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stevienicole30's review against another edition
5.0
The epic conclusion to Reid and Sienna’s love story. If you have completed the first book titled “Complicate Me” you know that we were left at a cliffhanger. Of course I was frustrated at first but then I remembered I don’t have to wait a year to hear out it ends. Claire Raye took an amazing approach by releasing book one, and exactly two weeks later releasing book two. The ending to this story was everything I could have wanted and more. Of course Reid and Sienna have so much they will need to overcome, and will Sienna be able to trust Reid? I loved the conclusion we got to see more of Caleb, and how loyal Reid is and will always be to the twins. Now if you are looking for a great college friends to lover’s story this is the one for you.
shaez's review against another edition
5.0
Complicate Me is a best-friend sibling romance. It is also book one in the duet Hawthorn Hills. This was my first time reading Claire Raye and I loved it.
Rating 4.5 stars
Caleb and Sienna are twins, Reid is Caleb's best friend. The three friends grew up together and made a vow to always stay together.
Reid and Sienna both have secret crushes on each other but have never acknowledged these feelings even when they both go away to college. They hide behind words and anger toward each other.
Circumstances force Sienna and Reid to spend time together where they finally deal with these feelings toward each other. This story is what you can call a slow and intense burn.
It is well written the character are developed and the story flows so well I could not stop reading. The cliffhanger at the end was a surprise but a welcomed one; I can't wait to read book 2 now!!!!
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Entertaining, Original, Page-turner, Romantic, Steamy, Unpredictable, Wonderful characters
Rating 4.5 stars
Caleb and Sienna are twins, Reid is Caleb's best friend. The three friends grew up together and made a vow to always stay together.
Reid and Sienna both have secret crushes on each other but have never acknowledged these feelings even when they both go away to college. They hide behind words and anger toward each other.
Circumstances force Sienna and Reid to spend time together where they finally deal with these feelings toward each other. This story is what you can call a slow and intense burn.
It is well written the character are developed and the story flows so well I could not stop reading. The cliffhanger at the end was a surprise but a welcomed one; I can't wait to read book 2 now!!!!
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Entertaining, Original, Page-turner, Romantic, Steamy, Unpredictable, Wonderful characters
reading_with_2_book_lovers's review against another edition
4.0
This is the start of this duet and omg I need the second part like now!
reading_with_2_book_lovers's review against another edition
4.0
This book was everything. I devoured this story
booksbymary1's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars!!
This was my first book by Claire Raye and I fell in love with Reid and Sienna’s story!! What I loved most about this book was the road trip aspect!! I’m always looking for a good road trip romance and this was it!! Their story was filled with just the right amount of angst and that forbidden brothers best friend aspect!! Book one does end on a cliffhanger and it leaves you with a lot of questions but I’m looking forward to part two!!
Thank you Claire Raye for the ARC!! I can’t wait to read more of your writing!!
This was my first book by Claire Raye and I fell in love with Reid and Sienna’s story!! What I loved most about this book was the road trip aspect!! I’m always looking for a good road trip romance and this was it!! Their story was filled with just the right amount of angst and that forbidden brothers best friend aspect!! Book one does end on a cliffhanger and it leaves you with a lot of questions but I’m looking forward to part two!!
Thank you Claire Raye for the ARC!! I can’t wait to read more of your writing!!
booksbymary1's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars!!
The conclusion to Reid and Sienna’s story was everything I wanted and more. We pick up right where we left off in book one. There is so much heartbreak between Sienna and Reid. I loved how Reid was willing to go to the ends of the earth to uncover the truth to Sienna and prove that he was on the right side of things!! Not only did I love the relationship between Reid and Sienna but I loved the bond/relationship between Caleb,Reid and Sienna!! This book really shows the bond between the three. The three of them always had each other’s back and their love for each other never wavered!! They were a real family to each other!!
I’m so happy how things wrapped up for Sienna and Reid and all my questions were answered!! I just love those two so much and their connection/chemistry was everything,you could really feel it!!
I’m really looking forward to Caleb’s story!! He really grew on me in this book and I can’t wait to see where he ends up!!
The conclusion to Reid and Sienna’s story was everything I wanted and more. We pick up right where we left off in book one. There is so much heartbreak between Sienna and Reid. I loved how Reid was willing to go to the ends of the earth to uncover the truth to Sienna and prove that he was on the right side of things!! Not only did I love the relationship between Reid and Sienna but I loved the bond/relationship between Caleb,Reid and Sienna!! This book really shows the bond between the three. The three of them always had each other’s back and their love for each other never wavered!! They were a real family to each other!!
I’m so happy how things wrapped up for Sienna and Reid and all my questions were answered!! I just love those two so much and their connection/chemistry was everything,you could really feel it!!
