Review: I love friends to lovers stories! Wyatt and Lacey were amazing!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2014
Wish For You is a book I have been waiting on. NO. It's a book I have been salivating for ever since I started reading the Boys Of The South series. Wyatt and Lacey are two genuinely flawed characters that had a magical passionate chemistry that had me hooked from the first page to the last.Wyatt Tanaka comes from a wealthy Japanese American family, A Family that has certain expectations of their son. Become a Doctor, marry a respectable girl etc. But Wyatt has only ever had eyes for one girl his whole life. A girl he believes is too good for him and therefore he never makes his move. After getting out the Marine Corps Wyatt is suffering from delusional PTSD seeing visions of his friend and fellow marine Nathan causing him to run. Hard. He's gotten himself mixed up in a bad scene to escape the pain and the hurt of not only losing his friend but not being able to have the one woman he desires.Lacey Evans is a very special woman. From the moment I met her I knew there was something fundamentally different about her character. She's very honest, almost too honest and her simple childlike demeanour can be off putting at times. Growing up in a house full of children with two parents constantly on the go between the kids' activities and their mission work Lacey has had to fend for herself a lot. The only person she has ever let get close to her is Wyatt. She's got her hands full with school and derby practice and she knows she'll probably never be what Wyatt needs in a woman. Being warned repeatedly by his mother to stay away from him doesn't help their situation either. When her parents are sent across the globe on a mission trip Lacey's entire world shifts causing her internal anguish and nowhere to go until Wyatt steps in and the two are thrown together against their better judgement.Out of of all the guys in this series I was the most surprised by how deeply damaged Wyatt was. Not just his emotional scars due to losing a close friend in the war but his inner turmoil at not being able to be with Lacey. She's pushed him away repeatedly not thinking she was good enough causing Wyatt to lash out. I was a little shocked at how viciously he could become to try and hurt Lacey the way he was hurting. Countless times he gets wrapped up in drugs and women which broke my heart in several different scenes. I have been dying to see Lacey and Wyatt get together so for him to seek affection from other women felt wrong to me. Even though they had never been in a relationship. I always hate seeing two people who belong together kept apart. Wyatt wasn't just a damaged and broken man though. He was a fierce protector of Lacey and even though he lashed out and hurt her I loved how determined he was to protect her from himself. He knew he was doing the wrong things and making the wrong choices and no matter how much he wanted to be with her he kept himself away so he didn't contaminate her with his perceived filth. I hated watching him crumble but I felt the most connected to Wyatt and his grief. I could really feel the emotional tumult he was going through and I fell in love with him more than once in this one.Lacey has always intrigued me throughout this series. From the get go there was something a little different about her. She had quirks and certain ticks that lead endeared her to me. From a young age Lacey has dealt with panic issues and hasn't handled change very well in the past. Those closest to her know that in order for her to feel safe in her environment they have to keep her calm and the only one who seems to be able to do that is Wyatt. When Lacey finds out the reasons for her issues she starts to understand herself a little bit better. I thought I loved her before but after finding out the reason behind her quirkiness just made me love her more. How can you not love a beautiful girl who fights everyday to overcome something internally that keeps you from acting and feeling normal. I think that's one of the things I loved about her the most. She was blatantly honest and never held back anything she was thinking or feeling. I didn't like how she felt unworthy of being with Wyatt just because she came from a middle class family and wasn't the right type of woman. She was so unselfish and self sacrificing between hiding her emotions from her family when they went away to giving up the one man she's loved all her life at the request of his parents.Wyatt and Lacey fight their attraction for each other and it nearly killed me a thousand times. They were both struggling with feeling not good enough for the other person and tried to be just friends. even going so far as to set each other up with dates. Watching Wyatt try to keep himself in check and fighting his anger while Lacey was getting to know her date was hilarious. There were a few surprising revelations in this book regarding supporting characters that lead me to believe the series is only going to get better. I loved seeing Lacey and Parker share a moment together. The sadness that radiated off Parker during his brief encounter with Lacey that even she picked up on has be scared and anxious to get to his story.Wish For You was everything I wanted in Lacey and Wyatt's book. It was emotional, heartfelt, dramatic and extremely sexy. The heat factor between these two was probably the hottest for me and I think it was mainly due to Lacey's inability to hold back. Watching her blossom like a flower in spring was what I have been waiting on for what feels like eternity! Wyatt was amazingly gentle and caring. The best part was watching the healing process they both helped each other out with. They were good for each other despite the hardships they had to fight through to get to where they are. Needless to say I was extremely happy with how their story turned out and felt an amazing sense of victory when I finished reading. Valentine's Boys Of The South series is full of sexy guys, kick a-- heroines and steamy, dramatic and exciting romance. If you're one of those emotional suckers who enjoys a good Friends To Lovers story like me then Wish For You is a sure bet!