StacyHgg

Return to Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia
Series: Poughkeepsie #2
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Age Group: Adult
Release Date: December 28th 2013
Length: 395 pages
Format: Kindle eARC
Source: via tour host
Review Date: December 31st 2013
Steam Rating: Hot
Overall Rating: 4 STARS

YOU MUST READ POUGHKEEPSIE BEFORE READING THIS BOOK OR THIS REVIEW. IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM BOOK ONE!!!

I would like to start out by saying that I LOVED Poughkeepsie. Like obsessed fangirl loved. It was one of my favorite reads of ALL-TIME! So I may have went in to this one with ridiculously high expectations. It is not that I did not like Return to Poughkeepsie, because I did. At times I even loved it. But I LOVED every single second of Poughkeepsie, whereas this one had its slow parts.

I did not re-read Poughkeepsie prior to reading this and I should have. I thought I would remember it, but there is so much action and detail that I found myself at a loss quite a few times during the first half of the book. There is very little recap, which I usually like if I’m reading the books one after another, but it would have helped if there was a tad more for the people like me who did not re-read.

RTP starts out not too long after Poughkeepsie ends. Beckett wants to get his life together to be worthy of EVE. They are miserable without each other. You can feel their love so strongly throughout the pages. I LOVED THEM in Poughkeepsie, and honestly I thought the entire book was going to be dedicated to them. It focused more on them than any other characters, but there were so many characters in so many POVs that it watered down their story. But what we got of them was EXPLOSIVE. That is the best way to describe their relationship, passionate, intense, unique, dark, all-consuming, and definitely sexy. Their chemistry EXPLODED off the pages. But there are obstacles that they place in their path to each other, and I was unsure if they would ever find their way to each other permanently. Do they? You will have to read to find out, and you may be surprised at the twists and turns Debra takes us on during this journey ;-)

It was so nice to see Blake and Olivia again. I fell in love with them all over again. Seriously this author has talent—she can make me fall in love with a mentally disturbed homeless man, and two gangster style murderers like no one’s business! If that’s not talent I don’t know what is!!! We also got another look at Kyle and Cole. I have to say I wasn’t the biggest fan of Kyle in this one. I thought she was a bit selfish and self-absorbed and I don’t think she added anything to the story. It was sad what her and Cole were going through (sorry can’t tell) but she handled it horribly. Cole, on the other hand was a saint, and I fell for him a little more.

So what was it about? Well for the first half of the book, which was quite slow, it was all buildup. It was full of plotting and scheming, new characters were introduced and developed, along with new plots. I was VERY unsure of where it was headed. It was NEVER predictable, and neither were the characters.

The last 25% of the book was freakin AMAZING, 5 STAR worthy – I was on the edge-of-my-seat and could not wait to see what happens next. This was where all the buildup pays off --big time! This world Debra Anastasia has created is unbelievably creative, unique, and intriguing. This novel I would classify as a romantic suspense. Even though there was some very steamy scenes, that was not the focus. I really would have liked more smexiness between Beckett and Eve, there was some, and like I said before it was explosive, but I wanted more. However, I do understand this would have been slightly impossible considering they are not “together” for a lot of the novel. I hope you don’t consider that spoiler material, but I feel you should be prepared for that. In other words, go in expecting a suspenseful thriller with a side of romance and you will be pleasantly surprised.

There were also some HILARIOUS LOL moments which included a chick named Trish. I mean seriously FUNYY AS SHIT—this chick was INSANE!!!! And a dog named Gandhi will steal your heart, and make you laugh your ass off :-D Seriously, these two characters added so much lightheartedness to a very serious and suspenseful storyline.

Overall, I highly recommend you read RTP if you have previously read Poughkeepsie. It will give you a little more time with all your favorite characters, and show you how they are doing. It appears there will be a third book The Poughkeepsie Brotherhood and there is a “sneak peek” into it that will have you salivating for the next one. O.O I can’t wait to see where this amazingly talented author takes us next!

~StacyHgg~
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