Sticks and stones
might bruise my bones,
but these rules are guaranteed to break me.
The Romans have a famous saying:
“The stars incline us, they do not bind us.”
The words hold so much weight, and importance,
They’re stained on my skin.
Just like she is.
The ink may not be visible,
But the binds are indisputable,
Pulling me back to her like a rough tide.
Impossible to leave.
However, time … indisputable,
Pulling me back to her like a rough tide.
Impossible to leave.
However, time has proven,
freewill or not, it will take more than bending the rules to be with her,
it will require breaking them.
more
The ending to Reagan and Lincoln’s story was perfect. There were plenty of times that I wanted to reach through and slap the crap out of him but he got his head out of his rear before too long. Reagan is dealing with a traumatic event, family issues, and doubt about her path. There is so much going on with these 2 that it keeps you turning the pages to see how it all ends.
Loved the conclusion to Reagan and Paxton’s story. Plenty of angst and drama to keep you guessing and finally a HEA for them.
This is the second book of the duet –
Reagan feels like her world is imploding around her all while trying to trust her feelings for Lincoln. Lincoln wants to help her, try to prove his feeling are the real deal and trying to keep her safe. Reagan and Lincoln story was heartbreakingly sweet, sexy and had a lot of drama coming from different places. I was happy to see the support from all of thier friends and how they all felt like family.
I am excited about continuing the series and hope to hear more from Reagan and Lincoln!
DRAMA! LOVE! FOOTBALL!
Intense conclusion to Lincoln & Raegan’s story!
After finishing Bending the Rules I virtually ran to download this book. I needed to start Rae & Lincoln’s next book IMMEDIATELY! I had no idea going into book 1 that there was a cliffy and MAN was it a doozy!
I loved Rae & Lincoln! No doubt about it but I found myself getting irritated at the back and forth between these two. It was basically a one step forward, two steps back kind of thing and it did get old. Yet at the same time as their pasts, secrets and present situations unraveled around them I could understand their hesitation at jumping head first into each other. Especially when you truly consider who they each are and what they’ve already experienced and MOST ESPECIALLY what they HAVEN’T experienced!
This book was dual POV so I finally got that look into Lincoln’s mind and it’s what made this book so great for me. It would have been good with just Raegan’s POV but his thoughts just brought so much more emotion to the book and I feel that without his POV, it would have been so hard to see his “real” feelings for her if we only had his actions in her eyes to go by.
I racked my brain for both books trying to figure out the gifter of Raegan’s mysterious gifts. Mariah Dietz kept me on my toes while reading; the twist in this story was one that I definitely considered but never could decide for sure!
The friend crew for this series is great! The sibling connection between Raegan, Maggie & Paxton is one of my favorite things about this series! Paxton’s crew of friends & Poppy (Rae’s best friend) make the encounters in this series fun to read! I really hope that my theory of who Poppy’s own hero might be turns out to be true! Regardless if you love college age romances filled with football, drama and love!!! Start with Bending the Rules!
I Love Lincoln and Rae’s story. I am so glad Mariah gave us readers more about them. Their struggle is so real along with their journey!
This is the second half of Reagan and Lincoln’s story, and I have to say that I enjoyed it even more than the first. As the two danced around their connection, Reagan is thrown into a dangerous situation that could cost her life. And these are the very things Lincoln is afraid of. As the story moves along, we find another underlying danger along with the captivating story of how love can conquer anything.
When friends become more, it makes me smile, and that’s what this story did for me. It was something I needed at the time I read it, and I enjoyed the angst and push and pull of the characters from so many directions as they tried to navigate their relationships. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next stories.
So much angst in this book and I loved it! Rae and Lincoln were just so back and forth but I loved getting to see his side of things too! It was definitely a tumultuous ride to their ending! Maybe we will get to see a little more of them in the future!
And I thought Bending The Rules was a wild ride!! Breaking the rules had even more going on! What a conclusion! Breaking The Rules was the second part to Mariah’s The Dating Playbook Duet. It was explosive, sexy, and emotional!
Lincoln wasn’t good at following rules. Specifically the ones Raegan had said they needed to follow. He had tried to stay away but rules are meant to be broken, right?
I liked how there was a dual POV, it added so much depth with getting both sides. Their connection was even more intense than before, it was nice to watch the relationship grow while time went on. And I can’t lie, I am looking forward to Arlo’s story!!
I really loved Breaking the Rules! It is such an amazing story! And I loved it even more than the first book!! I already loved book one, but this one took an even bigger piece of my heart. I really, really loved it.
The book just has it all – love, friendship, twists and turns, drama and so much more!
So if you’re already here, just go and read the second book! It’s so much more and everything you’ll ever ask for.
I love Lincoln & Raegan so much. I’d stick them in my pocket & keep them forever if I could.
Book 1 only gave us Raegan’s side of things. But this one, this let us into Lincoln’s head, something I am super grateful for. I needed to get more insight on him, so I could decide how I felt.
It’s all good. I love him.
They were thrown some pretty intense challenges, and I wasn’t sure that things were going to work out, but I stayed the course & was utterly hooked.
