Wild Like Us

Like Us #8

by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

One is new to love. One is bad at love. One denies love.
Twenty-one-year-old, foul-mouthed Olympian, Sullivan Meadows, just made a huge mistake. She told her bodyguards-her buddies, her pals-they could take her virginity. Words forever engrained in her brain.
And theirs.
Akara Kitsuwon & Banks Moretti are best friends, sworn to protect each other and their client Sullivan. But upon hearing her confession, their reactions aren't what Sulli expects.
They're all friends anyway.
Just friends.
Solid, good friends.
Right?
As the three embark on the road to Yellowstone, tension builds and close quarters leave no secrets behind. Feelings for her childhood friendship with Akara-that teasing, flirty leader-grow hotter, but so do her feelings for Banks, the rugged, heart-melting Marine.
While Sulli is out west to free-solo her dad's old climbing routes, the only true destination the three of them are certain of is Yellowstone.
Love & romance are totally up in the air.

Wild Like Us is an MFM Romance and Book 8 in the Like Us Series.

Genres: Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, New Adult, Contemporary Romance, M F M, Bodyguard Romance

462 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 2020

About the author

NYT & USA Today Bestselling Authors Krista & Becca Ritchie are identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

To stay up to date on new releases, bonus content, and more, sign up for Krista & Becca's Newsletter: www.kbritchie.com/newsletter

Quick note: We don't check Goodreads, so we don't respond to messages here. But if you want to connect with Becca or me, you can reach out to us on our social medias or at our website: www.kbritchie.com

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Fans of Krista & Becca's Books:
♥ Join Krista & Becca's Fizzle Force Facebook group.
♥ Inspiration for the Addicted series can be found on their Pinterest boards.
♥ Find playlists for all of their books on Spotify
♥ Check out all of their extras! Including: bonus scenes, character interviews, fun posts and more on their Extras page.

Reviews

[Kaitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

i don't think i can ever put this lightly. when i say i'm disappointed, i really fucking mean it. i've dedicated over three? years of my life and SO MUCH fucking love to these two authors (i even own the $100+ book set just because I loved them THAT much), and even more so to akara and sullivan's love story. i don't know what vendetta the writers have against people who love kitsulli—from blocking their supporters from facebook groups to publicly shaming them—but this is not how you treat your readers.

you don't bait us from the get-go by saying that the first book will be three povs, only to have it become one. to them after all, each second generation kid would have one book. then it became four for maximoff hale and his bodyguard, farrow keene, despite lgbtq readers telling them time and time again that it felt like fetishization. and then after some time, another two m/m book are announced, pushing sulli's to the eighth release. imagine supporting a series who promised you that your book would be third (when it was supposed to be first! haha!), before seeing it get delayed and delayed to make room for more m/m fetishization.

you don't get to treat us like trash by blocking us from your facebook group and sending a grown woman to harass a teenager online, and then making fun of us in LIVESTREAMS and in your goddamn novel. yes, we were mocked in the fucking book as being crazed shippers.

you don't bait us by deliberately hiding who sulli's love interest would be: jack or akara. lovers like us was promoted HEAVILY on the fact that we would find out sulli's endgame. you confirmed it, wrote us little scenes that made our hearts swoon, and then all of a sudden, going completely against sullivan's character, personality and overall person..you plan to put her in a polyamorous relationship with someone she barely interacts with? it makes no sense. sulli has said from the first book that she wants a love like her parents, that she wants someone she can undoubtedly trust and look towards. she's never been kissed and never even interacted romantically with a guy outside their social circle, but all of a sudden she's in a poly relationship? you literally told readers in a livestream that akara was created for the sole purpose of being sullivan's love interest because jack wouldn't work. then now it suddenly isn't enough and a third dude has to be added.

this doesn't make any sense whatsoever. it's a complete disrespect towards the meadows family, the characters, the READERS who have dealt with the bullshit these authors have thrown at us from day one....and then they shove it back into our faces as if we don't matter. as if the only opinions that matter are those of the 40 year old women who fetishize gay men in their facebook group. it's an embarrassment that i dedicated so many years of my life to supporting krista and becca when they act like this.

oh, and before they fool you by saying this was planned long ago, take a look at the placeholder cover and synopsis (UPDATE: that they changed after i posted this review. HAH). AKARA AND SULLI. No Banks, no mention of any third party....just Akara and Sulli. because that was what was promised to EVERYONE. but when a white woman cries that she wants a poly relationship between two men and a woman, kbr are so quick to appease her by turning their first love interest of color into a prop to fetishize. it's incredibly disrespectful. and again, UPDATE, they are now trying to guilt trip people who give this book one star by saying "akara has to have his face next to a low rating." when they never even gave a fuck about him.

let me be clear by saying that none of us are upset about the presence of a poly ship. we are upset and validly so because these authors have baited us for years with a sulli and akara endgame. these two writers have attempted to justify that they didn't want to spoil it, but that is not at all the case. this is a clear payback for those who don't agree with their actions.

it baffles me how anyone thinks what they're doing is a good idea. while i may not have graduated college or gotten my degree yet, it's so easy to see that none of their business decisions are smart. let me break it down for you:

1.) they changed the covers of the calloway SISTERS series to shirtless men to boost sales, which goes against the whole women empowerment thing that their own characters have got going on (is this also not prioritizing quantity over quality?)

2.) they alienated and shamed readers and allowed a toxic environment like their fb group to post porn links that "remind them" of their gay ship while at the same time blocking and removing lgbtq members who say that these kinds of comments are harmful bc "they don't see the problem in it." krista and becca, the two of you are in a position of power as AUTHORS. why are you making fun of readers on your public platforms like your fb group, podcasts, livestreams, and in the goddamn novels instead of telling your toxic followers to read about the concerns people have? the two of you are perpetuating the hate that you say you want to stop.

3.) they baited readers out of spite (seriously, everyone can see this bit. if you can't, then i don't even know what to tell you anymore) and attempted to reduce valid concerns as "negativity to block out" because it wasn't good for their mental health. you know what isn't good for mental health? calling people who speak out against you "crazy" and encouraging that kind of behavior by not banning those who go out of their way to harass these readers on a completely different social media platform.

TLDR: what the fuck have they done with the ghostwriters of the addicted series?? *sprinkles fairy dust* will the real authors stand up?

[Sherna · Rating 1 out of 5]

KBR is only writing for middle-aged white soccer moms who have a fetish for m/m and poly relationships (instead of wanting actual representation and diversity) because their husbands can't f*ck them properly.

Kitsulli was the last good thing about this spinoff and now they're ruined. After SLU, I'm not gonna read anymore KBR books. Can't believe these are the same people who gave me Lily, Lo, Rose, Connor, Daisy, and Ryke.

[Wendys Wycked Words · Rating 4 out of 5]

After actually reading:

I absolutely loved this book and the characters. I am gonna be honest, in the beginning, I was all team Akara, but then my interest shifted to Banks and now I am fully team Akara & Banks.

I love how slowly these two guys came to realize that they also love each other. And no, I don't mean that in a romantic way, because so far, they don't have any sexual feelings towards one another... But they do care about the other deeply and I think that is a real "must" when you are in a polyamorous relationship.

I am actually a tad bit disappointed that these two men are not romantically attracted to one another. I am a bigger fan of MMF than MFM. I love seeing the men being with both the girl and each other. I think Sulli is one freaking lucky lady, to be the filling in that awesome sandwich. To have two men loving and protecting you like that... The ending had my eyes practically falling out of my head, because I didn't trust what I was reading LOL... Sulli sure does have some balls ;)

The only problem I do have with these books is the wait. Now I will have to wait months for the conclusion of that cliffy and since there will be three books, I am sure the next one will end on a cliffhanger as well. I am not a fan of those. I gave up on plenty of books in the past because I was kept waiting too long after a cliffhanger. For me... stand-alone stories are a preference. I will however make an exception for these authors though, since they haven't let me down in the past.

..4 stars because I am guessing things will only get better from here on out..


Before reading:

Wow.... a Banks, Akara and Sulli pairing. Did not see that coming. But hey I really like Akara and Banks and I wouldn't mind being in the middle of their sandwich so I am guessing Sulli won't mind either :P

All the more power to her !! Go get em, girl ;) Can't wait to see how this works out.

I have not so long ago read a book in a series that I love that went a certain way I didn't expect and I didn't like it one bit....That said, I still acknowledge the fact that it is the author's decision to do with the books and the characters as they please, not mine. And I still respect the hell out of that author...

We can't all love and agree with everything...and that's fine. I understand some people are very angry, I mean I am an Akara and Sulli shipper myself, so I do get it. I just have faith that the authors are gonna rock this book and that Banks, Akara and Sulli will be awesome and sweet together.

[Phuong ✯ · Rating 1 out of 5]

It still blows my mind that the Like Us series and the Calloway Sisters series is written by the same authors, the writing is like worlds apart! While I never made it a secret that I'm not a fan of the Like Us series at all, never in my memories was the writing this bad. WLU had so many cringy moments.

I'm sorry if this review is very confusing and messy. I'm just trying to write down every thoughts I have about this book, which I have A LOT of. If you think this has no structure, you're absolutely right.
Everything in the following review is me elaborating what susana already conluded in 15 words. She had like the BEST summary for WLU.



Here a family tree to get familiar with all of these characters. I'm going to name a few and it could be quite confusing.


When KBR announced that Sulli and Akara (Kitsulli) are going to be one of the poly couples in this series, I was SHOCKED! It has always been Sulli and Akara for so long and suddenly OUT OF NOWHERE they throw Bank into the mix, say it was planned from the start and that the previous books hinted at it. Frankly, I read all of the books prior to the announcement and I can not find any hints and I'm not the only one here so don't come @ me. (If you mean the one line were Banks says "I like tall girls" okaayy bye what a ✨great✨ foreshadowing!!) I was mostly shocked, because it doesn't make any sense to me. Sullivan Meadows is the eldest daughter of Ryke and Daisy. All her life her only love was swimming and competing in the Olympics. At 21 years old, she had exactly one relationship, she's a virgin and doesn't have any experience that goes beyond kissing and you want to tell me it makes sense to throw THAT character in a poly relationship?? I have absolutely nothing against poly relationship. Love is love. You can be together with how many people you want as long it's concensual. All I'm asking is to make it believable and it wasn't the case here. Also yes, it's the author's characters and books and they can do whatever they want with it, but then STOP leading people along saying this couple is established and then in book #5 throw in the twist that the m/f couple is going to turn poly. That's just plain shitty.

I, personally, just don't like to read books about poly relationships. I'm already having a hard time connecting to TWO main characters and then you tell me I have to open my heart for three characters or more? That's not happening. 🤷🏽‍♀️ That's not how it's working, but I was willing to give this book a try and go in open minded. Even though I wasn't thrilled with the poly ship, I was never invested in the Kitsulli ship, so while it doesn't make any sense for Sulli's character to be in a poly relationship, I was open to how this M/F/M would turn out. And I wasn't wrong LOL it was like this was Sullibanks book and Akara was just some side character third wheeling hard even though he is on the over 😂 I do not care about any of these characters enough to be pissed, but this book is one big "FUCK YOU" to all the Kitsulli stans who have been waiting for this book forever. The way these authors do Akara, the only POC character, so dirty is a joke. So I think the 1 star for this book would be more than justified seeing how Akara was was treated.

Banks has the first kiss with Sulli, first one f*ngering her, first one to eat out her p*ussy, first one Sulli offers a blowjob, first one whom Sulli says "I love you" to. Score Banks: 370
Akara on the other hand is the one who is the first to take Sulli's virginity and why? Because he has the SMALLER dick.. Thanks for giving into the cliche that Asians have smaller dicks compared to white dudes 😬 it's not because Sulli wanted Akara to be the first, it was only because he had a smaller dick compared to Banks and it would hurt her less. So can you really call this a win? I don't think so. When Akara and Sulli kisses for the first time, she's stopping the kiss after a short time, cause she felt bad, because a day earlier, she made out with Banks and they haven't told Akara yet. When they share a moment together, they are getting cockblocked by Charlie. Basically every time she shares time with Akara, she thinks of Banks and doesn't want him to feel bad that she is with Akara. Score Akara: -74

Banks is first to help me. He takes my hand and places my palm on top of his boxer-briefs. My fingers curl around his rock-hard shaft. Fuck, he’s much harder than my nipples. Akara clasps my right hand and slides my palm up to his thigh, then his crotch. His bulge is beyond firm. I stroke him twice, and his muscles contract.

Don't tell me this is not beyond insulting how Sulli describes Banks hard on as ROCK-HARD and HARDER THAN HER NIPPLES and when she touches Akara's crotch, it's just his bulge IS BEYOND FIRM?! Akara sweetie, I'm sorry you are getting dragged through the mud 😬

Even the Akara's chapter were there to praise Banks and make him look better. When Akara and Sulli talk they talk about Banks. KBR tried so hard to make Banks look likable and the perfect fit for Sulli. To the point that I had the feeling if Sulli had to chose who to rescue in a fire Akara or Banks, she would hands down pick Banks. Akara being in the denial for so long and seeing Sulli as his "little sister". STAHP!! PLS MAKE IT STOP 😭😭😭 that's why most of the time I can't stand the friends-to-lovers trope, cause I hate to read about how they grew up with the heroine when she was underage and viewed them as their "sister", family member or whatever, but we all know it's complete bullshit. Also Akara's personality is so boring, blank, non existent? His personality is like a fish on land. Barely there.

