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nellesnightstand's review
5.0
I'm adoring everything Ms. Rai writes. Angst and emotional abound in her novels. Evie, ah, Evie. She grows exponentially, she has to after enduring rejection after rejection from Gabe. Oh, he's not a jerk, just insecure and misguided and hiding a "big secret".
Loving this series. Can we get JIA's story now!!!??
Loving this series. Can we get JIA's story now!!!??
mdalida's review
5.0
WOWZA. WOW.
To be honest, my expectations for this book were a little lower than for the other two. I've just learned that, try as they might, the third in a highly anticipated trilogy just doesn't meet expectations... but WOW. I'm so happy I was wrong!
I finished this book a week ago and just needed some time because it was so good, and I felt that this book in particular resonated with me so deeply. I absolutely loved the first book - the ANGST, the LOVE, the TATTOOS, the HEAT, the...everything. The second book was...... not my cup of tea. I could not get over the "widow and her dead husband's brother" thing..
But this third book! It might just be that I could see myself in the heroine SO. MUCH. Her past trauma, her father issues, how she is trying to recover, how seemingly small things will bring back memories long buried, and yet how she trusts herself at the core.
And the hero! What a beautiful Beta, to me. He feels like he would soothe the heroine's soul. That sounds cheesy, but I can imagine that the best partner for a woman who has been emotionally abused since her adolescence would be drawn to someone whose essence is calming, warm, and accepting. He obviously had his own personal issues to work through, and it was actually his personal resolution at the end of the book that had me crying! I think they are my favorite couple in the series!
At the end of it all, I truly enjoyed how Rai handles emotions, especially within and between families. I have unresolved issues with some family members, and seeing how this dysfunctional group of family works through their issues almost made me sad that it doesn't always work like that in real life. I did love how Rai presented darker parts of a person - depression, anxiety, emotional/verbal trauma. I appreciated how she made space for not only romantic conflict, but family conflict.
I cannot recommend this series enough!!!
To be honest, my expectations for this book were a little lower than for the other two. I've just learned that, try as they might, the third in a highly anticipated trilogy just doesn't meet expectations... but WOW. I'm so happy I was wrong!
I finished this book a week ago and just needed some time because it was so good, and I felt that this book in particular resonated with me so deeply. I absolutely loved the first book - the ANGST, the LOVE, the TATTOOS, the HEAT, the...everything. The second book was...... not my cup of tea. I could not get over the "widow and her dead husband's brother" thing..
But this third book! It might just be that I could see myself in the heroine SO. MUCH. Her past trauma, her father issues, how she is trying to recover, how seemingly small things will bring back memories long buried, and yet how she trusts herself at the core.
And the hero! What a beautiful Beta, to me. He feels like he would soothe the heroine's soul. That sounds cheesy, but I can imagine that the best partner for a woman who has been emotionally abused since her adolescence would be drawn to someone whose essence is calming, warm, and accepting. He obviously had his own personal issues to work through, and it was actually his personal resolution at the end of the book that had me crying! I think they are my favorite couple in the series!
At the end of it all, I truly enjoyed how Rai handles emotions, especially within and between families. I have unresolved issues with some family members, and seeing how this dysfunctional group of family works through their issues almost made me sad that it doesn't always work like that in real life. I did love how Rai presented darker parts of a person - depression, anxiety, emotional/verbal trauma. I appreciated how she made space for not only romantic conflict, but family conflict.
I cannot recommend this series enough!!!
brandece1's review against another edition
4.0
After liking but not loving the first book in this series, but really loving the second I was really excited to get to Eve's story. She is a character I've been excited to get to from the first book. I really enjoyed seeing her journey, from her crush on Gabe to finally finding what she wanted to do with her life that didn't revolve around her family business. I loved Gabe as a hero (such a cinnamon roll), and I adored the relationship between the two. This book is full of mutual pining, forced proximity, family secrets coming to light, love and of course just like the other books in the series some major steam. I loved the diversity in this book, thought it was a great conclusion of this series.
kathystl's review
4.0
I think there was a lot of background family drama that I didn't get because I didn't read the first two in the series. Other than that it was excellent.
ebartsch85's review
5.0
This book series hooked me as a forever fan of Alisha Rai, and started my full-on obsession with reading smut. I will never be the same again and for that, I am eternally grateful.
meghan_e's review against another edition
5.0
I love Rai's writing. I love how three-dimensional and flawed her characters are, while still giving you plenty of reason to fall in love with them.
