“Two beautiful couples. Five simple rules. One hot mess.”
With these three short
sentences on the cover of Roya Carmen’s “The Ground Rules”, I was sold. I’ve
always been a sucker for hot, angsty reads with a dash of taboo to kick up the
spice another couple of notches, and hot damn if I didn’t find exactly what I
was looking for…and so much more!
Typically, I read books
straight from friend recommendations or authors who I follow loyally, so I rarely
bother reading the blurbs. I’m always afraid it’ll tell me too much about the
storyline, and I like going in blind, experiencing the events through the eyes
of the characters. And though I was tempted, I stayed true with this one too,
knowing only what the front cover revealed.
Nestling into the cozy
corner of my couch with my kindle, I first met Mirella Keates while she’s
playing dress-up with her two little girls, an activity I’m quite familiar
with. As the girls are trying on their mommy’s fancy clothes, Mirella takes
note of her shabby toes in desperate need of a pedicure and her grungy
sweatpants, silently wondering at what point in her life she stopped paying
attention to herself.
As a mother of two and a
full-time kindergarten teacher, she feels blessed that her hot, tattooed,
devoted husband of eighteen years still finds her sexually attractive, but as
the young girls coax her into trying on a vintage pink dress, happy memories
from the past swirl in her head. Feeling as if she’s lost a little of herself--and them as a couple--as of late, Mirella proposes a fancy night out on the town to her husband, Gabe to shake things up a little.
Ok, at this point (the end of the first chapter) I stopped reading and wondered what in the actual f*ck?!?! Was this for real? I felt like I was reading a book about my life. The similarities between myself and this Mirella chick were eerily similar, and I already knew that the connection I would have with this heroine will be off the charts.
So after I leapt up from the couch, dug out one of my favorite sundresses from my honeymoon that I've kept for a memento in the back of the closet, and squeezed my not-honeymoon-anymore-figure into it, I resumed my reading position in full character mindset, ready for the tumultuous ride beginning in chapter two. That's when I met them. Weston and Bridget Hanson. The second beautiful couple.
The way I was instantly intrigued and smitten with Weston, I knew I was in trouble, just like Mirella did, but I couldn't stop reading it, just like she couldn't stop living it.
After a series of events, the two couples end up involved with each other in a not-so-ordinary arrangement that is managed by five simple ground rules--rules that are supposed to keep everyone grounded and to keep from any emotional grief, but allow the four of them to explore their forbidden desires.
1. Don't sleep around.
2. Don't kiss and tell.
3. Be nice.
4. Don't text or call.
5. Don't fall in love.
But rules are made to be broken...and let me tell you how deliciously steamy it isn when they are.
Following this captivating, thought-provoking story through the eyes of myself living in some alternate universe, my eyes were glued to the screen as I soaked up each and every word. I laughed. I cried. I nearly had a panic attack. I texted my husband to tell him how much I loved him. And then I recommended this book to all of my friends I couldn't shut up about it.
I loved every gut-wrenching, heart pounding moment of it, and I'm anxiously awaiting book 2 in the series. (You can start on the series now and get "The Ground Rules" by clicking here.)
I give Roya Carmen and "The Ground Rules" a HUGE
Ok, at this point (the end of the first chapter) I stopped reading and wondered what in the actual f*ck?!?! Was this for real? I felt like I was reading a book about my life. The similarities between myself and this Mirella chick were eerily similar, and I already knew that the connection I would have with this heroine will be off the charts.
- She's almost 35. I'm almost 37.
- She has 2 daughters, 8 & 6. I have 2 daughters, 7 & 5.
- She's a kindergarten teacher. I'm a daycare teacher.
- She's been with her sexy, tattooed husband for 18 years. I've been with my sexy, tattooed husband for 16 years.
- She wears old ragged clothes around the house and needs to do things to make her feel pretty and feminine. I...well, I own so many pairs of yoga pants and sweats, they have their own dresser, and I'll spare you the visual of my toenails and foot callouses. You get the point.
So after I leapt up from the couch, dug out one of my favorite sundresses from my honeymoon that I've kept for a memento in the back of the closet, and squeezed my not-honeymoon-anymore-figure into it, I resumed my reading position in full character mindset, ready for the tumultuous ride beginning in chapter two. That's when I met them. Weston and Bridget Hanson. The second beautiful couple.
The way I was instantly intrigued and smitten with Weston, I knew I was in trouble, just like Mirella did, but I couldn't stop reading it, just like she couldn't stop living it.
After a series of events, the two couples end up involved with each other in a not-so-ordinary arrangement that is managed by five simple ground rules--rules that are supposed to keep everyone grounded and to keep from any emotional grief, but allow the four of them to explore their forbidden desires.
1. Don't sleep around.
2. Don't kiss and tell.
3. Be nice.
4. Don't text or call.
5. Don't fall in love.
But rules are made to be broken...and let me tell you how deliciously steamy it isn when they are.
Following this captivating, thought-provoking story through the eyes of myself living in some alternate universe, my eyes were glued to the screen as I soaked up each and every word. I laughed. I cried. I nearly had a panic attack. I texted my husband to tell him how much I loved him. And then I recommended this book to all of my friends I couldn't shut up about it.
I loved every gut-wrenching, heart pounding moment of it, and I'm anxiously awaiting book 2 in the series. (You can start on the series now and get "The Ground Rules" by clicking here.)
I give Roya Carmen and "The Ground Rules" a HUGE
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