It honestly was so funny to me how forced it was but i'm not complaining. It was peak entertainment, because as I said, I do not care about any of them and was just along for the ride.
Having said that, THAT'S NOT HOW YOU WRITE A POLY RELATIONSHIP! And what a disservice to one of their characters.

Next Sullivan Meadows. Her POV must be one of the worst female POV I have ever read. Sometimes I thought she was Banks or Akara, because she talks like a frat boy. The cursing (do you know how many times the word "fucking" was mentioned? 478 times!!!), the crude sexual jokes nah. The second generation should have stayed children, cause as adults they don't have much personality. It's like KBR wanted to write a carbon coby of Ryke Meadows with the swearing, love for sports (swimming, rock-climbing) and being adventurous, but other than that there is not much to her. And she's one of the most awkward person omg the amount of times I got second hand embarrassment. RIP.

Akara’s brown eyes twinkle, his lips lifting as he looks to Banks, his six-foot-seven Italian-American friend. “You hear that running water?” Banks cracks a smile at me. “You mean the waterfall between her legs?” I’d probably laugh if I weren’t so afraid of wetting myself. “Hardy-har-har.”

How old are these people? 12? HARDY-HAR-HAR.

One scene Sulli want to talk to Akara at 4 am. She knocks on the door and Banks open it and tells her to wait in the kitchen, cause Akara is still busy. He was having sex with someone in his room and came down later. This is what she says:

He checks over his shoulder. “Can we go in the hall to chat?” Someone’s in his room. He’s not sweating from weightlifting like I’d been doing. Sex. He was 100% having sex. The fact settles heavy in my stomach for some strange reason. Am I seeing mid-fuck Akara right now? Or is this his post-nut high? My thoughts aren’t making this any better. A knot twists inside me. “Um…” I stumble for a second before settling on a decision. “You know what, it can wait. You go back to Bone Town. Finish strong.”

HIS POST-nut HIGH? WHAT? Excuse me what?? 😂😂😂 And telling the guy you're crushing on "you go back to bone town. Finish strong" AHAHAHAHAHAH AFLKDASJFLKSAFLKD ICANTSTOPLAUGHIN 😂 😂 😂 😂 What sorcery is this?

That's not even where Sulli stops with her awkwardness. No she had to go one step further waaay over the line.

I tuck my water bottle under my arm. Step away from the freezer. And try to salvage what’s left here. So I nudge his arm. “I hope you gave her an orgasm. Rocked her world. Stroked her clit. All that good stuff.”

PLEease stahhpt!!! I did not read that 😭😭😭

And then Akara shared this beautiful detail we all wanted to know <3

Banks lifts his head. “Yeah, Akara.” Humor laces his voice. “You stroke that clit?” Akara smiles, flips off Banks, then turns to me. He opens his mouth. Closes it. Rethinking. Before he says, “If you really want to know, I made her come four times. So you can stop worrying about that.”

Sänk ju weryy musch for sharing this with us. It's a gift I will always honor knowing that you gave that Jenny girl four orgasm 🥴

You know what else sucks? THE PLOT! This whole book was just Sulli, Akara and Banks going from moving from on camp to another, because Sulli wanted to rock climb some of her father's older routes. All they do is camp, climb, shower, cook, drive, shower, sleep, camp. That's it. All the while Sulli is dating Akara and Banks at the same time and at the end of their roadtrip she needs to decide who she wants to be together. While they shower or in the tent, they all starting these different sexually explorations with Sulli in the middle and it was weird.

There was a particular scene I hated so much. Sulli, Banks and Akara were in the forest and then out of nowhere a cougar jumps on Akara's back and he takes a knife and repetitively stabs the animal to death. As if that wasn't enough, another cougar goes after Sulli and she takes her gun and shots the animal. I hated the animal abuse and yeah i now it was self defence. It was either them or the cougars and they had to do it, but WAS THIS SCENE REALLY NECESSARY? This was only created to bring some drama in and I hated it. Also how white was it that all of them had a gun to shot these animals.

Another thing that pissed me so off is that they missed Jane and Thatcher's wedding ceremony, because they got stuck. Moffy and Farrow had four books, one book alone about their whole wedding and Jane and Thatcher couldn't even get ONE wedding scene? NOOO, Banks who is Thatcher's twin and his best man had to miss it, because Sulli's Jeep broke down on the way back and they couldn't catch a flight. I thought maybe we would get Jane and Thatcher's wedding vows in Sulli's book if we don't see it in their own book, but noo of course not, because the only couple that exists in this series is Maximoff and Farrow. All the other couples are not relevant enough to get some screentime.


WHY DO I GIVE THIS BOOK 2 STARS

CHARLIE COBALT. The only reason why I keep reading the Like Us series even though I don't really like any of these books. These little crumbs of him make it (somehow) bearable. I don't even know if I want to Charlie to have his own books, cause I've never meet authors that are this petty. The way they sidlined Akara and Kitsulli in this book? They would now the Kitsulli stans would be more than pissed and that was their way to make them even more pissed. I already feel like they hate Charlie too, cause the way they always try to make Charlie as the bad guy and villainize him. Charlie i love you and you are the best thing that came out of this series <3

He didn't make much of an appearance, but when he came and saw Kitulli kissing? Well.. He finally had something to blackmail Sulli about. Background story for those who haven't read Like Us series. Sulli and Beckett (Charlie's twin) were best friends, but Beckett was using drugs to push his ballett performances and when Sulli found out, she broke contact with Beckett. Charlie was telling Sulli that if she doesn't call Beckett every day, he would tell everyone about Sulli and Akara. Go Charlie!! I love people who meddle into other people's life as long as it's not mine. 😌

Did I already say how entertaining I found this book? I couldn't stop laughing. It was so funny to me. The writing, the cringy dialogues, the forced chemistry between Sulli and Banks. Because I didn't take any of this too seriously, it was ✨ comedy gold ✨.

I loved the few Raisy crumbs that were in this books, the Sulli and Winona scenes were nice too. After all I started the Like Us series, because I wanted to see the Core 6 as parents. The kids don't even hold a candle to their parents.

[Wil Loves Books!]

Oh boy, the pettiness of some people when it comes to these books is at an all time high these days.
I respect an author’s right to do whatever they want with their characters, they created them.
If I don’t like something, I simply don’t read it and move on. The childlike ridiculousness and the 1 star reviews will not change anyone’s mind, especially the authors! Unfollow, unfriend and move on girls!

