By: Alisha Rai
Releasing July 25, 2017
Avon
Hate to Want You
Avon
Hate to Want You
Forbidden Hearts series
Alisha Rai, one of contemporary romance’s brightest stars, makes her Avon Books debut with the first novel in the sexy Forbidden Hearts series!
One night. No one will know.
That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies.
Until the night she didn’t show up.
Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?
Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families.
Being together might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.
A second chance romance from a new to me author; a combination too good to miss.
Olivia (Livvy) Kane has spent the last ten years estranged from her family as she escaped the fallout from devastating events including her break-up with Nicholas Chandler. Now she's back and eager to become reacquainted with members of her family, only her return opens old emotional wounds some would rather rebury than confront.
Ten years is a long time to regret a decision which changed his life, but now Livvy Kane is back, Nicholas Chandler wants to rekindle what they once had. It's a selfish desire but he's willing to sacrifice everything he has built in his life for her, only he needs to understand that the woman he's continued to crave all these years is hiding a secret that could change everything.
In the beginning, I felt a little overwhelmed as Livvy and Nicholas' back story unfolds and key secondary characters are introduced. However, once complete and the focus is solely on the protagonists, I was quickly drawn into the narrative.
With elements of a Shakespearean tragedy with a happier ending twist, we are introduced to two families who built up a successful business together until revenge tore them apart. One still enjoys an affluent lifestyle, making do with limited resources now available to them. With, blackmail, suspicious incidents and greed, two young people are forced to sacrifice their love; to respect family wishes. Yet, in the ten years since their devastating breakup, neither has managed to let go as yearly illicit trysts took place to satisfy their carnal desires in the hope time will cure them of their feelings. Only time hasn't healed them at all.
The troubles within their families run deep and wide as so many members have issues and opinions about Livvy and Nicholas having a relationship. The author weaves emotional good with the bad as the pair walk a tight line between doing what is right for them now and ignoring the potential conflict looming on the horizon. Yet, both are still not on the same page, as Nicholas pushes them further to find a solution, whilst Livvy looks for an escape because sacrificing her hearts desire seems easier than admitting something she believes will end things anyway. It's heartbreaking but determination and compassion prove love can conquer all.
Overall, a well written and enjoyable romance riddled with angst and hope. I'm not sure if Hate To Want You is standalone because we leave Livvy and Nicholas almost on the brink of a happy for now relationship. I'm committed to reading the second novel in this series and as we follow Jackson and Sadia, but I really hope we get a glimpse of how Livvy and Nicholas are faring too. Do I wish there was an epilogue? No. I'm more than satisfied with the ending as it leaves me with an invested interest to continue the Forbidden Hearts series.
Olivia (Livvy) Kane has spent the last ten years estranged from her family as she escaped the fallout from devastating events including her break-up with Nicholas Chandler. Now she's back and eager to become reacquainted with members of her family, only her return opens old emotional wounds some would rather rebury than confront.
Ten years is a long time to regret a decision which changed his life, but now Livvy Kane is back, Nicholas Chandler wants to rekindle what they once had. It's a selfish desire but he's willing to sacrifice everything he has built in his life for her, only he needs to understand that the woman he's continued to crave all these years is hiding a secret that could change everything.
In the beginning, I felt a little overwhelmed as Livvy and Nicholas' back story unfolds and key secondary characters are introduced. However, once complete and the focus is solely on the protagonists, I was quickly drawn into the narrative.
With elements of a Shakespearean tragedy with a happier ending twist, we are introduced to two families who built up a successful business together until revenge tore them apart. One still enjoys an affluent lifestyle, making do with limited resources now available to them. With, blackmail, suspicious incidents and greed, two young people are forced to sacrifice their love; to respect family wishes. Yet, in the ten years since their devastating breakup, neither has managed to let go as yearly illicit trysts took place to satisfy their carnal desires in the hope time will cure them of their feelings. Only time hasn't healed them at all.
The troubles within their families run deep and wide as so many members have issues and opinions about Livvy and Nicholas having a relationship. The author weaves emotional good with the bad as the pair walk a tight line between doing what is right for them now and ignoring the potential conflict looming on the horizon. Yet, both are still not on the same page, as Nicholas pushes them further to find a solution, whilst Livvy looks for an escape because sacrificing her hearts desire seems easier than admitting something she believes will end things anyway. It's heartbreaking but determination and compassion prove love can conquer all.
