Wicked Heart (The Starcrossed Series Book 3)

Wicked Heart by Leisa Rayven ~ 5 STARSSo have you read Romeo and Broken Juliet yet? I suggest you get on it!!! Wicked Heart is the third installment of the Starcrossed series and this can be read as a standalone. Leisa really is amazing at creating such incredible love stories. This one is different from what I read before – I really like that this story is surrounding Broadway.“Liam Quinn is talented, gorgeous, and one of the biggest movie stars in the world.He's also the only man Elissa Holt has ever truly loved.After being out of her life for six years, he and his gorgeous fiancé are set to star in the new Broadway show Elissa is stage managing. The only trouble is, when late night rehearsals bring Elissa and Liam together, the line between what is and what could have been gets blurred, and one moment of weakness will lead to a scandal that echoes around the world.Elissa knows that falling for Liam again would be a tragedy in the making, but as any good romantic will tell you, love doesn’t always follow the script.”Please don’t be alarmed!!!! This is NOT a love triangle… Yes there is scandal, drama, tears, laughs, tons angst and heartache but you have to read and find out what really goes on after the curtain falls :)This story follows Elissa (Ethan’s sister from Bad Romeo) and Liam’s relationship. Elissa met Liam one fateful night when she was out with her best friend Josh. It was love at first sight. A nice carpenter (she thought) but it turns out Liam is casted as Romeo for her school play. Elissa and Liam kept things professional. After the show wrapped, Elissa and Liam could no longer resist each other. They had one unforgettable night together - the connection was incredible, the sex was panty-dropping hot – it was meant to be. But, Liam unexpectedly had to move across the country. At first they kept in touch but sadly Liam seems to have a change of heart. Just as Elissa’s biggest fear – a hot movie star had left her for his equally hot co-star. Elissa was broken hearted. Six years later Elissa found herself stage managing for a new Broadway production where Liam is the star. Fate right? Unfortunately, Liam is not alone - his beautiful fiancé is right by his side. They are the perfect couple deeply in love, the Brangelina of Broadway. Talk about getting your heart ripped right out of your chest AGAIN. That’s how I feel for Elissa – load of hurt, regret and pain. A grown Liam is incredibly handsome, sexy, irresistible, and talented but oh so taken. Liam’s fiancé Angel is beautiful, sweet, just amazing inside and out, and she has the only man Elissa ever loved. How do you work days in and days out with the man you secretly love and the woman you want to hate? Especially as said man appears to want to maul you every chance he gets??? Uh oh!!! Well, this makes for a very exciting, trouble plot :)“Heartache doesn’t teach you to be resilient. It teaches you to protect your fragility. It teaches you to fear love. And it draws a bright red circle around all the ways you’ve failed as a person and laughs while you cry.” ~~~ God! I broke down crying with this quote. Crying for Elissa’s hurt, pain and heartbreak.It’s very rare that I love all the characters in a book. Someone has to be a villain and someone has to be a hero – well, this book is quite an exception. Leisa created these beautiful, amazingly complex characters . I mean what’s not to love about the four main characters? Liam is sexy, confident, a little vulnerable and sweet – at times I felt like his action toward Elissa was unfair but trust me he HAS an excuse … by the end of the book he became my best book boyfriend. Just perfection! Elissa is beautiful but she does not know it, so that makes her even more appealing. She is corky – hates exercise but loves cheese. LOL, LOVE her!!!! She is also a young, talented, most-wanted stage manager. Elissa’s best friend Josh? Please say no more. Loyal, protective, best wing-man one could ever ask for. Not to mention his touching admission at the end – God! SWOONS. He is a textbook definition of a BFF. I want to be his BFF – Josh! I am coming for you. Angel – a perfect name for a perfect angel – she is sweet, down to earth, beautiful, America’s sweet-heart. You can’t help but fall head over heal with these characters.“…Fate is what we make it. You get the love you fight for. The one you think you deserve.”I love Leisa’s style of writing in all her books – it’s fantastic, flawless. The words she delivered are funny, sharp, wicked, and sexy. The kissing, the foreplay, the hot sex scene. The dialogues, the descriptions of characters … and pretty much EVERYTHING in between – just PERFECTION. I also thought it was very clever that Leisa makes different references from shows such as the Kardashians, and Friends – “So, do I get to choose another lobster now, or is that it? I’m to go through life forever lobsterless?”Leisa has an amazing talent for sucking you into her story. She captures my attention from the very start. I could not put my kindle down – I swiped the page so fast because I was desperate to find out what’s next. There is a twist – Ooohhh! It was a good one! Took my breath away! I DEVOURED this book in no time. So, you want a book that makes you cry, laugh out loud, and scream at your kindle in frustration? Are you in need of some angst, sexual tension, heart-ache, joy, love, happiness, basically all the feels? – GOT IT RIGHT HERE baby! Don’t miss this gorgeous love story. I highly recommend Wicked Heart along with Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet. I feel overjoyed with the sweet ending. Happiness and Love actually is all around (See Elissa? I am making a reference too). I selfishly want a long Epilogue on their life especially Josh’s journey. Thank you in advance!!! Wink wink wink :)“Love is like a lion in captivity – it can be embraced, but never tamed.”

My heart is in about a million shattered pieces right now, before that it was ripped out, twisted, and stomped on. That being said, this book is my favorite of 2016 so far, put it at the top of your to-read list right now, I'll wait...Ok, so if you have been lucky enough to read Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet before this, you will know that Elissa is Ethan Holt's brother, however, Wicked Heart can easily be read as a standalone. It involves Elissa- an adorable girl who prefers the backstage, and Liam- an actor at the top of his game. These two had a passionate fling years before, but when Liam and his fiancée are set to star in the theater production that Elissa is the stage manager for, the two reconnect, and feelings reignite.Let me stop here- if you are not a fan of cheating or love triangles, just trust me on this one, you will not be disappointed with Wicked Heart.My thoughts- oh wow, the angst, you already know how my heart responded to this book, but the vast array of emotions I was feeling was astounding. I was laughing, smiling, cringing, and wanting to throw the book across the room. It was absolute perfection, pure and simple. The characters were jumping off the pages, I felt I truly knew them with Ms. Rayven's writing. The plot was beautiful, it flowed together, even though I normally don't like when stories go between the future and the past, Ms. Rayven weaves the tale so intricately I barely noticed it was told that way, it didn't feel jumpy at all.All in all, this is a must-read, I loved Cassie and Ethan's story, but I actually fell in love with Liam and Elissa. I'm not sure how future couples are ever going to compete against these two in my mind, they are in a league of their own.A huge thank you to the author and publisher for a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5 fateful stars!"I used to think that if I just waited long enough, fate would bring us back together. That our stars would align, or whatever, and you'd come crashing back into my life to stay. But that didn't happen. So now I say, screw it. I'm done waiting. Sometimes, fate is what you make it."This book in one word:ANGSTAnd being the angst whore I am I ate up every single bit of it. I loved Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet, so there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to read the next book Leisa Rayven put out. The arc had been sitting in my kindle for a while, and boy am I kicking myself for not reading it the moment I received it! This was soooooooooo good! (At least, it was for me). The perfect angst fix I needed when my angst supply ran out, and Rayven is the dealer ;-)Wicked Heart is the second chance love story of Liam and Elissa. Six years earlier, Liam and Elissa had a fling, but one that stuck with Elissa throughout the years. Liam left to become a big time movie star and Elissa remained in New York and became a prominent stage manager in the acting community. Now Elissa is working on a new production of Romeo & Juliet with her director friend Marco, and the kicker? It's starring Liam and his gorgeous fiance Angel.Now the two are working in close proximity and old tensions and feelings begin to rise. But Elissa doesn't want to give in to her attractions for many reasons, and Liam wants to be respectful of her.So based on my 5 star rating I'm pretty sure you've deduced I loved this book. If that's not obvious, let me say it clearly: I loved this book!If it hadn't been for stupid real life (always getting in the way, so pesky) I would have finished this book all in one sitting. There came a real point in this book where I was reading late into the night and this was me:I loved Liam and I loved Elissa, separate and together. I get that their relationship can be seen as a kind of instalove, but it just clicked. Their connection was so tangible to me as a reader, I felt for them the entire book through every choice, every moment. And on the plus side, this book was HOT. For real. I got to have my angst cake AND eat it too???? I'm a happy reader.Rayven gave excellent explanations for past actions, ones that I had thought were unforgivable but I turned out to be wrong. Elissa wasn't a doormat, she was a strong woman put in the horrible position of being confronted with the scenario that the love of her life was engaged to another woman. So while she wasn't perfect, I sure as hell am not going to judge her for it.Liam as a hero was so genuine, I instantly was on his team. Not that there were a bunch of teams, but if there was one, I'm in it. I was rooting for him and Elissa and while I didn't understand some things near the beginning of the book, when all was said and done I began to understand his actions when seeing them in a new light.Another bonus..... this book is a standalone. No waiting, no cliffhangers. Just full on satisfaction at the end of the book. What more could you want?"The one thing you're absolutely not allowed to give up on is true love. When you find it, you should grab it with both hands and never let it go, because although it might not always be easy or convenient, it's worth it."

I loved this authors 'bad Romeo' series and I was most excited to read this book. And although it didn't tip the five star scales it was still a thoroughly likeable second chance at romance novel. Those who like an easy to read story with loveable characters I'm sure will be eating these pages up.

Utterly BEAUTIFUL, a raw and intense read.

I'm in love with this series. Still in love with Cassie and Ethan. Waiting for josh and angel story p!ease.

Esta historia, aunque no tiene la intensidad de las otras que he leído de Leisa, merece la pena leerla. Divertida, con chispa, romántica y caliente, no decepcionará. Me ha recordado mucho cierto affaire de la pareja protagonista de cierta serie de películas... Y por cierto, dudo mucho que unas gafas mejoren la dislexia, pero como imaginación está bien.Estaré pendiente de esta autora, que me encanta.

If you like angst in your book, this has loads of it !A really good book, worthy of all the great reviews it's getting. Polished writing, a few twists and turns, and has the most PATIENT female lead character ever, Elissa.Highly recommend.