Book review: Rush, by Samantha Towle

Gods series #2

Ares & Arianna

If the first book in this series was good, this one was outstanding.  The female character is an alcoholic, six months sober.  For many years she had been a party girl, surrounded by loser boyfriends and bad choices until one drunken car crash brought her world down.  Her father, who is the NY Giants football team coach, took her to rehab and gave her a job in the Giants football headquarters.  She was prepared to face the scorn and disgust of everyone there, but the only one who rejected her was the quarterback, Ares Kincaid.

Ares’ attitude against drunks comes from dealing with his alcoholic father, who failed at several rehab attempts and left the raising of the young Kincaid twins, Lo and Missy, to him and his big brother Zeus.

I loved how the author portrayed Arianna.  She presents how Ari fell into her addiction and all the turmoil of a recovering alcoholic, the urges, the insecurities, the feelings of unworthiness, the loneliness.  She also showed us a woman who faced her past mistakes and was determined to stay sober and overcome her shady past into a brighter future.  I loved her and how strong she was.

We met the Kincaid siblings in Ruin, and we know that Zeus and Ares are paying college for the twins, Missy and Lo.  Missy frequently comes to stay with Ares in New York and she’s the one who befriends Arianna.  Whilst Ares was disgusted by Ari, Missy was open and accepting, and gave Arianna her first taste of a sober friendship.

I loved the banter between Ares and Arianna, how her sassy comebacks reeled him in and the attraction between them evolved into feelings.  Ari and her father had a fractured relation, product of his neglect during her childhood.  This was another process where Arianna had to deal. 

The author treated us to a wonderful story, very heartfelt, full of steamy scenes and family moments, the redemption of a woman who had a crappy childhood, the reconstruction of her relation with her father, and a very sweet love story.  I was entranced and delighted with this story!

Purchase links

https://amzn.to/3KFV7tP

About the author 

Samantha Towle is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. 

A native of Hull, she lives in East Yorkshire with her husband, their son and daughter, and three large furbabies.

She is the author of contemporary romances, The Storm Series, The Revved Series, The Wardrobe Series, The Gods Series, and standalones, Trouble, When I Was Yours, The Ending I Want, Unsuitable, Under Her, River Wild, Dead Pretty, The Two Week Stand and Sacking the Quarterback which was written with James Patterson. She has also written paranormal romances, The Bringer and The Alexandra Jones Series. With over a million books sold, her titles have appeared in countless bestseller lists, and are currently translated into ten languages. To receive an email when Samantha releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter - http://samanthatowle.co.uk/newsletter-sign-up