#Junkie by Cambria Hebert

Synopsis:
Drew Forrester is a total adrenaline junkie.
His high of choice?
Cars.
The faster, the better.
He’s been making waves in Maryland’s underground racing circuit since he crossed the state line, and after speaking with him, we know he’s not hitting the brakes anytime soon.
So what exactly does it take to burn rubber and make a name for yourself in a world where the only rule is there are no rules?
You gotta be hungry…
You gotta have balls…
And you can never back down.
What’ve we learned here at GearShark?
Drew is all of the above.
We also know he’s got some secrets buried under his hood.
Secrets we think are loaded with octane and just might set the world of cars on fire.

Check out the full feature article inside…

    

My Review:
5 stars — WOW.  I mean, I had high expectations being a recent HUGE # series fan, but this just blew those out of the water.  Here comes a book hangover, I can just FEEL it.  I actually feel sorry for the book that has to follow this up, b/c this hit me right in all the feels, and I have NO IDEA how I’m going to wait for the next one.

This one had me by the balls (you know, if I had those) right from the prologue…  Well, frankly, who am I kidding, I was hooked in deep from the first hint of friendship between Trent and Drew in the Hashtag (Pound) series.  But seriously yo, that prologue just grabbed a hold of my imagination and didn’t let go til the last page.  All those conflicting feelings….GAH!  It was a heartbreaking way to start!

And from that start came a truly beautiful story of romance.  And I really mean beautiful.  I loved their friendship, and that ease of being together just extended to the more relationship that slowly developed between these two.  It was hopeful, and sweet, and adorable, and agonizing, and heartwrenching.  And when I started seeing the end come closer and closer just as things ramped up, I just knew we were in for a crazy ending.  Luckily this author does not leave her fans hanging for long, otherwise I’d be even more devastated over that finish….

And can I just say that the steam factor was amazeballs?  *ahem* *fans self*

Aside from the romance, we had a fantastic look into the sport of racing as well as brief glimpses of the characters we’ve grown to love from past books.  I appreciated that while they had brief cameos, it really was the Trent and Drew show.  I just loved those boys so much, I wanted all the time we got to spend with them.  I did enjoy the introduction of Joey — she added a great dynamic and I hope we see more of her in the next book.

Sometimes with a book like this I wish I could better explain what it was that had me so over the top fangirling…  As usual, it all comes down to characters for me — and I loved these characters.  They were real, vulnerable, honest, sassy (is that strictly a female thing?  well whatever the equivalent), and I just want their relationship to succeed despite the obstacles thrown in their way.  I guess that’s the other part that got to me — the story and the challenges they met while navigating these new feelings and this new world was just so poignant.  I cannot imagine how startling it would be to realize a bit later in life that you might be gay (or bi), and that you found out because you’re in love with your best friend.  The fear was so real, and I have no idea how they’re going to manage that and stay together.  It’s got my heart all in a kerfuffle.

And that’s where I’m going to leave it.  I don’t know what magic surrounds Ms. Hebert, but I’m wrapped up in it and can’t wait for my next dose.