Thrown Down by Tessa Bailey
Standalone 2 in the Made in Jersey Series. Erotic Adult Contemporary Romance.
No. Words.
This book reduced me to speaking in one word sentences. I was so incredibly overwhelmed with emotion, I couldn’t string words together to form complete sentences. When expressing my feelings while reading, my thoughts looked a lot like this:
Fuck.
I can’t.
Vaughn.
The emotion.
Too much.
Effing BRILLIANT.
DAMMIT.
My feels.
They can’t handle this.
This.
All of this.
So. Dang. Beautiful.
See what I mean? Now that I’ve had a day to process my feelings, I think I’m ready to write a review.
The characters:
One of the many things I love so much about this series is the realness if the characters. They are relatable. They struggle with real world problems. They are not perfect. They make mistakes. Their emotions are raw. River and Vaughn have not had it easy. And just like real life, they have to fight for what they want and need. Vaughn and River have an inexplicable intensity that grabs you and refuses to release you. I felt completely owned by these two.
The story:
Raw. Vaughn and River’s road to happiness is not pretty. Both of these characters bleed out along the way. And you feel it right along with them. Insecurities and self doubt, mingled with guilt and hurt. Vaughn is the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. River is his light. And although River’s upbringing is nothing like the hardship Vaughn saw, life was not handed to her on a platter. Then, during the time of their life spent apart? It was as if they were trying to go on while profusely bleeding from a wound that refused to heal.
“I didn’t think you could get any more important…any more fucking precious to me than you were that day. And then I lived forty-nine months without you.”
When Vaughn returns, both of them are filled with trepidation and seeds of hope. The push and pull off their hearts, the intensity of their love and sheer need of the other is something so beautiful, I can’t put it into words. Together, these two are explosive. Not only in love, but the chemistry between them is indescribably HOT. Like, off the charts inferno level hot. Blistering. Scorching. Absolutely fierce.
“Remember me?” he asked, fastening his panting mouth over the spot where her clit was, bathing the material with a lick. “I remember you. The hours of happiness you gave me. The misery you put me through. You were the church I prayed at on Sundays, weren’t you? You were my Virgin Mary.”
Overall, this story has risen to one of my favorites. And Vaughn? He has earned a spot in my heart forever. Tessa Bailey creates magic in everything she writes, but this? This is So. Much. More.
He took one look at her tear-stained face and dove forward, tackling her onto the bed. “I love you, I love you, I love you. Okay? Okay, doll? I’m the worst fuck-up in the world, and I shouldn’t let you love me.” His voice was hoarse and agonized. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to me. And I’m the worst thing that ever happened to you. But I can’t help loving you so much. I can’t help needing you this bad.”
10++++ stars for storyline
10++++ flames for heat
“Love is a wonderful, messed up business, right? When you throw your lot in with another human being, you will be ironing out wrinkles, over and over again, for the rest of your lives.”Â
– Tessa Bailey
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