”No more pretend. No more rules. Just us.”
I was awake until late last night reading because I needed to finish this book. I’ve been a fan of Melissa's since her first book, Forbidden Devil. She's grown exponentially since then, and she keeps getting better and better.
Until yesterday, Forbidden Devil was my favorite book of hers. Just as Lincoln was my favorite hero, and my favorite Devil.
Cue Rhett Remington.
”I know I’m a grown ass woman who doesn’t need a man to satisfy her and yet I’ve been reduced to a squirming puddle of need by a fucking wink.”
I’m going to start with Lucy. Despite her preference for pink (hey, I’m a black and purple girl!), she’s amazing. I knew she was strong from the previous book in the series, but I loved getting to know her better. She comes from money, but everything she has, she got it on her own. By fighting for it, and by giving it her all. And let’s not forget she keeps a whole team of players in line, and that takes (figurative) balls!
”His full smile also explodes ovaries. It’s no wonder he frowns most of the time..
Rhett… He is the perfect mix of grumpy AF, sexy as you can’t imagine, and swoony. He's a freaking sex god, with a possessive, dominating side that got me all hot and bothered, but it’s the layers he has that really get to you. Underneath that (perfect) exterior is a man who needs to be loved for who he is, and who he is is pretty awesome.
”I’m not nearly done with you yet, and I don’t let anyone touch what’s mine.”
When Lucy goes to Vegas to once again try to salvage Rhett’s career, he challenges her to a drink. Next thing you know, they’re waking up together, with no memory of what happened and… married. Lucy didn’t want it. Rhett surely didn’t either. Did they?
And yet, here we are. Once it becomes obvious they have more to gain by staying married, they put on a show for everyone.
The thing is… it may not be a show after all.
”He knew the little bit of darkness that lived deep in my soul, and he brought it to the surface and caressed me with his.”
I loved the tension between them, the chemistry they have, the attraction. It’s all over this book. And once they need to sleep in the same room together, well, that tension escalates to something unbearable… unbearably sexy, that is. Melissa can write some freaking hot sex scenes (and I was all in for all of it), so yeah, that was definitely interesting.
”She’s everything. My world. My hopes. My dreams.”
We get to know them both, and that's what stole the show for me. They're both bent out of shape, in different ways. Trusting doesn't come easy for them. They don't feel like they belong anywhere, especially Rhett, because no one ever cared enough.
When they grow closer, trusting their feelings for each other isn't easy, because they haven't had them before. It's a journey that will teach them just how much they're both worth.
I loved the other players. I absolutely laughed out loud at Rhett and Tag and their banter. And Foster's book seems interesting already… I have a thing for British accents. Sorry, not sorry.
I did notice the nod to KM Rives and The Replacement, and the mention of Lucy reading smut, and Rhett reading her book was so cool! Loved it!
”You’re the fucking stars on a dark night and without you, I’m simply lost.”
This was a book I needed to read, because I share some stuff with Rhett. Regardless of what people think or say about you, how fucked up your past was or your present is, everyone deserves a chance at happiness.
Sometimes you can belong to more than a place. You can belong to a person, because love can heal you, if you let it. And that was what made this book great to me.
P. S. One pet peeve of mine... I wish the epilogue was still about Lucy and Rhett instead of Foster and the next book in the series. There is, however, a bonus epilogue for the book that is about them.