Smoke & Rubber 6/30
Crash & Burn 9/30


Smoke & Rubber is the first book in this new contemporary series by Adell Ryan. This book centers around Remi who has grown up in the world of cars and street racing. After the untimely death of one of the most important people in her life, Remi and her brother Jude move to the other side of the country to start fresh. This means they need to learn all the secrets of the highly unmentioned street racing scene in their new home. Remi is forced to join in the hunt and that is where things start to really get interesting.

First let me say that I absolutely LOVE Remi. She is quick witted, smart mouthed and fun. Yet she is carrying around some deep secrets. She's stuck in a situation she's working hard to get out of. We have three guys in this book. Crow, Hayes and Trenton. Each is different and has their own benefits and flaws. They all have this instant connection to Remi, even if they want to fight it. The easy banter they have with each other is great. I adore Trenton and his fun personality.

While Remi is trying to dig out their secrets and find the information she needs, she's also running from some hard truths. The more she learns about things in her life, the more she's unsure of herself and her objective. She finds herself in a situation where she's going to have to make a touch choice. I just hope she makes the right one.

We get multiple POV in this book which I always love. We also get a couple sexy times and even a little multiple player action if you know what I mean.

So I just want to address something about this book and it is mentioned in the forward of the book. Remi finds herself in a mentally and physically abusive situation. If this is a trigger for you then you may want to skip this book. It's nothing that is overly descriptive or terribly traumatizing to read. But there are a couple scenes where this takes place. It has a major part to play in the book and is there for a reason though. Remi wouldn't be in the situation she's in if these things hadn't happened. I can't wait to see that douchewaffle get what's coming to him. I have a feeling there is so much more than we even know yet.

And can I take a second to just say I LOVE this cover. It's actually one of the things that got me about this book. Not gonna lie, I never read the blurb. lol I do that sometimes when I know it's an author I love and the cover just really hooks me in. I mean, I obviously knew it had something to do with racing but that's it. This book was so much more than that though. Oh and great news for those of you like me. It doesn't end on a cliffhanger! It sets everything up for the next book and yea we want to know what happens and what Remi chooses to do. But we aren't left throwing the kindle across the room b/c of some major event that left us up in the air. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good cliffy on occasion but it's also nice to have the first book in a new series that doesn't leave us hanging.

So yea, there are so many good things about this book and I'm super invested in the story and the characters. I really feel like there are layers in this story we haven't even broken into really yet. Can't wait for Crash & Burn to get here even if I'm a little scared by the title!!