I can’t wait to get Arlo’s story.
Phenomenal Story-Telling. Recommended Read. – 5 Stars
Excellent story-telling that had a bit of a mystery, suspense, drama, angst, pain, sorrow, romance and love. The detail Ms. Dietz goes in to in order for the reader to fully immerse themselves in her story-telling is phenomenal. A number of subplots along the way that each in and of themselves were like bonus stories within the main story. This story was all about a tight-knit group of friends with great camaraderie and support. The main male character and the main female character both had family complications to wend their way around. Good Stuff!
I voluntarily received an advance review copy of this novel from the author and I am leaving an honest and unbiased review. I have no affiliation to this author.
What an emotional roller coaster. My heart broke for Raegan over and over again with how she was pressured and pushed aside by the people that were supposed to love and protect her. She was left to navigate all the scary and ugly that was thrown at her on her own. Even though I loved Lincoln and Raegan together, he also disappeared when she needed his friendship the most. I felt like Lincoln was never able to fully redeem himself and his actions were confusing. I did love Arlo and hope to see more of him!!
Reagan and Lincoln story just gets edgier, more exciting and packed with deeper emotions. At every paged I waited anxiously to finally see if they would finally make it or not. Scenes are a little more explicit yet better! Turns of events stunned me and some characters made me so mad; I just loved it! Throughout the book we can feel every single reticence they have to stay away from each other and yet feel the chemistry that keeps on bringing them close. No reasons will be good enough for these two.
Breaking the Rules is the conclusion to Bending the Rules. This really brought everything to light that was going on in the Regan’s life. In additions to her relationship with Lincoln she has family issues to contend with. Her life was kind of turned upside down with the many events that were brought to light, some things were very surprising. Regan and Lincoln could no longer deny their attraction to each other. Lincoln is learning to let down his walls and let her in.
Breaking the Rules – book 2 of the duet was just as intriguing as the first. Mystery, romance, and the fight for a love that should remain a secret. Mariah Dietz will keep you glued to the book until the very end. Oh and of course, there is always the hopes for more. I would love to see stories for the other characters contained in this book. They all deserve their happy ending as well, at least most of them do!
After the last book’s cliffhanger, I was eager to read the story unfold.
Raegan is facing the consequences of the decision she made at the end of the previous book, so in addition to regaining her health, she also needs to regain the confidence of some close people, including Lincoln and her own mother.
Lincoln turns away from Rae after the events of the previous book, unable to know how to deal with his feelings. But when they finally decide to talk, things end up working out, but they still need to hide this new relationship from everyone.
But when a secret from Raegan’s father is revealed, it can shatter all relationships between them.
While she needs to learn to deal with the new reality involving her parents, Rae also needs to understand exactly her feelings for Lincoln.
I loved the story and the characters, I just think we could have had a little more of Rae’s mother and what she was up against, since she was an important character in the first book. I also wish we had a story about Poppy, Paxton and Maggie. I’m ansiosu to read Arlo’s story.
I highly recommend the reading.
I loved Atlas and Tessa.
Now I know I may have said this before but this is my favourite book of the series so far. I loved every minute of Flirting with the Single Dad. I laughed, I cried and everything inbetween.
Atlas is a widower with two little girls to look after, when his oldest, 3 year old Aria needs a little more support he takes her to art therapy where he meets Tessa. It definitely isn’t love at first sight and Tessa is dealing with issues of her own but the more they get to know each other the more they could be just what each other need.
Another fantastic installment of the Single Dads of Seattle. Each of these books can be read as a standalone but I would highly recommend reading them all in order to get the full enjoyment of the wonderful series.
After being left hanging…I’m sure my mouth was literally hanging open at the end of Book 1, I needed this book so I could finally take a breath and find out what happened!! However, the intensity didn’t let up and I still found myself gripping my kindle, so be prepared to hang on tight because the emotional ride isn’t over yet!
This is not going to be an easy review to write because of how Book 1 ended and not wanting to give anything away…to get the full enjoyment of this duet, you really need to go in with zero spoilers!
Let me just say that there was never a dull moment because at every turn, there were twists…good and bad. I waffled from heartache to pissed off and everything in between!
But never fear because all the nail biting, heart pounding, and breath holding was worth it in the end. Well played, Mariah Dietz, well played!
Love love loved this second part of the duet. Lincoln and Rae. WOW! What I loved about this book is the level of angst given. Plus college drama! I mean, you need that right?? We were all a little spacey in college! Seeing these characters develop their way through was brilliant and I had a hard time putting this down! There was a lot thrown at us, but was done with such amazing flow that it felt like it was melting off the pages. I devoured page for page. All their emotions. All their pain. Absolutely everything. It was brilliantly written and I really did not want it to end at all!
Breaking the Rules
The Rules Duet
Mariah Dietz
5 Stars
I loved it alot! Full of twists and turns. Alot of angst. Kept my interest throughout.
“I don’t just want to consume you, I want to own you— possess every part of you. Make your heart beat like mine does for you.”
Very highly recommend this wonderful duet.