Rescuing the Bad Boy

Better than book one! It had some of the most tender, impressionable moments that left me swooning.

*Complimentary ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review.

I really liked the first book in the series, but...I loved the second book so much more! I could say it was book one on steroids. The heartache was gut-wrenching, the chemistry and passion made me drool all over my e-reader screen, and it had some of the most tender, impressionable moments that sent me into swoon overload. There may have been a brief crying jag or two involved.

Sofie's anger and hurt was understandable, even though I thought seven years was a long time to hold on to that. But then, the more I learned about the kind of person Sofie was, the more I understood why she'd never gotten over that night that changed their lives. What I loved the most about her was how caring and intuitive she was. At the end, her father has some very good advice for her in the form of an anecdote. That moment pretty much summed her up perfectly. At first glance, it might seem as if she caved too quickly and too easily to Donovan and his seduction. It may have seemed impulsive, reckless and had heartbreak written all over it, but I think reading the book cover to cover made it clear why she didn't or couldn't walk away.

Donovan. I understood why Sofie had zero defenses where he was concerned. The details of his childhood were so heart-breaking, even I would have been determined to be that woman who could save him. Was he a little callous with her feelings both in the past and the present as their pseudo relationship took off again? Yes, however he had made no promises and even if he wasn't one hundred percent clear with her about his plans post charity event, the signs were hard for even her to miss completely. What surprised and delighted me were those few vulnerable moments where he actually acted like he wanted to be saved, wanted to be good enough for her, wanted to love her. He even gave her a clear out at one point; he gave her a chance to walk away.

My favorite thing about this story was, for all the uncertainty that clouded several of their ridiculously hot moments, they did open up about quite a lot of things, laying cards on the table, so to speak. When they weren't overthinking what they were to each other, their playfulness and some of the cute dialogues just endeared them to me that much more. The ending made me tear up, but in both good and bad ways. I loved how they found the courage to go after what they wanted and the story was wrapped up with a fabulous epilogue set another seven years later.

This story that ebbed and flowed, never got boring, pushed and pulled the characters in ways that made them grow and had love scenes to make the hearts of any romance junkie soar.