Navaya Howard is an erotic writer in a rut. Her readers are fed up of her stale plots and Navaya can’t blame them. She’s been celibate for over a year and a half since finding her now ex-boyfriend’s side chick’s positive pregnancy test on her bathroom counter. How can she write steamy romances if she can barely remember which body parts go into the other?
Navaya enlists the help of her best friend, Xander, to revive the inspiration that used to have her sitting comfortably at the top of her game. What happens when the sex hits deeper than either of them expected and the tender emotions can no longer be denied?
Navaya and Xander’s arrangement has gone far deeper than intended. Will their friendship and their hearts survive the fall?
Rilzy Adams needs only five things to survive: sushi, coffee, Prosecco, cuddles and words (though not in that order).
She's a lawyer by day - writer by 'whenever she can get the free time' and believes that love makes the world go 'round. It is no small wonder, then, that she can't help but pen tales of people falling in love.
Navaya is an erotic fiction writer. But the last lot of reviews from her latest release, has her facing some hard truths. Apart from her sexual drought, she is in serious need of inspiration.
So in her wisdom, she enlists her best friend Xander to assist with getting her creative juices flowing. What Navaya hadn't banked on was how good sex could be between them.
Instead of rushing into it, Xander insists on doing this his way. And does he have the moves. The lead up and anticipation just has them both seeing each other with fresh eyes.
"She was… frustrated. Navaya couldn’t remember the last time every single cell in her body craved someone’s lips… fingertips… dick. She couldn’t remember ever being so riled up with sexual frustration that she wanted to scream... or cry."
Go Deep has to be one of the sexiest and hottest journeys of self discovery between two friends becoming lovers. With the added bonus of an emotional connection, their newfound intimacy felt natural and electric. And most pleasantly, was this author's writing that was sassy and fresh. Loved it ♥️
At first, the only thing I could think about was how damn weird the whole setup was. I cringed. I mean, how’re you saying that to your best friend with a straight face and not shittin’ it?!
I also wanted it to be somewhat longer. I wanted to know about her writing process and seeing that part of her journey since she was in a major slump. But seeing her figure out the dynamics of her relationship with her platonic best friend turned sex partner was so. Much. Fun!
I’m assuming we’ll get a book on Tasha and Cole now? Because we better.
This novella was SO fun. I loved how Navaya and Xander were genuine friends and there were not feelings between each other before this book started. I'm not a fan when one of the characters has had a crush forever and the other person was clueless. In this book, Navaya and Xander started to explore things with each other and were surprised when they started to catch feelings.
While this book was short, the characters went through a rollercoaster of emotions. I really enjoyed how Navaya was an author and Xander was always there supporting her. I will say, the conflict at the end wasn't my favorite, but they did resolve it pretty quickly since the book was so short. Overall, it was a super fun and steamy friends to lovers romance!
“Tired. Stale. Uninspired”. Nope those won’t be the words I’ll be using to describe Xander and Navi-Nav! Scorching. Steaming. Sensual. Seems more like it. Sigh. Great find.
This was a pretty good friends to lovers read. Short and sweet, but OH man, was it HOT, HOT, HOT 🔥🔥🔥🔥 They both had insane chemistry and once they came together - instant combustion. It did have some of those confusing feelings that one would get going from best friends to so much more. That's a total given. I enjoyed the AHA moment when it finally clicked for them.
Good thing the h was in a writing slump and turned to the H for some much needed hands on inspiration, ha!
This is one of the rare friends-to-lovers romances that I was all about. Full of chemistry and tenderness, I was rooting for Xander and Nav the entire time and am so happy to finally have read a Rilzy Adams romance!