I'm bummed the series is complete, but they are some of the very, very few books that get to stay on my otherwise sparse keeper shelf. I'm looking forward to re-reading them when I need a beautiful, aching, real story.
I'm bummed the series is complete, but they are some of the very, very few books that get to stay on my otherwise sparse keeper shelf. I'm looking forward to re-reading them when I need a beautiful, aching, real story.
bookish_notes's review
5.0
This review is also posted on my blog.
Well, this is just embarrassing. I probably cried while reading this entire book, because it's just...the END you know? I was just an emotionally mess because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to any of these characters yet, and this send off was just PERFECT. I absolutely loved Hate to Want You and Wrong to Need You and now we have everything coming together, and just UGH. I couldn't handle how well everything came together and giving everyone a happy ending and don't even get me started on the revelations. Because oh boy. What came out of this book was a total shocker.
Apologies if this review is an incoherent mess, because...y'know. FEELS. <3
We've met these characters in the previous books. Gabe is the owner of a tattoo shop Livvy works at. He was best friends with Paul (*sobs*) and when the break happened between the Kanes and the Chandlers, he had to choose a side. And he sided with the Kanes. Eve Chandler was young when everything went down. Gabe never saw Eve has anything but a kid back then, but now? Eve is now a woman and Gabe turns into a puddle of goo when he comes face-to-face with Eve again. He's just so soft and precious...
I will say that the beginning where Eve was staying true to character and being stalkery and creepy undercover was...well, creepy. I was just glad to move past those scenes because as much as I love Gabe and Eve being together as the endgame, I'm not sure I liked how that whole car service stalker thing happened.
This story is well-written. You can feel the sexual tension radiating off the page. Gabe is the guy Eve has always had a crush on, and Gabe finds Eve very attractive but worries about their age difference. I love their interactions and their will-they/won't-they status in this book. I found it heart-wrenching that they were keeping one another apart and just wanted them to admit how much they liked each other. <3
There's revelations in this book that I was not expecting. I thought there were just some things about the past that we were never going to find out. But then we DID and it's a real gasp out loud situation. I admit it, I was shocked. And then things just kept happening. I live for drama, apparently, so I love how everything just...came out in this book.
Any mention of Paul will just break my heart. Never mind that he was never actually a character who was alive at any point in this series, but anytime anyone brings up Paul, I get teary eyed.
I especially loved seeing the previous couples again. Livvy and Nicholas are just darling and Sadia and Jackson are downright precious. I don't know what more there is to say. I loved this book and how it fits in the overall series. It's a goodbye and I think Alisha Rai does a fantastic job closing the series out. I love that this series gave us the most brilliant women and the most lovely men. It's been a thrilling tale from beginning-to-end with ups and downs, filled with laughs and tears along the way. And I loved every moment of it.
***Thank you to Avon for providing me with an e-ARC of this book from Edelweiss***
Well, this is just embarrassing. I probably cried while reading this entire book, because it's just...the END you know? I was just an emotionally mess because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to any of these characters yet, and this send off was just PERFECT. I absolutely loved Hate to Want You and Wrong to Need You and now we have everything coming together, and just UGH. I couldn't handle how well everything came together and giving everyone a happy ending and don't even get me started on the revelations. Because oh boy. What came out of this book was a total shocker.
Apologies if this review is an incoherent mess, because...y'know. FEELS. <3
We've met these characters in the previous books. Gabe is the owner of a tattoo shop Livvy works at. He was best friends with Paul (*sobs*) and when the break happened between the Kanes and the Chandlers, he had to choose a side. And he sided with the Kanes. Eve Chandler was young when everything went down. Gabe never saw Eve has anything but a kid back then, but now? Eve is now a woman and Gabe turns into a puddle of goo when he comes face-to-face with Eve again. He's just so soft and precious...
