Ripped

by Edie Harris

May 18, 2015 · Carina Press

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Before I start talking about the book, let me preface it with TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING. While I may not discuss it heavily in the review, there is very graphic violence (mostly as backstory) and rape as backstory. If either of those are triggering for you in any way, I suggest forgoing this book. If not, please read on.

For those who may remember, I reviewed the first Blood Money book – Blamed – and I enjoyed it. Very much so. At the end though, I wondered how I would like the second book as the heroine in Ripped is kind of an antagonist in the first one. For that reason, I suggest reading these in order.

Edie Harris had an uphill battle for this one. Whereas her previous couple had previous history, Tobias and Chandler do not. To recap, Chandler, an MI6 agent, was involved with getting Tobias’ sister captured by a rogue-MI6 agent who ended up torturing her for the Russian mafia. Tobias is a Farraday. And Farraday Industries is like a combination of the CIA and FBI, but on crack. I know this has come up in previous review discussions regarding the inclusion of the mafia in romance, and I will say that Harris does not glamorize them in any way. They are very much monsters in this series. Chandler went undercover for the mafia as part of her assignment and those details are stomach-churning.

Because of Chandler’s involvement, Tobias has essentially kept her under lock and key, hoping to use her to return to Russia and get revenge on the man leading this mafia group, known in Russian as the Midnight Bullet. Tobias is different than his other military-trained siblings, as he’s the one most likely wearing suits and making shady deals. They call him the Ice King. Chandler is a British spitfire of a woman, just barely over five feet. Chandler willingly agrees to help Tobias in Russia if he’ll let her attend her twin sister’s wedding. He doesn’t necessarily have to say yes, but he does. On the condition that he goes with her.

At the whole wedding/fake boyfriend plot, I’ll admit I rolled my eyes a little bit because this is romantic suspense. Chandler is a spy, who underwent some horrific initiations and subsequently became a torturer for the mob. All because her boss is a heinous bitch. Not that I’m biased or anything.

Chandler’s sister, Pippa, is all she has. Tobias knows what family means and so can’t deny Chandler one last visit, because they both know she probably won’t make it out of Russia alive when she returns. Chandler also wants to make sure Pippa is safe. She’s marrying a member of British aristocracy, and both sisters had an awful childhood. They’re the only children of a serial killer; their father was known as the Scottish Slasher. Their relation has been kept under wraps for the most part, but Pippa’s soon-to-be mother-in-law isn’t too fond of her son’s bride, and has already sent a couple PIs to do background research.

I was worried that setting a bulk of the book at a wedding would cause the romance to lose some of the edge and grittiness that I loved in the previous Blood Money book. However, Harris does a good job tying the wedding into the larger mafia plot. I don’t want to spoil it, but things do come full circle. Even if it does seem like a stretch to connect the two.

As with Blamed, the book opens with Chandler and Tobias obviously in the hands of the mafia, with Chandler being put in charge of Tobias’ torture. So we know, eventually, shit hits the fan, which is why the book was such an agonizing read for me. In a good way! You see this hardened spy soften when she’s around her sister. She gets to laugh and smile, and it’s such a different from “work” Chandler, the “self-serving bitch” from before. And seeing Chandler soften makes Tobias soften. But you just know that the shit is going to hit the fan. I was actually anxious to keep reading, because I was tempted to just close my Kindle and call it a day when they were happy and getting along. Nothing to see here. Everyone is fine. There are kisses. No one is getting beaten. LA LA LA EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL LET’S JUST STAY HERE FOREVER.

What I really and truly loved about Ripped, was the role reversal of the hero and heroine. Normally, the hero is the tortured one. The one with baggage. The one who thinks he’s not worthy of the heroine. But it’s exactly the opposite here. Chandler has been through the wringer and she’s consumed by self-doubt, and it’s so lovely to see Tobias help banish that. There are several occasions where she talks about herself in a self-deprecating manner and Tobias refuses to go along with the joke.

Meanwhile, Tobias is a socially awkward and not in a funny, klutzy way. He barely spoke as a child and hated public speaking. In a later scene, he says that one of his motivations for going to law school was to help him gain more confidence with speech. He’s not expressive or animated in any way. Tobias is also fifteen years celibate. Fifteen years. (He’s in his early thirties.)

When they finally have sex, I lost my mind. He tells her, flat-out, “Warn me now if there’s some way I should or shouldn’t take you, Chandler.” He knows she has PTSD about her time in Russia, and he doesn’t want his eagerness to 1) trigger anything and 2) make it a bumbling mess for her. Chandler directs him and tells Tobias that “he’ll love it.” Then he says, “And what about you – will you love it?” He wants to make so damn sure that she knows this is about her, too. The exchange is so thoughtful and wonderful and pretty damn sexy. More of these conscientious sex conversations please!

And admittedly, I cried during one of the sex scenes. YEAH, I CRIED. WANT TO FIGHT ABOUT IT?

Chandler was an athlete from head to toe, alive to her pores like no woman he’d ever met.

Perhaps if he held her close enough, some of that life would transfer onto him. Perhaps he could destroy the collar with which he choked the majority of his emotions, just from this contact with her.

The plot is very involved and at times, I’ll admit to feeling confused about not remembering certain things previously. So I think I’d recommend reading them in succession or doing a refresher of the first one. But I have to really applaud the author on taking a previously unlikable character and actually making me like her.

Ripped also introduces one of the sexiest secondary characters I’ve ever read. Keir Quinn – a ginger with a manbun and a body covered in tattoos. Good god. And also, word to all the manbun aficionados out there, go on Instagram and search the hashtag #ManbunMonday. You can thank me later.

The next book, Crazed, is Casey’s book. He’s the military-man older brother. AND HE HAS A WIFE THAT COMES BACK, WHOM HE THOUGHT WAS DEAD. I nearly hyperventilated when I read the description for it. I’m impressed with the momentum of the series thus far and, maybe I’m just a cynic, but I was fully expecting the second installment to have the typical sophomore curse. But it’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised.