Review: Hothouse Flower by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Title: Hothouse Flower (Calloway Sisters #2)
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: March 28th 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

Ryke Meadows, meet Daisy Calloway ... she’s all grown up.
Twenty-five-year-old Ryke Meadows knows he’s hard to love. With a billion-dollar inheritance, a track-star resume, and an alpha-male personality—he redefines the term likable asshole. But he’s not living to make friends. Or enemies. He just wants to free climb three of the toughest mountains in Yosemite without drama or interruption.
And then he receives a distressed call from a girl in Paris—a girl that he has never been allowed to have.
Daisy Calloway is eighteen. Finally. With her newfound independence, she can say goodbye to her overbearing mother and continue her modeling career. Next stop, Paris. Fashion Week begins with a bang, and Daisy uncovers the ugly reality of the industry. She wants to prove to her family that she can live on her own, but when everything spirals out of control, she turns to Ryke to keep her secrets.
As Daisy struggles to make sense of this new world and her freedom, she pushes the limits and fearlessly rides the edge. Ryke knows there’s deep hurt beneath every impulsive action. He must keep up with Daisy, and if he lets her go, her favorite motto—“live as if you’ll die today”—may just come true.

I wish I was as strong as Georgina Kincaid who reads 5 pages per night to draw the high of her favorite books out longer. Nope, that’s not me *shakes head* I devoured this baby in two days and why so? Um, it’s an enormous beast full of so many amazing things that if I had had to take it any slower I’d probably have drowned in anticipation of what comes next since this pretty had a LOT in it. Oh, did I already mention this one includes a ROAD TRIP AND CAMPING? That's already made of win ;)

“Freedom doesn’t come with age. It doesn’t magically appear when you’re a legal adult. It comes when you stand up for what you believe in.”

Daisy has always been a wild child in my eyes. I haven’t really felt connected to her, because she’s always so silly and playful that often you just can’t take her seriously. I’m more like Rose—OCD about things, very strict and neat all around so I was extremely scared that connecting with Daisy would be difficult to say the least. It wasn’t. The twins paint her colorful personality with effortless ease and watching her open up, start standing up for herself and start reaching for her dreams? It was beautiful and very inspiring. Also, we got to see how all the previous drama with her sister’s sex addiction and the reality show affected her—it ain’t pretty and it was hard watching her go through all of it. I was pretty much bathing in excitement and admiration Stiles-style (ha, look at that tongue twister) when she finally stood up for herself and started living her own dreams not her mother's. Needless to say, I was ecstatic.

Ryke’s issues are the serious kind as well. His family is so effed up and watching him being pulled in every direction was tough. I’m glad that he got some major character growth as well. What’s more, I love how these stories aren’t just romance novels. Nope. They’re full of character growth for every single character—even the minor ones; they’re thrilling, character-driven, action-packed, emotional (um, hello there sad tears, frustration tears and happy tears!), well-developed and if you think about the whole addicted series, then pretty darn complicated as well. OH, OH, OH!!!! AND THE RYKE-CONNOR-LO BROMANCE? EPICNESS EVERYWHERE. This calls for a dance party *duh*

There was one thing that bothered me but at the same time didn't since it has been the character's personality from day one. It’s hard to explain if you haven't read any of these books. If you know about the first novel then you know it’s about a sex addict and an alcoholic. Lo, Ryke’s brother, is that alcoholic and watching him be his mighty self and try to get everyone hate him by going off on them and digging up hurt was so freakin’ painful. He was a douche throughout most of this book. Then again, I somewhat understand him what with his upbringing, addiction and now this. It just hurt my heart to see him that way and see everyone else hurt as a consequence. I know he doesn’t mean hurt (in the long run), but more often than not it slices the hearts of the people around him and his own as well. It just sucks to watch that kind of self-destruction. Btw, how emotional was that desert fight scene? I wasn't crying, I promise. There was just something in my eyes; something liquid. That's all.

It’s great that we didn’t get any sexy teasers or extremely adorable scenes before the book was out because it did feel like I got to explore it on my own and nothing felt repetitive. The small teasers we got built up anticipation but at the end of the day they didn’t spoil the book and for that I’m extremely glad—made the reading experience better for sure. Plus, the twists people! THE TWISTS. I realized pretty early on what Connor and Rose we're fighting about (and you’ll probably all realize it yourselves as well since it’s so very obvious), but oh gawwwd. There were things in this book that knocked my chin to the floor and I could not pick it up again to save my life. The staircase? Paris? The boarding and coming off the private jet? The cold shower? Yep, these are just to name a few.

My reviews aren’t published in the order that I’ve read them so it’s hard for you to tell when was the last time I enjoyed a book so much to give it 5 stars. Um, it was actually at the beginning of February and it’s been two months since then. The missing 5 stars finally came and it was all sorts of emotional. So ready for the paperback to come out and decorate my collection. I can tell you that I will read this book back to back many, many times to come and it couldn’t have been more perfect in my eyes. I can't tell this enough: READ THIS SERIES!!! #bookpushing123

Overall rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★★★

PS. These books (Kiss the Sky and Hothouse Flower) are so strong on their own that even if they do get sequels (which is an idea that I would never thoroughly dislike) since so many fans want them, I feel like these books are over and done with. They both end on a perfect note and we get to see the characters in the conclusion of the Addicted series so that should be enough without additional drama for future. If anything, I’d just be happy with a bind epilogue novella of each couple in the future with each MC having their own POV in it or something. Also, just to put it out there, please don't start giving me hate, it's only my opinion and I'm entitled to it just as you are to yours. If you’re worried about the sequel stuff and don’t want to start the series until all the books are out, then you can keep an eye on the twins’ tumblr and blog to see how it all goes. Though you don't have to read the sequels since both stories have very definite endings and can be read as stand-alones.

PPS. If you're thinking about reading Hothouse Flower, but don't want to read Lily and Lo's story in the Addicted series (I know that Lauren is uncomfortable with the sex addiction theme), then do still read Kiss the Sky first since it helps you understand everything in this book so much better and gives Daisy and Ryke much more build-up than you'd get while reading just Hothouse Flower.

Thank you to Krista and Becca for providing me an arc. In no way did this affect my thoughts on the book.

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