I will say that the beginning where Eve was staying true to character and being stalkery and creepy undercover was...well, creepy. I was just glad to move past those scenes because as much as I love Gabe and Eve being together as the endgame, I'm not sure I liked how that whole car service stalker thing happened.
"There's a difference between being alone and not being surrounded by people."The main story is that it's Livvy and Nicholas' wedding, and everything that can go wrong, HAS gone wrong. Everyone in the wedding party was supposed to arrive early and spend the week getting ready for the big wedding day. WELL. It turns out that only Gabe and Eve are the ones who arrive at the house early, and you guys know how I feel about couples being forced to live in such close capacity with almost nobody around (I like it a lot).
This story is well-written. You can feel the sexual tension radiating off the page. Gabe is the guy Eve has always had a crush on, and Gabe finds Eve very attractive but worries about their age difference. I love their interactions and their will-they/won't-they status in this book. I found it heart-wrenching that they were keeping one another apart and just wanted them to admit how much they liked each other. <3
There's revelations in this book that I was not expecting. I thought there were just some things about the past that we were never going to find out. But then we DID and it's a real gasp out loud situation. I admit it, I was shocked. And then things just kept happening. I live for drama, apparently, so I love how everything just...came out in this book.
Any mention of Paul will just break my heart. Never mind that he was never actually a character who was alive at any point in this series, but anytime anyone brings up Paul, I get teary eyed.
I especially loved seeing the previous couples again. Livvy and Nicholas are just darling and Sadia and Jackson are downright precious. I don't know what more there is to say. I loved this book and how it fits in the overall series. It's a goodbye and I think Alisha Rai does a fantastic job closing the series out. I love that this series gave us the most brilliant women and the most lovely men. It's been a thrilling tale from beginning-to-end with ups and downs, filled with laughs and tears along the way. And I loved every moment of it.
***Thank you to Avon for providing me with an e-ARC of this book from Edelweiss***
allmadhere106's review
5.0
I'm so sad this series had to end, but it ends on such a good note! Eve and Gabe have such good chemistry in this book and we get to learn all the family drama secrets. I can see some readers thinking the plot/secrets to be a bit contrived--everything does fall into place and there are quite a few prominent tropes--but I think that's part of the fun. I love the author's note at the end too and about how the goal of the series was to promote hope in seemingly impossible situations. I look forward to reading the rest of the books from this author and seeing what's next. I highly recommend this series!
Tropes: m/f; working-class male with ridiculously rich female; animated extroverted tattooed male and reserved emotionally-stunted female; childhood acquaintances to lovers; semi-slow burn; crude language and sexy goodness throughout; issues with biological parents on both sides; dealing with abandonment, neglect, and emotional abuse; racially diverse couple--she's Greek/European, he's White/Hawaiian; he's adopted and has intimacy issues; she's learning how to open up and have feelings after years of emotional abuse
Heat rating: HOT—sex scenes throughout with explicit language, which adds to the overall story and relationship.
Tropes: m/f; working-class male with ridiculously rich female; animated extroverted tattooed male and reserved emotionally-stunted female; childhood acquaintances to lovers; semi-slow burn; crude language and sexy goodness throughout; issues with biological parents on both sides; dealing with abandonment, neglect, and emotional abuse; racially diverse couple--she's Greek/European, he's White/Hawaiian; he's adopted and has intimacy issues; she's learning how to open up and have feelings after years of emotional abuse
Heat rating: HOT—sex scenes throughout with explicit language, which adds to the overall story and relationship.
amandaexe's review
4.0
Probably a 3.5, rounding up because of how much I like this world. This one is hard to rate because while the last 30% was amazing, the rest was a little... boring, unfortunately. The main issue for me was that I didn't really click with the characters until the very end (especially Eve. I didn't like her that much in previous books, and it was hard to be in her head at first, but luckily she grew a lot towards the end). The romance was okay, I guess, but nowhere near as good as the ones in the previous books. Idk, something was missing in this one for me, but I still enjoyed it.