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

One is new to love.
One is bad at love.
One denies love.

I was so excited to get to Sullivan Meadows book, but when I heard what direction the authors were taking her story, I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I shouldn’t have been though. Krista & Becca did an amazing job with her story and I’m so happy to report that this one worked for me!

Sulli is twenty one and going on a trip of a life time. She’s going to free-climb in Yellowstone, just like her dad. And she’s taking her bodyguards, Akara and Banks along with her. The road trip is a little awkward at first, as Sulli may have recently brought up one of them taking her virginity. Both are attracted to Sulli, but it’s a complicated situation to make a move.

One of my favorite things about this story was the friendship between Akara and Banks. They both care about Sulli so much and even though they both want her, they care about each others feelings as well. I don’t know what to say about the dynamic between the three of them, aside from the fact that it just worked. It felt natural and right for them.

The problem with these types of stories and me is that even though you aren’t supposed to have teams, I always do. I can’t help myself. Team Banks here! Of course I adored Sulli and Kits, but Banks was by far my favorite in the book!

I loved getting more from not only Sulli, but the rest of the Hale, Cobalt, and Meadows clan. I’m so excited to get more from these characters and the families. The next book can’t come soon enough. That ending… gah! If you’re on the fence with reading this one, I recommend you give it a go. I was so glad I did!

[simran · Rating 1 out of 5]

TWO WORDS : FUCK YOU

this isn't how your normalize poly relationships.

sulli sweetie, you deserve better imma get you outta there

[Justina · Rating 5 out of 5]

All you negative people are assholes. Their books are great so just let it be. Everyone anticipated Akara and Sulli, right? Right! So they changed it up and made it more interesting for us. Read the book when it comes out and then comment. And for those who think KB Ritchie don’t respect the LGBT community? For real? What books of theirs are you reading? Because I feel majority of their books fully support that community. Middle aged women? I’m not even going to comment. A book is a book; it’s going to be amazing, beautiful, romantic, sexy, and true to the series we ALL love. Because let’s be real. It’s KB-MOTHERFUCKING-RITCHIE!

P.S. I’ve never written a review before. But because people are being negative and disrespectful to one of my favorite author duos BEFORE EVEN READING THE BOOK I felt it was necessary! KB RITCHIE FOR LIFE! ADDICTED FOR LIFE! LIKE US FOR LIFE!

[ava. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just because you don’t like the stans of a ship doesn’t give you the right to completely change the dynamic of a ship you confirmed over A YEAR AGO just to spite them. Not only was adding banks to kitsulli unplanned (those who argue foreshadowing need to understand that foreshadowing =\= development) but it was only written for straight old women to flick their clits and fetishize to. Do better.

(This is not a hate to poly relationships, only a hate to kbr’s lack of respect for their ACTUAL target audience)

[Lanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's been hours since i finished and i can't stop thinking about this book! May 2021 is so far away!

[ala · Rating 1 out of 5]

kitsulli had the best buddyguard/client relationship build-up in the entire Like Us series. It was the most anticipated and fan favorite on twitter. The fact that kbr decided to suddenly make them a poly relationship is completely ooc. I mean akara is the one bodyguard who abides by the rules AND there were many mentions of sulli wanting a singular love like her parents.

It’s not secret kbr has disliked kitsulli fans since the moment any hint of their relationship surfaced. they have constantly put them down, blocking them out of the facebook group, calling them bully’s, etc. Now when someone asked if they were ever gonna write a poly relationship kbr’s reply was that they’ve THOUGHT about it but if there is it won’t be until later on down the road. Then all of a sudden, they mention that they’ve had 2 poly dynamics PLANNED since the beginning??

kbr has a history of fetishizing lgbt+ relationships. Their fb group is just a page where older women share M/M porn and report actual lgbt people who feel offended by said post. They’ve constantly told others that their opinion don’t matter and if they’re offended by it, to ignore it or leave the group. you may think that kbr adding this dynamic to their books is healthy and relatable and FINALLY someone’s talking about it, but it’s not. It’s toxic and kbr wouldn’t know how to write a real life poly experience without conforming it to appeal to middle aged moms and defending those who fetishize it.

[Cristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

kitsulli deserved more.
Too bad you are only writing for fetishes ....

[Jaye Berry · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I finally read it!!! And it was worse than I could have imagined!!

Also hilarious entertainment like girl WHAT. First the book is so completely boring. The plot is literally just Sulli wants to free solo climb the mountains her father did back in the day. So this just means Sulli and her TWO bodyguards (why does she even have two bodyguards) are camping and traveling, basically just dicking around the entire time while making out.

This is really just Sulli and Banks romance tho with Akara just third wheeling??? 😭 The authors hate him so bad and it's so obvious like what did he ever do to them, damn. The poly relationship was so half assed like bruh Akara existed just to prop Banks up while being second best. Banks got all the firsts and the only reason Akara is the one to take her virginity is because he's SMALLER THAN BANKS.

If she had picked Banks in the end instead of them both I would have gone "ah makes sense"

I truly do not get the obsession with Banks like I will give he had slightly more personality than Thatcher but I actually hate that dude so lol. Absolutely has me GAGGED that we don't even get to see Jane and Thatcher's wedding in this?? Meanwhile Moffy and Farrow got four books, one literally just about their wedding. Awful!!


—---

preread rant:

"Akara Kitsuwon & Sullivan Meadows & Banks Moretti's romance."

I didn't want to be one of those who rate a book low and rant before it even comes out but I really just can't let this go and I have to be That Bitch.


First off, I know authors can write whatever they want and these characters belong to them. But to watch a series that I loved so much from authors that I loved so much go down into the shitter sucks and I'm too salty to not rant about it.


Akara and Sulli were confirmed years ago. I loved every interaction they had together in the other books and I couldn't wait for their book! Until they just kept getting pushed back... and back. Then another couple who we barely even knew were added on before them?? Meanwhile Kitsulli was shoved last in line but oh of course Moffy and Farrow have four books... why? (lol we know why and it has to do with two hot dudes and their constant sex)


At the release of Sinful Like Us, it was confirmed that Sulli would be in a relationship with Akara AND Banks instead of just with Akara. First off what the fuck? Second off what the fuck? I do not have a problem with a poly relationship. I have a problem with this poly relationship and how they pulled a bait and switch to Kitsulli shippers with a bullshit surprise reveal that is out of character for all of them.


It's so funny because I could get behind a poly written by them but Kitsulli was already established and promised. To add on fucking BANKS of all people too?? He doesn't even have a personality and is only seen when he is with his brother. He's literally just Thatcher 2.0 which says nothing because Thatcher is boring as hell.


