Review: A fantastic sequel to BOUND and a great addition to the series!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 26, 2014
I picked up book 1 of Brenda's NOW series, NOW AND THEN, and loved it. Bought book 2, loved that. Then realized people kept talking about BOUND, so I grabbed that and read it, too. I was blown away. I thought I loved NOW, but this was even better. It was such a moving story, at times frustrating, but so emotionally poignant and so damn hot. I loved Ryke for more reasons than I can say without blathering on forever. So when I found out Brenda was writing a sequel, I SQUEED in happiness. More Ryke! Oh, and more Kate! Yeah, I liked Kate, but RYKE!I'll admit, I have always loved hockey. I was the kid who had a team sweatshirt at age 3 and couldn't wait to learn to skate at five. I went to a hockey school (not because of the team, but it was a HUGE bonus) and lived in the dorms with the players. Some of my absolute best memories involve hockey. So it's no surprise that I loved Jason Ryker. But what makes him so lovable isn't his hockey god persona, it's all the rest - his love for Kate that's so overwhelming, he can't do anything but show her or beat the crap out of someone on the ice; his kindness to fans; his devotion to his family and his friends. All of that is in this book and then some. If you loved Ryke, this will not disappoint.If you're new to this series, beware. Ryke is not for the faint of heart. He's a hockey player - blunt at times, crass, foul-mouthed and he likes sex. For all the reasons Kate loves him, I do, too.But while this is Ryke AND Kate's story, as was the case in BOUND, the real journey is Kate's. She has a lot of demons to slay and is sucker-punched again. Ryke is the perfect husband about it - as perfect as a man can be - and yet, it's not enough to pull Kate out of herself completely. No, just as she did in BOUND, she had to do that on her own.Two things set this apart from it predecessor. One, there is a LOT more hot sex. I mean a LOT. I am not complaining. I loved it and was glad to see it. If you read the NOW series, you'll know why.  Brenda is like me, she loves the NA style, but she wants her stories to have a little more adult edge to them. Well, you get that here, no doubt. But the other thing, the fact that Kate and Ryke are married and trying to start a family, that changes the dynamic between them. Their love has grown and bloomed and it's beautiful. It makes the fresh heartache a little less painful.I shed tears - both happy and sad - I smiled, I chuckled, I swooned. Oh, and did I mention that I didn't want to put it down? I'd have stayed up half the night, but the hubby was awake and reading straight through like that annoys him. Instead, I woke up early and finished this morning.Thanks, Brenda, for sending along the ARC. I loved it even more than I knew I would. Though I received my copy from the author for an honest review, I'd have gladly paid for it and was eagerly anticipating the book's release. Now, I can't wait for Luke's story and for the next NOW book!