Bittersweet Symphony (Bittersweet #4) By J.L. Beck
**Half of all sales of this book for the month of October will go towards The National Breast Cancer Foundation. If you would like to donate please visit http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/ for more details**
-This book is suitable only to readers 18++ due to sexual situations, language, and violence.-
I’m a good girl. I don’t go out and party and I most definitely don’t sleep with half the student body. That’s what makes me and Ryder Winchester an unlikely duo. We should never work out, but yet I’m pulled to him like a moth to a flame. I want him, and I know he wants me.
He has secrets that I know I could never understand, but so do I. We all have secrets, things we hide from others in fear of what they would think of us if they ever found out.
I’m a bastard. An asshole. Most days I couldn't give a shit what someone has to say to me. That is until I meet Kennedy Chaps. She’s different, strong, well opinionated, and completely naive to the person I am... My body, mind, and soul pull to her like no other. I could have her, but I won’t. I won’t taint her. I won't shut out her light.
We both have secrets so deep that allowing them to escape would be like losing a part of the person we are. But as friendship morphs into something much deeper I feel myself confessing my secrets; things that could very well be the end of us.
Sometimes it’s about finding the right person to tell your secrets to.
Sometimes it’s about the risk.
Sometimes two damaged souls can’t heal all wounds, sometimes love is not enough. Hearts get broken, people lose hope, and love dies.
We are Ryder Winchester and Kennedy Chaps and this is our story.
Review by Gia:
Wow, I loved this book. After reading Bittersweet Revenge, J.L. Beck became one of the authors that I one click every time she hits publish. After reading Bittersweet Hate, I thought Bittersweet Symphony would be a continuation of Corey and Mimi's story. It not a continuation of Corey and Mimi's story, it's Ryder and Kennedy's story.
In early books we meet Ryder. I really wasn't sure what to make of Ryder in previous book. He seems to be broody and a mystery. In Bittersweet Symphony we get to see the real Ryder. We get to see what makes Ryder tick. Ryder has flavors of the day as far as women go. When he meets Kennedy thing change.
Kennedy is a nice a girl. She is opposite of the type of girl that Ryder usually go for. Ryder has some secrets but so does Kennedy. Kennedy is a strong girl and ties to keep her past from Ryder. But in the end secrets always finds a way of coming out. When you finally learn about Ryder's past, he behavior makes more scents. Ryder is really a great guy and you can't help but hope he gets a happy ending.
Bittersweet Symphony is a great read. It's a definite one click.
A copy was received for a review but that didn't matter because I had already bought my copy.
5 Amazeballs Stars!!!
Worry eats at my
insides. I’m scared. Terrified. Sam knows. He obviously knows and
told Ryder. I know Ryder is playing it off as nothing, simply looking
at me as a way to rid the pain. I want him just as bad as he wants
me, but I am not sure I can follow through with everything that’s
going on. I have to do something to find a way to stop Sam before he
ruins our lives, even if it means sacrificing my own happiness.
I
can feel the tears slipping from my eyes at the very idea of never
seeing Ryder’s face again, of never being able to show him that
life is worth more than what he has been given, of never making him
believe that he isn’t anything like his father. He is amazing,
kind, generous, loving, protective…I just hope that someday he will
realize who he really is.
Wiping
away the tears, I fix my hair and force myself to calm down.
Getting
out of the car, I walk up the front steps to Ryder’s apartment
complex. It has been a week since the incident with Sam and I haven’t
heard from him. It is as if he fell off the radar. I try to gather my
thoughts and emotions, but once at his door, I have to pull my heart
out of my stomach. I am not sure what horrible incident will happen
first: Will my heart beat out of control, sending me into cardiac
arrest, or will I vomit all over his floor?
Raising
my fist to knock on the door, I stop. A noise on the other side of
the door startles me, freezing me into place. It sounds like things
are being thrown throughout the house.
My
heart rate picks up, and my body goes into overdrive as fear finds
its way into my mind. I can’t bury it if I tried. Without
hesitation, I grab the handle of the door. The coldness of the metal
is the only thing I can sense.
Turning
it, I open the door and my heart plummets to the floor. Danger
registers in my mind, but I’m too worried about Ryder to pay it any
attention. The apartment is trashed. It looks as if someone has gone
through the place looking for something, but never finding it.
I
hear the slamming of doors down the hall… “Ryder?” I call out.
Feelings are lodged in my throat. I don’t think I can do this.
Taking one look at the apartment, I can tell he is already spiraling
out of control. He is losing himself.
“What?”
he roars gruffly from down the hall. I can hear the pain laced in his
voice. Anger vibrates off of him with every step he takes toward me.
He looks nothing like the man I have fallen so helplessly for.
Instead, the shell of that person stands before me. He is shirtless
and sweaty. His face has a week’s worth of scruff, and his hair is
all over the place.
“Are
you okay?” I ask as innocently as I can. I have never been more
afraid of Ryder than I am in this very moment. I can see the
unstableness within him. Like a teeter-totter, he needs something, or
someone, to balance him out, but he has to want it, first.
He
picks up a nearby bottle of what I assume to be alcohol. He reeks of
whiskey and another sweet smell.
