Fever

 

Fever is the second book in the Breathless Trilogy by Maya Banks. I had high hopes going into this book because of my high regards for the first installment. I wasn’t disappointed....entirely. The second book follows Jace Crestwell, Gabe's business partner and Mia's elder brother, and his whirlwind romance with Bethany, a homeless girl Jace meets at a company fundraiser where she is catering. I thought the book was good, but nowhere near the standard the first book set. I didn’t really like the characters for this one. Jace was a hot-head, erratic, and impulsive. He would often overreact over the littlest things, and explode for no reason. He was also very obsessive and clingy where Bethany was concerned. Bethany, on the other hand, was quite helpless and quiet. She never really stood up for herself against Jace or asserted her independence. In all actuality, she was just as obsessive and clingy as Jace. I like a female character that is assertive and motivated. I want a character that is not afraid to go after what she wants and make it known. Bethany did not live up to those standards. I also like a male character that is dominating, but able to give people space. I like a character who can lose his head but pick it back up and admit his faults and work towards fixing them. However, these are just my preferneces, and others may enjoy these characters. Overall, it WAS a good read but not quite up to my standards. I hope the third installment is better.

Rush

One of my favorite authors is Maya Banks, a contemporary romance author. I have read tons of her books, so naturally I started reading her new series. The Breathless Trilogy released book one: Rush. (This is also the book I’m doing for Pecha Kucha). Book one of the Trilogy follows billionaire Gabe Hamilton and his romance with his best friend, and business partner's, little sister. Mia Crestwell pushes all of Gabe's buttons, both good and bad. The characters relationship grows in a very fun and catchy way. They are always at each other’s throat, but they love that that’s how their chemistry works. They have an amazing physical chemistry as well, something that is clearly shown through the romance scenes that Banks creates. Rush has everything you could want from a book, suspense, action, and red hot romance. It has many similarities to E.L. James' series Fifty Shades of Grey. The same type of relationship is explored and the characters share similar qualities. Being such a big fan of Fifty, it was hard to give this book a chance. I picked it up thinking that it wouldn’t even show compared to Fifty. I was so wrong. The book pulled me in from the beginning and kept my attention throughout. Every single scene had something intriguing about it. Those qualities can be hard to come back in the romance books of today, but there they were. Plain and clear. Banks did an amazing job on this one. I have added it to my list of favorite titles of hers, and let me tell ya, it’s very close to the top.