LoVe cOmEs iN aLl fOrMs they say as they refuse to ever write a f/f but go off on 6 out of 8 books just for m/m sex scenes and a fucking poly relationship. Come on. Also I'm not saying anything but I'm also saying it's pretty interesting and awful how the first time we get a poc male love interest... he has to share... with a white guy. *Sips tea*


I've supported these authors for years and I've loved everything they've written but this is just not it. This is too much and a slap in the face. Their reasoning was apparently they always planned for Sulli to have a poly relationship?? That's actual bullshit. There were ZERO FUCKING SIGNS until book #5 when they decided to do this relationship.


They are catering to a specific fanbase of their horny fb group and that's it. That group is seriously just horny women posting pictures of hot dudes and fetishizing everything (especially gay men). One question asking for a poly relationship and wow, suddenly Kitsulli has an opening! Sulli has never even TALKED to Banks before SLU and now we're supposed to believe that was always in the plans? Fuck no.


This is probably a long enough review for a book that isn't out yet that I haven't even read but Kitsulli was set up as pure and soft best friends to lovers and I'm mourning what could have been. Fuck that lmao throw this entire book away.

[senna · Rating 1 out of 5]

spoilers abound

- the one star is for kitsulli, sulli and fam moments, and akara and meadows fam moments only 💕
- bc other than that this book doesn’t even deserve to have any stars. not even negative ones. it’s so shitty

tldr: even tho this is akara’s romance too, kb do everything in their power to erase kitsulli and all their years of history together and even use akara’s pov for the banks hype party to replace him with banks bc they clearly hate akara and kitsulli fans, who are rightfully angry with the decisions they’ve made. like if they didn’t want them together they shouldn’t have made them out from the beginning and market them and only them for years.

fuck you krista and becca. fuck. you.

let me start off by saying that i was willing to give this the benefit of the doubt (I WAS, I REALLY WAS. because i am a whore for reverse harem/poly books) and hope that krista and becca’s ghostwriters from the addicted series and aerial ethereal series would return. they didn’t. and even though this is supposed to be half of a kitsulli book, it’s more like one big fuck you kitsulli stans book. because i mean, i knew when it was announced that sulli was getting three books, it was going to be because they needed to build her relationship with banks since he was thrown into the mix about one book ago, after selling kitsulli and kitsulli only for YEARS after they shut down sulli and jack stans, and they didn’t have any kind of relationship previous to this book like kb like to make it seem. i mean they literally don’t even know the basics about each other. but this. this is just another disrespect on top of everything else they’ve done to their readers within their fb group and on their social media.
- to have sulli, with no previous relationship with banks at all, get naked with him first? for her to kiss him first? TO EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SHE LIKES HIM FIRST??? TO HAVE HIM BE SO MANY OF HER FIRST REAL SEXUAL (ie. the fingering, the eating her out) EXPERIENCES WITH A GUY??? SAYING I LOVE YOU TO HIM FIRST??????????????? over akara, with whom she’s had a relationship with for 7+ years??? and for them to have about 4 scenes alone together when it’s also their book?? if that’s not even more of a fuck you than lj shen’s naming-his-child-after-his-rapist fuck you to rape victims across the world then i really don’t know what is.
- not to mention the fact that banks has zero personality bc newsflash, being a bodyguard, a twin, a mechanic, and having headaches is not a personality trait and actually makes it seem like him and sulli are only a pity pairing. you know, that pairing when the main only gets with someone because they’re sick and feel guilty? it’s like that. and the way the victimize banks all the time to try to make me feel bad for him because he’s second to thatcher and second in everything? nice try but you two did write him as an add-on at the last minute, so no i don’t feel for him at all. he’s actually very boring.
- and where did him being in love with her from the start come from???? they didn’t even interact EVER until now????? like him being jealous and competing with akara like if he was there first when he knows he wasn’t??? it’s even brought up multiple times in the book how they didn’t know each other as friends at all until now??? what right does he have being jealous????
- and if any development beyond sexual happens between them it’s off page. so we don’t even see it which makes even the point of this (bc i guarantee you the only reason they’re even writing sulli’s books is bc of banks) moot
- and i especially hate how this is akara’s book too and yet half of his pov is really to hype banks up.
- and lbr it’s really shitty of him to play cupid when no one asked him to, fall in love with his so called best friend’s girl, force a confession out of akara before he was ready or even understood his feelings for sulli and then not even 5 minutes later get naked with her and make out with her. idk how akara stayed friends with him after that
- i mean please just explain to me how you fully know that they have feelings for each other and then think you have a right to be jealous and complain that you’re at a disadvantage or depressed that she’d choose akara, whom she’s known longer??
- like how do people root for him and not see the issue with this?? how and why is he the perfect flower child when he’s the problem??
- literally the only thing banksulli have going for them is sexual chemistry because even their platonic chemistry is like watching paint dry

and i still don’t understand how akara, a man who has unconsciously chased away so many of sulli’s admirers, even in this very book hates and is jealous of banks doing anything with sulli, would ever be ok with sharing her with him. it doesn’t make sense with his character at all, just like banksulli doesn’t make sense period.
- like they literally wrote kitsulli like if they’ve just met and don’t have years of history between each other
- like their first kiss is cut short bc sulli feels like she’s cheating on banks????? seriously??????????
- it’s literally like they hate akara with the way they sideline him, don’t give him any scenes with sulli, have sulli have so many of her firsts with banks and always have alone time with him but have akara’s time interrupted all the time, the way they make it so that sulli likes banks more, the way they make him out to be the bad guy all the time???? the way banks gets the first bonus scene??
- AND EVEN THO HE GOT TO BE THE FIRST INSIDE HER IT’S REALLY ONLY BC BANKS IS BIGGER?????? fuck you.
- we don’t even get proper development of them considering the beginning of their friendship was off page, before even damaged like us, and just the tiny crumbs in other books but that’s it. even in this book (that’s supposed to be half of theirs) their scenes feel like crumbs
- every time kitsulli stans get something nice, we can’t even enjoy it before it’s ripped away two seconds later (ex. see virginity scene above, see sulli feeling like she’s cheating on banks during her and akara’s first kiss above)
- AND SHE DIDNT EVEN TELL HIM SHE LOVES HIM??? ON HIS OWN LIKE SHE DID FOR BANKS??? it was only ever an add on like ‘i love you both.’ ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS????
- like even having jane root for banks??? jane just bc you’re sucking his brother’s dick doesn’t mean everyone has to be in with the moretti brothers
- also please explain why sulli would get hurt and mad that akara told everyone she’s just his client and his friend and agreed with banks when he called him an asshole when the three of them agreed to keep everything a secret and act normal until they were ready?????
- or how is it that akara is (all of a sudden) an ass but it’s never picked up on by sulli in their several year friendship and a surprise to her in this book? like if he really was an asshole wouldn’t it have been made known a long time ago?? what kind of ooc, characterization hole???
- they really should’ve just not written kitsulli at all from the beginning if they were going to do this

