Review: Crazy for You

Crazy for You by Rachel Lacey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Emma is tired of being the good girl, she wants to take a walk on the wild side for once. When a dare has her flirting with a childhood friend, she may get more than she bargained for.
Ryan has had a strict hands-off policy with his friend's little sister, especially after his friend died. When she kisses him though, a door he has tried to keep shut is flung wide open.
Emma and Ryan are about to find out that being bad has never felt so good.

Second in the Risking It All series, we find ourselves back in the small town of Haven. This time it is Emma and Ryan's turn for romance. Both characters are extremely likable. Emma is feeling lost in her life and wanting a change. She's always had a crush on her brother's friend Ryan but he only saw her as a kid. While it is brought up more than once, I thought a couple flashbacks to her and her brother could have added an emotional punch. We learn he died in Afghanistan and hear how Emma misses him, but I missed seeing their relationship. The same could be said about flashbacks showing Ryan and Emma's brother as friends. I'm glad it wasn't dwelled on too long about Ryan feeling guilty about dating his friend's sister, it would have felt like drawn out angst.

The small town flavor that showed up in the first continues here with a circle of friends showcased that you know are just waiting in the wings for their own stories. The motorcycle rides Ryan takes Emma on also gave a great sense of scenery and location that helped place me in the story. Ryan's half-brother drama helped to give his character different layers but the brother's character never journeyed too far from young adult angst. In fact, while this was a nice, pretty calm story, excitement and wow factor are missing. In an over flush small town contemporary romance market, none of these character stand out, we've all read them before. While this is definitely comparable to a Jill Shalvis series, I would say the heat factor is ramped up a bit.

Emma is looking to shake things up in her sex life and while they don't do anything considered left of center kinky, they do get it on, frequently. Ryan and Emma's chemistry and steam did a great job of providing some spark to the story. Unfortunately, the lack of excitement or differentness made this read more of the mundane variety for me. However, if you like small town stories, a nice main couple, and want more heat in your contemporaries without crossing over into erotica, you'll want to read this. The next in the series will feature a second chance romance where unresolved issues and a wounded warrior will be the stars.


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