Review: The Best One Yet of the Series! Five Stars!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 31, 2014
Hothouse Flower is book 5 in the Addicted series by Krista and Becca Ritchie. I know the authors say to read Kiss the Sky before reading this book. While that is good advice, I say start with the first book, Addicted to You, and work your way up to Hothouse Flower. While the first three books talk about Lily, Daisy's older sister, and Lo, Ryke's younger brother, it also incorporates Rose, Daisy and Lily's older sister, and Conner, Rose's boyfriend turned husband, as well as Ryke and Daisy. In my opinion, if you don't read the series from the beginning, you'll miss all the backstory of why the characters act like they do. It's also in book 2, Ricochet, that Ryke and Daisy first interact with each other. Ryke meets Daisy when she's 15 years old, three years before Hothouse Flower. He saves her at a New Year's Eve party she's attending with Lily when someone spikes her drink. He also plays chaperone, with Lily, to Daisy's sweet 16 birthday in Mexico. He also tries to convince her to eat chocolate cake at a family event. There's lots of bantering between the two that's really fun to read. Yes, Ryke is seven years older than Daisy. And she was only 15 years old when they first met, so their interaction has always been Ryke being friendly to her in a platonic way, whereas Daisy pushes the limit with Ryke with her flirting. These two really become friends in book 3 of the series, Addicted for Now. Even though Ryke had a pseudo-girlfriend in the book, you can tell how attentive he is to Daisy and how concerned he is by her impulsive actions. In Kiss the Sky, we see more interaction between these two characters as well as a little jealousy on Ryke's part when Daisy introduces her boyfriend, Julian, to the group.Which leads us to Hothouse Flower. This book is probably my most anticipated book of the series. I loved Lily and Lo, the two characters that started it all. And Rose and Connor, the stars of Kiss the Sky, are okay. But Daisy and Ryke! The sexual tension between these two has been brewing for three years! They couldn't do anything about it, and neither has acted upon it because of Daisy's age. But now Daisy is 18 years old and living on her own. How convenient that she's living in Ryke's apartment building only two floors down from him! Of course, Ryke spends most of his time in Daisy's apartment, as a very platonic friend, because she has night terrors. It's because of their siblings' addicted personalities as well as being in a reality show that these two have been put in the national spotlight. It has catapulted Daisy into supermodel mode. Now everyone wants to take pictures of them everywhere they go. And rumors are cropping up that Daisy is just like Lily and is addicted to sex. Ryke is the only one that's there for her. Daisy's sisters are older than she is and live an hour away in Princeton. Daisy's mom is too controlling and suffocates her life. So there's Ryke. He's empathetic, understanding, patient and truly cares about her. We find out that he takes her to numerous doctors' appointment for her inomnia. He's the only that knows about her night terrors and the reasons for them. He's slept in her bed platonically for four months reassuring her that she's safe at night. He's become her best friend, closer than anyone she's ever been with. He's her wolf, always protecting her, as well as her body pillow at night:) They've both fought their attraction for each other, but it's not until Daisy calls Ryke from Paris in distress that they're relationship changes.Throughout the book we can see how Ryke is protective of her. He guards all her secrets, all her fears. We see how Daisy is lost and trying to navigate her way through life as she tries to carve a future for herself with Ryke in it. We also see how hurt she is is when she's inadvertently pushed aside by her sisters, always forgotten because of her age. We also see how Ryke is the outsider sometimes between Lo and Connor. These two are best-friends. Lo allows Connor to get away with a lot of things that Ryke is not allowed to say or do. It's the feeling of being outsiders that helps Daisy and Ryke gravitate towards one another.This was a long story. Over 400 pages. But there was so much to say! There were so many twists and turns that happen to the characters. Two of the major suprises occur to two characters, but I guessed right away what it was! Samantha, Daisy's mom, proves once again how evil she is. And Jonathan, Ryke and Lo's Dad, has redeemed himself in my eyes. The sexy times in this book were really steamy. But there were times I had to roll my eyes and say: "Really?? Is that physically possible??" But it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.This story felt like it could have been the end of the series. It seemed like all the characters' stories had an ending, but I know there are two books to go! I can't wait to read it! In the meantime, I'll just re-read Hothouse Flower again!