and to be perfectly honest, even the friendship between akara and banks felt.... dry. it just didn’t feel natural? it just felt like two people going through the motions of friendship but nothing was there to really tether them together? it just didn’t feel like a strong bond like when you read lo and connor or lo and ryke. or to better explain: you have your best friends that know every little thing about you, you’re practically joined at the hip; you have your friends who you’re friendly with and close to but they’re not your first choice; you have your friend that are out of necessity like to make work or school more bearable and once you’re out of there it’s like you don’t exist to each other; and then just acquaintances who you talk to and say hi to and make small talk with but nothing beyond that. akara and banks feel like a mix of acquaintances and friends out of necessity.

romance aside, let me get to sulli. because to be perfectly honest, more than half of the time it was hard to tell if i was reading from the pov of a girl or a guy. it’s literally like reading three frat brothers fall in love.
- which says a lot about the writing of this book. it’s bad. so much worse than the previous ones. think after kind of bad. wattpad fanfic when the site was just starting up kind of bad. it’s so gross and the jokes aren’t funny and the way akara and banks speak and think is borderline to just straight up uncomfortable
- also i don’t believe that sulli would be more comfortable with banks first when she’s had feelings and a relationship with akara first on top of the fact that it’s hard for sulli to make new friends even within her own family. it’s just so ooc of her.

that’s not to mention that, despite what sulli has said her mother has told her, and despite them writing ROSE FUCKING CALLOWAY COBALT, WHO WAS ALSO A VIRGIN UNTIL HER 20s AND DIDNT GIVE A FUCK AND DIDNT LET MEN’S ATTRACTION DETERMINE HER WORTH, sulli places all her worth on whether or not guys are attracted to her. like they literally make her entire characterization on her being a virgin and not being seen as a woman when she’s a fucking olypmic! gold! medalist! she’s won more shit and best more records than anyone has braincells, and this is what they make her to be??
- i understand characters are different, but you can’t write those characters, have them raise these characters, and then completely erase anything they’ve ever been taught.

honestly i can’t help but get the feeling that these authors are racist
- how is it that all these white characters know multiple languages, that we get italian-american language from banks and thatcher and yet akara.... not a lick of linguistic knowledge of his heritage. barely even food mentions.
- not to mention how they’ve treated akara outside of the series. no mentions in patreon, no gushing over him, no sharing aesthetics for him on the ig, his pinterest board gets updated not nearly as much as other boards, and then there’s the fact that this is also his book and he’s completely sidelined for banks (see: hyping him up in his pov in point made above)
- and don’t think that i’m not making the connection with how the soccer moms in the fb group (and those who just blindly follow whatever) favorite banks over akara since always and kb adding him in to the fray and giving him WAY more page time. because i am. and so i say again, i can’t help but feel like they’re racist and money chasers.
- they really did say ‘akara is on the cover’ and that was enough for them.
- and that’s not to mention the COMPLETE LACK OF POC CHARACTERS DESPITE HAVING OVER 100 CHARAS IN THE LIKE US SERIES ALONE so... hmm... interesting

and all that aside, there really isn’t a plot. i mean, none of the like us books do, but this really doesn’t have a plot. it’s literally just sex/sexual thoughts, cobaretti party planning on banks’s part, akara on his phone on his part. sulli... is just relegated to the romance as she doesn't even do what she set out to do. i mean, just once. that's it. overall, this book just felt like they didn’t want to write it. in fact, several books in the like us series just give off feeling that they don’t want to write it, so i don’t know why they keep doing it.

if it wasn’t obvious: i hated this book. i won’t be reading the next two bc it’s really just going to be the banksulli diaries even more (cause i doubt they’ll give akara more time when they didn’t here. in his own book.) tbh i wouldn’t be shocked if at the end of this, they had sulli fully pick banks and this first book just had akara in it to string along kitsulli fans so they don’t lose out on money.

and more than that i hate that i ever found kb’s books.

[Heather W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, I get why a lot of people are upset but you guys need to understand that this isn't your book. Yes, you paid for the books in the series but that doesn't mean you have the right to hate the authors and give them this much crap over this sudden change. You guys are literally talking crap over a book which hasn't even released yet. You are not giving this relationship a chance, and I am honestly disappointed on how disrespectful some of you have been towards the characters in the book. Yes, it's a lot to take it in, but at the end of the day, it's their books and they know their characters better than the rest of us. If they think, that they can make this book work by doing an MFM then we should let them. Some may not read it and that's fine, because it may be not your cup of tea. Others may be fine with this or don't mind this, and choose to read this book. I am excited and am looking forward to reading this book, I can't wait to see which direction this story goes and how this is going to unfold!!

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

YALL CAN KEEP IT

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kicking myself in the ass for not listening to my gut sentiment to not touch these books. I'm boo boo the fool. And I'm an even bigger fool for not walking away when I first got the layout of TLU, Marrow and their several books, Cobaretti with two, Kitsulli with only one. It was clear right then and there the disservice that would be dished upon Akara and Sulli. BUT THISSSSS, THIS IS JUST INSANITY. And for ya'll to have the nerve to say it was pLANNED, WHERE. Have Banks and Sulli even spoken before this???

KBR have had it out for the Kitsulli fandom for a long, long time, and why not just admit it, because that's what this is. You're punishing the Kitsulli's shippers, it's why they only get one book, why their book kept getting pushed further and further back, and why they're doing this now. Strung the Kitsulli shippers along for so long, giving them the LAST book, and now doing this to that book before we even get it. It astounds me, truly.

I'd have rather ya'll just kept writing 200 more Marrow books than to have done this with Sullivan. Because the ooc jumped out. It's ooc for Sulli, for Akara---who's already struggling with so many SFO members breaking the rules---it came out of nowhere and you can say it was planned all you want, but there is not a single hint in the prior books. To say I regret ever opening a kbr book is an understatement.

[Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 41%

Yep, I’ve decided to give up. I just don’t care enough to continue.

First of all: I wanted to love this book so much. I’ve always put my trust into KBR’s hands, and more often than not, they deliver mighty good stories and I’ve loved nearly all of their books. MMF and mènage type of relationships have always been a hard limit for me (you do you!) and yet still I preordered WLU. And when I finally started reading, I realised it’s not even the MMF that I don’t like. It’s literally the main characters.

