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Review

Love, love, love this book!

I have loved the previous two books in Linda Kage’s Forbidden Men series, and with this third installment, it’s very definitely becoming a favourite! I adored this book, and read it in one sitting, unable to put it down as I squeed and swooned my way through Pick and Eva’s story. It has a different set up – a little bit corny with a touch of fantasy about it, maybe, but it’s so beautifully done, I lapped it up!

Eva is the cousin of Reese from Price of a Kiss, and we met Patrick ‘Pick’ Ryan in the last book, To Professor, with Love, as the bartending buddy of both Mason and Noel, so I went into this book already well in love with him.

As a 14 year old, Pick had a vision of a girl – seeing himself with her as a man, knowing that he would love her, that she would be his soul-mate, and that they would have a happy life together. As an orphan bounced around from foster home to foster home, seeing and experiencing unimaginable horrors, he clung to this glimpse of his future as hope that he would one day have a better life. Waiting to meet the nameless girl that he knows by smell, by her beautiful face, and the name ‘Tinkerbell’.

10 years later and Pick is absolutely freaking incredible!! Tattooed with multiple piercings, he looks like a bad boy, but he is an absolute sweetheart! Kind, gentle and protective, with a heart of gold, his life is not what he wanted, but he lives it without complaint and does the best he can. And then one day, when he had all but given up home of her, she appears.

I froze as she passed right by me without even looking at me. When the hint of lilac wafted off her, I went dizzy from the shock.
No way. This wasn’t possible.
I tried to shake my head, tried to get my vision to clear, because I couldn’t be seeing what I was actually seeing. But my eyes soaked in every detail of the pregnant blonde.
I wasn’t mistaken. Every inch of her was the same as I remembered. Even her lilac scent.
Tinker Bell from my glimpses was real.

Eva has had a privileged but hellish life. Abused from the age of 12, as a teenager she partied hard and used sex as a way of escaping her reality, becoming somebody she didn’t like in order to protect herself. Now 19 years old, she has been kicked out of home and is broke, alone and pregnant and living with Reese and Mason until she can get on her feet. And OMG, I love her! She has a lot to deal with, and she is sassy and spunky but has a huge heart, and I could fully appreciate where she was at, and the way she deals with all that she is faced with throughout the story.

The first half of the book takes place at the same time as the To Professor, With Love, and if you’ve read that, you’ll be aware of some of the dramatic moments that involve Pick and Eva, and caught a glimpse of the intensity between these two, but this is just the beginning, and in no way do you have the whole story. I was surprised by all that was going on with them, and wasn’t sure how it would all come together, but I loved experiencing it as it all unfolded.

The development of their relationship is fantastic! I was worried that it would be insta-love, given that Pick has been dreaming of his Tink for years, but it’s not that at all! Yes, that connection is there and definitely provides a spark, but the feelings between them develop naturally and realistically, and the chemistry-filled flirting and build-up is sensational!

“I think I’m going to like you, Pick Ryan.”

There is so much that they need to face – both individually, and together – and the drama gets very intense at times, but it ties in beautifully with the whole ‘Be My Hero’ theme, as they are there for each other in a way that neither of them have ever had before. And the way they come together and how it all evolves is absolutely beautiful.

He caught my hip, steadying me. “This’ll change everything,” he broke away from my mouth to say. “Once I’m inside you, you’re mine, I’m yours, and we are together. There will be no friendship and mild dating. It’s going to be all or nothing.”
I gazed up into his eyes. “Then make me your all.”
His eyes heated. “You always were.”

There is a very strong focus on family, and I thought that those scenes were perfect!  The little moments between them warmed my heart and had me grinning madly.

There is a fair bit of Mason and Reese in this book, and I loved catching up with them. There is also lots of time spent with Pick’s bartending buddies, who are a fantastic bunch! They are becoming a close group, and the dynamics between the boys are absolutely fabulous! It looks like gentle giant Quinn’s book is going to be next, hopefully with Ten to follow, and the introduction of a hot new rocker maybe just see us get another book – I can only hope

I loved this book! It’s well paced, beautifully written, funny, romantic and sexy. The ending is exciting, although possibly too convenient, but I was so thrilled to see it all play out, it didn’t bother me at all. And with not one, but two epilogues, I was in swoony heaven. Pick and Eva are absolutely sensational together, and I loved every moment of their story.

“You’re the best man I’ve ever met, Patrick Ryan. Thank you for choosing me.”
I kissed her hard. “I’ll always choose you.”

5 stars.

The Forbidden Men series