Well, well, well, if this wasn't just the surprise I had no idea was coming and that I needed! Emmett!!! You dirty dog, you. *Gasp*Blush*Swoon*
I'm so still all up in my feels over this book. I binge-read this one, much like all the other books Ruth's written for my reading pleasure... okay fine, for everyone's reading pleasure, but truthfully it feels like they're just for me because... just like Emmett and Billie who are a match made in perfect heaven, so are Ruth's stories of obsessed men: they are so perfect for me. *Oh hum* Don't mind me while I just swoon thinking of all my favorite MMCs and our torid love affairs on the pages of their stories.
I digress... to my lust-filled daydreams that is The Blade Kings series. Don't judge because IYKYK and you're in the same dang boat!
So now, this is the - omg, what is this? The sixth book? - in The Blade Kings series and Ruth has made us fall harder with each book. That said, this book? Emmett? I didn't see this coming! Emmett, for me, hadn't played a pivotal role up until this point. He hadn't been a character in The Blade Kings ongoing story enough to make me take real notice. And am I regretting that now? BIG time!!! So big. Such big regret. Because, omg you guys! I'm blushing all over again. ... it's always the quiet ones ... yes, I'm giggling like a little schoolgirl right now just thinking of Emmett and all his *ahem* "ways"... Good grief, this man.
So from the "teasers" that Ruth's put out about this book, I knew that it was an age gap and a best friend's daughter trope. Did it prepare me for the pages of this book that would consume me? Abs-a-fudging-lutely not! I literally BINGED this book - forwent work, life, sleep, responsibility - everything - while I could not put this story down. The twists and turns, the multitude of layers that were unfolded before our eyes that added such complexity of not just story and angst, but of life. So much of this story felt so real... and perhaps that's why it hit so hard - in all the ways. Billie's story leading up to the start of the book, for example, is a real-life story that we've all heard about happening to some poor girl / woman in real life whether it be her pregnancy, an idiot of an ex, having to pause her dreams... take your pick. The result of that? Life and responsibility and the showing up of those that love us most, and no matter what. And that's part of the core of this book, and that is fierce love and devotion to those that you love - the sacrifice you're willing to make for those you love. Whether we're talking about Billie's parents' love, Billie's for Blake, or then Emmett for Scott and Freya, and ultimately one of the biggest - Emmett for Billie. It's quite something.
Now. Let's talk about something that had me spinning my wheels and SCREAM-messaging Ruth. Emmett Richards???? OMFG. This quiet, mostly reserved guy... so like, ok hang on, let me calm down. ... I'm calming. So I'm not one to blab and ruin spoiler-y things. I was so close to diving into something that I shouldn't... but I need to scream about it. So let me figure a way to say this without saying it, but still saying it. So this book is built on the premise of half a dozen important things, like the love and sacrifice I mentioned above, but specifically this book is built on Emmett and Billie's forbidden love. As you can imagine, the angst is INSANE!!! The intensity is a real-live-living-breathing thing in this book, so that said, once you reach a "point" in this book, and once you reach it YOU WILL KNOW!!!! So once you reach it, *ahem*, omg is there a shift. The things "said"... The things "done"... The chemistry "elevated"... GAH!!! I just never suspected it could all be brought up that many notches! Like... RUTH!! I'm still blushing. I hope you guys can see me figuratively admonishing Ruth, fake smacking her while mock-scolding her with that, "Ruuuuth!!" and adding a very fake *gasp* into it that I in no way really mean. But I say that because YOU'LL BE DOING THE SAME DANG THING!!!
Get ready to be shocked. Be ready to get really pissed off... oh yeah! There's a character or two in here that's going to make you LIVID!!! Get ready to swoon, to have baby fever, to feel all your feels. Get ready to want to call your parents and hug them. Get ready to want to swallow your kiddos up in love. Get ready to need a drink, coffee, scone and jam. Get ready to see all of your favorite characters from the last two series!! And can I just say that that part felt like a flipping homecoming???? Get ready... oh my god, you guys - just get ready. Get... so ready. You won't even know if you're coming or going - just like me. You're just going to be in this "blah" land where your mouth is flapping in the wind and your head is still exploded. OMG AND THEN!!! THENNNNN the epilogue? What's to come next - I literally SCREAMED!!! Do you see all my caps here? Do you?!?! Because I was schaaa-reaaam-ing! ... Yes, I'm still screaming.
Wow, I'm so emotionally drained right now. This book really put me through it all. Like... seriously! Ruth, did you really have to put me through every single emotion in this book? And it's a good thing that I'm my own boss, because I probably would have gotten fired today for day-reading at work... but I'm so not sorry ... just like Ruth is about making all of us lose our minds over Emmett flipping Richards!