Daire:Lola Bell could easily bring an army of men to their knees… as long as she never opened her mouth. She’s soft in too many ways. A people pleaser who goes the extra mile. Some might call her an easy target. In short, she has all of the qualities that I despise. But when it comes to me, she doesn’t hesitate to fling her poison arrows my way. She has every right to her feelings. Over the … her feelings. Over the years, I’ve given her plenty of ammo.
Yeah, I hate Lola. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting her too. When she makes me a proposition I can’t refuse, there’s just one problem.
She tastes so fcking sweet. So fcking good.
So f*cking mine.
This is a full length standalone.
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Lola has one desire in life…
Have a relationship that turns into marriage, bringing on kids and happiness.
The dark cloud has been following Lola for quite some time. Recently breaking up with her ‘boyfriend’ of 5 years, Lola realizes that in order to stop attracting the ‘loser’ boyfriends she has, she needs to make some changes.
Adrian Daire…Successful, Attractive and tells you how it is with no filters. Sounds like the perfect person to help Lola make the changes to become more marketable.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a smooth read that flowed great. The hidden story is there. Until you hear the story from the person involved, never come to conclusions.
#BookBistroBlogApproved
I bought this book through kindle and my review is voluntary.
There may be triggers for some regarding alcohol addiction.
Adrian and Lola have a long, ugly history. It takes tragedy and tears and alot of ugly words before these two can find their way together.
I really liked the authors Boston Underworld series and Beast. This is another great story. Not pretty but life isn’t pretty.
Man, I love A.Zavarelli! This book is so wonderful. Lola is such a wonderful character, she is a mess, a people pleaser, crazy and looking for love. She is looking for that and not having any luck in that department at all. She does have a long time “friend” Daire who is none of those things. He is a very hard man with no wanting need for love. When Lola asks for Daire to help her toughen herself up he has some choice words.
This is a romance story for the time. I will reread this book over and over. This is a hard book to read sometimes with the emotions that run through it.
It’s not often I pick up a book and devour it in a single day. I’ve done it in the past with Zavarelli’s books, and this one was no different. I loved every minute of it, and I couldn’t wait to figure out what happened next.
Adrian Daire isn’t a good guy. He’s gruff and mean and has let his past take over his life. One thing he is good at, though, is showing up in Lola’s life and making it hell. The two seem to hate each other, and I love the tension and constant bickering between them.
Lola was so cute, and so flawed. She seemed so real in the story, like she could be your friend in real life. I liked her quirkiness and her heart, and I loved that she started to not only stand up for herself, but take action to get what she truly wanted out of life.
The ending was great. It was messy and real and funny, and though I wasn’t sure it would end that way, I’m really glad it did.
“He’s order, and I am chaos. We don’t mix.”
Tap Left delivers 100% of raw angst, a dramatic storyline of lust/love that is so real that it’s palpable through the pages. A. Zavarelli knows how to capture her readers through a climatic enemies to lovers romance that I loved every step of the way. She excels at writing a well emotional turmoil novel. Falling in love with the characters, feel their emotions right through the pages as if they are right in front of you.
Lola has the worst ways with men, always seeking out marriage material when really they aren’t. Instead, the men walk all over her and the good natured person that she is, let’s them. After her latest, Tom, she’s DONE! She wants to find “the one” so she elicits help from the evil one… Daire. Adrian Daire that is.
Enemy. Acquaintance. Past Admirer. Whomever you would like to call it. Adrian Daire, big bad wolf, has made a name for himself. However, he loathes Lola, but for some reason his mind & body keeps calling out to her. She once belonged to his brother, so he shouldn’t want her, but sharing a past is what ties them together. When Lola calls out to him with a proposition, he should say no and disconnect, but she’s so tempting! Will the hatred and guilt be too much for these two to conquer what really lingers deep down?
“Grief is raw and mess, and it’s the most intimate thing you can share with another human being.”
I love how Zavarelli has brought us two polar opposite characters; quirky, chaos vs. dominant, commanding. However, both are broken and struggling to sort out their pasts and the only way to do that is to come together and figure it out. Their story is not pretty, it’s not flawless. It’s jagged, bumpy but once you dive into this angsty roller coaster you won’t want to stop! The sexual chemistry is raw, powerful and hot beyond flames. Let’s not forget the emotional struggle these two have to overcome. Guilt, resentment is so strong within this powerhouse of a story it will tug at your heartstrings.
