“I
want to kiss you until I know the feeling by heart.”
“I
want the world to know you’re mine before I take you for my own.”
I’ve had this book on my kindle since release day,
and I was just able to get around to it yesterday. I’m actually kind of mad at
myself that it took me so long to get to it, because once I started it, I blew
through it in hours. I enjoyed it so much. A friends to lovers’ story that
warmed my heart, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I’ve already
added the other two books in the series to my TBR and book 2 is my next read,
Chaser. I’ll be starting it as soon as I post this review.
This series is all about a tight nit group of
friends living out their dreams in New York City. With a Twist is the first
book in this series and its Lily and West’s story.
Lily is a principle dancer for the NYCB, New York
City Ballet Company, a dream that she has had since she was a little girl, and
now it is finally coming true. She’s also been partnered with Blaine Baker, the
man she has a serious lady boner for since she was 15 years old. Blaine has the
star in every single one of steamy fantasies since she could remember, but he
has never even realized she existed until recently, and Lily is over the moon
about it. The story begins with a bang, quite literally actually HAHAHAHAHA.
“The roles I’d landed since my promotion a few
months ago still shocked me – as hard as I’d worked to get where I was, I’d
never expected it.”
“Blane Baker, y’all. Blane Do-Whatever-You-Want-To-Me
Baker. Making girls lose their minds since puberty, circa 1996.”
West Williams is a TA for one of his favorite
English professors at Columbia University, working towards his doctorate, and
he’s been one of Lily’s closet friends pretty much since the day they met. He’s
been “spending time” with another fellow TA, but it’s a physical relationship
born of convenience. There’s’ no actual feelings involved, at least on his
part.
“Maybe I’d read too many books, too much Shakespeare
to ever be content with someone who didn’t make me feel. Until I found that
girl, I was content to date my degree.”
Blaine Baker is a PLAYER with a capital P, and his
ex-girlfriend, Nadia is known within the company for being a major biatch.
Nadia has always had a problem with Lily and given her a hard time, but now
that Lily is beating her for lead dancing roles and partnered with her ex,
things are going to get even more heated…
“My
relationship status was a about as clear as a serial killer’s cellar window.”
With a Twist has such amazing characters, that it’s
not possible to get sucked into their world. Lily, West, Rose, Copper, Patrick,
Maggie, Astrid, Bastian, Jennie, all of them are easy to love. Their friendships
are a shining point in this book. Their banter and dialogue will make you laugh
out loud and their connections make you long to belong to their group. I mean I
wanted to crawl into this book, just to hang out with them at Habits. I know I
know they aren’t real, they are fictional characters and I digress.
When Lily starts to realize that most times the
fantasy is much better than reality, things begin to slowly change. West is
seeing one of his best friends in a different light and Lily is having some
very interesting dreams as of late.
“Lily and I walked in silence for a moment, and my
brain kicked into overdrive. I was so overwhelmed by her I couldn’t concentrate
– every place where she touched, just the presence of her body next to mine as
we walked down the stairs was too much. I tried to makes sense of it, wondering
why now? After all these years, why tonight?”
The writing here is absolute perfection, the story
magical, sexy and incredibly funny. Romance that makes your heart pound and
your face flush with heat; West and Lily have a connection that most only long
for. Staci Hart has not only crafted a book that is outrageously awesome, but
she has created a whole world in which we can hope and pray for many many more
books to play out. I can only hope that all of the characters we are introduced
to in With a Twist will all get their own books. She started the series with a
perfect book and perfect characters. I loved Lily and now I want to be her
bestie. And West OHMYGOD, hot does not do this guy justice. He’s sexy of
course, but he’s the total package. He’s smart, sensitive, funny, thoughtful,
patient, JUST EVERYTHING! Ladies West Williams is going to make you SWOON.
HARD.
“No one was good enough for Lily. But I could be. I
wanted to be. I loved her.”
I may have been late to the party in reading this
book, as it has a TON of fantastic reviews already but I won’t be missing it
again. Chaser (Bad Habits book 2) is next up on my reading list and I cannot
wait to dive back into this world and spend more time the Habits gang. Chaser
is Maggie’s story (Maggie is West’s sister). Not only do I revel in getting to
read what I’m sure will be another breathtaking book, I’m excited to spend some
more time with these quirky, and fun characters.
“Nothing
in life is certain. But as long as my heart was beating, it would beat for her.
I didn’t exist solely for myself anymore because I was hers, and she was mine.”
Everyone knows you should never say never.
Cooper Moore never saw Maggie Williams coming. She was just his best friend’s little sister, the curly-haired, freckle-faced girl from Mississippi who was absolutely off limits. And he never thought about her any other way — not until he saw her that night, broken and brave. From that moment on, he knew he’d do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant he had to stay away.
