Badass Bloggettes: The Thrill of It by Lauren Blakely ~Blog Tour & Review by Sarah

A new adult story of Love. Sex. Addiction. Blackmail. And Power...

Some say love can be an addiction. Others say it's the thing that makes life worth living. Let me tell you everything I know about love...Love isn't patient, love isn't kind. Love is a game, a chase. A thrill. Love is wild and war-like, and every man and woman must fight for themselves. At least that's how it was for me. A high-priced virgin call girl by the time I started college, I was addicted to love and to sex. Even though I've never had either. I controlled love, played it, and held the world in the palm of my hands. Then I fell down from those highs, and I'm being blackmailed for all my mistakes, forced to keep secrets from everyone, except the only guy I don't regret.

Trey...

With all the other women, I knew what they were. They were temporary. They were pills, they were bottles, they took away all the pain, and numbed the awful memories that wore down my ragged, wasted heart. Until I met Harley. She's the only girl I ever missed when she walked away. But now she's back in my life, every day, and there are no guarantees for us, especially since I don't know how to tell her my secrets. What happened to my family. All I know is she's the closest I've ever come to something real, and I want to feel every second of it.

How can you love with no regrets when regret is all you know?

I'm really torn about this review. I hated the beginning of this book. If I were to rate the entire book on the first third of the book, I would have probably only given in two stars. I just wasn't really connecting with the characters. I am very glad that I didn't give up on it though. The middle and end of the book completely redeemed the beginning for me.

Harley AKA Layla, is a reformed, high-priced, virgin call girl. (I was just as shocked as you are, virgin call-girl? Talk about oxymoron!) Anyway, she has been black mailed into going to a support group for love and sex addicts. Much to her surprise, as she is sitting in her meeting, the only boy she ever kissed because she wanted to walks in.

Trey has a checkered past, sexually. Harley is the only girl that he ever felt anything for. Now, because of the rules of their support group they can only be friends. But they never were and aren't 'just friends'. Even when they were being completely platonic, you could feel that they were more. I was never so happy as to when they first gave into their desires. Then they pushed one another away. It was infuriating.

When all of the dark, and sometimes sordid, secrets of their pasts came out I was crying for them. Both of their stories were devastating, just in completely different ways. I hated both of their parents, even when my heart hurt for one set. After learning about the things that they had been through there was no question as to why they had turned to the lifestyles that they did.

If I was going to rate the beginning a 2, then I give the middle and the end 5 stars. So averaging that all out The Thrill of It is a 4 star book for me. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I can't wait to read the next book and continue with Trey and Harley's story. Every Second With You (No Regrets #2) is due out in March 2014.

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GW9H8XA/
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/17RAulu

B&N: http://bit.ly/1bg31UP

iBooks: http://bit.ly/19TFtif

Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with heat,
heart, and humor, and her books have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists. Like the heroine in FAR TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family, laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs. She loves hearing from readers! Her novels include Caught Up In Us, Pretending He's Mine, Playing With Her Heart, Trophy Husband, and Far Too Tempting. On November 21, she'll release the edgy new adult novel THE THRILL OF IT. She also writes for young adults under the name Daisy Whitney.