Book Review — Worth It by Linda Kage

“Do you ever think about kissing me?”

• Buy WORTH IT (Kindle)
• Buy WORTH IT (Paperback)

SQUEE!!! Ohhh, I loved this book!!

If you’re a fan of heart-meltingly sweet bad boys, tortured heroes, forbidden romances, and intense second chance love stories, then you have to read this book!! I read it from start to finish in one non-stop sitting because I honestly just could not put it down!!! It was well-written, loaded with feels, and kept my heart racing!! You can read this as a standalone and it’s a top recommendation!!

This was one of those books that I wanted to read as soon as I saw the blurb…

I fell in love once… I lived for each time I could see her, and nothing else mattered, not that our families were enemies, our time together was forbidden, or we had to meet in secret. Our love could conquer all. Until it didn’t.

So I was ripped away from the love of my life and shoved into hell, forced to continue without her. It shattered me, broke the best parts of me, left me damaged. Or so I thought.

Years later, I swear history’s trying to repeat itself because she’s back in my life, and I’m just as drawn to her as I was before. But I’m older and wiser now, and I know she should stay away from a worthless piece of ex-con like me.

So, I will not let her in. I absolutely refuse to hurt her. I will keep her away. Then again, sometimes risking your greatest fear to get to a smile makes everything worth it, and besides, I’m not sure I can resist her, anyway.

This is the story of how Felicity Bainbridge changed my life forever, starting one summer day long ago after I was forced to change a dirty diaper…

I don’t know about you, but that ^^^ sold me on the book!

The story grabbed me from the first page and I honestly didn’t even move from my spot on the couch until I was done. It had so much heart! Just that perfectly delicious blend of angst, feels, swoon and sexy… where you love seeing a couple together and want to see them get through whatever comes their way.

The story is told in alternating POVs between Knox and Felicity, and it also alternates between past and present. I actually love this type of storytelling (very often seen in second chance romances) because it’s like you get to experience the way all the pieces of the story slowly come together as you read. I loved finding out more about when they’d first met, I swooned over them falling in love, I was heart-broken at their separation, and I eagerly and desperately waited for them to find each other again.

Where had he gone?

And then I felt it.

A stare. It started out tingling the back of my neck until it rocked through my entire nervous system. I could do nothing but feel him watching me… I knew he was there though, hiding from me, probably pressing his back to the wall and holding his breath, hoping I didn’t find him. Except I had no idea why he’d hide from me… why he hadn’t told me who he was…

I’m a total sucker for this kind of story. Guy from the wrong side of the tracks, feuding families, a forbidden romance they had to hide, a second chance after they’d been forced apart… gah, I loved it!

I also want to say that I really appreciated how awesome the supporting characters were in this story. It’s really nice to see friends in books genuinely offer helpful and solid advice and support and not contribute to the drama. This story was absolutely a case of “them against the world”, not “them against each other”, all they both ever wanted was just to be together, so it was the kind I most love to read!

“We’ve never really been apart. From the moment you bumped into me in those woods, we’ve belonged to each other… and we’ll always love each other. You know why?” I leaned in to whisper… “Because we don’t know how to stop.”

And the FEEEELS!!!!! Omg, they’d been torn apart and then kept apart, and their lives had changed so much as a result of the experiences they’d gone through separately but the one thing that deep down hadn’t changed was that they were still madly in love with each other (even though it took some convincing by Felicity to show Knox that he was good for her). I totally felt their love and was rooting for them every step of the way, but my heart absolutely broke when the truth about what had happened to him was revealed. We know from the start that he’d been sent to prison, but the truth about everything on his side of the story was really gut-wrenching. I won’t say anything because I don’t want to spoil it but I promise your heart will hurt when you find out. *sniff* I seriously wanted to hug him!! And I was so happy that he’d made it through and back to her, and even happier that she wasn’t going to give up on him.

“I’m no good for you,” he insisted.

I shook my head. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

All in all, I just LOVED this book! It had everything I most love to read about wrapped up in one awesome story! Technically, this is a standalone within a series of interconnected standalones, but you do NOT have to read the series in order and you do not have to read the previous books in order to understand this one. The author has very cleverly structured it so that you can read this completely alone if you want. I personally read the first standalone back when it was first released, but I haven’t read any of the other books since then, and I dived right into this and was 100% fine. If you want to read the whole series, I’ve listed them all below, but I’ll just say again, that you can read this book completely alone. It’s up to you.

I really do highly recommend reading this one though. I literally loved everything about it — the writing, the story, the characters, the ending. It was sweet, sexy, and heart breaking but also beautiful. It kept my heart racing and kept me flipping those pages like crazy. It’s absolutely a top favorite recommendation!

Rating: 4.5 stars. Can be read as a standalone.

• Buy WORTH IT (Kindle)
• Buy WORTH IT (Paperback)

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** FULL SERIES OF STANDALONES **
Each book is a standalone about a different couple.
They are slightly interconnected, but written so that
any of these may be read alone, or in any order.
Click covers to purchase.