Blog Tour & Book Review: The Wrong Kind of Love by Lexi Ryan

The Wrong Kind of Love
by Lexi Ryan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 12th, 2018

Blurb:

From New York Times bestseller Lexi Ryan comes a sexy new standalone romance novel about a runaway bride, a single dad who’s sworn off love, and the kind of family secrets that can threaten to break even the deepest bonds.

***

You never forget your wedding day. Or the moment your twin sister pukes on your bouquet and confesses she’s pregnant . . . with your fiancé’s baby.

I wanted to get away, to hide until my heart mended. I found myself in a strange town with a mysterious stranger whose talented mouth and hands almost made me forget it was supposed to be my wedding night.

Afraid to go home to face my broken life, I pretend to be my twin so I can take her job in Jackson Harbor caring for a six-year-old girl. Imagine my surprise when I find out my new boss is my mysterious stranger—Dr. Ethan Jackson.

I never meant for Ethan to discover my secrets. I never meant for them to matter. But the longer I work with him and his sweet daughter, the harder I fall, and the clearer it becomes that I’m not the only one carrying a secret that could tear us apart.

Get ready to fall for the boys of Jackson Harbor in Lexi Ryan’s sexy new contemporary romance series. These books can all be read as standalones, but you’ll enjoy reading them as a series! 

Buy now:
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Excerpt:

“Did somebody hurt you?” My gut knots with the question. You can’t save her, Ethan.

“You could say that.”

I step forward. Maybe that’s why she’s here on this impulsive visit to Jackson Harbor. Maybe she’s running from someone, escaping a home that’s not safe. “Do you have somewhere safe to go?”

“It’s not that kind of hurt,” she whispers. She swallows, and her gaze dips to my mouth. “Why are you so sad?”

Because you remind me of Elena. Because I couldn’t walk away from her either. “I’m just worried about you.” I don’t know if I step closer or if gravity pulls me that way, but in a breath, she’s at my fingertips and my thighs brush her knees.

“Will you do me a favor?” she asks, her attention still on my lips.

“What?”

“Will you kiss me?”

“Nic . . .” I wait for the excuses to find their way onto my tongue, but they don’t, and I realize I don’t want an excuse to walk away from her. My whole body is warm and my fingers itch to touch her. The only thing I want is my mouth on hers. I want to taste her joy and sadness. I want to know how it feels to have that body pressed against mine.

I’m silent a beat too long, and she winces. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not that I don’t want to, but you’re vulnerable.”

“Are you always so noble?”

“If you think my thoughts are noble right now, you’re even more naïve than I feared.” I lean my forehead against hers. Christ. Who am I kidding? She’s asking me to do something I’ve been thinking about since I first laid eyes on her. I couldn’t deny her if I wanted to, and I don’t want to. Not even a little.

I cup her face in my hand and run my thumb along her jaw.

She slides a hand behind my neck. “I like the way you look at me. You make me feel sexy. Wanted.”

“Who made you feel like you weren’t?”

“A mistake.”

“Then he didn’t deserve you.” I lower my mouth to hers, telling myself the kiss will be brief, that I won’t get carried away. But then her other hand joins the first behind my neck, and her breasts press against my chest. Her thighs part, and I step between them in my instinctive need to be closer. A soft moan slips from her lips as our mouths connect.

This girl kisses like she does everything else—with unabashed emotion. She doesn’t hide a thing she’s feeling, and I’m hard even before her mouth opens under mine and our tongues sweep across each other.

I thread one hand into her hair and slide the other up her bare leg, my fingers curling into the flesh of her hip while my thumb strokes her inner thigh. Her skirt is bunched around her waist, and it would be so easy to follow this soft skin up and find her panties. She’s making the sexiest sounds, and I’m dying to touch her, to find out if she’s as turned on as she sounds, but I keep my hand where it is and give her the kiss she asked for. I offer the evidence that she’s sexy and desirable, no matter what some asshole made her think.

The Wrong Kind of Love © 2018 by Lexi Ryan

About the author:

 

Lexi Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of emotional romance that sizzles. A former academic and English professor, Lexi considers herself the luckiest girl around to make a living through storytelling. She loves spending time with her crazy kids, weightlifting, ice cream, swoony heroes, and vodka martinis.
Lexi lives in Indiana with her husband, two children, and a spoiled dog. You can find her at her website: www.lexiryan.com

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My review:

OMG!! I don’t even know where to begin in telling you how much I loved this beautiful story. I was captured right from the start!! From all the awfulness Nicole went through, to her meeting Ethan and his brothers, and all the stuff that happens after. Oh my! I can’t wait for the next books in this series!!! I’m in L.O.V.E.!

