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I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Book Review-With Every Heartbeat

by | Jul 26, 2015 | Book Reviews | 3 comments

Book Review-With Every Heartbeat

Book Review-With Every HeartbeatWith Every Heartbeat by Linda Kage
Also in this series: A Perfect Ten, Price of a Kiss, To Professor, with Love, Be My Hero, Worth It , The Girl's Got Secrets , Priceless
Series: Forbidden Men #4
Published by Smashwords on March 2nd 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
ISBN: 9781311124326
Goodreads
AmazonLibrary ThingLibrary Thing
four-stars

*New Adult Romance***Explicit Scenes and Language**I used to think everything was black and white, truth or lie, easy or hard, that if I could just escape my strict, overbearing, abusive father, my life would be perfect. But since I’ve found a reason to risk his wrath and leave, to help a friend in need, I’ve come to realize everything I thought I knew is wrong. Friends have their own agenda, honesty comes with a dosage of lie, easy doesn’t even exist, keeping secrets sucks, and love...love is the most painful thing of all. Maybe if Quinn Hamilton hadn’t asked me to skip classes for the day and help him pick out an engagement ring for my best friend, I wouldn’t have fallen for him so completely on that sunny Tuesday afternoon and I wouldn’t feel so conflicted. But I did, and I can’t take it back, no matter how hard I try. So I have to deal with the fact that even I’m not as good, or honest, or caring as I’d always thought I was, and no matter what I do next, someone’s going to get hurt. Probably me.-Zoey Blakeland*Don't worry! The hero and heroine are not cheaters.*

My Review

 

Summary 

Zoey Blakefield has escaped her abusive father and has come to save her best friends and new roommates life. Her roommate is on dialysis and needs a transplant, and Zoey is more than willing to give a kidney to her. Zoey is shy and reserved and has never been around many people, but she is in a new way of living, coming to college. She never imagined that she would be attracted to her roommates boyfriend. And despite their attraction she knows that nothing can ever happen, she would never betray her friend in that way. Quinn Hamilton is sweet and fun-loving, but Cora is his first girlfriend and is dedicated and loyal to her. He would do anything for her, to keep her happy. Quinn never imagined that he would start have sex dreams about Zoey, and be able to connect with her on a level he never has with Cora. When he learns some awful truths about Cora, he fights for the woman he truly desires and wants more than anything. Soon though Quinn and Zoey will be tested in a way which their relationship will go through the ringer, and only by trusting in the love they have built will they find a way to be together.

“Sometimes, it’s the little things we do that mean the most to others.”

The Hero 

Quinn Hamilton is a sweet but shy guy. He plays on the football team and is a starter. Quinn has never had a girlfriend until he came to college. Quinn didn’t have an easy childhood, and still bears the scars from that horrid time in his past. It still haunts him at times and worships Cora because she is the first girl to give him notice. Quinn was quite the heartbreaking hero and my heart just ached for him. We see what a wonderful person Quinn is…thoughtful, kind and loving. He is the perfect hero and gets treated so horribly at times by his girlfriend. Which is why I loved the way Zoey is with him, she shows him what a real relationship should be even though she has no clue herself.

The Heroine 

Zoey Blakeland is a heroine that we see inside of quite a bit. And in this story even though there is alternating POV…I always loved the parts where we inside of Zoey. She is a character, that is so afraid of everything, almost afraid of her own shadow. She has never really had a chance to build confidence until now. We see how her characters change, and although it’s a slow change, it’s a good one. Zoey goes from being super quiet and shy to fighting for what she wants and stands up to Cora, and I so cheered her on in those special moments where you see her true character come forth and shine. Zoey is talented, intelligent and sweet. Perfect match for our Quinn. Here below is a scene that I love Zoey in with Quinn and Ten (who is quite the scoundrel but very funny and he plays a huge role with the love story that develops between Quinn and Zoey)

“Something’s wrong with his penis.”

“What?” a clear confused Quinn said as Ten choked out a horrified growl. 

“I’m Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but..oh my God. It doesn’t look like yours. There’s this big, blood bruise looking thing on it.”

“Blondie!” Ten cried in a strained voice. “Shut…Up!!”

