Review: Can't Help But Love Him
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 18, 2014
"It's Not Over" is book two in A.L. Zaun's The Do Over series.  If you haven't read "The Do Over," I strongly recommend it first, because to get the full "Rick Marin" effect, you've got to have the back story.Rick Marin is one of the most confusing characters I've ever read.  I don't know if I want to love him, or hate him, or just smack the ever loving snot out of him.  When we meet Rick in book one, frankly, he's a misogynistic jerk.  Nearly two years after he devastates his live-in girlfriend by dumping her in exchange for chasing skirts and drinking expensive scotch, he sees her one night in a club and makes it his life mission to "win" her back, completely ignoring the fact that she has a new man in her life, and she's happy.  Ya, he's a narcissist!Madison Stewart takes pity on Rick -- or maybe she's more disgusted by him - and vows to teach him how to learn to love Dani more than he loves his, uh-hem...  He's a jerk, and Maddy doesn't pass up even one opportunity to point that out.  I absolutely love that about her, and perhaps even more, I love about him the fact that he's completely undauted by her insults.  In fact, for reasons I don't think even Rick understands, it's all the polemic invectives that Maddy hurls at him on a nearly relentless basis that inspire his metamorphosis.  His gradual transformation courtesy of the man-eating and enigmatic woman that is Madison Stewart has him finally recognizing what (or who) has been in front of him all along.  But Rick isn't the only one who's changing, and it's confusing - and scary - as heck.  Maddy doesn't let people in - not like that.  The last time she did, the results were catastrophic and the fallout nearly broke her, so letting Rick in - revealing those secrets - is out of the positively question.  By the time Rick realizes what he really wants, it is over.  Madison is gone.I don't know when there's been a more unlikely match up than Rick Marin and Madison Stewart, but A.L. Zaun has taken two entirely challenging and rebellious characters and skillfully cultivated a bond between them that, I have a feeling, is going to prove them to be a powerhouse couple, and a veritable force to be reckoned with.  The chemistry between these two is off-the-charts, and not just in the bedroom.  They are funny, and snarky, with precisely the right measure of... hmmm... what shall I call it...  Wholesomeness, maybe?  That doesn't seem like quite the right word given their promiscuous histories, but there is something about a woman who adores her grandfather above all else, and a man who treats his mother like a queen.  On a humorous note, the amount of emasculation Rick endures at the hands of his two older sisters tells you a lot about the heart of him.  Perhaps that's why Rick is convinced that despite the humiliation he suffers at her playful hands, Madison - his Maddy - is "the" one.  Make no mistake, though, Rick is a warrior, and I LOVE when caveman Rick shows up for the party!At the risk of sounding cliché, Maddy and Rick's story is not over with "It's Not Over."  And, just for the record, I, too, underwent a change, because I'm no longer disgusted by Rick.  I'm amused by him.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'm undeniably and irrevocably charmed by his boyish, bull-in-a-china-shop spell.  Wow!  I definitely didn't see that coming!