Adult Contemporary Romance
Release: July 7, 2015
Blurb
Dr. Phoenix Reid isn’t who she seems…
Everyone knows a phoenix rises from the ashes. What they don’t talk about are the people she drags with her into the fire.
I thought one hot night with Max Hallowell was harmless. I never expected it would force me to face my past or bring back the man who swore he’d never let me go. Now Max wants to help me. Wants to save me. But if I let him, he’ll be destroyed. I can already smell the flames.
A woman with a secret past. A man determined to protect her. A dangerous passion that could cost them both everything.
—
Playing with Fire is the first in a new series of standalone novels featuring the New Hope characters Lexi Ryan fans have come to love. While you wait for Nix and Max’s story, explore Love Unbound, the collection of books set in Lexi’s New Hope world.
*Note: Each series can be read on its own, but for the chronology purists, the reading order is below.
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Review
“You are not your past. You are bigger than your past and you are better than your past. Let it be part of who’ve you become, but don’t you dare let it define you.”
Intellectually, Nix understands not living her current life based on the events and scars of the past, but emotionally, Nix’s demons force her to make decisions that prevent her from truly living.
As her name indicates, Phoenix rises from the ashes and continues to live; she made it out of Camelot; she moved on after a broken engagement, and now she’s living her dream life with a great job and great friends. But she still battles with the scars of her past and now that parts of her old life are mysteriously entering into her new one, she’s going to need someone to watch over and protect her, and it’s a good thing New Hope has one such white knight.
I’ve wanted Max to find his girl since Hanna chose Nate in the Here and Now series, and while I never really thought of him being with Nix, the way Lexi Ryan illustrates how much they connect and drive each other crazy with desire, I definitely could see them together.
Max hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to the opposite sex; his relationship with the mother of his little girl, Meredith, is much better than what it was before, but she used him as back up when the man she wanted didn’t want her and then his relationship with Hanna – one that started out under false pretenses – ends up breaking his heart when he falls in love with her and loses her to another man. Nix may not be in love with another man, but she’s an extremely private person who is struggling with deep and dark issues that she’s unwilling to discuss because she doesn’t want to lose another person by telling him the truth and she also doesn’t want to put him and his daughter in any danger due to her past invading her present.
But if there’s one thing that has always defined Maximillian Hallowell, it’s that he’s always there to help and save a damsel in distress if need be, and he sure as hell can rock the whole shining armor thing! Nix definitely doesn’t make it easy on him, though, but he refuses to back down, which is exactly what Nix needs even if she thinks otherwise.
Lexi Ryan does a great job of exposing Nix’s past in several flashbacks, which is important to gain a perspective on how horrific things actually were. As a reader, we’re able to understand why she’s choosing not to give into what she wants with Max because she truly does fear the repercussions. It amazes me how much of a facade Nix creates in her life in New Hope. No one can tell the fear that resides in her almost all of the time, and when she slowly starts to unravel, it allows her to see that she can’t do it all on her own anymore.
Max has always been the “good guy,” but in Playing With Fire, readers see a new side to him – a more mature, possessive side, and I loved witnessing him fight to protect what he considers his even if Nix is hellbent to not admit anything.
Playing With Fire is a steamy and suspenseful read that finally allows the white knight to claim his fair maiden and I’m so glad he was able to despite the fire they had to go through to get there.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 poison apples
Lexi Ryan’s Novel Collection
Love Unbound: Splintered Hearts
Unbreak Me (Maggie’s story)
Stolen Wishes: A Wish I May Prequel Novella (Will and Cally’s prequel)
Wish I May (Will and Cally’s novel)
Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Splintered Hearts: The New Hope Trilogy
Love Unbound: Here and Now
Lost in Me (Hanna’s story begins)
Fall to You (Hanna’s story continues)
All for This (Hanna’s story concludes)
Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Here and Now: The Complete Series
Love Unbound: Reckless and Real
Something Wild (Liz and Sam’s story begins)
Something Reckless (Liz and Sam’s story continues)
Something Real (Liz and Sam’s story concludes)
Love Unbound: Mended Hearts
Playing with Fire (Nix’s story, coming July 7, 2015)
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author Lexi Ryan’s novels have been described as intense, emotional, and wickedly sexy. A former college professor, she now writes full-time from her home in Indiana, where she lives with her husband, two children, and a neurotic dog. Find her on Facebook or Twitter to chat about books, TV, and her children’s latest antics.
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