Lovin' los libros

Real (Real, Raw, and Ripped #1)
   by: Katy Evans

Publication Date: April 8, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Mature New Adult/Adult
Source: lent to me via Nook by the great CeCe!
Page Count: 266 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 5/5 stars



 

                                                           -goodreads.com description

Holy. Freaking. Hell. THIS book. I can't even. I have been hearing buzz about this book forever, but never seemed to be able to make the time for it. Even after all of @booktemptations sexy picture/quote tweets, I still managed to resist. A few days ago after talking with a few fellow bloggers via Twitter about new books we needed to buy, CeCe snagged this one. And because she's so kind and wonderful lent it to me via Nook!

***Please note, this book is for Mature New Adult/Adult readers. It is not suited for younger readers.***

I had the worst possible day ever yesterday, so I wanted, no needed, a book to turn me inside out, upside down, and devour my very soul. Real certainly delivered. It was everything I could have asked for in a book: fierce, passionate, raw, real, heart-wrenching and sweet. I fell in love with both Brooke and Remy, our two main characters. Their personalities, their feelings, their flaws, I was invested in it all.

Brooke Dumas is an ex-runner/competitor due to an ACL injury and after studying sports rehab, is looking for a job. She finds one in the most unexpected of places- from Remington 'Riptide' Tate, an underground boxer. She is immediately drawn to him from the first night his baby blues capture hers. She doesn't know what it is about him, just that plain and simply- she wants him. She clearly made an impression on him as well, as by the end of the first night he saw her, he had to know her name. He ends up offering her a job to work with him and Brooke agrees to go with him.

I've always been fascinated by fighter movies and books, so I loved that Katy took us and gave us insight into the underground fighting world. She has the unique ability to make you feel as if you are sitting ring side, hearing the chants and cheers from the crowd, and the feel of the energy in the atomsphere.

First of all. Hello sexual tension. Brooke and Remy are laced with it! Evans is a mastermind (good or evil, I'm not sure!) at creating thick, juicy sexual tension between these two characters. Even underneath all of the attraction and wants and desires, Evans still paces their relationship just right. I know this line gets quoted all the time, but it is the best way to express just how much Remy wants from Brooke.

“Why’d you want to have sex with me? To have a fucking adventure? What was I supposed to be? Your one-night-fucking stand? I’m every woman’s adventure, damn you, and I don’t want to be yours. I want to be your fucking REAL. You get that? If I fuck you, I want you to belong to me. To be mine. I want you to give yourself to me—not Riptide!” 

He won't settle for just another girl. He wants her to be his girl, in every sense possible. He's had slews of women and cheap meaningless sex. He looks at Brooke and that's the opposite of what he wants. He wants her to know him, to truly know his soul, and still be able to want him and love him. And he's so afraid that once he bares his soul to her, she won't want the same things. I won't say the reason why he is so paranoid, as you find out in the book, and you can't help but feel anguish for the guy. His life is turbulent, violent, and ever-changing. He wants Brooke to be his constant, the one person who won't leave him, no matter what.

Oh, Brooke. That's a whole lotta man to deal with. But she wants to. She wants to be his, and we certainly feel her frustration on SO many levels throughout this book. She doesn't understand why he will kiss the hell out of her, but won't sleep with her. How he could pick the sweetest songs ever from his iPod and play them for her and yet still won't give himself to her in that way. I loved how she called him on it, she didn't play games with him. She was all, "I want you. You want me. Come and effing get it!"

“That's why I didn't want to touch you I knew I'd go crazy if I touched you, and now, it tears me open to ask you to be with me when I know I'm just going to do something to hurt you again!

"Yes! Yes you probably are, you idiot! And it's going to be a damn skydive for me, and I'm going to hang on tight and just jump with you because that's what you do to me.” 

Brooke is just a main character you have to admire. She won't give up on Remy, she'll fight for him to the ends of the earth, but she will not sit back and let him destroy himself. And she will make the hard choice if she knows it's for the best.

“I love him, Melanie. I love him He's not just a star, he's the whole fucking sky to me. He's the sun and every planet in this galaxy.”

Ok, so we have some really awesome side characters in this book too. Remy's two right hand men, Pete and Riley, are there for him and one of them describes Remy as his soul brother, that's how much these three mean to each other. They pull him down when he's too high and drag him up when he's too low. Absolute true, unfailing friendship. Melanie, is Brooke's best friend, and it's always nice to have that fun, flirty best friend to keep you laughing. Brooke's sister, Nora, also ends up playing a pretty big role in the novel, but I'll let you see how that pans out when you read it.

This book is overcharged with emotion, tension, and passion and at times will gut you and strip you bare, but then will fill you with such hope and happiness you feel like you're going to burst.

Remington Tate is all kinds of REAL. And I cannot wait for Evan's sequel Mine to hit later this year!