It’s been way too long since I've read one of Lexi Ryan’s books and I don’t even know why the heck I tortured myself and waited this long, but this was definitely the perfect book to end my dry spell.

I kid you not, I almost highlighted the entire book. *Haha* I usually highlight favorite scenes or quotes but I just loved every word of this story and couldn't stop myself from going crazy on the highlights.

Although this was a slow burn love there was a lot of chemistry and attraction between the characters and the story had a great pace. I felt that everything worked out perfectly and came together smoothly. Both characters weren't emotionally ready for anything for a while and I liked how they slowly grew closer.

'The girl kisses like she does everything else – with unabashed emotion.'

I loved this story so much that I wanted to wrap myself in it like a blanket because this book really had it all. I was captivated from the first word on until the very end and I loved all those funny moments throughout this beautiful story. I haven't laughed that much and so loud in a long time – people were looking funny at me on the bus *Haha*

This book had no highs and lows because it felt like a constant high still going higher and higher. There were lots of tears-in-the-eyes belly laughs but also many heartfelt moments that had my heart aching.

'Lies aren't always evil. Sometimes they're necessary.'

The Story:

What should have been the best day of her life, turned out to be her worst, when Nicole found out in front of the altar that not only did her fiancé cheat on her, but also got her sister pregnant. Devastated and embarrassed about the mess her life turned into, Nicole wants out and to run far away from all the people that betrayed and belittled her.

Never did she imagine ending up in the arms of this nice stranger, a man with sad eyes but enchanting smile, someone who made her feel wanted even when it was just for one night.

Finding out that this stranger was her new boss was another hot mess she didn’t need on top of the secrets she’s hiding from him, because when he finds out that she’s not the person who he thinks she is, everything in her life will turn to hell once again.

'There's something fundamentally wrong with me that makes formerly good men change when they try to love me.'

Thoughts:

Oh how I missed this. I missed reading such a good story in which I could get lost in. This was absolutely the best book that I’ve read by this author. Unputdownable and full of emotions. I felt with the characters. I felt everything. The laughs, the heartbreak, and every touch in between.

'Never doubt your love is enough for me.'

It was like going from laughing out loud to yelling at the characters, almost throwing my kindle against the wall, having a nervous breakdown, swooning and falling in love, to reliving everything all over again.

I got to know everything there was to know about Nic early on but Ethan was somewhat a puzzle to be solved for a while, which made the story a lot more exciting. I learned through Nic’s discoveries more about him and why he’s the way he was, heartbreak and all.

Ethan was such a good guy. He was a real gentleman but with a troubled soul. My heart ached for him and what he went through. I loved him with all his faults or maybe even because of them. Although he spoke of himself as an asshole, I wouldn't classify him as one. He was caring and such a lovely person who was hurt so deeply and I understood pretty well why he closed himself off. He just built up a wall around his feelings to protect himself.

'Loss comes in many forms.'

Despite all the terrible things Nicole had to endure from her fiancé, friends and family, she was a strong woman because although she ran away – and who the hell wouldn’t?! – she did not stay down but got back up again and in the end, life turned out way better than she’d ever hoped for. I liked her humble and down-to-earth character.

Though appearances can be deceiving because you never know how a person really feels even if she’s smiling. A smile doesn’t necessarily mean someone’s happy. But Nicole was the right woman for Ethan. The only woman. Both had stuff to work through emotionally and I believe that they'd helped each other to heal.

There were some heavier topics taken on in this book but they never took the upper hand and let the story stay on the positive side. It was a healing process for the characters as well as for me reading about their lives and how they began to deal with their pasts head on in order to move forward instead of carrying on to shove them aside.

'Love born in a lie is the wrong kind of love.'

To end my rather long review, I just wanna say that I loved the epilogue even though I wish there was more Ethan and Nicole, but it made me really excited about the next book!!! I can’t decide about which brothers’ story I’m most excited about because they all had very different personalities but I loved each and every one of them.

-- I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book given by Social Butterfly PR. --

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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