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140 pages, ebook
First published September 15, 2014
"I'll never break when I have her by my side because she'll bend with me, hold the chips that break off when times get tough and help me put them back."
"You know life is one big scavenger hunt. Fate hands you a list of things to experience. Ones you never expected, ones that break you, ones that heal you. So many of them you swear you'll never even attempt or want to cross off your list. You get caught up in the day to day, moment to moment, and then one day you look at your list and realize you've unexpectedly completed some of the tasks. It's only then you realize that the brutal truths the scavenger hunt has made you face has only made you a better person, but has also given you an unforeseen prize when all is finally said and done."
“Arrogant. Conceited. Egomaniac!”
“And I’ve never felt more exposed in my life. Guard down. Heart open. Soul needing. Accepting. Wanting.”
“With temerity and defiance, obstinance and patience, she chipped away at every hard edge of me until there was nothing left but the truths I feared. The bent and broken. The ones buried so goddamn deep I knew they’d push her away.”
“I love you.” The words are out without thought, my hands shaking, the little boy in me hoping he hears them. I immediately hear the hitch of his breath as his whole body freezes. He slowly hangs his head forward, his shoulders shuddering momentarily. He raised his head and nods a couple of times. “And that is my unexpected reward for my scavenger hunt.” His voice is thick with emotion. “I love you too, Son.”
Raced is like the extended edition of your favorite movie. You already love it so anything more is just going to be icing on the cake. The novella, or mini-book, is a collection of deleted scenes and alternate Colton povs. It’s broken into three parts, each one devoted to one of the books in the Driven Trilogy. Each chapter begins with an introduction by Bromberg as well as the chapter and location it relates to in the coordinating book.
What a treat! Anyone craving a Colton fix will be thrilled to get inside his head again. Each pov takes place at a pivotal moment in Colton and Rylee’s relationship, from their initial encounter at the charity auction:
You hear addicts say that their first line of coke is what hooks them, causes them to do irrational things for the next fix. I finally get it.
The fight scene near the end of Fueled:
How could she really believe I’d want something more when I have her? Perfection. Necessity. The Holy motherfucking Grail.
And their first attempt at being physical after Colton returns from the hospital. A scene hot enough to scorch your Kindle:
And between her wetness on my fingers and the memories of her gripping my dick has me pre-coming like a fucking adolescent school boy but fuck me, I’ll take it. I’ll take anything I can get from her because Rylee? She’s fucking everything.
I loved that we also got scenes not previously shown in the novel. Like Colton and Becks writing “romantic” poetry in Nashville and Colton’s father bringing up the idea of marriage. While I do wish we had gotten a peak at Colton and Rylee’s lives during the ten years between the last chapter of Crashed and the epilogue, I understand that it would have been a monumental undertaking to try and recap a decade.
I can’t imagine any fan of the Driven Trilogy not falling head over heels for Raced. This novella is the result of countless fans that just couldn’t say goodbye to the series they fell in love with. Hopefully Raced helps ease the hurt of finally having to let go. What a fantastic conclusion to an amazing series.