Friday, December 13, 2013

REVIEW: Ricochet by Krista and Becca Ritchie

(Addicted series, book 1.5)
As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days. 


Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he’ll realize what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him. 

Progress. That’s what Lily’s striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family—people who aren’t aware of her addiction—she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows. 

With Lily and Lo’s dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to “touch” proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin. 

Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

******


Y’all, I need to confess something. I have an addiction. It’s severe. It’s all-consuming. Recovery isn’t an option. And it’s all Becca and Krista Ritchie’s fault.


So, here we go. My name is Ashley and I’m addicted to this series.

Ricochet is a companion novel to the first book in this series, Addicted to You. This installment picks up right where Addicted to You ends; Lo is off to rehab determined to kick his dependence on alcohol to the curb, and Lily is left without her boyfriend and her best friend for 90 days. In an attempt to gain some control over her own addiction to sex, she moves in with her sister and repeats one mantra over and over again: I will not cheat on Loren Hale.


I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone who read my review of Addicted to You or has seen me repeatedly gushing about it on Twitter, to find that I was nearly shaking with excitement to start Ricochet. I craved more Lo and Lily like an addict does their next fix, and I was not disappointed in any way, shape or form. With Lo physically absent due to his stint in rehab, this book allows us to follow Lily’s day-to-day struggles as she copes with restraining from men and giving into her urges to masturbate for hours on end. It’s painful for her to squelch her desires, but in order for her relationship with Lo to forward, she knows she has to be strong; she has to conquer this addiction not just for herself, but for the man who is currently fighting his own dependence for her.


Whew. Once again, I’m blown away. Blown the fuck away. The focus on Lily’s addiction shines bright in this novel, and as much as I felt for her in Addicted to You, it increased tenfold with Ricochet. You feel her emotions, her pain, her constant struggle to stay faithful to Lo and at times, it’s heartbreaking. The guilt she feels for giving into her needs is heart-shattering. The bathroom scene on the yacht ripped me apart. I wanted to hug her and tell her everything is going to be okay. But through her battle, you see growth. You see her overcoming her dependence on sex and self-love, and that makes the setbacks and hiccups in the road seem like stepping stones.

Ricochet also allows us to delve deeper into the personalities of Daisy, Lily’s younger sister, and Ryke, Lo’s half-brother. We didn’t learn much about Daisy in Addicted to You, but here you really get to see who she is. She’s a daredevil with a blanket of invincibility, and incredibly lovable. Being a model, she’s been forced into situations most 15 year olds can only dream of, which makes her seem much older than she really is. I honestly had to keep reminding myself of her age. In keeping with every other main and secondary character in these books, I adore her. And Ryke. Ooohhhh, Ryke. Well, I think the simplest way to put it is….I’m in love. Head over heels. I was drawn to him in Addicted to You, but this novel planted him firmly at the top of my book boyfriend list. His smartass-ness (is that a word?…it is now) and sense of humor is swoon worthy, and let’s just be honest; based on his physical description, he’s incredibly easy on the eyes. I can’t wait to see more of Daisy and Ryke in Kiss the Sky AND AND AND in their very own book, Hothouse Flower. Friiiiiiiick, I’m so excited!!!!!!


You know, it takes an incredible author (or in this case, two) to give characters such heavy baggage and still have the readers rooting for them, page after page. Lo and Lily are saddled with issues most of us will never understand, and yet, Krista and Becca weave their words in such a way that makes you feel like you do understand them…even if it is only for the length of the book. It’s utterly captivating and honest to God, I don’t know how I’m going to cope when this series is actually over. *deep breaths, deep breaths* We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I’m happy to spend my free time immersed in this incredibly wonderful world the Ritchie sisters have created; these girls are goddamn geniuses. 

MY RATING: 5 STARS




Reviewed by:

No comments:

Post a Comment