Lola is the eighth book in the Reed Security series and the conclusion to Ryan’s book in the series For The Love Of A Good Woman. The books should be read in order.“Ladies, I’m going to demonstrate how you can take out someone that is coming at you from the front. Now, Derek is going to come at me.” I motioned him forward and I saw a glint of fear in his eyes. I raised an eyebrow and motioned him … eyes. I raised an eyebrow and motioned him forward. He ran toward me full force and I struck out with the heel of my hand, hitting him directly in the nose and sending him backward. Then I swung my foot as hard as I could into his nuts. He bent forward with a loud groan and collapsed on the floor in a lovely shade of red, breathing like he was in labor.
One of his eyes peeked open and he nodded slightly to me, as if to say that he was giving in. I smiled sweetly and turned back to the girls.
“The heel of your hand is your best bet. Thrust it up hard into his nose. You’ll break it, leaving him disoriented with blurry vision. Then, you take him down once more where it hurts most. Make that kick count. You don’t want him recovering too fast.”
Claire raised her hand high in the air.
“Yes?”
“How long is too fast?”
“He’ll definitely be down long enough for you to get away.”
“But, I mean, when will his functions recover? You know, his manly bits. Because I had this scenario I wanted to try later tonight and I want to know if I have to change my plans.”
“Change your plans,” Derek grunted. He stood slightly and shuffled off to the wall where he sank down in a tight ball.
“One more example before you all begin. Hunter? Would you care to join me?”
He narrowed his eyes at me and slowly shook his head.
“Hunter, don’t be such a baby,” Lucy shouted. “Come on. This is to help us out.”
Hunter shot a death look at his fiancée but stepped forward.
“Okay, Hunter is going to come at me from behind and wrap his arms around me in a bear hug.”
“No,” he said firmly.
“What’s wrong, Hunter? Are you scared of a woman?”
“Yes,” he said immediately.
Lola “Brave” Pruitt has dealt with more nightmares in her time at Reed Security than she can handle. It’s time for her to move on and really start living her life without her demons tormenting her. When she finds another lost soul, Ryan Jackson, in a bar one night, she may just find her salvation. But Ryan is just as damaged as Lola and her lifestyle is one thing that he may not be able to live with.
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I love this book! Talk about role reversal! Lola and Ryan’s relationship starts out as one thing and just develops! I’m so excited to see what’s next! I’ve read all the books and trust me you need to read them in order to better understand the characters. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
You really need Ryan’s story first, which lets you know why he’s so heartbroken, the only way he can forget is with woman but never the same one twice until Lola.
Lola is tired of being treated as damaged and Ryan is the only one who makes her feel since she pushed away her friend.
The chemistry is amazing between them and they keep spending more and more time together, Ryan start to realise with Lola he wants to try but he doesn’t know how he will deal with Lola working in the field.
Lola starts to realise that she needed to sort out her own mess and learns she has to believe in herself again, and with Ryan she can let her guard down and it’s ok to be the woman who needs the man.
Ryan and Lola have been through much they both deserved their happy ending. Can’t wait to read the next book.
Lola is such a uplifting, heartfelt novel. It shows true love can over come the past and everyone deserves happiness even if they have lost so much. It’s great to have a woman as the kick butt ask questions later as the lead role. You will absolutely fall in love with Lola!!
I am not going to lie, I was very leery of reading this book. I knew that reading this story was going to be painful, and I was right. I didn’t expect Ryan’s story to end the way that it did in RYAN (BTW, you HAVE to read this story first … otherwise you will not understand the true impact of LOLA). So I wasn’t sure how the author was going to tell his story further, but she did something that I haven’t read before and she did is fabulously!
In this book Ryan crosses path with Lola Pruitt. Lola is very much like Ryan, except her nightmares dealt with evil and what was done to her. Her character showed such amazing strength and drive to overcome her fears. And I was SHOCKED by who she choose to help her with them. But in the end, Lola showed why the men of Reed Security should fear her and just show strong her heart is.
Ryan broke my heart. From the beginning to how he has shown up through the other books, his pain has been tremendous and all consuming. What he finds with Lola is a small light to his darkness. But there are always issues and some bad calls that are made between these two. But Ryan shows a strength that is tremendous!
Overall, this was a very emotional, but amazing read. Again, RYAN has got to be read first! These characters tore at my heart and then pieced it back together. There is still a lot of pain in this book on both sides, but the way that they worked together and the ease of them and how in sync they were was awesome. And my favorite part had to be the reenactment scene towards the end. Had me laughing hard after the emotional turmoil of the book.