THIS IS HOW we like our friends to lovers romances BAAABYYY! I liked that the romance kicked off really for an intentional reason; the heroine is an erotica author whose last few books have received bad reviews and she knows she needs to get laid for some inspiration. She enlists the help of her Childhood best friend Xander. The friendship was there. To the core I felt it. Xander ALWAYS chose Navaya. Having a girl for a best friend he’s been put in the position where he’s had to choose between his relationship and her and he always chooses her. I love when you as the reader SEE IT. Like, girl! He’s the one. The one you’re looking for is RIGHT THERE..but she has to figure it out. Years of friendship is at stake. Messing things up could change the whole dynamic of a friendship they’ve been in since they were babies. So good, definitely has pulled me from my dreadful reading slump.
Best friends to lovers is one, if not, my favorite trope in romance so it was a no brainer to start this one. And boy, was I glad I did because this book ticked all the boxes for me.
Navi is an erotic romance author who needs inspiration after her last book bombed. Not only that, her last relationship had scarred her deeply. Desperate to get her groove back, she asks her very hot best friend, Xander, to “inspire” her and spur her imagination.
And as a reader, nothing excites me more than two fools who are so right for each other thinking they can add sex to their friendship and not catch feelings.
I, of course, was immediately hooked.
One, it’s hot.
Seriously. Hot.
The chemistry between Xander and Navi is off the charts.
Two, the development of their relationship from friends to lovers is just right. Not angsty per se but there’s delicious tension and conflict.
One of the reasons why I love friends to lovers is that thing where two individuals who’ve known each other for a long time, and are comfortable with their relationship with each other takes a leap into the unknown and they don’t know if there’s gonna be a friendship left after all it’s done. Everything is on the line and there’s no going back, and Ms. Adams was able to capture that beautifully in this book.
Three, I really enjoyed the author’s voice. This is my first Rilzy book and it won’t definitely be my last. Her characters are vividly written and her humor was on point.
This is sexy as hell. That restaurant scene... wow. The only grammar/writing thing that confused me: I don’t understand why the names of stores/restaurants are italicized (for example, Target and Starbucks are in italics). Otherwise, I liked the writing a lot. The tension about not wanting to ruin their friendship vs admitting their feelings is top-notch. I assume the next story will be about Tasha/Cole and I’m intrigued by that pairing.
Shout-out to Jazmen and other Black book bloggers for bringing GO DEEP to my attention! It’s an excellent novella with so many feelings packed into it! Really impressive considering the length.
This was such a great friends-to-lovers read! It was funny, sweet and hot. I mean, that chemistry...👀🔥 Xander and Navaya were sooo cute together! I highly recommend it
HOT HOT 🔥 Navaya and Xander are everything! this one's a unique childhood friends to lovers romance done very well! some of their conversation had me dying and the sex scenes were so steamy. When erotic writer Navaya needs help for some of her scenes, she decides to enlist her BFF for some sexual inspiration. It might be awkward at first but..
so happy everything worked out for Navaya and Xander. there's always something so sweet about childhood friends to lovers. 4 stars!
Her romance writing becoming stale and tired due to a year and a half long dry spell Navaya seeks to find inspiration by hooking up with her best friend since birth Xander. But they soon realise the connection goes deeper than just sex.
A light and steamy best friends to lovers story, perfect for a nice afternoon read.
See- THIS is why friends to lovers is superior. I said what I said 🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️🙅🏾♀️🙅🏾♀️ (enemies to lovers is also good stuff but not when they are enemies for about .2 pages 😒)
This book is hot, has amazing chemistry and communication (for the most part) between the two characters and is such a fun (and funny) quick read.
*Oh, forgot to add (thanks Shannon) probably my one con- I wanted to know what was going on with Tasha and Cole! I was like okay, guess I gotta wait for the next book but wish I didn't have to...
The title, cover and blurb suggested this one will be heavy on smut, so I was not surprised when it was HEAVY ON SMUT. But what shocked me was the beautiful transition between a platonic friendship to a passionate relationship without making it awkward for even a second. Friends to lovers trope does not work for me often but damn this book is one of the best. In such a short book (or novella, more precisely) the author packed so much. There were side characters along with build up to another story, MCs dreams and careers were talked about, there was background on the MCs childhood friendship, mention of their past relationships, and even an epilogue! Yes all that in mere 131 pages. Everything was well rounded up, except for Tasha and Cole's story, which I'm guessing we will see in next book of the series. Even though I wanted more and would've totally read it as a full length novel, it's short length adds to it's appeal. Easily among my favourite novellas.
