About the Book
Azalea Barnes has hated Drake Collins since the day he broke
her teenaged heart.
Fast forward almost seven years later and her libido still hasn't gotten the memo.
Now they're frenemies... with benefits.
Which suits Azalea just fine. She gets what her body craves while keeping her heart safe. Kind of.
Mostly.
Drake has loved Azalea since the day they met. He knows that she's his forever. Too bad she only sees him as a good time. He wants more. Needs more.
If only he could convince her that it's real this time. He's more determined than ever to prove to Azalea that chemistry like theirs doesn't exist only in the bedroom.
The odds may be against Drake, but he's prepared for an uphill battle.
Fast forward almost seven years later and her libido still hasn't gotten the memo.
Now they're frenemies... with benefits.
Which suits Azalea just fine. She gets what her body craves while keeping her heart safe. Kind of.
Mostly.
Drake has loved Azalea since the day they met. He knows that she's his forever. Too bad she only sees him as a good time. He wants more. Needs more.
If only he could convince her that it's real this time. He's more determined than ever to prove to Azalea that chemistry like theirs doesn't exist only in the bedroom.
The odds may be against Drake, but he's prepared for an uphill battle.
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Excerpt
“Drake
Collins, I don’t see you on our appointment book today,” Seraphine says,
wagging her finger at me with a twinkle in her dark brown eyes.
“That’s
because I’m not. Does Azalea have time to fit me in?”
“Hmmm.
Magnolia could fit you in quicker than—”
“Nah, I
don’t mind the wait. How long’s it gonna be?”
“About
twenty minutes.”
I turn, and
make myself comfy in one of the waiting room chairs, “That’ll be just fine,
Seraphine.”
She rolls
her eyes at me, “I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Totally
unnecessary. It’s a surprise visit.”
Seraphine
shakes her head at me, but goes back to whatever she was doing at the computer,
thank God. Because I’m counting on the element of surprise to work in my favor
here. If she knows I’m here, she’ll start working on getting her walls up, but
if I catch her off guard, I might just catch her unguarded, if you know what I
mean.
To pass the
time, I play around on my phone, checking social media and shooting the shit
with Simon and Cash in group text. I impress myself by only checking the time
every five minutes, but my God, it really does feel like an eternity waiting on
her.
I perk up
when I hear the sound her sweet voice coming closer. “You have a wonderful day
Mrs. Jones, and be sure to tell Seraphine to book extra time at your next
appointment so that we can do those lowlights.”
She doesn’t
walk far enough into the room to see me, so I stand and follow behind her to
her station. She grabs the broom and starts sweeping, but jumps and throws it
down when she sees me. “Holy guacamole, you scared the ba-jeezus outta me!”
I cover my
smile with my fist, “I can see that.”
“What’re
you doing here?”
“Need a
haircut,” I tell her, claiming her chair.
She scowls
her trademark scowl at me, her eyes drilling into me like lasers. “So, make an
appointment.” She turns of walk away, but I reach out and snag her wrist.
“Don’t need
one,” I tell her, knowing it will make her that much more irritated. I know
these games are stupid, but her mad gets me so hot.
“You most
certainly do,” Azalea replies, her cheeks red with anger.
“Pretty
sure there’s a sign in the window that reads ‘Walk-in’s welcome’. You’re
certainly not making me feel very welcome. Not at all. Which, as the owner of
this establishment, you should know is bad for business.” I tsk, wagging my
finger at her.
“Drake Ulysses Collins, you get your ass up
right now!” Azalea hisses through clenched teeth. Her eyes are so big, they
look like they might pop right on out of her head.
“Nah, don’t
think so. You get your cute ass over here, and buzz my hair down.”
“No!”
“Now.” It’s
a battle of wills and I’m playing to win. We remain frozen, staring one another
down, until she rolls her eyes and stomps back over to me, like I knew she
would. Drake, 1. Azalea, 0.
With a snap
of her wrists, she has the cape draped around me. She shoots me an evil gleam,
before pulling it as tight as it will go, damn near choking me. “Take it easy,
Bit,” I croak, only to be whopped upside the back of my head with her comb.
“What the hell?” I yell at her, but she just smiles and pops the guard she
knows I like onto her clippers.
With one
hand planted on the top of my head, she uses the other to move the clippers
through my hair, buzzing it down in fluid movements. Azalea takes her time,
dragging out my simple buzzcut because she thinks it’ll annoy me. She couldn’t
be more wrong. Hell, for half the haircut, her perky C cups are all up in my
face, and for the rest of it… her hands are on me, and there’s not a single
thing annoying about any of that. No, I fucking love it.
“There, all
done assface.”
“Assface,
huh? That an invitation?”
“God!
You’re so gross!”
Grasping
the front of the cape with both hands, I pull until it unsnaps. Rising from the
chair, I take two steps toward Azalea, effectively backing her into her station.
“Gross? You think I’m gross?” I gently
run my nose up her neck, lingering just below her ear. “Naw, you don’t mean
that, do you?” My voice is hoarse and low, the sound of it causes Azalea’s skin
to break out in goosebumps.
“Sure do,”
she fires back, but her tone—all soft with want— betrays her words.
I take a
step closer, leaving not even an inch between us, “We both know you’re lying
through your teeth, but that’s okay Bit. Best be glad we’re in your place of
business, or I’d call your bluff.” I cover her lips with mine and tunnel my
fingers into her long, blonde hair. “Or maybe I still will,” I speak the words
against her lips, delighting in the feel of her rapid breaths. “Right here.
Right now.” I punctuate the words with a kiss, hard and rough, before stepping
back.
Azalea
stands there, bracing herself against her station, almost as if she’d crumple
to the floor without its support, and damn if that doesn’t make me feel like
the king of the world. “Thanks for the haircut. You have a nice day, and when I
call you later… answer.”
Addicted 2 Romance Review
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.This book is tough to rate because on one hand I loved it, so much that I went back and read the previous book in the series and it was FANTASTIC. This is only the 2nd book the author has ever written and while it extremely well written, I had some issues with the characters. Largely I think it was the author trying to write out of a corner than the issue was its plot because the first book had none of the issues like this book did.
At the start of this story Azalea and Drake are in love. They have been having no string sex and both have loved each other for 15+ years (they are only in their early 20's) but they have had sex and dated lots of other people, but now they are finally single together and having occasional bouts of sex.
Drake loves Azalea but well he is a HUGE idiot. I mean HUGE. He really is the issue here, he does the stupidest things and lemme tell you at times I wanted Azalea to find a different guy because while he loves her and wants to be with her, he plays a lot of games with her and he hurts her a lot. He jumps to conclusions and he sees all the issues as Azaleas and not his and he really is the problem. Not that he doesn't love her, but that he lets pride get in his way a lot.
Azalea on the other hand has loved Drake forever. And she does not play games. I loved her courage and her honesty and she constantly puts herself out there with Drake. Does she jump to conclusions? YES! But I don't blame her at all. The things Drake does in this book to her I HATED! She is jealous of this girl Kelly, and she is 100% deserving of the jealousy and instead of understanding Drake throws her at Azalea over and over and then he does the same thing with another girl. Seriously I HATED how Drake treated Azalea. But again if they didn't have this huge failure to communicate, there would not be a book and it would be a novella but still I would much rather have seen Azalea drive Drake jealous than her constantly watching him with other women.
That said I did not love Drake. He really deserved to lose Azalea. But Azalea is this really amazing character and she is why I kept reading the book. And I really enjoyed the other characters and writing which is why I went and read the first book.
I highly recommend the first book before this story as it really introduces all the characters and is a wonderful story. If you enjoy the trials and tribulations and jealousies of first love then you will love this book but for me I got tired of the games.
LK Farlow (A.K.A Kate) is a small town girl with a love for
words. She’s been writing stories and poems for as long she can remember. A
Southern girl through and through, Kate resides in beautiful, sunny LA—that’s
Lower Alabama, y’all—with her amazing husband and three wonderful children.
When she’s not writing, you can find her snuggled up on the couch watching
nature documentaries while she crochets or with her nose in a book. All Kate
really wants in this life is her family happy, strong coffee, a good book and
more Happily Ever After’s.
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