Secretly dating Coach Parker’s daughter was never part of the plan. Neither was becoming her dealer…
ADAMReturning to my drug-dealing past wasn’t on the agenda when I accepted the full ride to play ball at Cypress U. But Mom lost her job. And my sister’s medical bills are mounting. So, I’ve no choice but to change the playbook.When Emily walks into my life, like a fallen goddess with the … Emily walks into my life, like a fallen goddess with the ultimate power to destroy me, I know I’m screwed. I should steer clear, but I’m the one supplying her poison of choice. Falling for her is a complication I don’t need, but the more she’s around, the harder it gets to walk away. She needs me, and I crave her more than the sport I love.
Now, it’s all on the line. Including the NFL career that’s tantalizingly close.
The stakes are high, but family means everything, so I’ll take my chances.
EMILY
It’s only a problem if it’s out of control. And I have it in hand.
Except a certain a-hole discovers I’m using again, and he threatens to rat me out to my folks. Mom’s president of Cypress U, and Dad’s the illustrious football coach. Appearances mean everything to them, and I’m a continuous disappointment. They told me I’d be out on my ass if I fell off the wagon, so keeping it a secret is my number one priority.
Until the super-hot all-star QB takes more than a passing interest in me. Adam gets me, in a way no guy ever has, filling my head with ideas of forever—and now, I want more.
Dating my dealer is a recipe for disaster, especially when it’s forbidden, but I can’t help myself.
Because I’ve fallen too deep.
And the hole is too large to crawl out of.
Due to mature content and possible triggers, this book is recommended to readers aged eighteen and older. Please refer to the note at the start of the book. This is a full-length novel (93k words).
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Of all the books Siobhan Davis has written have to say this one is quite different from the others. One thing about Siobhan Davis is she does not shy away from hard topics and drugs is one thing that well is hard to write in some cases. We have Adam, football extraordinaire player and well drug dealer. Here is a young man going places but family comes first for him above else. This is not something he imagined himself as but in his case he is doing for reasons that drug dealers don’t usually do. Then we have Emily, by far is the girl that has everything but still Adam is the one she goes to. The addictions, cravings and even the love is there but in a way that Siobhan Davis makes us want more. These two are opposites from each other yet in a way they have something in common no other person sees just them. Loved it and once again Siobhan Davis shows us there is no topic she cannot handle. Loved it.
“I received an eBook copy from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own.”
Holding On To Forever is co-written by Siobhan and Susan and it’s the first time I’m reading a book that Siobhan has co-written. It’s also the first time I’ve read a book that has quite an extensive references to drug use. When I first read the description and realised this, I wasn’t sure about it but now that I’ve finished it, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Emily and Adam’s romance is really sweet, and Adam is just the best boyfriend for her. Emily turns to drugs to escape her life and nobody but her understood why. Adam could see the sorrow in her eyes but hey he’s her drug dealer, what else could he have done?
When it was revealed later in the book what happened to Emily when she was younger, I was shocked, and finally understood why she uses. I’m so glad this book has a HEA and I wish Siobhan and Susan could have more collaborations in the future!
(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)
I honestly have mixed feelings about this book. It was written well so no doubt about that. Any book I’ve read by this author is always a great read a page turner at that!
This one for me personally hit home in some aspects when it comes to drugs. They ruined my family in a lot of ways and I suppose I’ll never really heal but with that being said this could be considered a true story. It was real and situations like this happen. I wanted to lose interest in the characters cause I didn’t want to read on for being scared or angry at the situations and not being able to do anything about it but I pulled through and was able to finish.
Give this book a read! You never know what the take away will be for you.
I have voluntarily read an advanced complementary copy of this book.
What an INTENSE story. I truly felt Emily’s pain and wanted to help! The author did a fantastic job elaborating on the her story and describing her addiction to such a point that it felt so real to me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one though it was quite sad too! I voluntarily reviewed an advance complimentary copy of this book.
The two main characters are not your typical hero and his love that you find in most romantic books. I will admit that it took several chapters before I became invested and hooked on the story of Adam and Emily to where I could not but it down. Adam struggles in ways that he chooses not to share with others so everyone seems to only see a golden boy quarterback with his sights set on the NFL and seemingly the world at his feet. Emily appears to outsiders to have the perfect life as the daughter of the Head Football Coach and the President of the University she attends as a student. When Adam meets Emily, sparks fly despite the circumstances in which the meeting takes place. In fact, Emily does not even remember that meeting when they come accross each other again at an underground drug crazed rave. Their story will have you on the edge of your seats as one horrific surprise after another befall these two. Their story truly seems like there is no HEA for either of them. I strongly suggest you read this book and make sure you give it a chance since, like me, it may take you a bit of time to get hooked.
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest and totally voluntary review.
Emotionally Intense
Dark
Tragedy
College Romance
Swoon Worthy
Whew, this book! It was intense, intense like I wasn’t expecting. Siobhan Davis and S.B. Alexander were on their game with this one.
