Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3)

James & Penny’s Steamy Story Is Dripping In Angst & Will Have You Reaching For The Final Book In This Series! The Characters Are Imperfect. James & Penny Make Some Big Mistakes. Fans Of The Fifty Shades Of Grey Trilogy Will Enjoy Elements Of This Story that Feel Familiar. This Book Is Explosive!

This is the third of four books in The Hunted series, which is James and Penny’s story. Their romance continues in the three book The Light to my Darkness series. See James as a teenager in the four book Empire High series (Matt’s story), which gives the backstory for the Untouchables – James, his brother Rob, and the Caldwell brothers – Mason and Matt. There are other books that are spinoffs to these books, including the Men of Manhattan series of standalones: City of Sin, Third Chances, and Missing Pieces.

The Men of Manhattan series intersects with The Hunted series. While each series can be enjoyed on its own, each book is even more enjoyable when read collectively because little glimpses of the characters from one book to another add to the depth of their individual stories. Approximating the chronological order, the two series combined should be read as follows (according to the author).
1. Temptation (James Hunter and Penny Taylor’s story, part 1)
2. Addiction (James Hunter and Penny Taylor’s story, part 2)
3. City of Sin (Mason Caldwell and Bridget Cowen’s story)
4. Eruption (James Hunter and Penny Taylor’s story, part 3)
5. Third Chances (Rob Hunter and Daphne Hughes’s story)
6. Devotion (James Hunter and Penny Taylor’s story, part 4)
7. Missing Pieces (Tyler Stevens and Hailey Shaw’s story)

FROM ERUPTION, BOOK THREE:

As the book opens it is roughly two and one half years after the couple left the University of New Castle in book two. There have been a lot of changes. James and Penny have since settled into a routine in their New York home with James running a new tech startup – Hunter Technologies – and Penny finishing her degree at NYCU. Rob Hunter frequently visits but has remained in James’s condo back in Newark where he enjoys the coed population. James sometimes hangs out with his friends – Mason, Matt, and his brother Rob. Mason and Bee are now a power couple, running their successful advertising agency together. Penny sometimes hangs out with Bee and her friends, and she continues to be very good friends with Tyler, who is building a successful career in New York. Her old roommate Melissa is now single and graduating back in Delaware; she plans on spending the summer interning in the city. Mason Caldwell has just turned thirty, and James turns thirty as well next month.

Penny, now twenty-two, isn’t good with change. She is graduating with the class of 2018 and facing a whirlwind of change that unsettles her. Despite her many applications, she has not yet landed any interviews. She took a big hit In her self-confidence as a result of the news of her affair with Professor Hunter leaking to the public, and years later it remains an issue. She is overwhelmed with the transition from her academic to her professional career because she hasn’t yet found a direction that inspires her. James is determined to have her work for him at all costs, and when Penny accepts a lowly internship at Hunter Technologies, she is faced once again with talk of her not earning her position. It puts her in a negative head space. She is lost and adrift as she begins the countdown to her June 30th wedding.

Penny feels like she has lost herself in James’s world. His home, his friends, his money that pays her tuition – and now his company that she works for. She wants to earn something on her own right that is not tainted by her relationship with a brilliant businessman and billionaire. Although she loves her life, if she is honest with herself her big inspiration is James himself. She loves him dearly and his friends have become a family of sorts. That Mrs. And Mrs. Hunter have refused to meet her to this day has been a hardship on both James and Penny. His parents still like Isabella in spite of the divorce, and their attendance at the upcoming nuptials is in question. Penny already feels like she doesn’t deserve James, and the rejection by his parents doesn’t sit well with her. She knows how much he suffered trying to live up to their expectations while growing up. Her greatest hope is to bring about a reconciliation, and she doesn’t give up hope on them despite James’s insistence that her efforts are futile.

When talk of a bachelor party comes up, James is not interested. Penny, however, encourages him to have fun with his friends. But when James ends up kidnapped by his friends and taken to a Costa Rica bachelor escape on the weekend before their wedding, Bee’s strong warning begins to eat at Penny. Bee mentions something about Mason being involved in the plans and an unsavory side business he once ran. Between James’s history with addiction, the stupid antics Rob tends to pull James into, Mason’s involvement, and Penny’s inability to reach her fiancé, the weekend begins to drag. To top it all off, a mystery person begins to leave packages for her that threaten to blow up her engagement. As the relationships around her begin to crumble and she finds herself entirely alone, Penny is faced with a crisis. Isabella makes some bold claims, and James’s ex-girlfriend Rachel enters the picture. James has some explaining to do, but then again so does Penny.. Their story takes a devastating twist and ends in a cliffhanger.

