Her writing is always emotional, with characters who want to tear each other apart to get inside eachIn my opinion, this is CP Harris' best book yet.
Her writing is always emotional, with characters who want to tear each other apart to get inside each others' skin whether it's the right thing to do or not. The attraction between the two men is always a force of nature, and their love is always larger than life.
The Fishermen is no exception.
Fair warning - the series is called Infidelity for a reason. If you are one of those readers who does not want cheating of any kind in the books you read, give this whole series a pass. FFS, don't pick it up and read it, then give it a poor rating because it has, as labeled, infidelity in it.
If you are one of those readers who does not like the MCs being with anyone other than each other during the course of the book, you'll want to give this book in particular a pass.
But if you can accept that these two men are flawed human beings and they sometimes make the choice that feels good at the time rather than the one that's morally right, then buckle up and pull those belts down tight for a passionate ride.
The blurb sets the stage well. Franklin is separated from his wife, who he loves, but who cheated on him and then gave him instructions to figure his shit out. His son Cole and stepson Jasper star in the previous book, The Good Liar, and while parts of this story run parallel to that book, I don't think it matters which order you read them.
It's long - I raised an eyebrow at the length when I started it, but once I got into it, I was happy to have that much space for the story to unfold. I thought the pacing was perfect, with nothing that didn't move the story forward, nothing that didn't ratchet up the tension to the breaking point - and then a satisfying amount of time after that breaking point to resolve everything.
I fell in love with these flawed men and with their love for each other. I hurt with them, I celebrated with them, and my heart was happy at the end, and that's all I want out of any book I read, is to take the journey with the characters and feel satisfied at the end.
Two broken men find respite in each other. One of them thinks he's straight, but isn't, obviously, despite being in a long-term relaAchingly poignant
Two broken men find respite in each other. One of them thinks he's straight, but isn't, obviously, despite being in a long-term relationship with a woman. The other goes from being cheated on to being the cheater. For much of the book I was so concerned about when everything would go wrong that I almost missed the steamy but sweet relationship developing between the two men. Nothing happened the way I thought it would, though, and the end was quite satisfying....more
When I closed the last page of this book, and then of the bonus scenes, all I could think was, "Wow." C.P. Harris has created another thrill ride of aWhen I closed the last page of this book, and then of the bonus scenes, all I could think was, "Wow." C.P. Harris has created another thrill ride of a story, not in the mystery-suspense sense of the that phrase, but the emotional journey the characters, and thus the readers, experience. The characters wear their socially correct persona like costumes disguising the rabid, feral, even primal men beneath.
The MCs are stepbrother but become more. So much more that they own each other from the inside out, and once they're back in each other's orbit, the gravity of their relationship draws them together and they collide in spectacular fierceness that was deeply satisfying for me tor read.
I don't condone infidelity, let me make that clear, and if you're one of those readers for whom cheating is a hard line, then don't even try to read this book. In a way, infidelity is woven into its DNA. I'm not talking about the married character cheating on his spouse, which is part of the main plot, I'm talking about the MCs being unfaithful to their bond that was created between them when they were young, to their commitment to each other that supersedes all other relationships in their lives. Them reuniting was like a return to their natural state, and it's the marriage that was the infidelity.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am eager for the next in the series. ...more
Every now and then a book comes along that hits with more force than I was expecting. Want You Still is one of those books. It's a good thing I starteEvery now and then a book comes along that hits with more force than I was expecting. Want You Still is one of those books. It's a good thing I started it on a Saturday night, because a weeknight would have probably meant calling in sick the next day because I stayed up late reading it and recovering from it.
Of course, I knew a co-write between CE Ricci, who I just recently started reading, and Marley Valentine, whose writing hooked me in the classic Without You, had the potential to be anything from heartbreaking and gut-wrenching to an emotional free-fall. That's why I immediately volunteered for an arc, after all.
Want You Still is all those things and more.
I will say that since cheating is a big part of the plot, this book will not be for everyone. Even for those who are okay with reading about cheaters, this story may go a bit too far. I'm prepared to see some critical reviews over several elements of the story.
(view spoiler)[Some people will say that everyone got over everything too quickly. That Will/Auden's sister wasn't upset for nearly as long as she should have been. Some people will probably say that Pierce was a jerk for getting with her in the first place. Others will bemoan the deus ex machina-esque unmailed letter. (hide spoiler)]
Anyone who writes any of those things is certainly entitled to their opinion. I suspended my disbelief before going into the story and simply rode the waves of emotion through to the end.
To say this book is intense is an understatement. It's also evocative and emotional. The chemistry between Pierce and Will is incendiary, electric, palpable. The writing is crisp - passion drips from the pages, and the description of the settings are vivid enough I could smell the salt from the ocean at times.
I loved seeing Julian and Deacon again from Marley's Without You, and the appearance of Easton and Cannon from CE's Head Above Water prompted me to immediately borrow the book from KU. I may even have to read it before my next arc. Side note: Marley and CE's writing harmonizes so well the only way I could tell who wrote which character was after those side characters appeared. Hopefully these two will write more together.
If cheating is a hard limit for you, just scroll on by. Don't even start this book. Pead the warnings and respect the author's vision and your prefereIf cheating is a hard limit for you, just scroll on by. Don't even start this book. Pead the warnings and respect the author's vision and your preferences don't mesh on this one.
If female characters being depicted as shrews are a hard limit for you, again, just scroll on by, because the girlfriend being cheated on is a total diva and not likable at all in the beginning. I came really close to giving up on this story even though I enjoyed the scenes with Cruz and Leo. They're lovable and have tons of chemistry. I like them, and I like them together.
The story is kind of over the top, kind of melodramatic-soap operaish. But it's imminently readable and drew me in even as I rolled my eyes a few times. The characters do demonstrate growth, and the last few chapters redeemed all the places I might have given up, so if you can get there, it's worth the wait. *I received an arc of this book.*...more
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