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Review

4.5 stars!

A gorgeously emotional second-chance-romance that is sexy and intense, this book had me feeling all the feels, and I loved it!

This is the second book in the Renegades series, following a team of extreme athletes as the complete a year of their college education on board a ‘study abroad’ cruise, travelling the world. It’s such a great set-up, and though this story was hinted at in the first in the series, WILDER (a hint that had me madly scrambling to get my hands on this book), you could read this as a standalone.

Landon is one of the founding members of the Renegades, and after having his heart shattered, he has turned into a complete manwhore. They call him Nova, for Cassanova, and he lives wild, taking his sport to the extreme and sleeping with whoever shows an interest, all to try and forget about how he walked away from the love of his life.

Rachel is the best friend of Leah, heroine of book #1. She’s late to join the cruise, and when she comes aboard she’s horrified to discover that Landon and the Renegades are on board, and that her best friend is madly in love with one of them. Landon is the man who demolished her heart, and she’s never gotten over it, and now they are in each other’s space again, and it’s the last place that she wants to be.

Landon and Rachel’s past relationship was short and somewhat tumultuous, but it consumed them, and they became each other’s whole world. Until Landon was faced with an unimaginable choice and left, leaving them both shattered. Landon knows he made the biggest mistake of his life when he walked away from Rachel, and he’ll do anything for a second chance with her, and so he begins his epic quest to earn her forgiveness and win her heart again.

“You’re it. You’ve always been it, and I don’t care if I have to prove it to you over the rest of this damn year—you’re the only girl I’m going to touch.”

I love a second chance romance! There’s always so much emotion and intensity, and this book had that in spades! I could feel the connection between Landon and Rachel, I could feel their pain over all that happened between them in the past, I could feel Landon’s yearning to have Leah back, and I could feel Leah’s anger, grief and confusion at having Landon back in her life.

“Everything was familiar and yet new. His scent was the same, the undertones of his skin unchanged by whatever cologne still managed to cling to his clothing. His voice still slid over my nerves like silk, his eyes the same ever-changing hazel that held me captive. His hands cupped my face with the same tenderness while the strength in his arms had only grown. He was my Landon underneath all that Nova, only ten times more… everything.”

It’s not an easy path for these two, and they have a lot to work through to even get on speaking terms, but Landon is completely devoted to Rachel and he grovels like a champ. He takes all of Rachel’s anger and hurt, accepting that he is to blame and allowing her to unleash everything on him. He apologises without hesitation over and over again, and he makes it absolutely clear that he knows he did the wrong thing, that he still loves her, and that he wants her back. And OMG, I was in a world of swoon!

“I’m not going anywhere. If I have to tell you that a million times before you’ll believe me, then I’ll do just that. You and me—we’re our own little infinity. Our forever is wrapped up in everything that’s between us.”

Rachel is understandably terrified to trust her heart to Landon again, but the more time they spend together, the more she begins to believe him, and bit by bit, she starts to open herself up to him once again.

“You chose me.”
“I always will.”

The love between these two is just beautiful. It’s always been there, it’s just buried by Rachel’s pain, but once they move on from their past and begin to explore the possibility of something new between them, that love is allowed to shine once again, and it. Is. Beautiful!

“There was never a moment that I didn’t love you. There will never be a moment that I don’t love you. You can love me or not, but that will never change the way I belong to you.”

But while Landon is fighting for his girl, he’s also putting his body, and his life, on the line to achieve his dreams. And Rachel has some pretty intense family issues going on, and once again she’s challenged to wonder if she can truly trust Landon again. There is some drama and angst in this one, and it did get frustrating, but I could understand it, and it’s worth it to watch these two sort through their issues and find their HEA.

I loved this story. So many feels, I adored Landon and Rachel together, and their passionate, emotional and swoony romance completely stole my heart. I’m so excited to continue on with this series and can’t wait to dive into Penna’s book up next.

4.5 stars!

 

The Renegades