Heartless (Room for Love Book 2)

I loved this book. James and Levi seemed so opposite when they were introduced in Reckless. In this story, which runs along the same timeline as that book, we see them antagonize each other, give in to steamy hate sex, then both become afraid and confused by the blasted feelings they start having for each other that are definitely not hate.
This is not a book for readers who need romances to be vanilla. It is not sweet. James has a humiliation kink that meshes well with Levi’s desires. The sex scenes are hot and go outside the box of what some people might be comfortable with. That is part of what I love about it.
Levi and his brother Simon have a sad and complicated relationship, and I hope we learn more about that in future books in this series. I know Simon has secrets, and I hope he finds the person to help him work through his issues, the way Levi and James are doing with each other.
This is a wonderful series so far, and I’m happy there are more Motel brothers who need love. I will be sticking around for all of them to find their very unique and sexy HEA’s.

I mixed it up by listening to the audiobook of Heartless from Kate Hawthorne, narrated by Evan Carolina until my air pods died; but it was sooooo good that I couldn’t wait for them to recharge so I HAD to pick up the book on Kindle Unlimited and finish it before I could do anything else! Suffice to say I went back and listened to the remaining chapters as soon as my battery was recharged!!!!

Quite frankly I’m surprised my air pods didn’t blow my ear drums because this book is seriously good on all levels of everything. It has everything you didn’t know you needed and then something else happens and you need that in your life as well! Baked goods said one way but spelt another, hot men that take an instant dislike to each other, a 35 year old virgin, sticky hands, flour, maple syrup and bacon, Passover, knitting, delicious brownies and blondies, clippers, a food truck, Kippahs, homemade cookies, family love, relationship breakdown, shame, sunshine, Shabbat, whispered conversations, Challah, friends with benefits, hate s*x and everything is totally brought to life by Evan Carolina in such a way that you’ll need to listen to this series over and over again! He catches the nuances of each character through the scenes, the catch of ones breath, the whispered words of another, the angst or anger somewhere else. It’s all in there along with moans to make your knees week.

But Evan is only bringing to life the words written by the genius that is Kate Hawthorne. In Heartless she really has shone a light on a kink that is probably written about to often because it’s not demonstrable, it’s verbal and whilst one would think that would be easy for a wordsmith it’s the emotional and psychological behaviours behind the scenes for the characters that needed to be explored just as much as the physical acts they went through.

The book is as good as everything else Kate Hawthorne has written, if you’ve read her stuff before I don’t need to tell you how good it it; if you haven’t read her before, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??

Only book two in the series I can’t wait for Evan to get his lips round book three so that I can listen to that; I’m not picking up the book until the audiobook is available.

I’m totally recommending this audiobook to everyone who doesn’t have a weak disposition! xx

Levi and James are everything I didn’t know I needed. I’m a huge fan of enemies-to-lovers books, so the aggressive tension between these two hit all the right notes for me. If you haven’t read Book 1 of this series, I highly recommend you do so first because there are some spoilers for it in this one (also because it’s just an amazing book).

When Levi sees James for the first time, he’s not impressed. He refuses to sell him anything, claiming he doesn’t do business with a**holes. James, for his part, is infuriated by how arrogant and cocky Levi is. In their initial interactions, I could practically see daggers shooting out of their eyeballs towards each other. Their banter is snarky and snippy and I loved it. Levi doesn’t take any of James’s sh*t, and it was so satisfying to see him put James in his place.

Much to Levi and James’s dismay, their mutual dislike isn’t enough to stop the intense physical attraction they have for each other. “I can’t be around you without wanting to choke you to death with my dick, James. That’s not a healthy working relationship.” When Levi and James do come together for the first time, it’s incredibly erotic, intense, messy, and a touch desperate. “Levi’s eyes screamed I hate you, screamed I want to take it out on you in all the ways you need.” The way James goes soft and compliant when Levi verbally humiliates him is so hot.

What I loved just as much as the intense, steamy sex was how Levi and James’s relationship evolved over the book. At the beginning, the only thing between them was hatred. Slowly, over time, hints of something more started to expose themselves: Levi feeling compelled to make sure James is okay at the clinic; James nearly panicking in his rush to apologize to Levi for something he said; Levi bringing James comfort food when he’s having a bad day. I loved seeing how the initial flare of passion developed into something much deeper than hate sex and shared kink.

When things did start to get serious between James and Levi, everything started falling apart. Levi wants every part of James, but James is still struggling to accept the darker parts of himself. Levi is terrified to love James for real because he’s never gotten to keep the things he loves. These two broke my heart as the struggled to accept their love. At the same time, Levi and his brother Simon are working through some difficult issues. The dynamic between these brothers helped me understand a lot of Levi’s reactions throughout the book. I can’t wait to read Simon’s full story–Rocco the cat vs. Rocco the man is going to be hilarious.

By the end of the book, James and Levi are almost unrecognizable from how they acted towards each other in the beginning. James has figured out how to accept himself and give Levi all of his love, and Levi has what he’s always wanted: to be the most important thing to someone.

**I voluntarily read an ARC of this book. This review expresses my honest thoughts and opinions.

What I expected going into this book was not what I got, and that is absolutely the best thing I can say! Not that I anticipated a bad book (NOT AT ALL), but the enemy to lovers’ story trope always throws me for a little bit of a loop before going in. But BOY did Heartless completely throw me off-kilter, in a good way, and I adored every minute of the ride!

What do you get when two hot-headed, and feisty men hate each other from the moment they lay eyes on each other? Well, James Motel and Levi Kadish of course! The Bratty and snarky Hotel owner and the not-so-kosher local baker. The more these men fight and hate each other the more the tension builds until they reach a point in which hatred spills over so fast and uncontrolled that it HAS to become other physical actions or emotions to release. So, we as the reader get rug burn! I promise you’ll like this type. 😉

But all the fun aside I truly enjoyed this book and the levels to which Levi and James could fight and yet see through each other. As time progressed with them never have I felt trust and the fight against your own brain to trust someone else, so vividly laid on the pages of a book. Each of their moments, you could see how they were going deeper and deeper for each other, without even realizing it for themselves; and in their moments of pure vulnerability, it actually felt like you could reach out and tangibly touch their emotions.

Also, this book explored so much more than these two men coming together. It also showed them growing and developing as individuals. It wasn’t just THEIR story. It was THEIR story and the story of their relationships with family/friends and accepting and understanding other types of love in their lives.

This is also one of those books where I felt Hawthorne really hit her stride and shined the best, with what I have felt has always been her strongest signature writing move; bringing out the heart in the most complicated and untraditional relationship dynamics.

Spoilers ——–>

Two scenes, in particular, have stuck with me after reading this story and I just have to bring up how much I loved how they trusted in the growth of their play that they were able to make it so uniquely them.

One: THAT HAIRCUT! IT was so beautiful and so explicitly their own developed type of ownership and love, that it felt more poignant than even some of the best-collaring scenes I’ve ever read.

Two: The Fisting – the love poured off the page, and I was as exhausted and as euphoric as they both did as it happened. I felt that that somewhat ending was absolutely perfect for them and wrapped up all the things we needed to see on the page to know James and Levi.

Great characters, emotions running high and tension that leaves you craving more, until you run out of pages. Loved it! The series proves to be a very entertaining one and I can’t wait for more!