Overall, a well written and enjoyable romance riddled with angst and hope. I'm not sure if Hate To Want You is standalone because we leave Livvy and Nicholas almost on the brink of a happy for now relationship. I'm committed to reading the second novel in this series and as we follow Jackson and Sadia, but I really hope we get a glimpse of how Livvy and Nicholas are faring too. Do I wish there was an epilogue? No. I'm more than satisfied with the ending as it leaves me with an invested interest to continue the Forbidden Hearts series.
***arc received courtesy of Avon Romance via Instafreebie***
(Rated R)
Despite her ridiculous schoolgirl outfit, she wasn’t the girl she’d been when she left town. Her hair, her clothes, even her attitude was subtly different. He’d watched every change happen over the past decade in a time-lapse video. There was nothing he didn’t like about the differences in her now.
Dangerous.
Right. Right. This was about sex. Nothing else.
She headed down the walkway, the flickering streetlamp in the parking lot burnishing her hair with red and black. She didn’t wobble a bit on her pencil-thin heels, reassuring him that though she’d been in a bar, she wasn’t anywhere near intoxicated.
He got out of the car, taking care to pull his collar up and lower his head, feeling ridiculous as he did so. He was a grown man. Who cared if he had sex with another consenting adult?
Lots of people, starting with his father, but he wasn’t going to think about them right now.
His strides were longer than hers. Her heels and skirt made it difficult for her to do more than mince. He made it to the door a second after she got it open, and followed her in, kicking the door shut behind him. She stripped off her light fall jacket and tossed it on the floor. “Liv—” was all he had a chance to say before she was in his arms, shoving him back.
It was dark, the only light coming in from the crack between the dingy curtains. Her lips pressed against his, and he inhaled the scent of her, each drugging kiss making his head spin. She crawled up him like he was a pole, her arms and legs clutching for balance.
It took him only a second. One second of having those red lips devouring his hungrily, one second of that hot sinner’s body pressing against his own, and all semblance of rational thought flew out of his brain.
Who cared about tomorrow? He was too enflamed to wonder about anything but the here and now. Too excited to even consider this a bad idea. He kissed her back as if he would die if he didn’t get her mouth, licking and sucking and memorizing the very taste of her. He slid his hands over her ass, gripped her luscious cheeks tight, and spun her around, pushing her up against the door.
He ripped his lips away, holding her from him when she might have forced her way back. “How do you want it?” he growled. He had an inkling, from the signals she was broadcasting, but it had been a while since he’d had to read those signals.
“Hard . . .” She scraped her nails over the back of his neck. “Use me. Make me feel it tomorrow.”
The wild look in her eyes was sharper than he’d ever seen it, and it ramped up his own lust. He dragged his hand over her ass, rubbing the fabric against her bottom. “This outfit is indecent.”
Her lids dropped to half-mast, and she arched her back. “You don’t like my clothes? I’m heartbroken.”
“You look like a schoolgirl.”
She tightened her legs around his waist, rubbing up on him. Her heat and wetness was obvious, even through the twin barriers of her underwear and his pants. “A naughty one? Who needs to be punished?”
He should feel ridiculous, but instead his body hardened more, blood engorging his dick. “So naughty.” His hand slipped up her leg to her hip and the strip of fabric there. He used his other hand to arch her back farther, feathering his fingers up her spine. “I could see your ass while you were walking outside.” He traced his hand around the waistband at her back and clenched the fabric in his wrist, pulling the bikini and her tights taut, digging into the folds of her pussy. Her eyes widened.
He tightened his grip. “Were you purposefully strutting around in this skirt, your ass hanging out of it?”
“N-no.”
“You’re lying. Do you know what I do to liars?”
Her nails dug into his skin. “Tell me you spank them.”
A red haze swam in front of his eyes, and he pushed her legs down so she was standing. Then he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around to face the door.