I’m really looking forward to Caleb’s story!! He really grew on me in this book and I can’t wait to see where he ends up!!
mlbnbrit's review against another edition
5.0
In Complicate Me, the first book in the Hawthorn Hills duet, Claire Raye has perfected the kind of slow burn chemistry that you only find in NA romance— full of nervous butterflies, sexy heat, and giddy excitement. Add that with the fun and unique road trip plot line, and you’ve got a banger of book. I loved watching Reid and Sienna‘s love story unfold, and I desperately need the conclusion to this story. Reid and Sienna deserve their HEA! 4.5 stars.
Reid and Sienna have known each other since childhood, but in recent years they’ve grown apart in a BIG way. When an urgent cross country road trip throws them together, though, they reconnect, and with each mile traveled they grow closer, intimacy increases, and the smoldering sparks turn into a full blown blaze of heat.
It took me a minute to connect to these characters, but when I did, WHOA BUDDY, I fell for Reid and Sienna. The road trip scenes were so much fun, and as they became more comfortable with each other I found my connection to them growing, as well. I loved how Claire Raye built up the sexual tension between Reid and Sienna with accidental touches and steamy “almost” moments. It brought me back to those first love feelings, and Sienna’s road trip playlist definitely filled me with nostalgia.
I’m so invested in these characters, and after that gut punch of a cliff hanger, I CANNOT WAIT for the conclusion to this duet. (Luckily, Claire Raye is doing a rapid release and I only have to wait two weeks!) I need Complete Me ASAP!
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/3eaWU6z
ARC for honest review
Reid and Sienna have known each other since childhood, but in recent years they’ve grown apart in a BIG way. When an urgent cross country road trip throws them together, though, they reconnect, and with each mile traveled they grow closer, intimacy increases, and the smoldering sparks turn into a full blown blaze of heat.
It took me a minute to connect to these characters, but when I did, WHOA BUDDY, I fell for Reid and Sienna. The road trip scenes were so much fun, and as they became more comfortable with each other I found my connection to them growing, as well. I loved how Claire Raye built up the sexual tension between Reid and Sienna with accidental touches and steamy “almost” moments. It brought me back to those first love feelings, and Sienna’s road trip playlist definitely filled me with nostalgia.
I’m so invested in these characters, and after that gut punch of a cliff hanger, I CANNOT WAIT for the conclusion to this duet. (Luckily, Claire Raye is doing a rapid release and I only have to wait two weeks!) I need Complete Me ASAP!
Get the book here: https://amzn.to/3eaWU6z
ARC for honest review
mlbnbrit's review against another edition
5.0
Complete Me, the conclusion to Reid and Sienna’s Hawthorn Hills duet, had a bit of everything— suspense, angst, steam, emotion, humor, romance, pain. This book touched on all the bases in the best way. I’m so happy with Reid and Sienna’s story, and I cannot wait for Caleb’s!
Picking up right where book one leaves off, Complete Me immediately packs an emotional punch of angst and heartbreak. My heart was aching not only for Reid and Sienna, but for Caleb, too. Reid‘s relationship with the Parker twins has been almost decimated, and the damage causes intolerable pain for all three of them. Suddenly the only family they’ve ever known is falling apart and none of them know how to fix it. When the characters find themselves in a delicate and dangerous situation, though, they’re reminded of just how strong their loyalties are.
Watching Reid, Sienna, and Caleb have each other’s backs throughout this story, even when tensions were at their highest, was one of my favorite things about Complete Me. Reid and Sienna are a very sexy couple and I was rooting for them from page one, but the strong friendship and familial bond that connects all three of them is a thing of beauty. Reid, Sienna, and Caleb are a true example of what a family should be— unconditional love, pure honesty, and unfailing support. I love the way these characters work together and fill in the empty spaces to build each other up.
Complete Me was a thrilling conclusion to Reid and Sienna’s story, and it perfectly sets the stage for Caleb’s story. I cannot WAIT for Caleb. He already owns my heart.
Picking up right where book one leaves off, Complete Me immediately packs an emotional punch of angst and heartbreak. My heart was aching not only for Reid and Sienna, but for Caleb, too. Reid‘s relationship with the Parker twins has been almost decimated, and the damage causes intolerable pain for all three of them. Suddenly the only family they’ve ever known is falling apart and none of them know how to fix it. When the characters find themselves in a delicate and dangerous situation, though, they’re reminded of just how strong their loyalties are.
Watching Reid, Sienna, and Caleb have each other’s backs throughout this story, even when tensions were at their highest, was one of my favorite things about Complete Me. Reid and Sienna are a very sexy couple and I was rooting for them from page one, but the strong friendship and familial bond that connects all three of them is a thing of beauty. Reid, Sienna, and Caleb are a true example of what a family should be— unconditional love, pure honesty, and unfailing support. I love the way these characters work together and fill in the empty spaces to build each other up.
Complete Me was a thrilling conclusion to Reid and Sienna’s story, and it perfectly sets the stage for Caleb’s story. I cannot WAIT for Caleb. He already owns my heart.
the_librarians_daughter's review against another edition
4.0
Claire Raye have kicked off a new series with a bang. This is the first book I’ve read by this author duo, however I have had one of their other novels in my TBR list for a bit. Based on this read, I’m sure that one will be amazing as well.