Fans of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy will enjoy elements of this story that feel familiar. Penny is sometimes maddening in her decision-making here. The communication between her and James breaks down completely and it is not quite clear why. Penny is somewhat submissive in nature so that might explain some complacency. At times her lack of action feels weak, suggesting a very serious self-esteem issue. At other times it feels that she chooses to be strategically aloof to the facts and events brought to her attention, an extremely mature choice to stay above the fray. But given the nature of things, such lack of action reeks of recklessness. There are serious issues that arise that could be easily explained or not, but to ignore them and put her head in the sand is foolish. It feels like a step back in time as James and Penny’s communication breaks down – back to their early days together. They face a move, pre-wedding activities, work issues, and drama with family and friends to distract them from one another. Yet no matter how understanding Penny may be, when she does not address the issues at the first opportunity so that there is nothing between her and James, she is shutting him out. James similarly makes executive decisions about what he should share with Penny. He is older and intelligent; that she might lean on him is natural, and yet it feels dishonest when they do not recognize issues that need to at least be brought to the other’s attention. That Penny feels alone and overwhelmed by so much change can put her poor decision-making into context, but it is still hard to swallow. As for James, it makes him look like a controlling jerk – which he is at times (and in certain circumstances she likes it).

The third installment in James and Penny’s story catches readers up to speed with the couple and brings them to the tumultuous last days before their wedding. The angst will have you in knots and the steam is hot. The characters are imperfect. James and Penny make some big mistakes. Penny once again loses erself. It makes her human. There is a lot of wavering in her head, but much of that is just showing her thought process. Her thoughts go to extremes that will drive you a little mad. This book takes place over the course of a few very eventful weeks, and she struggles in her head over the changes and decisions she faces. Rob’s story in Third Chances chronologically follows Erupted; he and Daphne cross paths again while at James’s bachelor party. Tyler’s character feels very real, and the overall story builds as his own HEA approaches in Missing Pieces.

James and Penny’s steamy story is dripping in angst and will have you reaching for the final book in the series to see what happens in the next leg of couple’s journey! James and Penny’s romance opens as they meet at the beginning of her sophomore year of college. As Professor Hunter, James is taboo but that doesn’t deter Penny from pursuing him. He tries to do the right thing, but she doesn’t make it easy. As they make their home in New York years later and their wedding day approaches, Penny feels overwhelmed by the changes she faces. Friends and family add to the stress of the pre-wedding jitters, and a bachelor weekend away opens the door for a crack in their relationship. Ultimately everything explodes around them. This story is nicely written. The plot is somewhat complex. The story is written in first person in Penny’s POV. I rate this book four stars.

Moving to New York as meant to be a fresh start, away from the scandal, from the relentless hounding of the press. With college now completed and certificate in hand the time has come to look to the future and plan the rest of their lives together. But things are never that easy. The years have been hard, but Penny is starting to realise one thing very quickly. Despite everything they’ve been through, James is still keeping secrets. His ex is unwilling to let him go, his parents won’t even meet her, and she has more questions than answers. How can she look to the future when everyone who should be involved in her new life has no intention of welcoming her? She had never liked New York, but now she feels more isolated than ever before. Can she really embrace a future built on lies and uncertainty?

Eruption is the third instalment in Ivy Smoak’s Hunted series. Ivy Smoak is such a talented author that I have already reread each of her books twice, and I am generally not one to reread a book, but these books are just so addictive, because of this I decided it was about time I wrote a full review. The only reason I didn’t do this at the time was because I literally read her books one after the other. I must confess absolutely in love with this author’s writing, Ivy has a way of engaging the reader and pulling her into the world and lives she has created in such a way you can’t help but become invested in the characters and their lives. Life isn’t easy for Penny and James, their relationship is still new and with an ex wife who will go to whatever lengths needed to ensure she doesn’t have to surrender the man she still thinks of as hers. Gripping, intense, and emotional, this series will break your heart as much as it will warm it. Filled with challenges, obstacles, and a person who hands-down, has to be one of the most infuriating antagonists I’ve ever crossed paths with. If you haven’t already picked up one of Ivy’s books, what are you waiting for. Join the addiction, because it’s one you’ll never want to shed.

Eruption is my least favorite of the Hunted series but it’s still one that I could not stop reading. So much is thrown at them, it can be very upsetting. Regardless, it’s still a must-read book.

This latest part of Penny & James’s story has a huge cliffhanger and I for one cannot wait for the next part. No spoilers, but I will say my heart broke for Penny and James at the end.

At the beginning of Eruption, Penny & James are planning for their wedding and enjoying the happy life they have finally carved out for themselves. Penny is interning at James’s company, she’s friends with Bee and Mason (James’s friends from City of Sin), and has her best friends Tyler & Melissa. But obstacles soon present themselves in all her relationships, and they are not easily solved. Things are weird with her fellow interns, Melissa and Tyler seem to both be upset about something, and James’s parents and his ex are causing problems because they aren’t happy that James and Penny are in love and about to be married. Penny is starting to wonder if James truly loves her, or if he’s simply addicted to her, and she’s starting to doubt she and James will truly get the HEA they deserve.

I have faith, though, that Ivy will give my favorite couple some happy in the next part of their story!!