About the Book
Title: Defiant Attraction
Author: V.K. Torston
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Release Date: November 16th
Dan might be the enemy of my enemy, but I’m not sure that makes him my friend. He’s definitely not my ‘step brother’, no matter what everyone at school says. Honestly, I don’t know what he’s supposed to be to me. Or what he’s becoming…
Fact: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In the yearbook, I’ll be Sophia Ramos: Valedictorian. Years of honor roll certificates, AP classes, and lugging around an obnoxiously large cello case are about to finally pay off. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll escape these decaying suburbs for a top university across the country.
The problem? A few years ago, my mom met someone just as broke, just as drunk, and just as impulsive as she is. Approximately five seconds into their relationship, they decided it would be an excellent idea for him—and his son, Dan—to move in with us. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t).
Now I share a house with none other than Daniel Cole. Even though Dan dropped out two years ago, he’s still the tattooed, bad boy, heartthrob, legend of St. Anthony’s Academy. He and I aren’t supposed to have anything in common.
Living together means war. First, Dan and I were at war with each other. Now, our rivalry is giving way to an unlikely alliance—two opposing sides teaming up against a common enemy: our respective parents.
Which is to say, we’ve been hanging out.
Question: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object
Here’s the thing: My brain is a complex organ. One hundred billion neurons, each with an average of seven thousand synaptic connections to other neurons. My brain is my ticket out of here.
My heart, by contrast, is a pump. It moves blood around.
I know Dan is off-limits. I know I shouldn’t do something I’ll regret. And I know how much is at stake (my family, my future).
So why can’t I stop thinking about him? Those inscrutable jade eyes. The smile that can say a thousand different things at once. That tattoo curving across his abs…
Even though I know better, I feel that pounding in my chest. And it’s getting harder to ignore.
But if I follow my heart, I can never go back.
Answer: There is no such thing as an immovable object.
My Review
“It’s as if he needs to feel all of me at once and I need the same.”
What a fantastic debut book! I can tell from the first page of a book whether it has that elusive “it” factor that will keep me engaged and invested in the characters. And ‘Defiant Attraction’ certainly has that quality. While I would have loved a little more background on both main characters, overall this was a sexy, well-written story that shows tons of promise for this author.
Daniel and Sophie live under the same roof but they are not step-siblings. Their dysfunctional parents just happen to live together. Dan is the quintessential “bad boy” – muscular, elusive, tatted up, and way too cool for good-girl Sophie. Sophie is a cello-playing star student who is the valedictorian of her graduating class. But she and Dan both struggle with their bleak home life and yearn for something more. So when they finally get together, there is no keeping them apart.
The grooves between his hip muscles are only just visible above the sheets. ‘Actioni contrariam semper et æqualem esse reactionem’ —for every action, an equal and opposite reaction. Lucky, that.
This is not exactly a stepbrother romance but when Dan and Sophie’s parents find out about them, there is hell to pay. There is absolutely no unnecessary drama in this story and I found it to be enormously readable.
I applaud the author for taking on the topic of cyber-bullying and the angst of high school life. Even if you are not a fan of young-adult stories, this one will thrill you and has plenty of steamy romance. I found the characters to all be realistic and believable. And I absolutely ADORED Daniel!
“This is the car that once carried me to school every day. We lie together in the back, all pretense stripped. I curl into the strangeness of us. For the first time, I wonder what he is to me. And what he’s been.
“Do you remember when we hated each other?” I ask.
“That only lasted as long as our parents liking each other,” he says. “So, not very long.”
I would love to see a continuation of Dan and Sophie’s story. The author gives them a very satisfying HFN here but there is a lot that could be explored with these two very memorable characters. Bravo to V.K. Torston for a wonderful debut!
Sophia Ramos’s life is over. Long live Mirror-Sophie.
ARC provided by the author in return for an honest review.)
About the Author
V.K. Torston is a millennial and ‘cool aunt’ to a brood of nieces and nephews. She was born and raised in San Francisco, attended university in New York City, and aspires to one day live in London. A veteran of the independent music scene, she began writing nonfiction in her late teens. Then she realized that making up stories was way more fun than coming up with endless synonyms for ‘frenetic’ and ‘danceable.’ Her hobbies include drinking too much coffee, making up stupid songs, and ranting about current events. Defiant Attraction is her first novel.
Follow V.K. Torston
Twitter: @VKTorston
Facebook: @VKTorston
Goodreads: /VKTorston