DAMAGED LIKE US
Series: Like Us #1
Genre: Contemporary, MM Romance
Author: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Release Date: June 27, 2017
Don’t date your bodyguard.
It was the one rule he had to break.Maximoff Hale is a force of nature. A ship unwilling to be steered. Headstrong, resilient, and wholly responsible — the twenty-two-year-old alpha billionaire can handle his unconventional life. By noon, lunch can turn into a mob of screaming fans. By two, his face is all over the internet.
Born into one of the most famous families in the country, his celebrity status began at birth.
He is certified American royalty.
When he’s assigned a new 24/7 bodyguard, he comes face-to-face with the worst case scenario: being attached to the tattooed, MMA-trained, Yale graduate who’s known for “going rogue” in the security team — and who fills 1/3 of Maximoff’s sexual fantasies.
Twenty-seven-year-old Farrow Keene has one job: protect Maximoff Hale. Flirting, dating, and hot sex falls far, far out of the boundary of his bodyguard duties and into “termination” territory. But when feelings surface, protecting the sexy-as-sin, stubborn celebrity becomes increasingly complicated.
Together, boundaries blur, and being exposed could mean catastrophic consequences for both.
The Like Us series is a true series, one continuous timeline, that follows a family of wealthy celebrities and the people that protect them. Damaged Like Us can be read and enjoyed without reading any of Krista & Becca’s other novels.
I broke the unbreakable rule. Don’t fuck your client.
So….confession time…
*whispers*
This is the first book I’ve read by these authors.
*ducks head in shame*
Yes, yes, I’m wearing the cone of shame as I write this, mkay? So quit looking at me with those judgy eyes already. I realize what I’ve been missing out on and currently kicking my own ass. Cut me some slack here.
I have all of their books on my TBR but for some unknown to me reason just never got around to reading them. I can tell you that I will be rectifying that HUGE mistake immediately but devouring their entire backlist. But enough about that. Let’s talk about this book.
Firstly, let’s address something right off the bat. I could clearly see that I was missing quite a bit of backstory with the secondary characters here as this is a spin off from Calloway Sisters series and Addicted series. As a matter of fact, Maximoff is the son of Lily and Lo. This series introduces all of the children and I was absolutely smitten with it. It took me a bit to wrap my mind around all of the connections, but the authors did a fantastic job really introducing all the secondary characters so that I never felt lost.
Born into one of the most famous families in the country, Maximoff Hale is pretty much American royalty. His father is just as known for his past alcoholism as his business, and his mother is just as famous for being a sex addict as her family’s business, he’s used to living his life under a microscope.
Privacy is a luxury that he’ll never have and a real relationship is something that he’ll never experience because he’ll never expose someone to what he goes through on a daily basis. A life of NDAs and meaningless one night stands is what he’s used to.
When he learns that he’ll be getting a new bodyguard, he’s not exactly thrilled. The Hale bodyguards are more then employees, they’re a 24/7 presence and friends and confidents. When he finds out that his new bodyguard is the star of all his teenage fantasies, a crush he never got over, and a man that he’s still uncontrollably attracted to, life becomes a little more complicated.
The more time they spend together, the more difficult it becomes to deny the overbearing sexual tension that brews between them. Admittedly, that delicious tension was one of my favorite parts about the book. Every time these two so much as had a conversation, you could feel the chemistry crackle and burn. And their first kiss? Holy mother of god! It was hotter than any sex scene. Swear.
The headiest exchange of my life.
Undeniable.
He leans forward, his lips an inch from mine. And very deeply, very huskily, he whispers, “What do you want, Maximoff ?”
There’s a lot that happens here that goes beyond the main couple. While the romance is absolutely the center focus, you get introduced to a slew of secondary characters. While usually this may cause me to struggle, I felt like it just connected me to these characters even more. I loved the bond that these siblings and cousins share.
But Maximoff and Farrow most definitely stole the show. I loved these two together. I loved Maximoff’s intensity and Farrow’s easy going flintiness. He’s such a fan chapter. His presence totally sucks you in. The authors created such a vivid character with him. All of his aneurism, eye brow quirks and gum popping served to endear me to him more and more. And when these two guys get together? Yowza!
It was the perfect blend of swoon and steam. I adored these two together and I already can’t wait for more. The parents have quite a bit of redeeming to do after what happens at the end of this book. I love that we get a satisfying HFN to tide us over until the next book. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to binge the Ritchie’s entire backlist.
LUCA
I was instantly sucked into the world of 
Title: Soul Redeemed
GAH! Finally! FINALLY! To say that I’ve been waiting forever for this story may be a sliiiiiiight understatement. For fans of gritty and sexy PNR, this series is an absolute must read. I wouldn’t recommend reading it as a standalone, because there is a story arc that continues throughout the series. While each book focuses on a different couple and their individual HEA, there’s so much that happens in the story that you simply wouldn’t appreciate the complexity of it all without reading it in order. That and you get more pieces of the other Wrath brothers in each book. Calix and Ava’s really began in 
LOST WITHOUT YOU
Molly O’Keefe is the queen of broken characters. She weaves incredibly poignant stories that never fail to hit you right in the feels and stay with you. She creates these beautifully broken characters that somehow burrow their way into your heart and you’ll find yourself thinking about them long after finishing the book. Lost Without You was just another reason why I’ve been obsessed with everything this author writes. It was emotional with just an edge of dark, full of feeling, and a book that you’ll read with a resounding feeling of dread as you wait for the other shoe to drop.
In the present, Tommy is no longer the skinny starved boy he used to be. He’s reserved, closed off, and just as broken as he once was, if not more. But he’s grown into his body and can now stand his own. When the debt he owes finally comes calling, he finds himself facing a memory he’s spent the last seven years trying to forget; Beth, his Beth, but no longer the Beth that he knew.
But fate is not on their side, and circumstances are dire. Giving into feelings of the past can cost them both everything and for Tommy, it just might.
ONE IS A PROMISE
It doesn’t matter what this woman writes, she manages to hook me with just the first page alone. Her words are riveting, crackling with so much intensity, you feel like her characters are going to jump right out of the pages. They’re living, breathing things that are so real, it’s hard to believe you’re reading fiction. Her stories are live wires full of so much chemistry, it crackles and burns. And this book? It was all of those things and more. So much more!
What happens when you find a once in a lifetime kind of love, only to lose it in a way that you’re still not able to move on from? That’s exactly what Danni is trying to figure out. Three years ago she was living the dream with the love of her life; Cole. After a ridiculously sweet meet-cute, they fall hard and fast. They plan their life together. They plan a wedding. But then everything gets shattered and Danni is left alone to pick up the pieces.
What I really loved is how believable Danni’s connection is to Trace without taking anything away from her memory of Cole.
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.
ONE IS A PROMISE
Title: Soul Redeemed
Being half incubus sucks sometimes. Sure, the sex is great, but getting hounded by females gets old pretty fast. Especially when the only one Calix cares about has gone missing, propelling him into a downward spiral of depression and abstinence.
Keri Lake is a dark romance writer who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists. Her stories are gritty, with antiheroes that walk the line of good and bad, and feisty heroines who bring them to their knees. When not penning books, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughters, and their rebellious Labrador (who doesn’t retrieve a damn thing). She runs on strong coffee and alternative music, loves a good red wine, and has a slight addiction to dark chocolate.
SHACKING UP
Girl, you tell NO lie. Bancroft “Bane” Mills was a whole different level of hotness and I’d lick the hell out of him….erm…LIKE. LIKE. I mean like the hell out of him. OK. No. I didn’t. But whatever. Moving on.
