Synopsis:
When three college besties meet three hot guys in Vegas, anything can—and does—happen. Book Four in the New York Times Wild Seasons series that began with Sweet Filthy Boy (the Romantic Times book of the year that Sylvia Day called “a sexy, sweet treasure of a story”), Dirty Rowdy Thing, and Dark Wild Night.
For two people ambivalent about dating and love, they sure get naked around each other an awful lot . . .
London Hughes is very content to surf daily, tend bar, hang out with her group of friends, and slowly orient herself in the years after college. Everything’s going great and according to the non-plan.
But when a wave knocks her for a loop one morning, then Luke Sutter’s flirtatious smile knocks her for another that evening, she veers slightly off course…and into his path. Sure, he’s a total player, but the Why not—it’s only one night is a persistent voice in her ear.
For his part, Luke’s been on hookup autopilot for so long that he rarely ever pauses to consider what he’s doing. But after an amazing time with London, he realizes that he hasn’t been moving on from a devastating heartbreak so much as he’s been drifting to wherever—and whomever—the current takes him. With London he wants more.
Every relationship involves two people…plus their pasts. And as much as she enjoys her fling with Luke, when London learns about his past—more specifically, who’s in it—everything becomes the brand of complicated she strives to avoid. It’s up to Luke then to change some things in order to try and ensure he’s not something she’ll outright avoid as well.
My Review:
Wicked Sexy Liar is the fourth book in the Wild Seasons series by the dynamic duo of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, two writers I am a HUGE fan of. Luke and London’s story was another testament to how amazing I find their characters and their writing. I loved everything about this book from start to finish and was, as always, so sad to have finished it.
Luke and London travel in the same friend circle. London is new to the crew while Luke, on the other hand, has quite a bit of history with them…and by that I mean he had pretty much spent his entire youth in love with one of the gals in their group. Not a big deal, per se, since time has gone by and he has somewhat moved on. The normal progression of life and growing up and all that jazz. All was going well until things get a bit hot and heavy between Luke and London. What started out as a deal for a one night sort of thing starts to get serious which wouldn’t be so terrible if London had known Luke’s love life history and who it was with. Suddenly Luke goes from being a potential friends-with-benefits-turned-more into way off-limits. The problem was, both Luke and London had started to develop some pretty intense feelings for each other and it wasn’t going to be an easy task to stay away from each other. Now Luke just had to convince London to give him, and what they’ve found, a chance…
Now comes the challenge I run into when I review any Christina Lauren book…not just repeating “buy this book” a hundred times! There is just so much to love about Luke and London. I think the thing I loved most about both of them is how vulnerable they are under their exteriors. Luke is used to keeping things pretty light after his heart was broken. He uses woman for pleasure and has been ok with it up until now. Enter London. She’s also had her heart-broken but instead of going the route Luke did, she’s been avoiding men at the risk of another round of hurt. I couldn’t fault either of them for the way they dealt with that kind of heartache. I wanted them to get a happy ever after so terribly! I loved them together and I loved Luke’s fight for London. He was so kind and gentle with her. He saw right to the heart of her and he had me swooning more times than I can count! He is, hands down, one of my favorite book guys for how damn sweet he is. It only added to his sexiness.
Christina and Lauren have such a gift in how they write their characters. Truly. From Luke’s stories of his childhood with his sister, London’s guarded emotions, the nicknames Luke calls London, the quirky dinner with Luke and his family, Luke and London’s babysitting evening to his aversion to eating two pop tarts at a time…few people can give so much depth to the people in the pages as they do. I am always in awe when I dive into one of their books.
Thank you Christina and Lauren for once again writing an amazing story…and for once again giving me a book hangover. (Oh, and I’m totally skipping right over the fact that this in the last book in the series. It’s ok though because I will always look forward to what’s next from these authors.)
Oh! And I have to note that I’ve been listening to Ra Ra Riot’s song “Water” on freaking repeat because it reminds me so much of Luke and London and their story and I can’t get enough!!
Five Loves
Book Links:
About the authors:
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced eleven New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 28 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus, been selected as one of NPR’s Top 100 Swoon-Worthy Romances, and won both the Seal of Excellence award and Book of the Year from RT Magazine.
Lauren Billings (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, bestie to a shoe-stealer, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.
Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you’ll probably find her on tumblr. She is married and absolutely not old enough to be the mom of a 15 year old (right??), thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter. She also likes to steal Lo’s shoes.
You can follow their shenanigans at:
@lolashoes (Lauren) & @seeCwrite (Christina) on Twitter. On Tumblr! where we post kissing gifs and writerly stuff and Wattpad for short stories and sneak peeks!
For official information about their books, events, interviews, movie news and more, follow @christinalauren.