Romances Ever After. Powered by Blogger.

Review: Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai

by Alisha Rai
Series: Forbidden Hearts #2
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: November 28th 2017
Source: ARC received for review
Rating: ★★★★★
He wasn’t supposed to fall in love with his brother’s widow…

Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Jackson Kane fled his home, his name, and his family. Ten years later, he’s come back to town: older, wiser, richer, tougher—and still helpless to turn away the one woman he could never stop loving, even after she married his brother.

Sadia Ahmed can’t deal with the feelings her mysterious former brother-in-law stirs, but she also can’t turn down his offer of help with the cafe she’s inherited. While he heats up her kitchen, she slowly discovers that the boy she adored has grown into a man she’s simply unable to resist.

An affair is unthinkable, but their desire is undeniable. As secrets and lies are stripped away, Sadia and Jackson must decide if they’re strong enough to face the past...and step into a future together.
I have been so excited for this follow-up to Hate to Want You, which I consumed and adored so quickly, so I was ecstatic when I downloaded this onto my kindle and I am so happy to know there's another book on the way. (which funnily enough Nick has already read and approved of !)

If you haven't picked up this series yet, Forbidden Hearts is a bit of a family saga romance series, and it starts with two families bitterly torn apart by an ugly tragedy that broke them apart. The first book Hate to Want You was a star-crossed lovers reunited, and in this second book, we get to know Sadia and Jackson. Jackson is from one of the aforementioned families, and Sadia was married to his brother.

Family is such a big part of this series and as well as getting to see Livvy and Nicholas again, who I lovee, we get to meet Sadia's sisters who are just lovely in how real and fleshed out they were. I'm secretly hoping that Alisha will write books for the sisters, especially Jia.

Jackson is a true delight of a hero, and I related so much to his shy nature. He is so protective and wonderful and my heart melted every time he interacted with his nephew Kareem as well as how he took care of Sadia. The quiet intensity he has and his passions that he keeps hidden inside himself made me both swoon and want to hug him haha. Also he's a chef, and I was so hungry whenever food was mentioned in this book, because everything he was making sounded delicious.

Sadia really resonated with me, with how strong and fragile she was in this book. She struggles with her mental health at times, and I loved how supportive the other characters were, and Alisha never glosses over her issues as something easily cured, because it's not. I was reading this when I was in a bad state, so it gave me so much strength to see the way Sadia was written.

There's a lot of angst and chemistry in this book and I still can't get over how well Sadia and Jackson are together. The sex and intimate scenes in this book are intense and hot, and honestly just wow. There's a lot under the surface with their history, but when they were together it just worked.

Overall, while Nicholas and Livvy from the first book are still my firm favorite, Sadia and Jackson come a very close second and I cannot wait to read the final book in this trilogy!










I have so much love for Hate to Want You that I wondered how Alisha Rai was going to top that, but somehow she managed it because Wrong to Need You was AMAZING.

Oh God, how do I even begin this review?

Wrong to Need You has everything I need in a book: great (and diverse!) characters, a boatload of angst, slow-burn romance, A+ sexy scenes.

As usual, Alisha did a great job fleshing out her characters. I love Sadia with all my heart. Like Eri said, she's strong and fragile at the same time, and you couldn't help but root for her. A thing that I love about this series is how Alisha incorporated mental health issues in the stories as something part of the characters. I can relate to Sadia's struggles and her self-care techniques. The Ahmed family also kinda feels like my own: loud, a bit traditional and restrictive, but love fiercely. I also agreed with Eri that Sadia's sisters need their own books. Jackson... *sighs* I felt for him the most, I think? What happened to him was tragic and undeserved, and I hated how some people treat him like a pariah. It's just an emotional rollercoaster being in his head and reading his thoughts and his feelings for Sadia. I just want to hug him 85% of the time and the rest of the time I wish I could do other things with him hahahahahahaha ok Lisa, enough.

Sadia and Jackson together? FIREWORKS. Alisha wrote some of the steamiest books I've read, and this one is just as brilliant. I just love how Sadia and Jackson reconnected after years of separation and how they dealt with the regret and anger between them. I also love how I could feel the years of history between them despite Alisha not writing many flashback scenes. They fit together so perfectly.

In a nutshell, Wrong to Need You just completely blew me away and smashed my expectations to tiny pieces. So how is book #3 gonna top that? I have no idea but luckily I don't have to figure out, LOL. I'm confident that Alisha will deliver greatness again.







No comments

Hi. Thanks for leaving a message. I'll make sure to reply to you as soon as I can. :)