Review : Amour Amour by Becca & Krista Ritchie

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Amour Amour
Author : Becca & Krista Ritchie
Publication Date :  December 12th 2015
Publisher : Self-Published
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Love is a circus

"Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me.”

The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”

When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future--acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.

Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be just background to his spellbinding show.

This sexy and exhilarating New Adult Romance can best be described as Cirque du Soleil meets the steamy, athletic romance of Center Stage.

*standalone & no love triangles—recommended for readers 18+ for mature content*

Personal Thoughts

I've been waiting for the longest time to read another book by Becca & Krista that isn't part of the Addicted series, not because I don't like that series (Who am I kidding? Everyone knows I LOVE it!), but because I think they are talented and have the ability to bring something fresh and unique to the New Adult genre. Did they succeed in doing that with Amour Amour? HELL YES!

Amour Amour was a story with a beautiful message and I think it's a book that everyone in their early adulthood should read. It's a book that teaches readers to chase after your dreams and even if you fall down, get up, work hard and you will eventually reach that summit. That was special for me because I'm at that stage of my life where I am chasing my dreams but I'm also utterly terrified of the potential consequences. Amour Amour's protagonist Thora was a wonderful one. She certainly started off as a weak character and I was a bit worried at first, but her character development was amazing. Like with every character that Becca & Krista Ritchie have crafted, Thora was an individual who inspired a lot of awe from my side. Quitting college when you only have a few semesters left to pursue your goals is an incredibly risky move. Some would call it utterly foolish, and there were people around Thora who repeatedly reminded her of that, but it is also admirable. I was proud of Thora for standing up against the naysayers and going after she really wanted and doing it all by herself. Thora also faced multiple obstacles, and she did not get to achieve her goals straight away, but while she did feel down as expected, she always wound up standing up stronger and I loved her for that. By the end of the book, she had blossomed into this beautiful character who I had a lot of respect for. Alongside her to act as a buttress was Nikolai. At first, I was not convinced by his character, but boy did he turn out to be swoony, protective and downright sexy. As he opened up to Thora and to the readers, we got to see the kind, gentle and caring man behind the rough, manly exterior. His caring attitude towards his family was my favorite part of him. When I found out what he did to take care of his siblings, my heart swelled. Of course, it also helped that he was very much like Ryke from the Addicted series (who I love obviously!!). Not gonna lie, I was ready to throw my clothes at Nikolai like a groupie (:P)!

The romance in Amour Amour was also fantastic, as expected. It took some time to get into gear, but once it did, man, oh man! I was fanning myself with the amount of chemistry that Thora and Nikolai had. Their relationship definitely developed slowly and it felt very realistic. What I really loved about this romance was how supportive they were of each other. Nikolai was also uber possessive, but not in a stifling way. I just loved how he helped Thora by constantly pushing her towards her goals. Where do I find one of these male specimens, Becca & Krista? Also, if you've read anything by these lovely authors you know that they take painstaking time to develop their secondary characters. The secondary characters in Amour Amour were so great. My favorite have to be John and Timo. I freaking NEED a book about these two hotties because the chemistry that they shared was off the charts, like Nick winds up as pile of steaming ash, kind of chemistry. Make this happen, Becca & Krista! Besides the amazing characters and the equally amazing romance, the circus setting was also pretty great. We get to know so much about what it really takes to get into the circus and the amount of hard work that goes into it. You literally have to shed tears and sweat! The only things I didn't like were a few pet-peeves of mine that were included in this book. There was a scene in the book that I didn't mind, but I would have liked it to be discussed by the main characters in a way. I'm also not a huge fan of talks about how big a male character's member is and how the female character worries about it, but both these points really didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. Besides that however, I had absolutely no complaints about Amour Amour.

With the lush background of the circus, the trademark gorgeous characters of the twins, the sexy romance and the strong message, Amour Amour was a huge success for me.

P.S Becca & Krista, PLEASE MAKE THE JOHN AND TIMO BOOK HAPPEN!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5

**Overall Rating : 4.5/5**