“Do
I look okay, Kennedy?” he sneers sarcastically. The words are like
a slap to my face. What happened to him? I take a soft step backward,
not wanting to trap myself within his grasp.
If
I am being honest, I know he’s not okay. His eyes are blood shot
while his face is a beautiful, ragged mess. He is so damaged, and it
hurts my heart. I thought I was the only one suffering, but obviously
I was wrong. How could I have been so blind to Ryder’s needs, to
what he so desperately needed from me?
“Not
really… You look… not…good,” I mumble through my words, not
wanting to say the wrong things that may upset him even more. But
then my feistiness sparks, and I start to gather my courage. “No
one’s heard from you in like a week. You haven’t even called me.”
I don’t want to sound needy, but I have missed him. I wanted to
make sure he is okay, but I wanted to see him too. My eyes linger
over the muscles of his chest, the muscles that make up that
delectable V of his.
“Really?”
He barks out before taking another chug from the bottle. I seriously
need to find every bottle of alcohol in this place and pour it out.
“That’s
weird because the only one who called me was you… and then you have
my piece of shit father… but that doesn’t really matter now…
does it?” I watch him, carefully listening to his slurring thoughts
for any hidden meanings.
“It
matters…”
“It
doesn’t… and I’m not even sure why you’re still here,
Kennedy.” He is fucking stupid if he doesn’t know why I am here.
He is stupid to assume anything in the state he is in.
“You’re
stupid if you don’t know why I’m still here,” I state, trying
to hide my anger, knowing he will just get off on it. He is at the
tipping point, and I don’t want to give him any more steam.
“I’m
stupid…” He lets out a harsh, vile sounding laugh. “I’m the
one, but you’re… you’re the innocent, precious, perfect beauty…
standing in front of me… trying to pull me off the cliff.”
I
look around the room. The couches are overturned, the dining room
table broken, glass is all over the place, and everything else is
strewn all around. I wonder how the cops haven’t been called yet.
“What
happened?” I ask curiously, wanting to take the attention off of
me.
“What
didn’t happen?” he responds gruffly, pushing off the counter
while slamming back another drink. I eye the bottle precariously; I
need to get it away from him, but I don’t dare get close to him. I
know the Ryder I care about wouldn’t hurt me, but this Ryder is
someone darker, meaner, and more abrasive with less boundaries.
“You
should probably put the bottle down.”
He
eyes me, the darkness within him casting out any good. The light
within him is diminishing with every drink.
“You
should probably leave.” He takes a step toward me, and my breathing
hesitates. Fear spikes down my spine, but I can’t look away from
him. My feet are glued to the floor, and I know I won’t leave this
place until I save him and bring him back to me. We both might be
broken, but he is far more broken than I; if I have to, I will save
the two of us, making us whole again.
I
shake my head no, afraid that my voice will tremble, giving away just
how much he affects me. Before I can even blink, he is directly in
front of me, his hand wrapping around the back of my neck.
I
am shaking like a leaf in the wind. I know he can feel it. He takes a
drink from the bottle again, and the scent of whiskey invades my
senses. He smells dark and dangerous, and even though I’m
frightened by him, I’m intrigued as well.
“Are
you afraid of me?” he asks softly. His voice is that of the Ryder I
have grown to know, but the look in his eyes tells me it’s merely a
façade.
“No,”
I declare, somehow finding my voice. I so badly want to take him into
my arms and tell him it will be okay, but I know that isn’t what he
needs.
“Are
you sure?” he taunts me, his fingers seizing my neck harder.
There’s no pain, just discomfort.
Then
it dawns on me: he thinks he can hurt me and everyone else who cares
about him, like he’s his father. He is wrapped up in his very own
dark world, letting the thoughts assault him.
“I
know you’re in there somewhere, Ryder. Find your way out, find your
way back to me,” I beg, my hands landing in fists against his
chest. He’s warm, and I’m so enveloped up in the feeling that I
don’t realize we are moving until my back slams into the wall. His
body pins mine, a feral look in his eyes as the bottle of whiskey
hits the floor.
I
can’t breathe, nor can I force myself to close my eyes. I can’t
do anything to protect myself from him; I’m at his mercy.
“This
is me, Kennedy. The person you thought you knew never existed. My
father killed him a long time ago.” His hand skims over my chest,
my heartbeat skyrocketing to a point where I’m afraid I will die.
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Check out the other novellas in the Bittersweet serial:
Bittersweet Revenge (Bittersweet #1)
Add to Goodreads
Bittersweet Love (Bittersweet #2)
Add to Goodreads
Bittersweet Hate (Bittersweet #3)
Add to Goodreads
J.L. Beck is the author of Bittersweet Revenge(A Bittersweet Novella Book 1). A four part novella series. She lives in Elroy, WI with her husband Brandon, and daughter Bella. Since the moment she could reach the shelves on the book shelf shes been reading, thus influencing her to write. Her favorite books are those that leave an imprint on your soul. You know the ones that have you putting everything off because you have to find out what happens next.
When she's not writing or reading(of course)you can find her picking up after her three year old daughter, or explaining to her husband why its unsafe to do something any other way, than the way your wife told you too.
Shes a huge fan of all things drama, with shows like The Vampire Diaries, and Arrow being some of her favorites. She's addicted to all things social media, caffeine, and Starbucks.
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