Crazy About Love by Cassie Mae

So I meant to reread this book before posting my review, but since the book comes out tomorrow, that’s not going to happen!!  But I can honestly say that I doubt my feelings have changed one iota since then.  So happy almost release day Cassie Mae!!

Blurb:
Single again on Valentine’s Day, struggling actor Alec Tucker agrees to help out his longtime friend—and unrequited love—Theresa Jones by filling in as one of the bachelors for her company’s charity auction. Alec figures it couldn’t hurt to meet someone new. Still, working with Theresa reminds him of all the reasons he never got over her. So it feels a little bittersweet when, out of nowhere, a beautiful young street artist buys a date with him for a whopping four grand.

Little does he know, Theresa’s had a major change of heart. She’s crushed when someone else wins a date with Alec—but she isn’t going down without a fight. After a pep talk from her best friend, Theresa makes a desperate move that goes against her better judgment . . . and things only get crazier from there. But with Alec ready to move on and Theresa afraid she’s pushed him away for good, maybe a little crazy is exactly what they need—before they both miss their shot.

    

My Review:
5 stars — Who’s the luckiest beta reader in the whole world? Oh yeah, it’s this girl….

I went into this book with absolutely no clue how this story was going to play out, but with high expectations after the teaser of Theresa and Alec in Doing It For Love. And I can honestly say that their love story blew me out of the water!! And a great deal of the credit for that goes to the way the story unfolded onto the pages, it was a stroke of genius! But I kind of loved having that be a surprise to me, so much to (I’m sure) your consternation, I’m not going to explain what I mean by that. Just know that I felt the format for the story was absolute perfection.

I can’t get around saying that the story is told in both the present and a series of past flashbacks…it would just be too hard, so I’ll let that cat out of the bag. And this was a key to making this story pure gold. While you’re following the action in the present, you get to learn about their history as you go along…you get to see feelings develop and change, and it makes what’s happening in the present feel more real and dire in some cases. I LOVED the story that’s told in the present, but my heart was truly captured and forever enslaved to this couple in the past.

The romance is almost a little slowburning, but you really feel their feelings with them. And when we do get intimate scenes, holy wow…just seriously, holy wow. B/C you’ve been invited into their intimate bubble, you end up feeling every *single* moment with them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Cassie Mae writes the most amazing kissing scenes, and that has extended into the steamy scenes. It only added to my unhealthy crush on Alec, b/c I felt as if he was kissing me…and more…*SIGH*

So now we get to the character portion — and no one was more surprised than I to learn I have a new number one book boyfriend. I am in total and complete love! Alec is just EVERYTHING. He’s shy and nervous and a bit insecure, but just GORGEOUS inside and out. I mean, I knew that he was someone special from his moments in Doing It, but I honestly had no idea how much he was going to capture my heart (and break it on occasion). I don’t even think I could do him justice by describing him, but the way Cassie Mae portrays him is just GAH!!! I just want him for myself. I want to be his Theresa.

And so you would think I would hate Theresa for snagging my guy right?? But I LOVE HER!! How did that happen?? How in the world did Ms. Mae write a girl that just fits him so perfectly? Watching the two of them together…well I’ll get back to that. Theresa was just everything I had loved from Doing It — with this bold personality that hides a vulnerability I wasn’t expecting. The things that make up her past and have shaped her into who she is — I just wasn’t expecting it. You really feel for the choices she’s had to make in her life. And her best friendship with Liz is story telling gold. They feel so real, like I can imagine them together — and it’s not all sunshine and roses. But they made me laugh so much in this story, I can’t even tell you…

So back to Alec and Theresa as a couple…I LOVED the playful nature of their friendship — I could vividly imagine these two gorgeous individuals playing and laughing together. While there was some major heartbreak in the flashbacks, there was also a lot of lighthearted fun and closeness and understanding.

You’re thrown right into the deep end from the start of the book, and I was immediately gripped from the first sentence. This book made me tear up, it made my heart clench, it made me laugh out loud, and it made me sigh in extreme giddiness. I’d have to go back and read them all again, but I’m feeling like this may be my new fave of the series. Though, truthfully they all have something completely different to offer. I’m going to miss these friends. Maybe I should start a petition for a surprise novella with all of them together….hey, it could happen!