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512 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 6, 2019
❝ I created the rules, three golden rules to keep me alive. Three golden rules to survive. And then… then I broke them all. And now, I’m paying the price.❞
❝ Love is just a hindrance. It makes you weak and vulnerable. You open yourself up for people to see, even if it’s just a glimpse, and they’ll find weaknesses to exploit. People hurt people. And those who are closest to you have to most power to do so.❞Brook has had a tough life. Her whole life has been one struggle after another. Brook made a set of rules to keep her focused on her goal, finishing high school and getting the hell out of town and far away from her mother.
❝ It irritates me.Max is the complete opposite of Brook. He’s the golden boy, she’s the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She’s the quiet wallflower, he’s the outspoken star athlete.
Infuriates really.
It thrills me.
At the same time, I love and hate the little spark that he sets on fire every time we face one another.❞
❝ Brook wants me to be a good little boy and follow her rules, and any other time I’d listen, but something about her wakes up a rebel in me, and he wants to break them all.❞
❝ My darkness is my own, and I’m not going to taint anybody with it. Especially not him.❞Once I realized that Habits and Rules were going to run concurrent, I was a little disappointed, I thought oh lord, the same story all over again?! Boy was I wrong. Now that we have Max and Brook’s POV, it’s like we are seeing Lines and especially Habits in a whole new light. We see how Max was still reeling dealing with Jeanette’s eating disorder, how he first reacted to finding out about her relationship with Andrew, we see Max dealing with his confusing feelings towards Lia, from thinking he was in love with her, to realizing he was in love with the idea of her. To FINALLY, seeing Max figure out his feelings for Brook, and trying to convince her that she’s not a replacement for Lia, she’s not his second choice, she’s his ONLY choice.
❝ You’re not tainted, Brook. You’re a survivor, a warrior, and don’t let anybody take that away from you.❞
❝ There is something about Brook Taylor that draws my attention, and no matter how long or how hard I stare at her, there is always something more to see, something more to discover about the girl who holds all her secrets close to her.❞I have NEVER hurt so much for one character they way I do for Brook. She has endured so much in her young life. Her childhood was downright painful, to put it mildly. Brook’s mother, Josphine, mentally and physically abused her… not counting what she allowed the people in her home to do… and continuously chose drugs, alcohol, and men over Brook. But despite her mother’s epic failures at being a decent mother, Brook has grown to be a strong and independent young woman. But because of the life that Brook has been forced to live, she keeps her feelings and emotions locked up tight, shying away from any form of attachment and shouldering her burdens all on her own. Brook has always been a bit of an enigma, and now after finding out why she is the way she is, heartbreaking.
❝ I want your all, Brook.❞I adore Max. I know he’s supposed to be this “bad boy” but even in the other books, I only saw him as a good guy. He’s the sweetest boy, and I adore how protective he is of Jeanette. We were able to read her story in her POV in Habits, but being able to read Max’s POV has me seeing her story completely different now. Max’s life may seem perfect on the outside but things aren’t always the way they seem behind closed doors. Max is a protector at his very core and exactly the type of guy that Brook needs. Even though Brook doesn’t need saving because she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself, just like she always has, Max is just the type of guy she can lean on and help shoulder some of that burden she’s been carrying by herself for so long.
❝ Although Brook Taylor doesn’t need a savior, I need her to be my redemption.❞
❝ We’re all broken and jaded in our own way. The only difference is, some of us are better than others at covering it up.❞
❝ Everybody who comes in to your life is there for a reason. Everybody. Don’t forget that. You can try and resist it, you can try to run away from it, but love will find you and it’ll make you fall nonetheless.❞
❝ You made me break my rules.❞*** *** *** *** *** *** ***