gymnastics. Until an injury turned that dream into a nightmare and she decides she has to escape her safe boyfriend and preacher father and go to university away from anyone she knows. When she gets there she meets her match in the form of Ryle. A guy she feels instant attraction for but who by his own admission is bad news, with demons he doesn’t want anyone to know about. Will these two help fix each other or will they tear each other apart?

“I’m frightened that he—anyone—will see me for what I am. A poser. A girl who’s desperately trying to be something she’s not.”

This was a really enjoyable read; it was entertaining, thrilling, funny, romantic and with an absolute shocker of an ending that you will never see coming!

“He was no longer a scared little boy fighting through the depths of other people’s depravity just to survive. He was Ryle Benson, baseball extraordinaire.  He was a survivor.”

I did love Adaley’s character, she was brave and had courage in her decision to move away and start new and she wasn’t going to let anyone walk over her. She had a fierce and sassy personality that was easily likeable. There were some moments when I wanted her to be stronger and stand tall like she had been but these moments were rare and she always came back to her independent and strong character. Her story moved me, I felt her pain when her dream died and I admired her drive to still make something of her life!

“Our story is just beginning. Don’t ruin it with tales from the past,” he rasps into my ear.”

I adored Ryle!! I loved his moody side, I loved his funny side, I loved his caring side. He was complex but with very good reason and the broodiness just made him intriguing and sexy. Yes supporting characters were great as well! I loved the brother and sister; they added some much needed lighter elements to the story and I’m actually really excited to get Taylor’s story.

“We can’t stay broken forever. I won’t make it through another day without you. We can’t sort this out together unless we forgive one another for our mistakes.”

The plot was unique in a way; I had never met a character with Adaley’s back story. The romance side was both sweet and sad, exciting and unexpected and we had little bits of everything; drama, laughter, sadness and the complete and utter surprise of an ending. I have to say I didn’t love the ending, I understand why the author wrote it that way but for me it was too sudden, there was no build up and it happened in the last page of the story…just like BANG, there’s the ending and then epilogue.

“My heart was black before you came into my life. It was tainted by a past that taught me far too much about life in a short period of time, but you changed it back to a vibrant red.”

Overall though this was a perfect summer read for those wanting a romance with an edge.

~Bethany

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