Bella Jewel - Step Lover

You’ll only ever have one forbidden love.

Care to know why?

Because when you find it, forbidden love that is, you’ll forget everything else. You’ll forget your first kiss. You’ll forget the first boy who made you smile. You’ll forget all the bad, and remember all the good. You’ll forget that it’s wrong. You’ll forget that it hurts. You’ll forget everything that came before him.

Forbidden love, it has a way of changing you. The secrets. The lies. The guilt. You want something so much you no longer care about the world around you. The passion takes away the pain. I’ve felt it. I’ve lived it. I didn’t need it, but it chose me.

I met him before I knew. I loved him before I knew.

I didn’t know that he was my stepbrother. I knew I had stepbrothers, but I didn’t know he was one of them. Now I know, I have to walk away. My mom, she deserves this happiness so much more than I do. If she ever knew…it would destroy her.

You have to understand why.

I saw my father die right in front of my tiny, eight year old eyes. He took my sister with him. All that’s left is my mother and I. She’s found her happy place, the only place she’s had since our worlds were destroyed.

So you see, I can’t have him.

I can’t want him.

But there’s this problem with passion, and love, and destiny.

It doesn’t give you a damned choice.

Firstly we loved the way this book was written, in past and present, giving us an insight right at the perfect moment. Step-Lover had us hooked and flipping the pages like crazy.

"Live for the moment and live for your heart, not for everyone else’s.”

One year ago Aria had an amazing encounter, one weekend with 'what's-his-face', never exchanging names just giving each other nicknames, after all it was just one weekend. What harm could be done? They had both just met and had a STEAMY encounter, but this one weekend would leave an imprint on each of their lives.

In the present, Aria still can't get that one weekend out of her mind. Not only did she give herself wholly to this man, since then no man could compare. It wasn’t only the attraction but the chemistry and connection she felt with him. That is until he returns in a way she never expected....

Aria and her mother have been each other's life lines after a devastating accident that took away her father and sister. That accident still haunts Aria to this day. Her mother is now finally in a good place and happy with her new husband Jack, while Aria likes Jack, she still isn't open to letting him in. She doesn’t want a new father, she doesn’t need a new family.

“You don’t need another dad. You don’t need brothers. But honey, everyone needs a family. You let us in and we can be that family. Not the same as the old one—never be the same as the old one—but a family all the same.”

While it's just the three of them and Aria's summer break is coming up, there's no time like the present for them to get away for the summer and for Aria to finally meet Jack's three sons. It's not how Aria saw her summer going but with her best friend Melanie in tow, she will do anything for her mother to be happy.

Enjoying the beautiful lake house and taking in the scenery, Aria is finally about to meet Jack's sons. As they start piling out of the car Aria is taken back a year ago when she lands her eyes on the blue-gray ones staring back at her, the ones she shared an amazing weekend with, the weekend she can't seem to forget, the man that she can't get out of her head.

Aria has all sorts of conflicting feelings, every night when she goes to sleep she is haunted by her past which is now reflecting on this new family, a step father and brothers, all the while trying to contain her feelings for the man she wants answers from and so much more. Surely it wasn't just her that felt the connection they had? With three step brothers Blade, Brody and Lee, Lee being the only one she's had some type of relationship with over social media... this summer is going to be harder than she expected.

What's a girl to do when the man she wants is right in front of her? Finding it hard to believe that Blade is now her step brother, the push and pull is confusing but the passion and chemistry they shared that one weekend is still burning like it was just yesterday. Their parents weren’t even seeing each other when they shared that time together but surely a relationship between them could be frowned upon by others. The last thing Aria wants is for her mother’s happiness to be taken away. She is struggling with the decision to stay away from Blade but their connection is undeniable, their chemistry is off the charts, what they had is something neither of them can deny but they do and try for the sake of their family.

Is it that easy to move on when your heart isn't fully connecting with a new flame, knowing that the one you really want is right there but in a way untouchable?

"Love finds us for reasons unknown and when it finds us, it latches on. If Blade is the love that found you, then it must be for a reason.”

Our thoughts

There were so many lines from this book we wanted to share but we couldn't without giving away spoilers or without Amazon rejecting our review lol.

Kristy - Bella Bella Bella, you know I loved to hate you while reading this book. I was so wrapped up in this book I actually wanted spoilers BAD, would you give them to me, NO! I felt all the emotions these characters where going through, reading while my eyes were filled with tears was not easy, boy did I want to slap you. The last half of this book was amazing the story of the other siblings and parts of all of their lives that were unfolding, the way you shared other characters lives pulled me in so much I wanted more and I want it NOW! I loved the bond Aria shared with Lee and how she helped him but what really got to me was the bond she shared with Brody "connection—it’s an understanding, a bond over a similar pain" you broke my heart and straight away and I wanted to know more about him. I CANNOT FREAKING WAIT to get my hands on his story.

Kayla- This was my first time reading a book that focused around step siblings and their love. I was amazed, as always by Bella’s ability to draw me into a book so fast that I felt the need to greedily speed read the whole book. I wanted and had to know what was going to come next for these characters and how their lives would pan out. This side characters often had a bigger effect on me than the main characters. The tragedies that they each shared and entrusted to one another tore my heart apart. I am so excited to know that Brody and Melanie will be getting their book next, I’m sure we are in for a great read with those two.

Amazon US: http://amzn.com/B00UCLC3PC

Amazon AU: http://amzn.com.au/B00UCLC3PC

Amazon UK:http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UCLC3PC

Bella Jewel is a self published, USA Today bestselling author. She’s been publishing since 2013. Her first release was a contemporary romance, Hell’s Knights which topped the charts upon release. Since that time, she has published over five novels, gaining a bestseller status on numerous platforms. She lives in North Queensland and is currently studying editing and proofreading to further expand her career. Bella has been writing since she was just shy of fifteen years old. In Summer 2013 she was offered an ebook deal through Montlake Romance for her bestselling modern day pirate series, Enslaved By The Ocean. She plans to expand her writing career, planning many new releases for the future.

http://bellajewelbooks.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7178194.Bella_Jewel

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