ARC Review: Holding His Forever by Alexa Riley

Ok, I'm on a bad, overly intense, too quickly attached, alpha male romance kick and it continued in Holding His Forever. This is another installment in Rileys quick and dirty series exploring all of our favorite romance tropes with a side of steam.

This book is of the damsel in distress variety. Fia plays the part of the damsel. Fia is a great person but she has a rough background. Fia is finacially strapped and working 2 jobs. It's clear from the beginning that the owner of the dive where she is a waitress has an unhealthy obsession with Fia but she needs the cash so she puts up with his harassment. Derek is a fire fighter who has endured some serious trauma and lives a pretty solitary life.

Derek and Fia meet when Fias apartment building catches on fire and Derek's squad rescues her. From the second Derek sees Fia, the romance is a done deal. And ok, this is where we have to pause for a word from our sponsor, me. I understand and am ok with insta-attraction. When two people know they want each other in a sexual way right away, I can file that. Where I have an issue is with the kind of thing that happens in this book. It is hard for me to understand instant soulmate. Derek didn't just want to bang Fia's brains out the minute he saw her, he was in super intense, absolutely can't live without you obsessed love with Fia.

It's kind of awkward when you are reading the thoughts of a bossy alpha male and they are all about how he will absolutely die without a chick he met 2 min ago. It's just weird. And Fia's response is weird too. She goes home with a total stranger and sleeps butt naked in his house while he's in another room. I know it's fiction but COME ON. At the same time, when Fia decides to leave Derek's house with no money or...clothes, that also made no sense. To help you get a clue how instant the intensity in this book is, Derek didn't even want to work after he met Fia. He just wanted to be with her. It was A LOT.

These books are meant to be kind of exaggerated and fast, that's what you're signing up for. So, maybe everything in this review is what you want. For me, it was ok, but I need a little more rational build up.

**ARC provided by Ardent PRose**

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