B+
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotica/Erotic Romance, Romance
Theme: Cheating, Dark, Opposites Attract
Archetype: Rockstar/Musician
This RITA® Reader Challenge 2017 review was written by Julia S. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Long Contemporary category.
The summary:
Chloe Carmichael’s life feels pretty sweet—she’s both maid of honor and florist for her best friend’s A-list wedding, things are getting serious with her boyfriend, and her flower shop is about to get a spread in a national magazine. But it all quickly turns sour whenever the best man, Bad Habit drummer A.J. Edwards, shows his face…his handsome, unforgettable face. A.J. is everything Chloe doesn’t want: tattooed, selfish, and all-around bad news. So why can’t she stop thinking about him?
Goody two-shoes Chloe isn’t exactly A.J.’s type, either, but the chemistry between them is undeniable. A.J. will be the first to say he isn’t a saint, but there’s something he’s not saying—something that would devastate Chloe. The only way he can protect her is to push her away, but the drummer finds he needs her now more than ever. When a wedding-day confrontation reveals secrets they’re both hiding, will Chloe and A.J. ever find their rhythm again?
Here is Julia S.'s review:
This book is good. So goooooood.
But dark. So daaaaaark.
Content Warning: aggressive/stalker ex, disease/threat of death from disease, cheating, failure to have significant conversations, assumptions about what other people can handle.
Characters: Charming female hero with family issues. Brooding male hero with ALL. THE. ISSUES.
Also, when I say brooding, I mean brooding. Makes Heathcliff appear happy-go-lucky. Makes Darcy seem positively Pollyanna. Makes Sebastian Ballister, Marquess of Dain, look like a preschool teacher. In a Waldorf school.
The man is dark, dark, dark, and more dark.
This is the second book in the Bad Habit series. If you’ve read the first book, Sweet As Sin, you are already aware that this series takes the dark edge of erotica seriously. These books are not just about hot sex, but about everything that could possibly be damaging to a psyche, making it happen, and then still bringing about healing and an HEA.
There is a point in Make Me Sin where I felt like an HEA couldn’t believably happen. It did, but it took work.
Chloe owns and works in a flower shop, to the dismay of her parents who had champagne wishes and caviar dreams for their daughter. A.J. is the drummer in the band, Bad Habit, and his history is mystery. Their best friends, Kat and Nico, respectively, are getting married. Chloe is arranging the flowers and is a bridesmaid. A.J. is the best man.
And…they hate each other.
Except that he doesn’t actually hate her.
Kat and Nico’s wedding planner has determined that everything in the wedding will go much more smoothly if all the people in the wedding party do things together. So the men come to the dress fittings and they all get together for other planning events as well. Because that happens in the non-book world.
The forced proximity ratchets up A.J.’s attraction and Chloe’s confused reaction to him. “Am I attracted to him? He hates me!”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as it were, Chloe does have a boyfriend who, um, really loves her.
I am making a solid attempt not to venture into any kind of spoiler territory. Pulling back to the wide-angle plot summary: boy likes girl, but is mean to her. Girl thinks boy is attractive, but doesn’t understand why he is mean. Girl has boyfriend.
I liked this book enough that I went back to read the first one and then pre-ordered the third and devoured it on release day. The female trio at the center of the books – Kat, Chloe, and Grace – are a good example of female friendships. There are secondary characters – some of which are ¾ developed and some less so. I would say none are fully developed with regards to motivation, history, or connection to the plot other than as a way for main characters to process or to appear more rounded.
If you like Kristen Ashley or Tiffany Reisz, this is totally in your wheelhouse. If this sounds a little too angsty, dark, or violent, it is and this is NOT for you. The drama was almost too much for me and I didn’t feel like I got enough of an interior sense of Chloe (lots of action, less reflection), but I finished the book, read the others, and could see myself reading this again. I give Make Me Sin a solid B+.
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Is Huntington’s the disease? I hope it’s not Huntington’s. I’ve read two books in the last couple of weeks where the threat (not the knowledge) of having Huntington’s caused a great deal of angsty behavior on the part of the character who might have it and an equal amount of bafflement on the part of the potential love interest. In other words, Huntington’s appears to be the convenient “disease of the week” but it’s getting repetitive real fast.
My first thought for “threat of death from disease”
(because “rock star”) was HIV, and one of the reviews mentions “we can do all the sex things except GOING ALL THE WAY,” which seems consistent with some form of communicable disease.
(Disclaimer: This is speculation on my part.)
Great review. You had me until you mentioned Kristen Ashley. I read just one KA book and it was one giant word salad.
I have been waiting for a review of this book because I LOVED it. Angst on angst with some angst on top. It is delicious. It’s a tough one to review though, without giving away the many twists and turns of the plot.
The issues for me were a few editing things: they’re supposed to be vegetarian, but he gives her chicken soup. Also, lime juice is put on a mucous membrane, which would sting like a mofo.
FYI – it’s not Huntingtons or any communicable disease.
Great review! I have to say, though, that I’m mystified by the comparison to Tiffany Reisz. I read & re-read, love, and recite (spontaneously and generally uninvited) Tiffany Reisz’s books, and I can’t see the comparison. What am I missing?
Read the book after reading this review and loved it. There were some batshit crazy moments but I was into it.
Didn’t like how she attempted to force her dude to stop talking to his friend – even if she was a sex worker.
@cayenne I love Tiffany Reisz. This book made me think of the Original Sinners and the issues that JUST KEPT COMING! It’s not a direct comparison, just a “if you like this, you *might* like this”… since I liked both.
This looks really good. I’m adding it to my wish list!
Oh yeah, this has the makings of my catnip, when I need some serious emotional drama. Great review and thanks for not giving away any spoilers!
So based on the possibility of enjoyable over the top drama, I got the first in the series- & definitely got the drama, & enjoyed the friendship among Kat/Chloe/Grace, but definitely didn’t enjoy the slut-shaming, snark about skinny women, or the trace amount of transphobia- perhaps those issues didn’t appear in this book but it was more misogyny (from protagonists!) than inclines me to give an author a second chance.