Adam & Emily bring a little of everything to this story. Each coming from different backgrounds both stuck in situations they shouldn’t be in forcing them to do things they shouldn’t be doing. Adam the University star quarterback and Emily the coach’s daughter. She’s rich, he’s poor, she does drugs and he sells drugs. This is a relationship that should never have happened, but needed to happen. This is a swoon worthy romance that you get swept up and into, both good and bad.
I really enjoyed the secondary characters and what they brought to this story. Some you love, some you love to hate.
The situations in this book could very well be triggers for some. It is intense and dark. If you like these types of books I highly recommend this one.
As ever, I was delighted to have the opportunity to read a book by Siobhan Davis. And even as it was co-written with a new to me author, S.B. Alexander, I totally recognized Siobhan’s storytelling.
I might have asked her wich part she wrote….
Adam, the Main male character is such a sweetheart, I really do like him. Even if he is doing, what he has to do, I couldn’t feel resentful towards him. The love and devotion he puts towards his mother and sister, the incredible support he was for Emily…he‘s a wonderful guy!
With Emily I struggled at first, but as the story developed and the reason for her behavior was revealed, I truely came to understand her and I wanted to hug her and give her the love she was missing all these years.
Holding on to forever deals with heavy topics, the first resulting in the second and I have to say, thank god I never went through any of them.
Sadly there was a time I also had no one I could lean on and I could have gone the same way as Emily did. But I’m just not this type of human and substance abuse never was a thing for me (again: thank god).
I love that this story shows how important it is to learn to trust and feel again, to believe in yourself, to believe in the good things life has to offer.It’s hard work!
And wasn’t the ending not worth all the pain, hate, disrespect, fighting?
This book just gave proof of the authors talent. Her world and character building skills never disappoint. I said it before and say it again: I’m so glad to have found out about her and her books! And she‘s such a nice woman and I’m incredibly happy to have had the opportunity to finally meet her in person!!!
Adam is the star quarterback at Cypress U who is placed in an untenable position. His sister’s medical bills are mounting and the only way to pay for them is by selling drugs. When one of his clients turns out to the coach’s daughter things are about to become complicated.
Emily is dealing with a traumatic incident in her past with drugs. Her parents have always been more concerned about their image than her, so she knows that her habit needs to remain a secret even if it means doing things she doesn’t want to do.
What starts out as a business arrangement where he is selling what she wants to buy turns into something much deeper. Their relationship is far from easy and is filled with drama, twists and emotion but that only made their journey that much better.
3.5 Stars
Holding on to Forever is a new adult romance with heavy themes and topics, which is par for the course with any Davis book. So, trigger warnings for substance abuse, rape, and sexual assault.
Holding on to Forever follows Adam and Emily who are both in impossible situations. Adam returns to dealing drugs when his sister’s medical bills become unmanageable. Adam ends up dealing to Emily, who is quickly spiraling out of control. Throw in a whirlwind romance and things turn ugly.
The chemistry between the main characters sizzles, as their attraction is almost instantaneous. The angst is real for many of the scenes and I am here for it. Unfortunately, many of the hot scenes are extinguished because of the clunky and sometimes over the top dialogue.
What exacerbates the problem dialogue is Adam’s perspective. His perspective does not always ring true as male. You can take my criticism with a grain of salt because I am clearly not a male, but like many male writers writing female perspectives, something feels off.
I do not mind serious and heavy topics in my romance novels. These topics usually enhance the stakes in an otherwise by the numbers novels romance. However, Holding on to Forever piles on the issues making it hard to truly enjoy the novel because the amount of suffering.
While the trigger warning issues are not used as plot devices, they are used in a slightly convenient way to push certain characters and plot points along.
Overall, Holding on to Forever was not the perfect fit romance I wanted it to be. If you are a fan of issues heavy romance novels, Holding on to Forever is sure to please.
***I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
I’m always happy to dive into a new Siobhan Davis release, but I fear I’m going to be in the minority with this one. I was ready for an emotional book, one that broke me, but I found myself unable to connect with this one. Whilst the story had me reading to the end, I was never invested in the way I had hoped to be.
Siobhan Davis and S.B. Alexander make a great writing team, the story flowed so well together. Although I was able to work out who wrote what, this was nothing to do with their styles not matching. They matched really well, I simply know Siobhan Davis a bit too well after so many books. I can certainly see them writing more together, with the stories flowing as well as this one did.
As well as they worked together, Holding on to Forever failed to bring out the emotions I had expected. I was waiting for the feels to hit me, for me to become invested and in love with the characters, but that moment never came. I kept turning the pages to see how everything came together, yet it wasn’t enough for me to love this one.
I think, in part, it was due to my inability to believe the addiction storyline in this one. It’s something I’m a bit critical about, having known many people with addictions, and with Holding on to Forever it felt like it was put into the storyline and used when was necessary. The rest of the time, it seemed to slip away. Which, trust me, is not how addiction works. It’s always there, an insidious beast, in the back of the mind. Due to this, I had trouble accepting that part of the storyline.
