Title: Life Plus One Author: Rachel Robinson
Series: Standalone
Release date: August 18, 2017
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 188
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Ben Brahms shed his glasses, gangly body, and a life long pact to attend an Ivy League college with his best friend the day the world took on a sinister hue. With his outward appearance matching his new career as a Navy SEAL, Ben is saving the world…literally, at the expense of everything he gave up. A whole life.
Her.
Harper Rosehall honors the pact. She takes on, and then dominates college on the opposite coast. Always the geek, and always behind socially—especially with men, she blossoms. With her moral compass guiding her, she finds herself drawn back to San Diego and all she left behind.
Him.
With memories from their pasts haunting every interaction and decision in their present—and future, their timing never seems to be quite right.
A marriage.
A baby.
Nothing.Some friendships last the test of time, can Ben and Harper’s stand the tests of life?
Life doesn’t care what you love, it takes it away anyways.
Sometimes I need sweet book, sometimes I want a sexy story and sometimes I want a book that makes me feel all kinds of emotions. Life Plus One by Rachel Robinson falls into the last category. I know this author for her throat-punch, angst-y books, and with Life Plus One she surely doesn’t disappoint. I love it.
“That’s the thing with love. Life doesn’t care what you love. It takes it away anyway.”
Ben and Harper have been best friends since childhood. They did everything together and made plans for their life after high school. What they had was not just a normal friendship, it was young love, and everybody around them knew it. But when the world changed forever (see Black and White Flowers), so did their pact. And although their lives are very different, and both have moved on, the love between them is still there. It’s still very much alive, but life keeps interfering.
“I’ll be your friend. I’ll always be your friend. To be anything more than that would be dishonorable to our past. We’re so much more than lovers,” she says, leaning her head on her shoulder. “We’re lifers, Benny. Forever.”
Life Plus One spans years of the lives of Harper and Ben, going from teens who just finished high school to grown-ups well into their 30’s. Like other books by Rachel Robinson, Life Plus One is written in a beautiful, realistic way. Ben and Harper act like real-life people; sometimes making stupid mistakes and at other times seeing the light. The prologue sets the mood for the story to come; you know that a heartbreaking moment is coming, but the moment still shocked me.
I love Harper and Ben, but at the same time I want to punch the two of them. They love each other – that’s a given fact – but they keep making ‘wrong’ choices. I get that they were very young in the beginning (and I did some pretty stupid things myself at that age), but they still do it as adults. In the process, they don’t only hurt each other, but also the people they’re romantically involved with. And that’s not okay in my book. But despite I could strangle the leading characters at times, I love the story, it makes me feel everything.
“Now or never,” Ben says, removing the ring from the black velvet. “That’s the question.” Holding my left hand, he hovers next to my ring finger. I nod. “Now,” I say. “Always now. Never never.”
I love Life Plus One, I give the story of Harper and Ben 5 stars.
Excerpt
I repeat, “Tell me how you want it.”
With slow hands, she removes her dress, exposing her flawless skin inch by inch as she goes. “Any which way,” she says, meeting my eyes. Gone is any hesitation she’s ever had about our friendship and boundaries or even other relationships. No one else is in this room with us, despite the fact that there’s a bottle of Norah’s hand lotion on one nightstand. When she’s naked but for a pair of nude high heels, she draws nearer, eyes like sex shrouded missiles locked and aimed directly on me. My dick strains against my pants, and I readjust in a squat, grab move.
I still haven’t blinked, too afraid the mirage from my wildest fantasy might pop smoke and morph into a normal woman instead of the one I’ve wanted my entire life. Harper is standing so close in front of me I can smell her desire mixed with her perfume and the scent makes me delirious with lust. “No hands,” she says when I reach for her tiny waist. “Not yet,” she amends when my face falls.
“I never pinned you for a cock tease,” I admit, smirking. “How many years has it been?” I ask. “I take it back. You’re the cock tease president.”
She tells me how long it’s been. Down to the day, since the last time I was inside her, my mind and body being indoctrinated with the perfect balance of everything and nothing at the same exact time. I haven’t had her in that capacity ever again.
“I’ve wanted you every second since then,” I reply honestly.
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