WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT by Linda Kage ~ Review

WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT (Forbidden Men #4)

Linda Kage

Releasing March 2nd

AMAZON

GOODREADS

SYNOPSIS

I used to think everything was black and white, truth or lie, easy or hard, that if I could just escape my strict, overbearing, abusive father, my life would be perfect. But since I’ve found a reason to risk his wrath and leave, to help a friend in need, I’ve come to realize everything I thought I knew is wrong.

Friends have their own agenda, honesty comes with a dosage of lie, easy doesn’t even exist, keeping secrets sucks, and love...love is the most painful thing of all.

Maybe if Quinn Hamilton hadn’t asked me to skip classes for the day and help him pick out an engagement ring for my best friend, I wouldn’t have fallen for him so completely on that sunny Tuesday afternoon and I wouldn’t feel so conflicted. But I did, and I can’t take it back, no matter how hard I try. So I have to deal with the fact that even I’m not as good, or honest, or caring as I’d always thought I was, and no matter what I do next, someone’s going to get hurt. Probably me.

-Zoey Blakeland

REVIEW

Linda Kage had me at To Professor, with Love and keeps me coming back with each and every Forbidden Men story! With Every Heartbeat is another standalone romance that captures the essence of innocence and courage.

Quinn Hamilton is our fourth Forbidden Man and readers of the series know that he is inexperienced, loyal and painfully shy. He had a painfully traumatic and sheltered childhood but was able to overcome huge obstacles while accomplishing great success with his budding football career. Quinn is happily dating the first girl he's ever slept with, Cora.

”Don’t be ashamed of being a big, soft teddy bear, Ham.”

Zoey Blakeland came to ESU to help out her best friend Cora AND escape her abusive dad. Therefore she is seeking a quiet and safe place BUT what she stumbles upon isn't what she was expecting. Cora was most definitely not the innocent BFF Zoey knew and trusted in high school.

As you can see we now have three players in the game - so to speak. Yes this story does become a bit of a love triangle. Without giving too much away I will tell you that it doesn’t take long to see Cora’s true colors and as the story unfolds Quinn sees them as well.

”I had a major crush on my best friend’s boyfriend. For some reason- probably complete denial – I hadn’t understood before why my body reacted every time he was around … or even whenever his name was mentioned.”

My two GREAT frustrations with this story is that Quinn’s friends all knew Cora was not doing right by him AND some of the drama was a bit overdone. Neither of these items kept me from enjoying this read and I still highly recommend it! If you are looking for a totally different NA male character, Quinn is your guy! He is shy and compared to the other Forbidden Men, very innocent when it comes to relationships.

I MUST TELL YOU that you will be treated to the budding chemistry between Oren “Ten” Tenning and Caroline (Noel’s sister)!!! I’m so excited A Perfect Ten it is scheduled to release on March 30th and most definitely HIGH ON MY TBR!!

Rating: 4 stars (Standalone, told in dual POVs)

SERIES READING ORDER