Don’t get me wrong, the story came together well. It was interesting enough to have me turning the pages, but I didn’t believe it in the way I’d hoped. Add in the fact that I never really felt the chemistry between the two characters, and I find myself in the minority about this one.
I’m sure many will love this, but, unfortunately, I’m going to be sitting here in the minority corner.
This story has it all, angst, drama, instant connections and romance. This story also deals with some hard issues, sexual assault, drug use, drug dealing and life threatening medical conditions. The authors dealt with all these issues with grace and sensitivity. This book was very well written. Highly recommend!!
Holding on to Forever was a good read. I loved Adam. He has a lot on his plate. He’s a college football player. He has a sick sister that has medical bills and he does some things that aren’t all that good to help get money. He’s a stand up guy. Now Emily, I had a little trouble connecting with. At some points I just thought of her as a bratty rich kid that has it all but it’s still not good enough but she does have some demon to deal with. Both Adam and Emily have things to deal with that are pretty deep and their story line covers some heavy topics.
Holding on to Forever is one of the best books I’ve read this year. The writing team of Alexander and Davis nailed it with this book. Much more than a steamy romance, this book involved family relationships, intrigue, sexual assault, and much much more. Every time I thought it couldn’t get any better, it did! It was so real. Things we read about on college campuses today.
Emily and Adam are two good people who got caught up in circumstances beyond their control and made choices they thought were best at the time. These choices led to complications with repercussions that they did not initially expect. I could not put this book down – it was so exciting!
The book was well written and just flowed. The other characters had depth and contributed to the overall impact of the story. I would love to see Sam appear in a future book, as I fell in love with that guy. I’ll be watching for these ladies to team up again!
Emily has had a very tough time of it in her life. Not the picture perfect people assume. Surface and all that. Girl has some demons that she’s still struggling with. Not in the best way either.
Adam, the football QB, hasn’t had the best out of life either. Peas in a pod these two. Adam having a sister with a terminal illness isn’t easy for him to deal with at times. Trying to continue with college and football isn’t easy to manage sometimes, and when things fall hard for his mom, he feels it falls on him to take up the slack whether she wants him to or not.
A football star, and the coaches daughter. The drug dealer, and the drug addict. It can be either a daydream or a nightmare depending.
This is a heavy one. Not fluffy at all. Hit on some not so easy to talk but topics. Drugs, addiction everything that comes with it (true me it’s a lot) child abuse, because not all child abuse is physical. Mental and emotional is the same. And even rape, and sexual abuse. So, not an easy book to read. But worth it. Very worth it.
I had my doubts as to whether I could really care about these characters at the beginning. Neither is sterling, yet both are likable and sympathetic, as it turns out. Emily harbors a painful secret and her mother’s treatment of her borders on abusive. She buries her pain with “Molly”, which Adam, the clean-cut football scholarship student sells to support his mother and seriously ill sister. There are no laughs to speak of in this compelling and weighty story but when Adam and Emily are together, there is beauty and a sense of hopefulness that they will find a better way. This is great storytelling and it touched me deeply.
I am voluntarily reviewing an advance reader copy of this book.
I absolutely love this book it goes to show that love can overcome any obstacle in the way even if that obstacle is family or even your self and the characters were very well thought out and fun to read about.
Family struggles, drug addiction, and sexual abuse are pasts and presents that Adam and Emily are living through.
Adam is the “white knight”, popular football player and all around good guy with a little dark history.
Emily is a broken girl just trying to survive in an emotional abusive home by any means possible.
When the two cross paths it’s like their two wounded souls recognize each other. It was angsty and full of twisting ups and downs. I loved the chemistry and connection of Adam and Emily.
It’s was a great read! I would definitely read another book collaborated by S.B. Alexander (my favorite author) and Siobhan Davis.
This was a great book! It dealt with some really serious issues that are all too common this day and age. And yet again I felt like I was there, living their emotions and feelings and fears. This is a must read! Not many books reel you in and keep you riveted to the very end, and this was it!!!
Well Holding on to Forever is a fitting title, as it hold me the whole time. Emily and Adam are a couple you will love. He is the quarterback trying to help his family. Emily is the coach’s daughter but with a hidden secret. This book is like no other you have read in sport romance, the themes and topics presented are not for everyone but they are handled in the perfect way. I suggest you give it a go, this is a must read!
I voluntarily reviewed an advance complimentary copy of this book and found another great read from Siobhan Davis. Adam’s and Emily’s story begins at college. She is the daughter of the school president and he is the football teams quarterback, an unlikely pair is what you assume right away due to the addiction of drugs from Emily. Adam is a not your typical QB either. His love for his family and Emily is emotional and raw. The love and forgiving and most importantly, the healing will keep you turning the pages to the very end.