Review: Beyond book 4
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 26, 2014
I am such a huge fan girl of Kit Rocha's Beyond series and I have been impatiently waiting for Ace's book since the moment we first met him in Beyond Shame so to say I had high expectations for this book is a complete understatement. Usually my high expectations would make me nervous about picking up a book but in this case I had no doubt that the authors would blow me away and I'm happy to say that they definitely delivered. Beyond Jealousy is my new favourite book in the series, I'm still Ace's biggest fan but I'm now also just as big a fan of Cruz!! Rachel is one lucky, lucky girl - what I wouldn't give to swap places with her!Rachel has been in love with Ace for a long time but he kept on pushing her away until she was convinced that he didn't care about her at all. She may have been heart broken but Cruz was always there on the sidelines ready to take care of her and we'd already seen her start to fall more than a little in love with him too. The trouble is that she's never forgotten Ace and he still holds a huge piece of her heart and when she finds out that Cruz and Ace are happily sharing women but that neither of them have invited her to join them she is hurt but equally determined to make them realise that she is more than capable of handling them both.Cruz was an elite soldier from Eden and was raised very conservatively, it goes against everything he was brought up to believe in to be attracted to another man but that doesn't stop him being drawn to Ace. He loves Rachel but he needs Ace too and he is the kind of guy who will fight to the death to get what he wants. Cruz knows that Ace and Rachel are wary of starting a relationship, especially one involving three people, but that isn't going to stop him - especially since he knows how good they could be together. I loved how determined he was to fight for what he wanted and the way he is able to read both Rachel and Ace so well. He is the perfect guy to help them both to work through their issues and he is smart enough to realise that there is nothing wrong with the way he feels for the two of them. I was actually surprised at how dominant Cruz was, I'd kind of expected Ace to be the one who took most of the control but it was a pleasant surprise to see Cruz was able to shake things up a bit.For all the show that Ace puts on he is actually the most messed up one of them all, he was trained from a young age in the art of pleasure and spent years using his body to earn his living. It left him feeling dirty and with incredibly low self esteem. Ace just doesn't see himself worthy of love and is convinced that he isn't good enough for either Rachel or Cruz. He wants them so much that it terrifies him because if they rejected him it would break his heart so he tries to keep them at a distance. He convinces himself that he is just in the relationship for the short term and that it is his job to get Rachel and Cruz together and then walk away so they can be happy without him. His lack of self worth absolutely broke my heart and I was so pleased that both Rachel and Cruz could see through his defensive layers and understand what was going on with him. Ace makes a few incredibly stupid decisions but that doesn't stop the others from loving him and they both fight for him with all their hearts.Beyond Jealousy was probably the most emotionally wrenching book in the series, there is a lot of self doubt and difficulty on all sides as the three of them try to figure out how to make their relationship work. That's not to say it's all difficult between them because in a lot of ways they fit together perfectly from the very beginning. They certainly know how to make things work in the bedroom and HOT DAMN this was the sexiest book yet (which is saying something if you've read any of the others!). I don't think there are going to be many people who wouldn't want to be in Rachel's place after reading this book, she has not just one but two incredibly sexy guys who want to give her the world and I'm more than a little jealous of her!There is also plenty going on in the rest of the O'Kane world, Dallas is hot on the heels of the people who are creating bootlegged O'Kane liquor and the whole gang are in danger as they work together to put a stop to them. The O'Kane women get a chance to shine when they fight their own battle and OMG the ending has made me absolutely desperate to get my hands on Trix's story - I really, really need it NOW! If you haven't started this series yet then I really don't know what you're waiting for - it is an absolutely fantastic one that pushes boundaries in all the best ways and I can't recommend ALL of the books highly enough. I would recommend reading them in order so start at Beyond Shame and work your way forward - I promise you won't regret it.