Cocktails and Books

3.5 Cocktails

If you haven't read Breaking Elle, you must before you start this one. WANTING REED picks up pretty much where the first book ended. Reed is in Texas recovering from his run in with the unsavory fellow he borrowed money from and Elle is in Boston trying to recover from what she perceives is Reed's abandonment of her. Both of them are broken by what Reed's past has done to them. Reed knows he has a lot to make up for with Elle and she's pretty much put Reed in the flaming pile of shit category. I will tell you, Elle is a stubborn woman who can hold a grudge. She had a right to her anger, as far as Reed is concerned, but I found it irritating that she would hold so much against Reed, but be so willing to forgive others when they purposefully misled her. But equally frustrating is when she is finally forced into dealing with Reed, she completely falls back into his arms. There were many times when I wanted to scream at Reed just to walk away because she was so frustrating.
I was pretty much already in love with Reed from the first book, but this one solidified that. Even though he spent the majority of the book on his hands and knees trying to beg for forgiveness, it proved the depth of his feelings for Elle. I would be hard pressed to stay mad at a man who tried as much as Reed did, even with his screw ups (which there were a few).

I have been waiting for the continuation of Reed and Elle's story. I had a burning desire to know exactly how Reed was going to try and win Elle back. Would Elle forgive him or would she turned to her best friend Tyler (as it appeared at the end of Breaking Elle). I got all the answers I was looking for, but I didn't find myself loving this book as much as I did the first one. Most of that was because of how stubborn Elle was. While I didn't want her to rush back into Reed's arms without some kind of apology or groveling, I think her stubbornness and unwillingness to bend when it came to Reed turned me off a bit. That said, this was still a solid read and one that I couldn't put down once I started it.