5 SMOOCHES!
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SYNOPSIS:
The feud between Weston Lockwood and me started at the altar.
Only neither of us attended the wedding, and the nuptials happened decades before either of us was born.
Our grandfathers had been best friends and business partners, at least up until my grandfather’s wedding day—when his bride-to-be blurted out she couldn’t marry him because she was also in love with Weston‘s grandfather.
The two men spent years fighting over Grace Copeland, who also happened to be their third business partner. But in the end, neither man could steal half of her heart away from the other.
Eventually, they all went their separate ways. Our grandfathers married other women, and the two men became one of the biggest business rivals in history.
Our fathers continued the family tradition of feuding. And then Weston and I did, too.
For the most part, we kept as much distance as possible.
Until the day the woman who started the feud died—and unexpectedly left one of the most valuable hotels in the world to our grandfathers to share.
Now I’m stuck in a hotel with the man I was born to hate, trying to unravel the mess our families inherited.
As usual, it didn’t take long for us to be at each other’s throats.
Weston Lockwood was everything I hated: tall, smart, cocky, and too gorgeous for his own good. We were fire and ice.
But that shouldn’t be an issue. Our families were used to being at war. There was just one minor problem, though. Every time Weston and I fought, we somehow wound up in bed.
REVIEW:
I was all in on Vi Keeland’s enemies-to-lovers workplace romance right from the start. The Rivals, aptly titled, pits Sophia Sterling and Weston Lockwood in a competitive position as they co-manage a hotel bequeathed to both of their families by the woman who caused the rift between them.
With a bit of a love-to-hate-you vibe, Sophia and Weston’s relationship is complicated. The animosity coursing between them is just as thick as the lust, and more often than not, their arguments end with them ripping off each other’s clothes instead of ripping into each other. As they get to know each other, though, something between them shifts with the realization that, perhaps, they have more in common than either of them realized. They both bring a lot of baggage to the table, however, and trust doesn’t come easy for either of them.
Sophia’s father is a horrible human being, and the damage he’s caused colors her views on relationships and herself. Weston didn’t exactly have it any better with his heartbreaking history. As they bonded over their awful families and fantastic sex, the connection they shared turned from physical to emotional, and I felt all the feels as I rooted for these two to clear their hurdles together.
The Rivals was a deliciously layered and complex romance, and I loved Weston and Sophia’s banter and vulnerability. A forbidden romance with a bit of a Romeo and Juliet vibe, The Rivals is one of Vi’s steamiest romances to date. I positively devoured this book, and my heart ached, raced and soared as I cheered Sophia and Weston on the whole way. Five smooches from me for The Rivals by Vi Keeland!
~Danielle Palumbo
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