Block Party (Twin Estates #3)

5.5 amazing stars!
There are books by authors I look forward to reading and, as soon as theyre announced, I add them to my Want to Read list without reading the blurb, knowing ahead of time these master storytellers have yet to let me down. Each and every one of them a well-written tale, usually filled with intrigue, love, humor, and tears. Luckily for us, Block Party combines all these elements, and so much more. I had my laugh out loud moments, in between the ugly cry ones, and sometimes there was even that weird combination of both, at once. This story combines the perfect amount of sweet and sour, some angst and then humor, to lighten the story, so its not bogged down in too much heaviness.

Its the third book in the Twin Estates Series and, while its technically a Standalone, I recommend everyone reading the first two books as there are crossover characters and some back story you wont be privy to otherwise. This book features the amazing and wonderful Mr. Edenhoff, who I admit Im in love with, and Im happy he didnt get his girl, Katya, in the previous books. Oops! See, thats a spoiler from books one and two, which is why you shouldve read them by now, but we wouldnt have this story if he had, so

Liam Edenhoffs a mess. Well, his personal life is, hes thirty-two and hasnt been very successful with relationships and hes wondering what he can do to fix it. Everyone thinks he doesnt take anything seriously and just likes to have fun. Liams a people pleaser and everyone, women especially, all gravitate towards him. But not everything is as it seems and he decides he needs to grow up. After Katya chose Wulf, his ex-business partner and former friend, hes been trying to sort his life. He wants his twin brother, Landon, to get off his couch and either find someplace else to live or go back to practicing medicine out of the country. Hes been avoiding Wulfs twenty-year old sister, Brighton Brie Stone, whos been stalking him like a mad woman, after he decided to end their casual sex arrangement. If he had a bunny she would have boiled it by now. And now hes afraid shell spill the beans and tell Katya and Wulf about their dirty little secret. His bookkeeping at the club is atrocious, but at least he convinced Wulfs executive assistant, Ayumi Nakada, whos a CPA, to stay on as his bookkeeper. A very no-nonsense, nose to the grindstone, bookkeeper that makes poor Liam do math. Something no one should be forced to do!

Being an adult is nowhere near as awesome as everyone makes it seem.

Ayumi Nakada, at twenty-seven, has no life outside of being Wulf Stones executive assistant for the last five years. Wulfs her emergency contact, should anything ever happen to her, as shes informed him. Ayumi is closer to him than anyone, unfortunately thats sad, since she doesnt really know anyone. She works up to fourteen hours a day, sometimes seven days a week and has no social life, no friends to call and meet somewhere for a drink. She adopted a cat recently, so she doesnt live alone. She had an arrangement with someone shed meet occasionally, when she had an itch to scratch, but he moved away and while she wasnt actively looking to replace him, it would be nice to find someone who could keep things casual. Shes tried to please her mother her entire life and feels shell never live up to her impossibly high expectations, and as a result, their relationship is almost non-existent. Mrs. Nakada always said Ayumi was a ruiner of things and felt that was something she did excel at. Since her own mother never had a loving relationship with her father, Ayumi didnt have an example she could follow, so she had no idea what to do or not do. Its no wonder Liam calls her the Ice Queen.

Ayumi had really gotten to Liam, it seemed. A girl carved out of ice had somehow managed to touch him in ways no one else had. He was scared. It was bad enough feeling like he wasnt good enough for his family and friendsbut to not be good enough for Ayumi, that was simply too much, it seemed.

When these two broken people finally notice each other they embark on a strange journey of discovery. Both have secrets they slowly begin to share with each other. They both have so much complex, and heavy baggage theyve been dragging around their entire lives, its both painful, and amazing to see how they slowly let some pieces go. Sometimes it seems that for every step forward one of them takes the other takes two backwards. I loved this couple so much and wept more than once to see how much they suffered, both physically, and emotionally. Oh and theres an epilogue and its freaking amazing!

***4.5 You Are The Moment Stars***

I know I should have been prepared for anything and everything after reading the first two books in the series, but h$ly h@ll can we say Hello, angsty emotional rollercoaster?!? I swear my emotions are still trying to settle after this one. But even with ALL the angst going on, they were balanced out some seriously swoon worthy and heart melting moments that made experiencing Liam and Ayumis journey absolutely worthwhile!

I was Team Taco aka Team Liam from the beginning. Yes, he did some stupid things in the first two books and I wanted to give him a good Gibbs smack a time or two, but his laid back and yet astute nature and innate charisma combined with his unhealthy love affair with tacos made him irresistible. But here we get to see what really makes him tick and find that he really is so much more. His heart is truly golden, but a little more bruised than anyone truly realizes and those bruises are what has him doing things that get him into the emotional entanglements that constantly plague him.

Ayumi*big deep breath* Straight up, I loved the woman from the start and I ended up adoring the woman she evolved into in the end, but D@@MN! She could give graduate level classes in how to repress your emotions and build up titanium walls around yourself. She is something well beyond ice, in the beginning. But as her past unfolds, I got why she was the way she was and why she believed it to be the only way for her to live and my heart hurt for her. So watching as she allowed bits and pieces of her heart to be exposed, I found the icy woman had a warm soul that only needed the right push to break free of its confines.

