Review: Hot and sexy (second) book in Turner series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2011
Although both books completely stand alone, in the series timeline, this story technically comes afterTurn It Up: Turner Twins, Book 2, which was released later and is Maxine's brother Max Junior's story.  They really don't have to be read in order and you don't necessarily have to read both, but I promise the whole experience is greatly enhanced if you do.  The Turner family is terrific and since Max Junior and his wife Tasha appear here a little bit, their story will make sense and have some meaning if you do.  Plus, it's truly an awesome story - have Kleenex on hand.Maxine "Max" Turner decided she needed a security system installed in her huge family home when vandals broke in and the new client for her brother's company and her web design services is an expert in the field.  Forget sparks - what was a flicker when they first met turned into fireworks by the time she and Ryan finished going over the security needs at her house later.  Neither one plays any games - they start dating immediately, knowing starting an affair is going to happen soon.  Their relationship is complicated by her huge family intruding (something similar happens in Turn it Up - it's funny), his responsibility to his handicapped brother and the ongoing vandalism at her house.This isn't a story with a really intricate suspense plot or one with a huge, dark and evil secret (like a dead wife!) that you know will threaten to tear the couple apart.  This is mostly a story about the happy developing relationship between Max and Ryan and the smaller, irritating and sometimes sad stuff that keeps happening to them that they have to deal with to keep themselves together.  I really found the resolution to the vandalism issue a little annoying.  Not because the plot itself was poorly done, but because I just thought it would be something more interesting.  There's a little flip from Turn it Up - Tasha was twelve years older than Max Junior there and here, Ryan is roughly the same amount older than Max.I think my pockets are getting full of the guys I want to keep from the last several Arend books I've read now that I've added Ryan to them.  He was a bundle of everything interesting - contrasted with Max's innocence, his experience everywhere was exciting, from picking places to eat, to the bedroom.  His grief over his brother's accident and even his frustration about whether there'd be any sort of place for him in a life with Max really emphasized how much more mature he was than her (not sure if that was the idea, but it took me there).  He tended to go a little overly-alpha on Max about the vandalism thing, but then she was a little too ditzy about it, so I balanced out the points there.Since I read Turn it Up first, I already knew Max was ultra-sheltered by her enormous family and had also been treated pretty badly by her stinker of an ex-boyfriend.  How badly was revealed eventually when she and Ryan were together and it was just achingly sad.  The way she eventually bloomed around him was sweet and I liked that she kept a little of her sort of gawky innocence even to the end of the story.  Max is one of those people that everyone in the family takes advantage of - last minute babysitter, bringing an extra casserole to the party - you know the one.  While she wants to stop her family always dropping in on her, she's a natural nurturer and this causes one bit of miscommunication between her and Ryan and a brief, nearly head-bangingly stupid moment.  Her stubborn and sort of wide-eyed idiocy on the vandalism issue gave her a few more moments, but thankfully there were only a few of them.I always seem to leave the sexy moment commentary to the end (sort of like dessert!).  Ryan, being the alpha god that he is, brings it.  He has to take it slow with Max because she's been really messed up by the moron she dated before him, but it makes for some painfully hot scenes.  I personally can't believe I'm saying this, but I had one complaint - I sort of felt like Ryan was holding back.  I have no idea why, but I thought he might get a little more..dirty.I'm a little bummed that Arend didn't manage to dig up a hidden Turner triplet somewhere, I liked this duo of books so much.  Ryan and Max's relationship is sexy and complicated and full of family issues that made it fun to read.  I wish it had been given a longer format (it was category rather than novel) because I think there were things that were rushed at the end and I'd have loved another chapter or two to see how a couple of issues worked out for Max and Ryan.