Don’t let Tap Left get away from you! This is one book I will be re reading over and over again!
5 hate to love stars!
Wow! Another great read by A. Zavarelli. Daire and LB’s journey is tumultuous and full of angst. Throw in some dominance and it makes for a hard to put down read. Grabs you from the start and hold you until the end.
Oh My God!! Tap Left left me with a major book hangover! Lola (LB) and Daire (Adrian) are one of the most frustrating, you have got to get your shit together, craziest book couples to ever come across my Kindle. But, thanks to Zavarelli’s amazingly deft writing chops, they made me fall in love with them as much as I hated them.
Lola and Daire have a past. We’re not given exactly what happened between them at first, not until much further in their story, but it’s enough for the reader to know there is some serious animosity between them. And yet, for some reason, they still keep in contact, even as much as they profess to hate each other.
Daire is
“One hundred percent sin and twice as much trouble. That’s Adrian in a nutshell. He’s the absolute definition of a cold-hearted bastard. Reclusive, blunt and downright mean. And yet it’s this masterful combination of chemistry that seems to bring even the most well put together women to heel.”
So it’s little wonder that when Lola asks Daire to help her get herself together and be presentable to the opposite sex, so she can find love, a relationship and all that jazz, that his plan for her is not exactly on the up and up. You see, Daire hates Lola as much as he wants her, has always wanted her. She doesn’t know he’s always wanted her though. Thanks to the dual POV, we’re given his thoughts, and wow, they’re pretty bad. He really is the cold-hearted ass that she says he is. And yet…there’s a sliver of something human in him that Lola isn’t aware of, or at least, hasn’t seen in him for years. And when it FINALLY comes out, I was cheering, and exhausted, because the ride Lola and Daire had taken me on to that point, was thrilling, sexy, but above all, painful and pretty sad.
Yes, they have sex, lots of dirty, dominating sex. But, it doesn’t seem to mean anything to Daire, or at least that is the way Lola sees it. And she’s given their whatever it is, 3 weeks before the expiration date. Because that’s when she’s supposed to meet ThatGuy, the guy she’s been flirting with on the Tap Left app. And she wants to be baggage free when she meets him, and that means no more Daire, no more dirty sex where she gives him her submission because she can’t help herself. She wants to be free of the hold Daire has on her when she meets ThatGuy, so she foolishly assumes she can put an expiration date on their relationship, on her feelings, feelings she assumes Daire doesn’t share. Foolish, foolish woman.
And Lola is foolish, really, really foolish. That was my main problem with her. As sweet as she is, and she is sweet, she is so naive and such a people pleaser that she makes ridiculous decisions, sometimes cruel decisions, and it was frustrating to read. She drove me nuts sometimes, but I still loved her, even as I wanted to smack her more than once. Honestly, I could understand why Daire hated her sometimes. Not that Daire was a saint. Oh no, he’s the opposite. He’s definitely Satan. A really, really hot, tormented demon that has glimpses of some sort of humanity at times.
Sigh…what else can I say about these two frustrating people? Well, I highly recommend you read their story. It’s not dark and twisted like some of Zavarelli’s other stuff that I love so much. But, it is twisted in its own way, and it’s got dark overtones in the way Lola and Daire’s relationship evolved. But, above all, Tap Left is something you should read because it’s sexy, complicated, so completely developed, and you’ll fall in love with Daire and LB, even as you’ll probably want to smack them around, too. Kudos to A. Zavarelli for this sexy, entertaining, frustrating tale!
Lola B is a simple girl with simple dreams.
Love. Marriage. Kids.
And she keeps making wrong choices all the time !!
If I had any sense about me, I would have walked away from this dysfunctional relationship years ago. But my brain is programmed to want all the things I’m not supposed to have. Chocolate. Candy. Assholes.
So she’s on a wheel , running and getting nowhere, with “Bad Choices” song playing in the background. She’s had her heart broken when younger and her nemesis is hell bent on poking her every year. She hates his face -Adrian Daire , might as well be the Devil himself, the way LB hates him with her every pore.
He’s order, and I am chaos. We don’t mix.
She’s tarred me as a sellout. A slave to the corporate world. A dispassionate jackass with a blackened heart. In her mind, she is the Eat, Pray, Love to my Wolf on Wall Street.
And as the story unfolds you see the things they’ve been hiding, the layers to their disorders, the hidden secrets in their closets. Things are definitely not what they seem to be always.
Eyes DO deceive you at times !!
And they Hate each other…well apparently !
“Sometimes the things we hate so much in others are a reflection of the way we feel about ourselves,Sometimes, we don’t love what’s good for us. Sometimes we board a sinking ship and punch the ticket anyway. Because self-sacrifice is such a romantic notion. Until you grow up. And then it isn’t.
I loved the characters to an extent. The story was very novel, very different. Lola frustrated me no end with her ASSumptions!!
She’s a grown up , yet continues to behave childishly, running from problems is her MO. Assuming everything that’s not true and believing in all the untruths…very annoying
Adrian in all his assholery is a tragic figure, my sympathies lied with him. This only flaw- He was silent pretty much his entire life.
The world keeps on spinning regardless of what year you’re stuck in.”
And he is still stuck in the years of their adolescence.
He didn’t speak then, he doesn’t speak now.
Too much stoicism and misplaced honour is self deprecating and is the root cause of their self loathing and negative self confidence . The back and forth was a bit dragged on. Hot and cold attitudes a bit stretched , yet ,I couldn’t stop reading the book though.
If I had to sum up the story in a line, I’d say
wrong choices at the wrong time
Be ready to bear the consequences
4 ThatGuy stars
This book was different than what I’m used to from this author. It was a love/hate read and I couldn’t get enough!
The characters were complex and beautifully layered and I found some of the banter hilarious! Don’t think it’s all hearts and giggles. Lola and Daire have history. They’ve known each other for years and eventually all the secrets and lies come out. I hated the heartbreak and the constant fight against the magnetic current flowing through them. Throw in some drama from the past and you have one hell of a story that is not easy to put down.
Lola is a hot mess and I love her quirkiness. Daire is an a*****e that needs to check his cranky attitude at the door. The characters were layered and real and took me on an emotional roller coaster.
The sexy times were hotter than a whore in church and had me in desperate need of a cold shower. Oh how I loved his dirty mouth. Some of which had me blushing so hard I was glad no one saw me reading those parts.
I loved this book and would recommend it!
Adrian Daire and Lola Bell captivated my heart with their story. Their push and pull, love and hate relationship with each other was amazing to read. I laughed and cried at different times throughout the book. I need to also add that my Kindle got pretty hot to the touch at some of the stimulating scenes of these two. A great storyline, well-written characters made a really great read.
This was my first time reading anything from A. Zavarelli. I really did enjoy the book, and the characters. I however did feel like there was some waffling about 75% in to just fill the pages. But overall, I loved the quirkiness of Lola and controlling ways of Daire, and how she was able to bring him down a peg or two! I enjoyed the rawness of Daire’s issues, and the way that Lola was able to handle him. Ohhhh the twist with the App was so good!! I LOVED IT!
My fave quotes from the book:
In the Prologue: “You only get one life. It’s time to grab it by the balls.” Loved that quote!
“I don’t date, Lola. I fuck. There’s a difference.” When Lola first asks for Daire’s help. Oh Lola, girl, you’re in trouble now!
“I just…if we’re going to meet, them maybe you can help me out while we’re at it.” When Lola knows that Daire can help her more than she thinks he can.
What the fuck do they want? I love that is how Lola describes the questions that men are asking themselves about women!
One thing I’ll never have to question is the sex with Tom. Tom’s a two-pump chump guaranteed. Daire’s thought on Tom LOL!!!
It’s filtered by what I can snag for the smallest amount of money and also whether or not there’s a Retailmenot coupon available. Makes it more real, as I use that site myself LOL!! Loved that it’s in a book!
“This is not the start of my fairy tale. This is Daire and Lola, the classic version. The one where we could only ever have an unhappy ending because that’s how classics go. We don’t buck the trend. We don’t make waves. We get drunk and say mean things to each other, and we grieve. This is nothing new.”
