Sex, Not Love

****CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS***

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just finished Sex, Not Love and I absolutely LOVED IT. This is the second Vi Keeland book that I read and I just love her writing and her characters.

What I'm noticing about Vi's characters is that not only are the male leads, sexy, bold, vulgar (in a HOT way), straight to the point, strong men but so are the female leads. They are sassy, career oriented and not afraid to go after what they want either. Because of these character traits, the chemistry in her novels is sizzling.

Sex, Not Love follows Hunter, a sexy architect who is bold and vulgar but an all around great guy. After having lost his mother to what he thought was Parkinsons when he was a teen, Hunter show more and his brother Jayce were raised by their aunt and uncle. Hunter is a man who doesn't want relationships. he doesn't do "love" but from the throwbacks we get of Hunter's past, I immediately felt he was a very loyal guy. Hunter lost his brother Jayce and later in the book we find out how and why. Because of the lost of his mother and brother and the reason he lost them, Hunter harbors a secret that keeps him from loving and getting involved in any long term relationship.

Natalia is a divorce woman whose husband went to jail for fraud. She finds herself raising her 15 year old step-daughter as she is her legal guardian while her ex is serving his prison sentence. Natalia first meets Hunter at the wedding of their mutual (and best friends) Anna and Derek. From that moment , Hunter and Natalia had a chemistry they couldn't deny.

About a year after the wedding, they cross each other's paths again and decide to engage in a Sex, not love type of relationship. Both having been hurt by different types of losses they thought it was the perfect type of relationship for them but of course, destiny had other plans for them.

The chemistry between Hunter and Natalia was on fire. I loved the fact that he was so bold from the beginning and he knew he was going to get her sooner or later. Natalia knew she was going to give into him also. I truly enjoying witnessing how their friendship grew into love. They were perfect for one another. The way he handled her and the way he cared so much about Izzy made my heart melt.

These characters were so easy to relate to. Their imperfections and their past made them so real. I admire Natalia's strength and her dedication and love for Izzy. She really stepped in and was a mother to Izzy. Izzy's character was great also. I love witnessing her growth and seeing her mature into an amazing young lady. She was a very fair young girl despite all she had gone through.

This book really had me feeling all types of feels. I laughed (out loud), I got angry in some parts, I got teary eyed in others and at the end I just had to take a deep breath and step back into reality. I need more of Vi Keeland's characters and more of their world so I can escape mine. :) show less

3.75-4 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed this one. The built up was nice and there were some fun moments. In short:

The good:
- The extra characters are great (her family, their friends, Izzy)
- Funny moments
- Sweet - though sometimes frustrating - romance.

The 'bad':
- Quite predictable - which is something I don't really enjoy. You could see most of the 'twists' coming from a mile away.
- Nothing new or unique
- Lots of back and forth
- A little bit of OW (past and present)
- The end. Bit of a rant with spoilers --> the ending was a bit rushed after the slow building novel. It was also quite predictable that the results would be negative. I'm always at war with myself about these things. On the one hand, I want them to have a happy ending. But on the show more other hand... it's starting to get a boring that you just know the bad thing isn't going to happen. Where is the excitement, the anxiety.. the rush? As soon as this issue came up I was thinking 'well that's sad... ofcourse she's never going to kill off the MC... the test are going to be negative... so why worry?' And then it just lost a bit of it's magic. Sometimes I think I want the bad thing to happen just to be actually suprised... and then probably bitch about it in a review because I'm complicated like that hahaha. show less

Not bad. The guy was, of course, a super cocky jerk at first. But not as much as the guys in some of this author's other books. He got much better pretty quickly. And he had a pretty tragic backstory. I enjoyed watching these two fall for each other. Because she had a pretty tragic backstory as well. What started out as a sex only fling turned into love pretty quickly. Both had their own reasons for only wanting the sex, but it was sad seeing Nat ready for something more and Hunter still holding back. I really enjoyed the dynamic Izzy added to the story. I usually don't care for broody teens, but she was a good one.

Overall, I enjoyed it. The ups and downs of the relationship weren't crazy and unfounded and in the end, it all worked out.

Sex, Not Love by Vi Keeland
Audiobook Narrated by Andi Arndt & Sebastian York

5 Stars - I love a guy who doesn't give up. Hunter knew what he wanted.. or rather who and went after her. I really enjoyed the banter between Natalia and Hunter, there were loads of sparks, tension and I laughed often, which is always a bonus. This story felt full and was easy to fall into. Izzy was also a great character, I thought she added just that little something extra.

The two narrators were fantastic as usual.

~ Paragraphs and Petticoats ~

Hunter Delucia an Natalia, well lets just say Vi Keeland stepped up another notch in her writing, wow, I just couldn't stop it until the end. This story has it all, the perfect romance combo.