Review & Giveaway: The Thrill of It by Lauren Blakely

Title: The Thrill of It

 

Author: Lauren Blakely

 

Series: No Regrets #1

 

Publication Date: November 21, 2013

 

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

 

Source: Bought

 

Synopsis:

A new adult story of Love. Sex. Addiction. Blackmail. And Power...

Some say love can be an addiction. Others say it's the thing that makes life worth living. Let me tell you everything I know about love...Love isn't patient, love isn't kind. Love is a game, a chase. A thrill. Love is wild and war-like, and every man and woman must fight for themselves. At least that's how it was for me. A high-priced virgin call girl by the time I started college, I was addicted to love and to sex. Even though I've never had either. I controlled love, played it, and held the world in the palm of my hands. Then I fell down from those highs, and I'm being blackmailed for all my mistakes, forced to keep secrets from everyone, except the only guy I don't regret.

Trey...

With all the other women, I knew what they were. They were temporary. They were pills, they were bottles, they took away all the pain, and numbed the awful memories that wore down my ragged, wasted heart. Until I met Harley. She's the only girl I ever missed when she walked away. But now she's back in my life, every day, and there are no guarantees for us, especially since I don't know how to tell her my secrets. What happened to my family. All I know is she's the closest I've ever come to something real, and I want to feel every second of it.

How can you love with no regrets when regret is all you know?

 

 

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My Thoughts:

 

How can you love with no regrets when regrets is all you know?

WOW!!! I will be honest with all of you and say that I was thrilled to read The Thrill of It, but I was also a little nervous. I was thrilled to read this book because I loved reading all the teasers Lauren Blakely posted on her facebook page. I was nervous because I didn't know how a girl working as a call girl could be a virgin, and not only is she a virgin call girl, but she falls in love with the sex addict. I always wondered how that was going to work out. But let me just tell you that Lauren Blakely is a genius! I'm not kidding. Lauren Blakely knew how to throw these two broken characters, Trey and Harley, together and write a heartwrenching, emotional, dark, and addictive read. 

 

I will not bend. I will not break. I will not go back to the way I was.

Harley is a nineteen year old damaged and broken virgin call girl that is addicted to both sex and love. I know what you are thinking. How can a virgin be addicted to both sex and love, right? Well Harely is emotionally damaged and she needs to feel that she is in control, that she is the one that controls her life and her emotions. Love and Sex provide this sense of control for Harley. She is addicted to the power and control she feels when she is doing her job as being a call girl. From the beginning of The Thrill of It, Harley is trying to figure out the girl she wants to be. She is Barb's- Harley's mother, but I can't bring myself to call her that- pretty daughter and she is her pimps, Cam,  high-priced call girl. Now, being part of the SLAA group and having Trey in her life she is trying to find the girl she wants to be, and face the decisions she's made in the past. I developed an emotional connection with Harley's character, and I felt every single of her emotions. Harley's character develops immensely by the end of The Thrill of It :).

 

I wanted to numb myself in pleasure, in women, in sex. I wanted nothing but euphoria, but never-fucking-ending ecstasy.

Trey is a twenty year old damaged and broken sex addict that has problems letting people in and telling the truth. Trey turns to sex to numb the pain and suffering he is experiencing for his loss. Trey is addicted to the fix, thrill, and numbness sex provides for just a few minutes, days, or weeks.  After being scarred for sleeping with a married women, Trey decides to turn his life around by joining the SLAA Group. Just as Harley, Trey is emotionally damaged, but unlike Harley he is unable to freely open up to others about his emotions. The loss he experiences and not being able to express how he feels about it, makes Trey a closed person to sharing his story. Did I mention that the boy is covered in tattoos? I loved Trey's tattoos and the story and meaning behind each of his tattoos. I loved Trey's character from the very beginning because he just felt real to me. 

 

I was her pretty pony. Her little doll of a daughter. Then I became a prize to help her catch men.

I just feel the need to mention both Trey and Harley's parents, because they are the reason these two characters are emotionally damaged. Barb is Harley's mother, but we are just going to call her Barb because I can't stomach saying that she is her mother. Why? Barb doesn't see Harley as a daughter, she sees Harley as a friend or sister that she could talk to about her sexual life. What's wrong with that? Harley had to listen to her mother having sex at a very young age, and she saw so many men walk in and out of her home. I just HATED Barb for the damage she caused Harley. 

 

Dust off your hands. Don't look back. Don't even breathe a word.

Trey's parents are a whole different story, but they are not as worse as Barb. It's Trey's parents fault that he is unable to open up and be honest with others. When Trey tried to open up to them about their loss, they didn't want to hear about it. His parents decided to look ahead and keep living their lives without giving thought to their loss. I can't say that I hated his parents, because they were just dealing with their own suffering in a different way. I just didn't like that they are to blame for Trey not being able to speak up. 

 

We are just a guy and a girl trying to figure out what it's like to be with someone when it's not a game, when it's not an addiction, when it's not a transaction.

Trey and Harley's relationship is messy, complicated, addictive, honest, and there is sexual frustration. Both Trey and Harley haven't been in committed, real, or love relationship. They don't know what honest love is or what a relationship between a guy and a girl entails. The only type of relationships they know are fake, a quick fix, and don't involve any kind of emotions. But being in a relationship both Trey and Harley learn to have hope and faith in each other, and they develop a new healthy addiction for each others love. The sexual tension is intense! Trey had me swooning, panting, melting, and weak in the knees. We get both the innocent sweet kisses and the intense hot kisses. Once Trey and Harley get together they start to realize that being in a relationship were a girl and a guy share the same honest love for each other gives them the ugly beautiful in life. 

 

...we might be damaged, but we are perfectly damaged together.

Every page, every moment, every part of  Trey and Harley's story was a thrill :D! The only problem and thing that I didn't like about the Thrill of It, is the killer hang-over! Why Lauren, just why did you have to end it like that? I kept scrolling and wishing that more words would magically appear. I also can't remember the last time I abused my kindle highlighter while reading a book. Trust me when I tell you The Thrill of It by Lauren Blakely is a MUST READ!!! 

 

Final Verdict: 5 Stars 

 

 

About the Author:

Lauren Blakely is an unabashed fan of clever jokes, toast, and good guys in novels. Like the heroine in TROPHY HUSBAND, she thinks life should be filled with hot men, cool clothes, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband and children, and spends her days writing both true stories and make-believe ones.

 

Find Lauren Blakely:

Website  ~  Blog  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Gooodreads

 

 

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway