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Review

5 ‘Better than chocolate’ stars

“We chose this because nothing else felt right.
Nothing else felt as good.
Our greatest happiness has always been with each other.”

Ryke and Daisy… hot damn! This is probably the book that has tempted me the most to break my #1 reader’s rule never to skip books in a series. I’ve been that desperate for it! But I’m so glad I read the books in order because the story as a whole builds fantastically. And OMG, this one was worth the wait!

Ryke Meadows captured my heart from the moment I first met him in Addicted to You. Now, we finally get to see him in all of his badass, protective, foul-mouthed, sex-on-a-stick glory, and God, I loved it! Ryke is a hard man to get to know. Understandably bitter over the circumstances of his upbringing, he has some serious Daddy issues, and harbours a lot of anger and hatred, but he has a very special place in his heart for the five other people that make up his everyday life – particularly his younger half-brother, Lo, and Lily’s youngest sister, Daisy. I love how fiercely protective he is of these two people he considers it his role to protect and defend, and even with his bad boy nature, he is a man who feels deeply.

18 year old Daisy is living a life chosen by her for her mother. Just starting to spread her wings, she is still desperate to make her mother happy, but she just carries on, showing nobody her struggles except the one person she has been able to rely on for the last three years – Ryke.

I really enjoyed getting to the heart of Daisy. We see her as a happy, free-spirited and adventure loving girl, but there is so much more to her than that. She often gets pushed aside as the younger sister, the happy one without the serious issues, the one that people don’t tend to worry about. And in this book, where you can see it happen and then understand what she’s really been going through, my heart hurt for her. But I love that she isn’t bitter about it, she knows that there are bigger issues to worry about, and she doesn’t take it personally. And I love that she has Ryke – she has shared with him, and he has been the one to care for and protect her when she needed somebody. It gives their relationship a fantastic dynamic.

“He’s like my wolf – dangerous, alluring and protective – but I can never get close enough or else he’ll bite.
He’s my last real friend. But I know that’s not entirely true. He’s the only real one I’ve ever had.
“What other things am I?”I ask with a smile, standing by his ankles at the foot of the bed.
“Hyperactive, fearless, crazy, and probably the happiest unhappy girl I’ve ever met.”

“My wolf. My bodyguard. He’s my everything.”

The bond between Ryke and Daisy has been a secret to nobody, and there have been lots of little moments between the two of them over the previous books, and from the very beginning I have been intrigued, wondering what exactly was happening between them. Oh so slowly their attraction has been building, and those little moments where they haven’t been able to hide, and others have noticed what is developing between them have been a big highlight for me, but with Daisy being underage, it’s always been forbidden. Along with that, Ryke has had to live with the knowledge that Lo doesn’t want him anywhere near Daisy, and he will do anything to keep his brother in his life.

So while Daisy acknowledges what Ryke is to her, and teases him about the UST between them (even though she knows nothing will ever happen), Ryke has convinced himself that he feels nothing more for Daisy than protective friendship. Until a broken Daisy calls upon the only person she can for help, and as always, he is there for his girl.

“I am so emotionally involved with that girl. If someone told me she was crying two years ago, I would have called Lily or Rose to deal with it. But I want to be the one to protect Daisy. I want to be the one to hold her in my arms. I want to comfort her until she reanimates in pure fucking happiness.
I don’t want to miss a day with her.”

And in true Ryke style, once he realises what he is feeling, he confronts it head on and goes after what he wants, full speed ahead, and OMG, it’s freaking awesome!

“You don’t need to replace me. You can have me, sweetheart.”
I pant for air. “Say that again.”
His lips brush my ear, hot breath warming me. “How about I just fucking kiss you?”

“I’ve ignored a lot of bad shit in my life, but I don’t want to ignore this one good thing anymore. It’s too painful … I kissed you tonight because I want your lips to only touch mine. From now until forever. That’s the fucking truth.”

As a mad Ryke and Daisy fan, I got EVERYTHING that I wanted! The confessions, the honesty, the feels, and the hotness! OMG, the hotness! Having had a rather underwhelming introduction to sex, Daisy hasn’t been really interested in it until this point, but with all of Ryke’s hotness, he very quickly shows her what she’s been missing, and there is lots of extremely energetic and fancy-manoeuvring sex to be had.

“Every theory you’ve ever fucking had about men, I’m going to prove wrong.”

But even with the 7 year age gap between them, and Ryke’s considerable amount of experience, their relationship is an equal one. There’s no dominance and nobody takes charge, they accept each other exactly as they are, just wanting to be together. And once they are together, that’s it. There’s no messing about and no relationship drama, the complete honesty that they have always shared continues, they don’t hide their feelings, and they go for it.

“You love me,” I breathe.
He lets out a short laugh. “You’re such a fucking girl.”
“Say it again.”
He smiles, a full blown one that tingles my body all over. “I fucking love you, sweetheart.”

I honestly squeed out loud so many times reading this book!

But it’s not all smooth sailing as once again, there are a lot of external pressures they have to deal with. But their journey is amazing – both individually and as a couple, and I love the way that Ryke continues to support Daisy, but lets her find her independence all on her own, always standing by her side and just enjoying the ride with her.

Freedom doesn’t come with age. It doesn’t magically appear when you’re a legal adult.
It comes when you stand up for what you believe in.

Once again the Ritchie sisters have given us a story filled with drama, emotion, humour, romance and sex, with a few surprises thrown in and all interwoven with brilliant character dynamics that had me completely sucked in and madly flipping pages. I love how intertwined these characters are, and with some very interesting (although somewhat predictable) developments taking place, I can’t wait to see where the series go from here.

I loved it – 5 stars

 

The Addicted series

 

Check out our Author Spotlight on Krista and Becca Ritchie.