I don't know why I keep trying to read shorter romances, they always read like wasted potential to me. I feel like I don't get enough time to form a meaningful connection with the characters and the plot doesn't really have room to go anywhere - and I get that that's not why 99% of people pick up books like this but I can't help it.
3.75-4 stars I won’t lie, I enjoyed this. It was really smutty, and as short as it was, Navaya and Xander definitely gave childhood best friends. Something quick to get through if you want a smutty read. I thought the premise of this book was great, it was super entertaining. I love their love!!
I'm in a reviewing slump right now, so I'm going to keep this short: nobody is more surprised or disappointed than me that this was only a 3-star read for me. I'd heard so many rave reviews from people whose tastes usually aren't far off from mine, and I'm a tremendous sucker for the best-friends-to-lovers trope (especially when they were childhood friends!), so I think this should have worked out great for me.
Unfortunately, I didn't find the writing style 100% enjoyable, the characters struck me as a bit flat, and the conflict near the end was absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary. I don't normally mind petty conflicts and miscommunication that much in a romance, but I literally almost just DNFed this around the 80% mark because I was so over the way these two were treating each other!
Also, there are some strings left majorly untied, and while I'm sure that's because they'll be explored further in the next book (since Goodreads says this is a series), it was done in a way that just left me questioning my own reading comprehension. There's a line in the epilogue that threw me for such a loop, I had to go back a couple of pages and re-read to see if I had missed something (I hadn't). Honestly, I low key disliked the entire epilogue and wish it had been left out altogether.
There are a lot of things this book does right, though. I loved seeing a romance with an all-Black cast, I loved the banter and playfulness between Navaya and Xander, and I loved Xander's POV sections. He was the most enjoyable character in the book for me and I liked his little friend group and how they constantly gave him hell for everything.
While this book was a bit of a letdown for me, sadly, I can totally see why it's getting the high praise it is, and I am definitely interested in checking out more from this author in the future! If you're looking for a short, steamy, diverse friends-to-lovers romance, I definitely recommend giving this one a chance.
" She refused to feel self conscious about the bit of fat forming a small pouch on her lower belly, or the love handles that Xander seemed to enjoy grabbing on to. "
An extremely hot-and-heavy friends-to-lovers romance.
SUMMARY Navaya Howard is a successful erotica author, or at least she was until her fiancé of seven years cheated on her. Her readers are complaining that the steam is no longer there, and Navaya suspects it's because she's been celibate for over a year. She needs inspiration.
Navaya and Xander have been best friends since birth. They are platonic soul mates. So when Navaya suggests that Xander help her create some inspiration, he thinks she's lost it. But Navi is desperate, so Xander caves. Their friendship should be strong enough to survive a quick tumble in the sheets - right?
REVIEW This was my first Rilzy Adams novel and I am hooked on her as an author. It has been a little while since I read a smutty novella that actually had good smut. This novella is really hot. Not only that, but I believed and rooted for the romance. This was only 131-pages, but I was utterly obsessed. Navi and Xander were perfect together and I loved that this wasn't a case of friends-to-lovers where one of them had a secret crush previously. Instead, this was about friends who were surprised when they started catching feelings. And I loved it.
I haven't really read erotica in a long time but I've been dipping my toe back in thanks to Rilzy. This was so good. The sex scenes were on point! The scene in the restaurant where he's teasing her with the app controlled vibrator was almost too hot to handle. I've never read anything like that. And I'm a sucker for the friends to lovers dynamic and these two were lifelong friends in denial of their feelings for each other. Moving on to Deeper now so I can wrap Navaya and Xander's story up.