{"id":60614,"date":"2021-07-29T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=60614"},"modified":"2024-04-11T03:59:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T07:59:28","slug":"arc-review-twisted-games-twisted-2-by-ana-huang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=60614","title":{"rendered":"ARC Review: Twisted Games (Twisted, #2) by Ana Huang"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Twisted Games is live!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A sexy and intense forbidden romance between a crown princess and her bodyguard, I love this book!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Buy now – Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

She can never be his\u2026but he\u2019s taking her anyway. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Stoic, broody, and arrogant, elite bodyguard Rhys Larsen has two rules: 1) Protect his clients at all costs 2) Do not become emotionally involved. Ever.<\/p>\n

He has never once been tempted to break those rules\u2026until her.<\/p>\n

Bridget von Ascheberg. A princess with a stubborn streak that matches his own and a hidden fire that reduces his rules to ash. She\u2019s nothing he expected and everything he never knew he needed.<\/p>\n

Day by day, inch by inch, she breaks down his defenses until he\u2019s faced with a truth he can no longer deny: he swore an oath to protect her, but all he wants is to ruin her. Take her.<\/p>\n

Because she\u2019s his.<\/p>\n

His princess.
\nHis forbidden fruit.
\nHis every depraved fantasy.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Regal, strong-willed, and bound by the chains of duty, Princess Bridget dreams of the freedom to live and love as she chooses.<\/p>\n

But when her brother abdicates, she\u2019s suddenly faced with the prospect of a loveless, politically expedient marriage and a throne she never wanted.<\/p>\n

And as she navigates the intricacies\u2014and treacheries\u2014of her new role, she must also hide her desire for a man she can\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

Her bodyguard.
\nHer protector.
\nHer ultimate ruin.<\/p>\n

Unexpected and forbidden, theirs is a love that could destroy a kingdom\u2026and doom them both.<\/p>\n

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Twisted Games is a contemporary royal bodyguard romance. It\u2019s book two of the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.<\/em><\/p>\n

Warning: This book contains a possessive alpha hero, explicit sexual content, and profanity.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cBridget Von Ascheberg was mine and mine alone. It didn\u2019t matter that she wasn\u2019t mine to take. I was taking her anyway.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5 stars!<\/b><\/p>\n

God, I love this book! A sexy and intense forbidden romance between a crown princess and her bodyguard. With elements of enemies-to-lovers, and a ten-year age gape, there are tropes aplenty in this one, but it\u2019s the intensity of the love story that absolutely captured my heart, and I loved Bridget and Rhys\u2019s story so much.<\/p>\n

This is the second book in the Twisted<\/i> series, and Bridget is one of four close friends who will feature in each of the books. It can be read as a standalone, but the timeline overlaps a bit with the first book in the series, Twisted Love<\/a>, so be aware that there are some spoilers for that book in this one.<\/p>\n

Bridget von Ascheberg is the princess of Eldorra, a small, fictional country in Europe. She has travelled to the US to attend College and live a life free of politics and royal responsibilities, and she is living the life of a \u2018normal\u2019 college girl, except that she is constantly trailed by a bodyguard. While her previous bodyguard felt like part of the family, her new bodyguard, Rhys Larsen, is a gruff and serious ex-military man with very firm ideas of what Bridget can and can\u2019t do. It\u2019s immediately a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n

Rhys is cold and emotionally closed off, but it\u2019s a hangover from his training and is how he deals with life. His strict rules and stoic demeanour grate on the freedom-loving young princess, and the snark and sarcasm fly as they clash over and over again. But underneath it all, there is a strong attraction that takes both of them by surprise. They feel it instantly, but they know they can\u2019t do anything about it so they both just ignore it as much as they can. Doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not still thinking about it though.<\/p>\n