He grasped her by the hips and pulled her to stand with her back in an arch, then flipped up that ridiculous plaid skirt. It took him a second to lower her tights to her thighs. Her red panties barely covered the curves of her ass, making him growl. He didn’t know what bar she’d been in, but he imagined her seated in some dingy smoke-filled dive, anonymous bastards salivating over her tight body. Fuck, all it would have taken was one shimmy, and everyone could have gotten a free show, these tempting round globes exposed but for the silly scraps of fabric she’d put over them.
You have no right to be jealous.
He palmed her cheeks, rubbing his thumbs over the plump flesh. “Do you know how badly I wanted to pull you onto my lap and flip this skirt up the second I saw you?”
“To fuck me or to spank me?”
“Both.”
She arched her back more, her ass wriggling. He didn’t think, merely lifted his hand and smacked one full cheek, his rational, caring side standing far apart and watching in horror. He’d never spanked a woman before. As scrappy as Livvy was, he hadn’t thought she’d like this.
Her moan suggested otherwise.
He got it. He got the appeal of this, with Livvy bent over in front of him, legs spread, skirt lifted, red panties exposed, and the hot flesh of her ass filling his hand. He slapped her other cheek, and she moaned again, louder. Hell. He could see the appeal of literally doing anything with Livvy, to be honest.
“Was that okay?” he had the semblance of mind to ask her.
Her hands had braced against the door, and her fingers curled in. She nodded, her red-streaked hair rippling over her back.
His next tap was harder. “You’ve been so bad, Livvy. Tempting all those men tonight. Tempting me.” He smacked her again. “You’ve never stopped tempting me.”
She whimpered. “I’ll stop.”
“We both know that’s impossible.” He squeezed her left cheek, dropping to his knees behind her. With his teeth, he carefully lowered the panties over her ass to meet the rolled-up waistband of her tights. He stayed there, luxuriating in her body as he pressed soft kisses over each cheek, punctuating each tender touch with a slap of his hand.
When she was rocking back against his mouth, he pulled away. He came to his feet. Unable to take his gaze off her tight body, he walked backward until his knees hit the cheap bed. Nicholas slid down to sit on the floor, his back supported by the bed. The sliver of streetlight illuminating the room highlighted her sweet, reddened buttocks. He tore at his jeans, growling when his hand met his throbbing cock. He needed to jerk off or get in her pussy. Something. Anything. Literally whatever would relieve this ache as soon as possible.
She peeked under her arm and straightened, skirt dropping down to cover her bottom.
A crime, covering that butt.
Livvy stripped off her tights and panties and then turned to face him. “Nicholas?”
He ran his hand down his cock once, then twice when he noted the hunger in her gaze as she watched him fondle himself. He grazed the tip, and his body jerked. “Take off your clothes. Shirt first.”
“Do I have to?” Her breathless question was pseudo-innocent.
“Unless you want to be punished.” How he’d punish her, he wasn’t sure. More spanking? Licking her until she wept with the need to orgasm? Fucking her until she screamed?
These didn’t sound like terrible punishments for either of them.
Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of her shirt, and she undid them one by one, so slowly he knew it was a tease. He tightened his hand on his cock, because he knew if he didn’t, he’d demand she come over here so he could rip the offending material right off her.
She stripped it off her shoulders, leaving her in her bra, her toned belly inviting his lips.
“Now the bra.”
She unsnapped the front snap and drew both cups of red lace away from her breasts. They were perky and lifted on their own, the small handfuls the perfect fit for his palm. Her brown nipples were tight and pointed, giving away her excitement. Her breasts rose and fell, her gaze locked on his hand. He made his pulls slower and more explicit, both to give her a show and to make sure he didn’t blow too quickly.
Her hand dropped to the waistband of her skirt, shoving it down, leaving her completely naked. She licked her lips, making the remnants of her lipstick shiny and vibrant. He imagined those lips wrapped tight around his cock, him whispering, Suck me, while guiding her head over his lap.
He shook his head, trying to shake the filthy image from his brain, and released his cock. “Come here.”
She walked over. Her hand unselfconsciously slid over her belly and pussy. She was wet and hot and plump, nearly hairless, save for a small landing strip. The pot of gold tattooed at her hip was a dark shadow. “Closer.”
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