Maggie never expected to find her fiancé banging her maid of honor an hour before she was set to walk down the aisle, but life’s funny that way. The only option to save her sanity is to get the hell out of Jackson and move to New York where her brother lives. The only downside: Cooper is there too. And she just doesn’t know if she can stay away from him — the filthy rich, dead sexy playboy who’s allergic to commitment.
The second Maggie sees him again, she realizes he’ll be impossible to resist. Luckily, commitment is the last thing on her mind, and Cooper is the perfect escape. As long as she can keep her heart in check, everything will be just fine. Because she can never have feelings for him. Or at least that’s what she’ll keep telling herself.
Chaser is a standalone romantic comedy and book 2 of the Bad Habits series.
MY REVIEW
“No
commitment, no expectations. No dates or gifts. Four weeks, and we’d go our separate
ways. The biggest rule we had to keep it a secret.”
5
STARS – Chaser is even better than With a Twist! Cooper Moore is going to leave
you begging for more!
Chaser
is the second book in the Bad Habits series by Staci Hart. Now while these
books all belong to the same series, they can be read as standalones. I recommend
really all of them of course and in order! They are so fantastic, why would you
want to skip one?
Chaser
begins very shortly after With a Twist and this book is Cooper and Maggie’s
story. We all felt the sexual tension between these two in With a Twist and now
we are going to get the whole story, going back to the very start.
“The
rules were everything they were the only way I could guarantee I wouldn’t get
hurt again.”
“She
took a breath. That breath stole mine.”
Maggie
has recently moved to New York. She was betrayed by her maid of honor and fiancée
on their wedding day and to make it even worse, it happened at the church.
Jimmie is a douche canoe and even that’s putting it nicely. Reeling and unsure
of what her future holds she runs away to re-invent herself. What better place
to do that in, but in New York and with her brother at her side.
Cooper
is one of the Habits crew, I loved him in With a Twist but I had no idea how
hard I was going to fall for him in this book. COOPER IS MINE.
“Cooper
is like the chaser you slam after a shot of cheap vodka. He’s there to wash the
taste away after the pain.”
“I’d
never seen anything so beautiful and broken. Not in all my life.”
Cooper
is the wealthy one in the crew, heir to a billionaire’s fortune. He’s unemployed and just enjoying living The Life.
He’s a player and is never lacking for a date nor does his bed ever get cold
and lonely. He’s just been named one of W’s twenty-five most eligible
bachelors, but this notorious player may have just met his match. Who or what
can make a player want to change, when he so enjoys the play? The answer is
simple, finding his one and only truth north.
When
Maggie and Cooper begin their “arrangement” it seems like a good idea for both
of them, safe and risk free. No one is going to get hurt even though they are
lying to everyone. There are rules in place and an expiration date, so it’s
fool proof right? Are you laughing to at that last statement? Because I am!
“I’ll
make you forget he ever existed.”
“Being
with Cooper felt good, and I didn’t want to fight it. I’d fought enough lately.
Right now I just wanted to coast.”
I
loved With a Twist, but Chaser OMFG it was absolutely everything. It was
hilarious, emotional, unputdownable, hot, sexy, and sweet. If West made you
swoon, you had better be prepared to do it all over again. Cooper made my heart
ache, race, and go pitter pat more times than I could count. Maggie drove me a
little nuts, but to be fair she did just have her entire world implode around
her.
“I
wanted the rest of her. I wanted all of her.”
“I
looked over at Cooper, and he met my eyes. And in that moment, I decided. I was
officially the queen of bad decisions.”
Chaser
has everything you could ever want in a romance novel and it does it
flawlessly. The writing is superb, the characters relatable and funny, and the
story will own you. A series that is equal in humour, heat and feels it will
leave you always wanting more. Staci Hart has outdone herself with this second
book, because I cherished every single word of this one. Every kiss, tear,
fear, insecurity, heartbreak, and laugh made this book unforgettable and
romantic. Every woman should have their very own Cooper Moore; I mean seriously
this guy is perfection. Maggie deserves a happily ever after so badly, she’s so
sweet and has had some very bad luck in the men department, I mean seriously bad
luck. West, Lily, Tricky, Rose and Astrid are all back to keep you laughing and
their antics will keep you totally addicted. Getting to experience Coopers and
Maggie’s story from start to finish was an absolute pleasure and I cannot
stress enough that you NEED TO READ THESE BOOKS! Chaser is now on my top reads list for 2015
and I cannot wait for book 3, Last Call. Last call is Tricky (Patrick) and Rose’s
book and it’s going to be awesome, I’d bet money on it.
“Those
eyes. Those eyes would be the end of me.”
“I
wanted to be with him. Everything else was just details.”
It Releases February 2016!
