*I received a free copy of Sugar Free from Loveswept via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Sugar Free by Sawyer Bennett Series: Sugar Bowl #3
Published by Loveswept on 11 October 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Erotica, Suspense
Pages: 216
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Sela and Beck’s deliciously sinful tale of sex, lies, and vengeance reaches its explosive conclusion in the final chapter of Sawyer Bennett’s Sugar Bowl trilogy, which began with the novels Sugar Daddy and Sugar Rush.
For years Sela Halstead dreamed of revenge, but the quest for payback has been anything but sweet. Now, once again, she finds herself at the mercy of Jonathon Townsend, his hands crushing the very breath from her body. And even though she escapes with her life, Sela fears she may never recover. In desperate need of shelter and comfort, she runs to the one man she can trust. Beckett North has stood by Sela since the beginning. But can he handle the brutal truth?
Beck will do anything to protect what is his—and make no mistake, Sela belongs to him, heart and soul. The passion between them runs hot, even as their world begins to unravel. With the legacy of his ruthless business partner hanging in the balance, Beck stands to lose everything: his fortune, his family, his freedom. But each touch of Sela’s mouth on his skin, her nails down his back, makes it harder to let her go—and it might not even be his choice to make.
Sugar Free nicely ends the Sugar Bowl series… but not after some incredible twists and turns where every possible solution seems impossible.
A lot is going on in Sugar Free, and beware of possible spoilers from Sugar Daddy and Sugar Rush in this review, as it’s really very difficult to discuss what happens here without sharing what happened in the prior two instalments. Sela is in a seemingly impossible predicament at the beginning of the story, and Beck jumps in head first to save her and keep her out of harm’s way. Even with the horrible actions Sela had to partake in, because she only did it to save herself, I was cheering her on. Beck went way out of his comfort zone on more than one occasion, and while I completely understood the detectives working on the case, I just wanted them to stay away from my characters to let them get on with their lives!
The DA in Sugar Free was the worst possible character, and it was good to have someone to pour my hatred on, especially as she didn’t mind using the press to further her own agenda and possible career. It did make for some awesome twists in Sela and Beck’s relationship, though, and it definitely tested their loyalty. The trial was heartbreaking, and I could just not see a resolution for the protagonists, not one where they would be free from prison, and possibly happy.
The ending of Sugar Free made me optimistic about a possible sequel or spin-off to Sugar Bowl, as there are many new adventures the main characters and some of the side characters could still go on. Written in first person perspective, with alternating points of view from Sela’s and Beck’s side, and in past tense, the story unfolded at a fast pace, managing to keep the readers in the dark for most of it. Now that all three books are out, you really should pick them up, pour yourself your favorite beverage (either in a glass or in a cup) and settle in and enjoy this wild ride!
Beck pulls away from me slightly, his hands holding my upper arms with such gentleness. Those eyes I’ve come to love swimming with fear. My own eyes fill with wetness again and with one blink, the tears go streaming down my face. I haven’t been able to stop crying since…
Fuck, I hate hearing these details. She was almost robotic in her retelling, as if she was reciting merely from a bad memory she tucked deep away so as to protect herself, and it was too painful to bear repeating.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
It’s great to see that this one doesn”t disappoint either, it looks like a really good one again!
Yeah, this whole series was very well done! Very hot, but with revenge plans that could have ruined everything Sela really wanted…
Twitter: ailynk
revenge that is sugar free? Not bad I guess as long as it is served cold
LOL Ailyn 🙂 I love how you make such great puns these days!!
Twitter: ailynk
mummy brains I tell you
Twitter: BerlsS
I decided not to read your review because I’m currently listening to Sugar Daddy and loving it! Definitely going to be continuing with the series. And I love seeing that five stars, guess I can expect to keep loving it:)
Happy hump day Lexxie, hope it’s a great one! *hugs*
WooHoo Berls! I have the audio ARC for both Sugar Daddy and this one. I hope you’re enjoying it! {{hugs}}
I’ve glimpsed this series a few times but never picked it up. It seems really interesting though, sexy too. Glad you enjoyed the story. Thanks for your awesome review 🙂
I love Sawyer Bennett, Shane, and with each new series she launches, her originality shines through.
Hmmm…don’t know if this series is for me!
It’s sure that it isn’t for everyone, Melissa, but that’s OK 🙂
I’m listening to Sugar Daddy right now, Lex, so I didn’t read your review. I’m enjoying Sela and Beck’s story so far even if I had to stretch my ability to suspend disbelief a bit over Sela’s dreams of revenge. 😉 I’m so thrilled that this story wraps up so well though. I have a feeling I’ll move directly into Sugar Rush once I finish Sugar Daddy…and then have to wait for Sugar Free to arrive in my mailbox. 😉
FYI, I didn’t get an email about this post. I thought it was weird you didn’t have anything posted so I came by anyway. Glad I did. 🙂 Hope your week is progressing well. I’ve been a bit under the weather but am feeling better. It’s a must since I’m leaving Friday morning. 😉 *BIG HUGS & LOVE*
I did, however, get one for Thirsty Thursday…hmm…
I have the audio, too. I’ll listen to it very soon. It’s weird, audio ARCs I asked for a while ago are all coming in this week o.O I’ll be very busy 😉 There was something going on with my sharing thing on the day this was posted! It didn’t show up on Twitter, FB and elsewhere either. I didn’t think about the e-mail not being sent. I’m glad you stopped by anyway, my dear 🙂
One more sleep, wife! *BIG HUGS*
I should’ve grabbed these from NG when I had the chance. #Regret 😀 I’ll have to read them when I can.
Oh yeah, you really should have, Christy! This is your kind of series 😉
Ugh. I’ve been stocking NetGalley for the past month for this book. I LOVED the first two, which I got from NG. How did I miss? I’m really sad now.
It was only up for a day or two, it seems Sawyer Bennett’s books are very hot over there… I keep checking for the next Hockey romance, but it’s not up yet. Plus, I missed the 2nd in this series, Lauren, so you’re definitely not alone!