Review: Ridge hit rock bottom - the road there was uncomfortable to read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 12, 2014
Storyline in 3 sentences. Ridge Wild is an ex-drug user/dealer who has been able to turn his life around and become a successful restauranteur. He fell in love with his brother's fiance (Mia) and ends up sleeping with her. He dumps her in hopes of saving his relationship with his brother; falls into a endless pit of depression and mistakes; and is able to crawl out of the hole with the help of Mia.This book does have a HEA with no cliffhanger. It can be read as a stand alone book.I was emotionally exhausted after reading this book. It was not a 'fun' romantic ride. The H&h; are already together in the beginning of this book. Ridge cruelly dumps Mia and embarks on a search to be 'normal'. Have a normal relationship and hopefully his life will turnaround. He meets a beautiful woman, Amy, who is nothing but good to him. He initially starts off well, but then is 'bored' by their mundane life of dinners and movies.Readers didn't like how Ridge treated Amy and couldn't get past that in order to like the book. Watching Ridge try so hard to be in a relationship with Amy is hard to watch. One step forward, 5 steps back. He drinks a lot. He smokes a lot.It's uncomfortable to read how he destroys himself, hurts Amy, hurts Mia...Ridge is not dealing with a full-emotional deck.In order to redeem Ridge's character in the readers' eyes, the author should have had Ridge break up with Amy in a much better way than it was written. I kept reading, hoping that Ridge would redeem himself in our eyes, but he doesn't quite get there.Ridge and Mia seem to need each other in a very symbiotic way. It works for them. They are both screwed up, but seem to be able to help each other when the other needs it. My immediate thought was, what happens when they are BOTH in a bad place??? For example, if they have a child and s/he dies. Or if they are both out of work, etc. Not sure if their relationship could survive both of them being in a downward spiral.Being good looking and having amazing sex (and this book has a lot of sex in it) doesn't create a strong foundation for a relationship.I gave this book 3 stars because even though I didn't care for Ridge that much - this book was pretty well written. I like the flashback scenes, love lots of dialogue and this book was great at taking the reader on Ridge's raw and painful journey. Like I said, I was exhausted.