I’m dumbfounded. Because Krista & Becca Ritchie have written some of my favorite characters ever. They know how to create endearing, sweet, amazing people. But in this book? They were never found. I’ve never liked Sullivan, and I was so annoyed that she’s gonna get not only one book, but THREE (I’m not gonna read them). I’ve always found her, I don’t know... annoying? Obnoxious? The Walmart version of her father? I just couldn’t connect with her at all. Her thoughts were unrelatable and her worries were ridiculous. There is no point in giving her three freaking books; she has nothing to tell in my opinion.

Banks and Kits were both okay, but ughhh... No spice whatsoever. Both were so boring and their whole personalities was to protect Sulli and make sure she’s okay. That’s it. They just protect her from mean fans and paparazzis and I feel like that plot point has been driven to the ground with the Like Us series. I need something else to keep me interested at this point. So, yeah. I didn’t like any of the three main characters.

And it could totally be me, but... the sex scenes that I read were so AWKWARD. The second-hand embarrassment was real. I had to literally skim them because I felt so uncomfortable. I always do when I can’t connect with the characters and can’t feel the chemistry.

I’m giving this two stars because it could have gotten better in the second half, I’m just not interested in finding that out myself. At this point I only want Luna & Donnelly’s books, and Charlie’s. And also Xander’s. But that’s it. I’m so happy Luna & Donnelly are confirmed; I’ll surely come back and read all of their books. I’m so excited! But this is me giving up on Sulli, Banks and Kits.

[abire · Rating 1 out of 5]

not in the business of petty rating, but when authors take it too far....

fetishization, calling people who ask for poc rep "bullies", allowing their middle aged women fanbase to share and nut over m/m porn on their fb group, treating their characters like trash, using one of their biggest fanbase to go on with this series by baiting them and using false advertisement just to then call it a strategy and saying it was planned from the start..

yeah, i don't do petty rating, but if someone deserves it, it's these authors.

Banks and Kitsulli deserved so much better. But then again, Akara is POC, so did we expect any better from white women who only listen to fetishizers? i'm done!

[zaraa · Rating 1 out of 5]

update: 11/17/20: we ✈️ clown kingdom. this book is pure comedy and just for the laughs. even though i haven’t read it and probably will skim through it later just for charlie cobalt’s crumbs, but from what i have heard— the imagery of some scenes have shakespeare rolling in his grave right now because iT’s tHat pOEtiC.

—————————
ryke meadows would never allow for this stupidity to happen. thank you very much.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reviewing this only to combat the massive amounts of negative reviews on here for a book that ISN'T EVEN OUT YET. There's no blurb, no cover, nothing for these people to rate it one star over except for the relationship this story revolves around, and it's completely unfair to the authors and the bookish community for this book to be rated so poorly at this point. I'm so disappointed and upset for these courageous and kind human beings who put their hearts and souls into their writings and these characters whom we've all grown to love. I truly hope they can look past all the anger and negativity and continue to follow where their hearts see this story going, regardless of all the poor reviews. Once again, I say THIS BOOK ISN'T EVEN OUT YET. At least read it before writing a review.

[bri ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

wasn't going to rate this already like everyone else has, but fuck it. I'm upset and mad and kitsulli stans didn't deserve this. KB truly ruined my otp that had potential to make it as my all-time favorite list but guess not. They really played us, huh?

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 TRILLION “FEEL THE MOMENT” stars

KITSULLETI IS HERE TO STAY! ♥️♥️♥️

This books IS EVERYTHING!! 🥺
I went through all the emotions while reading it.
Seriously, The whole story is a love letter to the Meadows family, to Skylar, to Adam Sulli and to Banks , Sullivan and Akara.
This story is also about life and death, about friendships, about family, about forgiveness and about a WILD BEAUTIFUL SOULMATE LOVE that won’t be tame.
I could have read a million chapters just about the three of them. It goes without saying that I CAN’T WAIT FOR BOOK 2! ( Fearless Like Us)

thank you so much Krista and Becca for giving us these beautiful stories. The world is a brighter place thanks to them ♥️

P.S. 2 - All of the 1 star reviews mostly come from people that have NOT read the story ( I know, it sounds insane ). But they’ve literally created fake scenarios in their heads about how the story was going to be and they were sorely mistaken.
If you still read those reviews, just know that everything ugly they wrote in them, WLU is the exact opposite ♥️.
Please don’t let the opinion of other people ( that haven’t even open the book) damage your experience of this story ✨

[Ana Fer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been waiting for this book for ages, was so excited and couldn’t wait to have this baby in my hands.

Today, that changed.

Sulli and Akara could have been THE BEST best friends to lovers couple ever; Akara has had only eyes for her and hates any guy that could potentially be involved with Sulli romantically. Sulli is only interested in Akara.

Now, our lovely authors have announced that Kitsulli will be a MFM relationship together with Banks. They are trying to say how they had planned this all along, how they had hinted to it (where? whERE?) and more bullshit.

We haven’t had a single interaction of Sulli with Banks and he is oblivious of her, just as Sulli is of him.

We even had a cover of this book that said Akara & Sullivan, for fuck’s sake!



So why are they messing with everything for this MFM relationship? Simple. On the group, some soccer mom asked about if there would be a polygamous relationship in the future some months ago and obviously K&B thought it would be good material for some cheap porn that the old/middle-aged moms from their group would enjoy.

That is also the big reason why they are so obsessed over Marrow. Not because they want to represent an LGBT couple but because they know that they could write about to hot, white male guys hooking up and this soccer moms, or old ladies who are horny 24/7 because their husbands ignore them, would devour those books like they chug their wine bottles. K&B have fetishized over and over again Marrow, it is not a good representation of a gay couple and it will never be.

I’m completely devastated that I had to wait until this big thing happened to open my eyes and understand all of this. I hadn’t said anything about it because thanks to K&B I have met six of the best characters I’ve ever read, my core six. But enough is enough.

K&B, you have lost a reader here. This happens when you write to please soccer moms and housewives who only read erotica and love porn.

I’m out.

[chantelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

18/11/20 update: i felt like i was tricked into reading a book about banks and sulli's romance with a few kitsulli crumbs in the background. nice.

[diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

we don’t want it

[Izzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok, so I never reviewed or even rated one of her books before because I was always torn between my undying love for the original 6 characters and the author's extremely flawed depiction of addiction and recovery but now I feel a bit obligated to pronounce myself.
you see, there are a lot of reviews here already explaining the situation and our frustrations regarding the supposed content of this book much better than I could ever dream of doing.
no, this is a response for the (extremely long) facebook post the authors made regarding the situation.
1st: In your apology you don't even acknowledge THE MOST important point raised by the community here which is the blatant fetishization of gay men in your books (that can arguably be tracked as far back as Connor) and in the facebook group, with the erasure of the opinions from LGBT+ folk, the permissive behaviour with the gay porn and almost total lack of shappic romances. I could even go on about how racist it sounds that the spotlight from your first (!!) ever POC maincharacter in this very long running series is being snubbed to give even more attention to ANOTHER white men but that's not my place of speech.
2nd: Hiding behind the "cancel culture is bad guys, don't be mean!! loves and kisses" narrative is SUCH a coward move. CALLING YOU OUT ON YOUR BULLSHIT IS NOT HARASSMENT!!! I've looked up and down ALL of twitter and Goodreads and I have yet to see someone actually being disrespectful, which is a lot more compared to you sending people to harass critics. You are not recieving death threats, no one is slut-shamming you or creating a hate campaign against you, trying to guilt trip us when we have valid reasons to be upset and using mental health as a shield is irresponsible and downright mean.
and 3rd: I'm sorry but WHERE are these hints you say exist? There is SO MUCH evidence presented already that this was NOT a planned move, come on, we aren't stupid and you can't rewrite your own stuff just to try and escape criticism.

that's all I wanted to say, and I'm not e-mailing you guys because I don't believe for a second that you are actually open for a conversation after the silencing of LGBT+s thing

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

November 2020 review:

“𝐹𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉.”

So, I finished this book. The building friendships and relationship was done very well. I felt the close friendship between Akara and Banks. Their need to keep Sulli safe was the catalyst of this building bond.

Akara is still in total denial and Banks shows his growing desire for Sulli when she is most vulnerable and he gives her that.

“𝓣𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼, 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓴𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓘 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓪𝓭𝓵𝔂.”

When they are finally showing their growing feelings it’s organic and beautiful. There is jealousy, but it’s handled well...their thoughts are pure.

“𝓘𝓯 𝓫𝓸𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓹𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼… 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓼, 𝓘’𝓿𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝔀𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓵 𝓽𝓸𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓮.”

I will say there is one thing that happens that really upset me....but, it didn’t ruin the entire book. I still wish it didn’t happen.

I loved the scene with Charlie in the pet shop. LOL!!

I adored all the Meadows scenes especially with Ryke. He is such an amazing dad! His lesson to her at the end was beautiful.

That cliffy. 😉





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sept 2019 pre-release:
So, I was pretty blindsided by all the comments I was reading. I do understand the frustration when authors switch plots or pairings without explanation. I know that sometimes they are in their reading caves and don’t realize the ramifications on some choices they make. I do know one author that did something I thought unforgivable and the way she dismissed her readers turned me off from ever reading another book of hers. Triss

These books strangely became like family to me and many readers. Rhyke and Daisy are adored and cherished. Many people want the same thing for their daughter. Not a cliche romance that doesn’t typically exits in “the real world”.

So I am perplexed with the change in direction. I’d like the authors to explain their decision. Though I think many readers are okay with poly relationships. They just don’t want that for Sulli and Akara.

So far I do trust these authors and the call with Akara and Banks talking about Sulli made me realize they both care deeply for her. This could be interesting if done well.

I do like the poly relationship for Beckett. We don’t need more than one poly in this series.

[Lyrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look.

I don't necessarily disagree with the reasoning behind the outrage. I felt quite cheated and purely from a marketing sideof things, this reveal was nonsensical.

However, it is ridiculous to be so vicious. I have probably missed something in terms of people feeling attacked by the authors, I really don't know. But these one-star reviews are taking away the enjoyment of the people who a) either love the pairing or b) are patient enough to WAIT for the book to come out to give their full judgment.

I understand people are mad, truly I do. Especially because in SLU, I'll be honest, without the spoilers, I probably would have scratched my head long and hard trying to figure out who the poly was, because it ST ILL wasn't obvious enough to me. But that's neither here nor ther e.

But people please. Hold your horses. Feel your feelings (I did), you're completely entitled to them, but then take a deep rational breath and think about what these utterly eviscerating comments may either do to the authors or people who want to read books about characters AFTER the poly.

Edit:

So, update, I've sort of read the book. I very much skimmed it, because I'm still butthurt about the pairing, and I just wanted to see how this story turned out. I have to say I didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would. I do think there was technically no reason for this pairing, but I think they did a decent job with them.
My fear was always that it would seem like one person would always be losing out (perhaps ignorance on my part), be it Banks or Akara, but I guess my favourite part was how reliant Banks and Akara were on each other and it wasn't all hinged on Sulli. So, it was basically like the authors said, there's just more love to go around. And I like how Banks and Akara had different personalities that meshed but also balanced each other out with Sulli.
I did feel sometimes like Banks got more attention than Akara which didn’t make sense because Sulli has had a longer off page history with Akara. As a full on Kitsulli shipper some parts rubbed a bit wrong in this book from what I had read. I think what must have happened is that KBR was so focused on trying to fit Banks with Sulli/Akara to assuage the fears of the readers that they basically ended up glossing over Akara entirely.

As I said, I didn't read the full book yet, but I am curious to see how the next books go. I do think this should be a lesson for the authors to think about the reception of the audience and their public image a bit more regardless of the "it's their story" argument. The book suffered and so did the authors/audience. It could've been solved better with just honesty that they changed their mind. I have a REALLY hard time believing the idea that they had this pairing in mind for years. That can't be true, cause then they lied the first time when they said it was Kitsulli. But anyway, it is what it is.

I'm going to keep the review as 5 stars for the time being just to balance the ratings out cause I think it's unfair to list valid/invalid criticism on a (then) unreleased book. But it did alright!
I will read the entire book once I have more time because based on some reviews I have missed a couple of things that will definitely affect my opinion. I will adjust my rating accordingly a bit later on, I just don't have the wherewithal to do it atm.

Edit:

In all honesty, I'm not sure when I'm going to get to reading it cause I'm just not feeling it atm. So, I'm going to adjust my rating to 3 stars because I feel like this accurately reflects my indecision about how to rate it. I don't think it was as bad as I thought it was going to be in my head, but I don't think it's justified to rate it higher at this particular moment.

Given this book has caused a lot of uproar, I feel like I need to emphasize something: this review is for ME, it is not for anyone else. If you agree with it, lovely; if you don't, that's also fine. The people who rated it 1 star had valid reasons, the people who rated it 5 stars, were completely in their right to have enjoyed the book. I don't feel the need to police people's opinions on books and I would recommend other people to do the same for everyone's peace.

I will be eagerly waiting for Luna and Charlie's books in the meanwhile.

[• Jodi Bibliophile • · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!!

I LOVE BANKS.

The end.