This story ties in to another series so you need to start by reading Ryan. You need to experience his story first – it’s where you get to understand his character. You may find that you need to catch up on not one but two series like I did. If you’re still on the fence, read the first paragraph and you’ll know I’m right.
Lola Pruitt feels so bad for Ryan. Then once you read his story you may also feel the same. She’s dealing with her own pain. Besides the story between our two main characters, we get caught up with the men of Reed Security.
Hunter is one of her coworkers and understands what Lola’s feeling. That had me wanting to revisit his story. When I was reading his story, I was concentrating on the main characters. This time I would put more emphasis on Lola. And that had me thinking about my reading order. So I came up with reading Knight, Hunter, Ryan, and then Lola. As you read this current book you may realize how the people that work for Reed Security interweave within the other stories. That’s so true when I’m reading about Sebastian and Maggie. Their current story caught my attention so I have to add two more stories to my ever-growing TBR list. First I’ll have to read his story aptly titled Sebastian, which so happens to be in the same series as Ryan, and then read the book titled Cap. I think I’m going to be busy for quite a while. And when it comes to our author, that’s no hardship. Especially when she can turn a very serious moment around to get me to laugh.
You see the caring and camaraderie these people have. Plus they know how to kick some serious a**. We have women who come to develop a friendship but they also keep their men on their toes. I loved how caring the men were toward Lola and I don’t think Lola realized how deep their feelings for her went. We see the point where Ryan’s life turns around and is thankful for what he has. The author creates the perfect ending for our main characters. My happy ending came when I saw that another book is coming out. My bad news moment came when I realized that my catching up is going to have to go to the back burner for a little while.
I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
What if there were two people: broken, nearly destroyed by grief, regret, fear? What if those who loved them: family, friends, co-workers couldn’t help despite aching to do so? How would these two people EVER heal?
This is the basis for ‘LOLA’.
The main characters:
Ryan: Still crippled & nearly destroyed with grief at the sudden & shocking death of his beloved wife Cassie only 1 year after their marriage. The only saving grace is James, Cassie’s son left in Ryan’s care.
Lola: Haunted by a torturous death near miss during a mission, suffering years after with horrendous nightmares, unable to handle certain hand to hand combat situations required for her & her team mates safety without becoming paralyzed with terror & even catatonic.
Ryan stumbles through each day by the skin of his teeth & once a week finds a different nameless woman for sex in a desperate attempt to quiet the agony of his thoughts over the loss of his beloved wife.
And Lola, so traumatized by her horrifying experience is ordered by her boss– Sebastian/Founder of Reed Security to not return to work until & unless she is medically cleared by a therapist or psychiatrist. And she wanders aimlessly, angry at her team mates that advised Sebastian she was a danger to herself & her co-workers, unable to find something to replace her work, no one to bond with now that Hunter is in a relationship, Lola is spiraling ever downward.
But then, one night Ryan & Lola hook up, initially for one night that turns into more & more nights as each one recognizes & understands the total depth of loss, fear & emptiness from which the other suffers.
This is emotionally (IMO) a beautiful story of two people, damaged & broken almost beyond repair, who come together initially in an attempt to survive & just MAY be able to heal each other. I loved both characters, Ryan was a wonderful example of a masculine but non-alpha male who had only wanted a family, home & love. Lola, tough & resilient ex-military & respected field member of Reed Security was a perfect example of a person who begins to realize that she is in a new phase of her life & that just may mean new wants & needs to be happy & fulfilled.
The other Reed Security & For the Love of A Good Woman characters make their supportive, serious & wacky appearances to assist their loved friends Ryan & Lola to navigate perilous & uncharted personal waters. James, Cassie’s now 15 year old son, while still a kid has a lot of surprisingly wise perspective to offer a stepdad he loves & wants to be happy. Is extremely emotional (IMO) but in a way that is very positive & truly satisfying. The situations our main characters find themselves in range from steamy to tender to confusing to dangerous to downright hysterical. I spend the whole time I was reading the book with my fingers crossed for Ryan & Lola to have peace, fulfillment & a HEA.
I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting an emotional but positive & loving romance.
For those familiar with this series: ANOTHER HOME RUN!!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is the eighth book in this awesome series, and is the conclusion of Ryan’s story. Lola and Ryan have both got tragic pasts, and have demons to overcome emotionally and physically in order to heal and move on with their lives. This is a well written emotional rollercoaster journey from beginning to end. I was totally intrigued and hooked throughout and look forward to reading more from this talented author, and highly recommend for all readers.