First of all, let me just preface that I have read and enjoyed every book I’ve read from this Author, and while it isn’t like her last few releases, I thoroughly enjoyed it!! It was different, and had just about everything you could possible look for: Alpha jerk that makes you want to smack him and cheer Lola on at the same time (check), adorably flawed characters that take you through all the feels (check), dirty hotness that you may not want to read in public (check), and a sweet progression from something very close to enemies to lovers (check). I found it fun to read, the banter giggleworthy, and yet deeper parts of the plot to reveal so much more to the characters and add layers to the story.
“He is flawed beyond measure, but I love every broken piece of him. I live for the dirty and filthy things that explode from his mouth when he has his way with me. And I wonder if he knows just how much he really owns me.”
While I know Daire was incredibly flawed and had issues galore, my only complaint (my own personal sometimes with enemies to lovers) is that at times for me felt a little over the top with hatred. It took a long time for both of them to melt, and there was a period where it occurred to me why they would bother, but once the one awkward scene that was pretty hot, but left me feeling a little guilty for thinking so was out of the way, I felt the connection and had my aha moment. I thank the Author for providing a copy to review!!
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
Tap Left is my first book by A. Zavarelli so I didn’t know what to expect. This is a well-written book. I like the characters. Now for what I didn’t like. I don’t care for the 1st person, alternating point of view format. I’d have much rather read it in 3rd person. Also, the angst was a higher level than what I can stand. That being said, I did like the story. Lola and Daire’s story is packed with drama, angst, humor and smoking hot sex. I also appreciated that this is a complete story, not a cliff-hanger.
Sexy, spicy, sassy and simply a great read! There wasn’t a thing I didn’t love about this book. I found myself laughing quite a bit at some of the dialogue and banter and my heart crumbling other times. The characters are relatable and show that everyone is human, and that love sometimes is sacrificed…but can always be revived.
This Contemporary Romance by A. Zavarelli is right on the money, pulling at your emotions and will have you saying “Sweet Jesus” quite a few times. Absolutely one of my favorites.
This book is loaded with all the feels and maybe a little over the top angst, but the emotional struggles these two MCs faced were so believably raw and heartbreaking their HEA was a must.
It took me a little longer than usual to finish Tap Left because, you know, life, but Daire and Lola are now in the running for my favorite A. Zavarelli MCs.
This is my first book by A. Zavarelli, A good friend recommended the book and her work and it was a very pleasant surprise.. This book was very diffrent of what I’ve read before .. the story, the characters where more dark and complex, specially Adrian Daire.. he was an enigma.. somehow it was hard to know why he was so closed off.. we have the idea because of what he went through, because of the past but once he starts talking and telling the the truth, you are not going to be prepare for what he is about to say… not even Lola was ready to hear his truth..
Daire has been in love with Lola for years (and Lola with him) but destiny keeps playing with their love .. they’ve been fighting for these feelings for so long but it’s time for life to finally move all the right pieces to make Lola and Daire be together.. or should we said is time for Lola and Daire to finally forget about the past and embrace their love?
I love Daire’s character because is very dark, in a way that you don’t really know him that well.. its enigmatic and he don’t give much away to make you figure his character or persona..
Lolas character is strong but very stubborn and that makes you want to shake some senses to her lol but still you are going to like her ..
it was a great story.. and also a great start for me with A Zavarelli.. i’m looking forward to read more of her work..
Ever picked up a book, knowing it was going to be a new adventure, take you places you never really even imagined? This was the story for me. I knew it was going to be good. I knew it was going to have amazing characters, a great story line and amazing writing. What I was unprepared for was the heart wrenching adventure that was involved, the feeling and emotions that a reader feels reading this story. It is such a different story from this author’s previous works and it is just as amazing.
This is the story of Adrian and Lola. It is difficult for me as a reviewer to give justice to this story, so here is my try. Adrian is a good bad guy. He is gruff, pained and a bit despicable. He despises Lola (or so we think; think frenemy) and makes her life difficult. Lola on the other hand is softer, a little lost, and a lot damaged. Adrian helps Lola become more attractive to potential dates she gets matched with on a new app called Tap Left and this is where the story really takes off.
This story felt real, like true, pure, and material. It was raw and emotional, beautiful and pleasing. Multifaceted and intricate characters make this story one for the books. It was worth the read, and the late night to finish it. It will take you on an emotional adventure that it sure to pay off. Oh, and the ending makes the story. Happy reading
Hate. Love. Want. Need. USA Today and Amazon bestselling author, A. Zavarelli’s latest book, Tap Left, features two people who hate and love each other equally, and a dating app that brings them closer together, unleashing their want and desire for the other.
