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Review

5 fated stars!

After reading and loving Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet, I was so excited to get my hands on Wicked Heart. I hate going into books with extremely high expectations because of the off chance that it will be a huge disappointment, but OMG Wicked Heart exceeded every expectation. I absolutely loved this book. This story is one of love, friendship, choices, regret, guilt, forgiveness, and a beautiful second chance at love. It made me laugh, swoon, and fall in love. Then it ripped my heart out and left my feelings a mess. Thankfully it slowly put my heart back together and all that pain was worth it. I had so many emotions coursing through my body that I didn’t know what to do with them. My heart raced in anticipation with what was going to happen and my stomach was in knots when the angst began. To say I finished this book emotionally exhausted is an understatement. Wicked Heart was fantastic!

Elissa Holt was introduced in Bad Romeo as Ethan’s sister. We got a glimpse into her life that left me eagerly waiting for her story. Elissa is a top notch stage manager which is impressive because of her young age. She takes on a job before knowing who the leads are and she is in for a surprise when she learns that her ex and his gorgeous fiancé have the staring roles. Wanting nothing more than to run from the painful emotions that she is feeling, she commits to being professional and though she may exude this on the outside, she is far from it on the inside.

In that moment, he’s not a movie star, and I’m not his stage manager. We’re the same two desperately connected people who fell down a rabbit hole years earlier and climbed out forever changed.

As the story begins, we do not know what went on between Liam and Elissa. I love that Leisa gives us a flashback to set the scene. Six years earlier Elissa and her best friend, Josh, meet handsome, smooth talking Liam. They grab dinner together and though they hit it off right away, Elissa is hesitant to explore their attraction because she fears Liam is an actor. After being burned by not one by three actors before, she has a rule that she doesn’t date actors. This doesn’t deter her body from betraying her rules and the sexual tension between Liam and Elissa is palpable.

“If you’re feeling even half of the attraction I’m feeling toward you, then, no, I don’t think you could resist. In fact, I think if I kissed you right now, we’d barely make it through that door before tearing each other’s clothes off and fucking like there’s no tomorrow.

Though Liam isn’t an actor, he shows up at a casting call for the part of Romeo and gets the role in the play that Elissa is stage-managing. Now she is even more adamant that they not date because not only would it break her dating rule but it would also break her no involvement between coworkers rule. Elissa goes against her better judgement and they decide to see where it goes after the play is over and to be just friends until then. Keeping their hands off each other is hard and the sexual tension clouds the air and gets thicker as the weeks pass. As the play comes to an end, they finally get to be together and it is life changing. But, no matter how intense and passionate it is, it ends up being short lived.

“I’m not saying goodbye,” he says as he shoves his hands in his pockets. “Because this isn’t over. One day, fate’s going to fix this. Bring us back together. I believe that.”

Fast forward to the present and Liam is completely shell shocked to see Elissa again. It is clear from his reaction and emotions playing on his face that he is definitely not over Elissa and is not happy with the way things turned out. He wants her even if he can’t have her and its driving them both crazy. You can recognize the pain and hear the anguish in his voice.

“I’ve missed you, Liss. It hurt not seeing you for all of those years, but this? You being right here and me not being able to have you? Hurts so much more.”

My heart continues to hurt for Elissa and Liam. Even though I didn’t know exactly what happened to pull them apart, I prayed that it wasn’t as it seemed. They try their best to stay away from each other but having to work together makes that impossible. Just like years ago, the sexual tension build to insurmountable pressure that you are left waiting for it to explode.

“I’ve never stopped loving you. From the day we met, you’ve been the only one for me. There’s never been anyone else.”

When they finally think they have the answers to work things out, problems arise and they find themselves facing even more challenges. I didn’t think I could take any more angst, though it created a great build up and intensity to the story, and luckily it was pretty short lived.

“I used to think that if I just waited long enough, fate would bring us back together. That our stars would align, or whatever, and you’d come crashing back into my life to stay. But that didn’t happen. So now I say, screw it. I’m done waiting. Sometimes, fate is what you make it, and I’m making my life with you.”

I loved Elissa and Liam together. I felt their strong connection and I was invested in their story. Elissa was such a fun character. She was very well developed and I felt all the emotions she was going through as if I was going through them too. I felt breathless as they fell in love and my heart crumbled right along side hers. I understood her actions completely. She tried so hard to resist Liam but how do you resist your soul mate?

Even though I was extremely frustrated with Liam at times, I couldn’t help but love him. He was sweet, sexy, funny, and caring. His words made me swoon and the depth of his love gave me butterflies. I was so heartbroken for Elissa and mad at Liam for something I felt would be unforgivable, but when everything was revealed I absolutely forgave him. He made decisions that not only affected his life but Elissa’s and it hurt him to his core which only made my heart weep for the time they lost. I could feel his regret and pain.

I loved Elissa’s best friend, Josh! I thought he was a riot and the banter between Elissa and him was hysterical. He added so much to the story. I loved the strong loyalty and support he had for Elissa. He stuck by her through everything even when he had feelings for her.

I wanted to hate Angel from the beginning but I just couldn’t. I think her character was wonderful. She was so nice, caring, and likable. She was so enthusiastic that she was fun to be around and I couldn’t fault her for her position in the story.

I absolutely loved this book! I was left with a wicked book hangover and I know this story will stay in my heart for years to come.

5 stars!

 

*ARC generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

 

The Starcrossed series