Now for Liam and Ayumis extremely bumpy journey to their HEA…all I can say is that it was total opposites attract goodness! Yes, I got whiplash and wanted to smack some sense into both of them from beginning to almost the very end, but they were absolutely addicting when they were together. They were so opposite in so many ways that it made them so perfect for each other because through their differences they ended up helping the other confront their issues and hopefully bring about a lightbulb moment that would be the catalyst for a positive change in their outlooks on life. But of course nothing is ever easy, and dear lord did these two have a lot to work through. Some of their actions and reactions fell firmly into the juvenile zone, but they did bring about some pretty deep epiphanies even if they werent always welcome. In the end, I love them together and where they ended up, it wasnt pretty, but Liam and Ayumi definitely deserved the HEA they got.

Block Party was all kinds of angsty, swoon worthy goodness that hooked me from the first page and had me wanting more in the end. If you havent read Neighbors & The Neighborhood, the first two books in the series, you wont be totally lost as Ms. Fantme has done a great job at giving the reader just enough background on what happened with Wulf, Katya and Liam, but Im always a proponent of reading things in order and if you do decided to start at the beginning youll have a better understanding of why things between certain characters are the way they are, especially because Katya, Wulf, Tori and Landon do make some appearances throughout the book. If you love an opposites attract romance that has a tendency to dip its toes into the almost OTT angsty realm, but is tempered by a good dose of sweet and smexy moments then you will definitely LOVE Block Party!

~ Copy provided by Give Me Books Promotions & voluntarily reviewed ~

Blurb:
Things you need for a good Block Party:
1. Awesome food
2. Great Music
3. Fun games
4. A secret spot to hook up with your even-more-secret girlfriend.
Liam Edenhoff is a simple creature. He likes women, tacos, and sex. As long as he has those in his life, everything is good. He’s finally realizing maybe he’s just not cut out for relationships – surely there’s got to be a woman out there who’d be okay with roof top margaritas, casual sex, and no attachments.
Enter a new neighbor – one who is allergic to commitment and prefers her sex casual but frequent. She’s seen him at his worst and is still willing to play his games, on three conditions – discretion is a must, casual is key, and absolutely no drama. Sounds like the perfect arrangement. What could go wrong?
Famous last words when dealing with neighbors.

Review, spoilers!!!:
Finally he redeems himself. Manwhore Liam gets a stalker, non-other than Brie, Wulf`s little sister. He is saved by Ayumi Nakada.
Now they are going on a road trip and they will get to know each other better. Who will mess up first? Ayumi who only wants a physical relationship or Liam who also only wants to be intimate.
How can 2 damaged souls heal each other?

What I liked:
She did it again, after I hated Liam`s guts, she makes Liam redeemed himself. And how!!
The dude always thinks he is second best. First to Landon and now to Katya. But Ayumi makes him see differently. They weren`t supposed to fall for one another, but it happened. How will they stay together without them boycotting themselves?

What I didn`t like:
How can Liam even have thought that he loved Katya when he was screwing Brie? I mean, hello!! He didn`t deserve Katya.

Im so relieved that this isnt the last book in this truly fascinating series. I have loved each and every book so far and Block Party was as much of a hit as its predecessors. As Ive said before, many times, Stylo Fantome is an amazing writer. Her stories are captivating and the storylines flow effortlessly. The characters she creates are endearing and memorable.

Block Party picks up the story after Katyas epic fall from grace (in my eyes) in The Neighborhood. Now with Wulf, Katya has left Liam at a loose end. Solely in charge of his sex club, he and his right-hand woman, Tori, are all he has in his life, apart from Brie, Wulfs rather persistent sister and Liams biggest hookup mistake to date. With Brie not understanding the word no, Liam finds his life in turmoil, well apart from his business dealings but that is only thanks to Tori and Ayumi, Wulfs assistant and Liams part-time accountant. Ayumi is all business and really does live up to her Ice Queen name. With little to no sense of humour, much to Liams chagrin, Ayumi is sexy but cold and aloof but, as they say, opposites do attract and when Ayumi ends up in Liams apartment having escorted a paralytic Tori there after a night out which also included Katya, Liam finds an altogether different side to Ayumi on his hands.

What Liam and Ayumi have is explosive but with Ayumis fears of rejection and lifetime belief that shes not good enough for anyone or likely to ruin anything she comes close to having for herself, thanks to her mothers cruel taunts, anything more that one night stand with this beautiful but closed off woman is practically impossible. That is until Wulf gives Ayumi a task which sees her needing to escape her day job for a short while before commencing it. With Liam about to set off on a road trip, Ayumi finds herself asking to tag along and thats when we get to see the real Liam and Ayumi.

Both characters are enigmas in their own right but its only with time do Ayumis many layers reveal themselves as we get to find out why she has become so broken. As you would expect, any sort of a romance between Liam and Ayumi is going to be one step forward and two steps back and whilst their deliberate relationship was endearing it was also equally frustrating but with all great stories, you are teased with hope and the possibility of a HEA and eventually Liam starts to win the battle for Ayumis affections or does he?

As this story progresses, readers are also teased with a possible romantic development which nicely leads into the next story and the end of the book even treats, or taunts, you with an insight into the start of Tori and Landons story. I can’t wait!

I simply cant recommend this series enough, or any books by this author come to that. They all captivating and leave you wanting more. I always savour every word on every page – theres no speed reading with these books, so sit back, get comfortable and enjoy the ride.

Another hit from Stylo Fantome!
This is the third book in the Twin Estates series, and is by far, my favourite of the three.
Liam Edenhoff, man-whore extraordinaire and sex-club owner, meets his match in the form of the tiny “Ice Queen”, Ayumi Nakada.
The verbal sparring sessions between Liam and Ayumi are particularly entertaining and form the start of a great story.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member