“I thought you were getting married.” He leans back in his chair, pizza forgotten.
“He didn’t have a ladle.”
Lola Bell, or LB as the pain in her butt Adrian Daire likes to call her, has just realized that her relationship with her long-term boyfriend Tom is going nowhere. She tried so hard to be what he wanted for the past few years, only he held back and kept her at a distance. She’s looking for marriage and he only wanted someone to warm his bed from time to time. After a fantastic blow up she walks away but she still wants marriage, to settle down with a nice guy. So, she joins the dating app Tap Left and asks her worst enemy, Daire to help her become what guys want.
“Lola wants to believe that happiness is attainable if she has the right formula. But I’m going to teach her a valuable lesson about what happens when you claim to be something you’re not.”
Daire shouldn’t want Lola, she belonged to his brother first and they share the painful memory of him. Not to mention the fact that they passionately hate each other. When she asks for his help becoming wife material and finding a husband, he should say no, but he doesn’t. The more time they spend together the more they want each other and when she asks him to take things a step farther in making her into a woman any man would want, he resists for all of about five seconds. There’s no denying the sexual chemistry between them, but the hatred still runs deep. Will these two finally give in to what should have been years ago?
“Grief is a bond that is unbreakable. It doesn’t care about time, or differences in personalities, or what’s right and wrong. Grief is raw and messy, and it’s the most intimate thing you can share with another human being.”
I love these two!!! Lola is quirky and eccentric. I love that she runs a bookstore because it’s her passion and refuses to give up on it no matter what. Her reasons for hating Daire, while understandable should not have lasted as long as they did. How long can one hold on to that hatred? Seriously. I feel that she should have let it go way before this story started. But it added to the tension between them and made for some explosive chemistry.
“Loving an addict isn’t for the faint of heart. And my heart’s taken a beating between the two brothers. Daire’s vices are alcohol and painkillers. Ryan’s were anything and everything. He wanted to be high on life all the time.”
Daire, Daire, Daire. What can I say about him except that he is my kind of man. He has an addiction problem and anger issues that are a result of the one night that caused the hatred between him and Lola. One of my favorite things about Daire is that he isn’t perfect, physically or mentally. He struggles with so much, especially when it comes to Lola and her misconceptions of the way things are/were. He is broken but resilient. He doesn’t let his weaknesses take away from his strengths, he uses them to make himself a better man.
“He is flawed beyond measure, but I love every broken piece of him.”
My favorite scene is when they come together at the cemetery. Yes, there is some hot and messy sex happening in this scene, but this is the point where they finally allow themselves to realize the connection that has always been there between them. They don’t fight it. They give in and it is beautiful. Of course, almost immediately after one of them f**** up, but for that short time you get to see how good they will be together.
“There is no better example of opposites than the two of us. In the way we handle our business and our lives. Daire is all about the bottom line, and I’m all about the experience. He doesn’t form emotional attachments, and I live for them. He wears impeccably tailored suits, and I wear whatever I grab from my closet, which usually doesn’t match. He’s well spoken, and I’m well…not.He’s order, and I’m chaos. We don’t mix.”
I loved this book and the writing was superb. I read it one sitting of a few hours. I just couldn’t put it down. Lola and Daire had me caught up not only in their love story but their past and what happened to get them to the point where this story begins. It is a slow revealing in pieces throughout the book, but once everything is out in the open I could understand so much more about these two.
If you like dominant broken men and quirky unique women, then this book is for you. It is a hate/love story filled with lots of heat! FIVE stars!
Hmmmm, this was an emotional rollercoaster for me, equal parts outstanding and okay…depth of character and then the flow got blurred here and there…Zavarelli writes amazing emotion especially conflict and angst but rushes through the transition and realization of truth, understanding and love to a too abrupt ending.
I flove Tap Left. This book sucks you in and consumes you. “Sometimes, we don’t love what’s good for us. Sometimes we board a sinking ship and punch the ticket anyway. Because self-sacrifice is such a romantic notion.” You will board that ship willingly while reading this book and you will not care in you sink. You will enjoy every moment of that sinking ship and you will rejoice at the end when Daire and Lola prevails.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.