I Finally glanced at him. As I looked at him, though, all I could see was that huge discoloration on his junk. 

“I’m sorry.” I said, genuinely remorseful for blurting what was probably something very private about his privates. “I just couldn’t keep it in. I tried. But..oh my God. What is it? Does it hurt?”

Quinn choked out a surprised laugh, while a blushing Ten slapped his palm against his forehead 

“It’s a birthmark.” He gritted out “Just a birthmark. Nothing is wrong with my dick. 

Plot and Story Line 

With Every Heartbeat is such an emotional addition to the Forbidden Men series and the last book I needed to read before I finished the series and what a fun ride it is. Sad but I hear the next book is coming out soon, so I am pretty excited about that. What I have loved about this series is how each couple is unique in their situations and we see how each pair overcomes the “forbidden love” scenario that they find themselves in. Now first off I want to point out that there is no cheating in this book. Thank goodness…I have issues with that. But Linda Kage writes this story in such a way that we see a building of friendship before these two get anywhere close to being physically intimate with each other. In fact, this aspect was one of my favorites about how this story evolved, was seeing them truly bonding emotionally and intellectually before they get sex happy. Many things happen to this couple before they even get to the happy in bed aspects. What I loved about this story, and it’s a theme we see in each, book of the series, is how there is alternating POV’s…which is so fun. Most of the time when I read New Adult its only in one POV, and it tends to get old after a while. I LOVED how it switches from Zoey to Quinn every chapter. You see both sides of their lives and what makes them tick.

want to save lives, but art, like the stories you want to write…that’s the kind of stuff that makes life worth living.

 

The supporting cast was quite fun…we see more of the “Forbidden couples” and their interactions are quite fun. Also we see the beginning of Ten and Caroline before their chemistry gets explosive in the next book. This story we see the build up of tension and the nasty bits of Cora. Now Cora is one nasty piece of work. At first I wasn’t sure what my first impression was, I thought she was a bit flighty and conceited. I didn’t really like her much but when we learn her true agenda, well lets just say I could throw her out a window. She is quite horrid to both Quinn and Cora, but Quinn and Cora are such wonderful human beings. Honestly I don’t know how I would react and treat Cora afterwards, but they were much nicer than I would ever be. They stand up to her but at the same time are still decent to her. In this story Cora is the “Villain” and we learn some truths about Zoey’s past which was quite shocking and I didn’t see coming. The romance between Quinn and Zoey was brilliantly played out. They were perfect for each other. They both had traumatic pasts, they were both sweet and kind but had various interests that balanced them out well. Once they got together, it was like they just “fit”.

“I love you. With every beat of my heart, I am yours.”

What was most admirable about these two was seeing them finally together, after seeing them struggle with the complications beforehand, and finally once they are together, their troubles aren’t even close to being over…but them fighting for one another and stumble and fall and get right back up and keep fighting just made the story even sweeter.

 

The Cover

I actually adore this cover, with that relaxing pose, so romantic yet sensual too.

Overall View 

With Every Heartbeat is a love story that shows the reader what it means to fight for love and win! It is packed with endearing characters, a forbidden romance, a plot to keep you on your toes, and will charm you from the first chapter!

Series Order

Price of a Kiss (1)

To Professor, With Love (2)

Be My Hero (3)

With Every Heartbeat (4)

Perfect Ten (5)

Worth It (6)

About Linda Kage

I grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now I live in Kansas with my husband, daughter, and our nine cuckoo clocks. My life's been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part my world, and I'm so happy to finally share some of my stories with other romance lovers.

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3 Comments

  1. Sophia Rose

    I have this series on my wish list. I can see I need to get busy and read them. Your description of these two characters has me wanting their story. Glad there isn’t cheating- I’m not big on that, either.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      you definitely should read this especially if you like the NA Genre. I have LOVED every book of the series.

      Reply
  2. Lindy Gomez

    I love NA, and have never heard of this series! Thanks so much for putting this on my radar. I’m adding it to my wish list. I love stories about forbidden love, and it sounds like this stories cast of characters were great!

    Lindy@ A Bookish Escape

    Reply

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