5 Smooches
Synopsis
It’s time. Time to tell the truth. Time to face her past and step into her future.
Starting with Van.
Cory will wait to the beat of the ticking clock for him to come back. To see what she’s done and make the final judgment. As much as she holds onto the small hope that he’ll still want her, she’s ready for rejection, ready for the pain. As ready as she can be, at least.
It’s time to make things right, not only with Van, but with Jill. With Jade. With everything.
No more running.
Review
“You were right. I don’t know you at all. You aren’t the girl I thought you were. That girl wouldn’t do something this fucked up.”
Do you ever just get so eager to read something that you abandon your current book just to jump straight into the new one? That was how I felt when Hardcore Vol 3 showed up on my kindle! I have been eagerly awaiting the conclusion to this story ever since I first took a chance on an author I had never read before and I am so glad I did. The Hardcore series is a gripping and raw look into the inner city youth and what is needed to just to survive. Finding love in a place where survival is the mission can be hard . . .but not impossible.
“I trust Jace about as much as I trust a pissed off koala bear.” “Koala Bears are adorable.” “No, they’re rapey assholes cracked out on eucalyptus, and will eat your face off.” “Oh, Well, that definitely sounds a lot more like Jace.”
The drama is at a pentacle in this third and final installment in this series. While Cory’s conscience is clearing a bit after coming clean with the lies and deceit her heart is breaking with the rejection Van deservingly throws at her. She knows she deserves all that is happening but that does not make it hurt less. While I loved watching the story of Van and Cory unfold the high point of this story for me was seeing Jade finally start to get what is coming to her. She is a conniving bitch and I hated her from the moment I met her. Cory has grown so much in just the short span on these 3 books. She has always been a bit selfless, in how she takes care of Jill, but now as she falls in love and sees all that there is to lose she even starts to reconsider the way she has gone about everything.
“He made me feel connected and grounded when I’ve spent my whole life running away. As unstable as my life’s been, he just showed me how to be . . . I don’t know. More.”
Staci does a fantastic job of delivering a story with characters that make you feel, men that make you wet and action that makes your heart race! While I am sad to close the book (lol I love a pun) on Jade and Van I am excited to see what Staci has in store for us next!
~miranda