She wanted it as much as I did. I could hear it in her ragged breaths, see it in the way she looked at me, <\/i>feel it in the slight arch of her body against mine.
\nApparently I wasn\u2019t the only one riding high on anger and adrenaline. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book has the feel of a delicious slow burn. Even though they don\u2019t act on their feelings, you can feel it building underneath all of that snark, and the sexual tension is insane! I was reading with so much excitement and anticipation, and reveled in every moment of their back and forth as the chemistry sizzles.<\/p>\n

I was protective of all my clients, but this was different. More visceral.
\nPart of me wanted to push her far away from me, and another part wanted to drag her into my arms and keep her as mine. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Things take a twist when Bridget\u2019s brother, the Crown Prince, abdicates the throne for love, placing Bridget as next in line, and she is suddenly thrust back into royal life. She is under more scrutiny now than she ever has been, and hiding her feelings for the man assigned to protect her is harder than ever.<\/p>\n

A small smile touched Rhys\u2019s lips. \u201cI always knew you would make a great queen.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m not queen yet.\u201d
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t need a crown to be queen, princess.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The build-up is fantastic, and I was feeling so much for these two. And when they finally give in to their feelings, oh my freaking God!\u00a0 The intensity between Rhys and Bridget is insane, and the sexy times is off-the-charts hot. Rhys has a bit of a dominant streak, he\u2019s a filthy talker and he knows exactly what he wants. Thankfully, Bridget is right on board, and the connection between the two of them is visceral.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much in the world I want to claim as mine. I\u2019ve seen and done too much shit in my life to believe in forever. But you\u2026\u201d He grasped my chin with his free hand. \u201cYou belong to me. I don\u2019t give a fuck what a law or anyone else says. <\/i>You are mine.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And it\u2019s not just sex. The bond they have formed goes way beyond the physical, and I love the way that we got to see the emotion between them develop the harder and deeper they fall for each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cCareful, Mr Larsen, or I\u2019ll think you actually like me.\u201d
\nHis mouth curled into a grin. \u201cBaby, we\u2019re way beyond like.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But they are forbidden. And not only that, the future Queen needs a husband, and he needs to be of noble birth. Their situation is impossible, and their relationship could rock the monarchy. But what will they be willing to sacrifice to keep each other?<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t stay away from you. Even when you\u2019re not there, you\u2019re everywhere. In my head, in my lungs, in my fucking soul.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I freaking loved this story. It sucked me in from the first page, and I was captivated the whole way through. I felt so much for these characters, I loved their snark, banter and teasing, I loved their physical attraction and the way they gave themselves over to it, and I loved the depth of their emotion. It\u2019s all so intense, and though it took a little while, I love how they held nothing back from each other. Their romance absolutely owned my heart.<\/p>\n

Bridget\u2019s friends all make an appearance. I loved seeing Ava and Alex (from book #1) again, and the set-ups are now firmly in place for the next two books. I am loving this series, and the intensity of these love stories, and cannot wait to continue on.<\/p>\n

Such a great read \u2013 5 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Reader Copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Twisted series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Twisted Love (#1)<\/strong> (Alex & Ava)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Twisted Games (#2) <\/strong>(Rhys & Bridget)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Twisted Hate (#3)<\/strong> (Josh & Jules)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Twisted Lies (#4) <\/strong>(Christian & Stella)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ana Huang is an author of primarily steamy New Adult and contemporary romance. Her books contain diverse characters and emotional, sometimes twisty roads toward HEAs (with plenty of banter and spice sprinkled in). Besides reading and writing, Ana loves traveling, is obsessed with hot chocolate, and has multiple relationships with fictional boyfriends.<\/p>\n

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Website\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Newsletter<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0Instagram\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook Group<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0Bookbub<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Goodreads\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0TikTok\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  Twisted Games is live! A sexy and intense forbidden romance between a crown princess and her bodyguard, I love this book!   Buy now – Amazon   Blurb She can never be his\u2026but he\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1548,86,9,29],"tags":[1254,59,48,1255],"class_list":["post-60614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-age-gap","category-enemies-to-lovers","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-ana-huang","tag-arc","tag-review","tag-twisted"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Twisted-Games.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-fLE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}