Complicate Me is a new duet and a new world for the pair. Reid and Sienna have been part of an inseparable trio since childhood. Their third partner in crime is Sienna’s twin Caleb.
Our story opens with Reid. He and Sienna are due to head off to college in California in a few weeks. Caleb was supposed to go with them, but at the last minute changed his mind due to reasons only he knows. Reid is still fuming and hurt with his best friend when Caleb makes Reid promise to look out for Sienna at school and keep her safe. Reid reluctantly agrees.
The story then takes us to present day. College in California. Sienna and Reid have moved on from the abandoned kids who had each other’s backs to raging enemies. Reid is taking his promise to Caleb seriously, even as it forces him to squash his own long time attraction to Sienna. This of course means that he’s sleeping his way through the football groupies while sabotaging any relationship that Sienna attempts to start up.
There are some very heated (angry) scenes between the two as a lead up to this book’s catalytic moment. Reid pulls some pretty low and devastating verbal punches due to his frustrations and pain. Reid, Caleb, and Sienna haven’t had the best of upbringings. It’s relieved that Caleb and Sienna’s father is a reckless drunkard, running a bar empire into the ground and ignoring his children. Caleb supposedly stayed behind to “clean up the mess” allowing Sienna a Chance at an education.
We gain glimpses of Reid’s parents scattered through the story. At the heart it appears he has an absentee dad who could care less about his wife and child coupled with a vacant mom who lives the life of “that lady who lunches” - with a constant bottle of booze.
The true start of this story is when Caleb calls Reid to tell him that Caleb’s dad has died and he needs Reid and Sienna to come home. This is easier said than done given Sienna’s feelings regarding both Reid and her father.
I loved the meat of this story. Reid decides to drive Sienna cross country to get her back home. It’s for selfish and selfless purposes. He knows she’s dreading going back, and he just wants her to himself. Over the cross country trip the former friends begin to open up to each other about the changes they’ve been through since starting college together. Sienna lets out her frustration and hurt at Reid for his behavior towards her. He slowly begins to show Sienna the side of himself he keeps hidden from everyone. Reid turns out to be a soft hearted romantic who has been tossed aside too many times by the people he cares about. He’s scared to admit his feelings to Sienna and frightened to death of Caleb’s possible reaction. Sienna feels the same. Eventually, these two figure out that they are fighting the same battle and just give in to their hearts.
Claire Raye write a wonderfully broken pair of people who want to be loved and needed so badly, but have been taught that they shouldn’t expect those things for themselves. The road trip is just one long winding way of Reid showing Sienna how much he loves her and sees her. The stops they make, the give and take in their fighting, the delaying their eventual arrival back home...it’s all Reid trying to give this woman as much love as he can before their world crashes.
Sadly for this book, their world crashes hard. Very very hard. Immediately upon their arrival the duo find Caleb in a life or death situation. As the quickly unfolding events of the final chapters bring us emotional and physical pain for the trio, it’s finally revealed to us exactly who and what Reid’s father is.
The story closes with an incredibly painful cliffhanger that has the reader wondering how this will ever be overcome. I’m anxiously awaiting the conclusion to this duet.
As with all the stories that I truly love, this one has a plot deeply embedded in the emotional portion of the characters’ lives. Even for being new adults, the trio is a complex mix of deep emotions, turmoil, and stories. The deeper Reid and Sienna get into their trip, the deeper the reader falls into both their back story as well as their now story. Sienna is one of my kick butt and take names female leads that I love to read. She has SUCH a deeply destroyed heart from her childhood, yet a capacity to love deeply and so loyally that I’m anxious to see what her final story will be. As it is, it looks like it’s going to emotionally destroy her based on the choices she’s left with at the conclusion to book one.
This book is a gripping read. I both eagerly devoured it, and anxiously feared what I knew would be an unresolved ending.
However, the authors tease us with a second duet for Caleb.
So, bring it on ladies. I’m all in. I’m ready for the Reid Sienna conclusion, and becoming more and more curious about how complex and broken Caleb will be.
Complicate Me is a new duet and a new world for the pair. Reid and Sienna have been part of an inseparable trio since childhood. Their third partner in crime is Sienna’s twin Caleb.
Our story opens with Reid. He and Sienna are due to head off to college in California in a few weeks. Caleb was supposed to go with them, but at the last minute changed his mind due to reasons only he knows. Reid is still fuming and hurt with his best friend when Caleb makes Reid promise to look out for Sienna at school and keep her safe. Reid reluctantly agrees.
The story then takes us to present day. College in California. Sienna and Reid have moved on from the abandoned kids who had each other’s backs to raging enemies. Reid is taking his promise to Caleb seriously, even as it forces him to squash his own long time attraction to Sienna. This of course means that he’s sleeping his way through the football groupies while sabotaging any relationship that Sienna attempts to start up.
There are some very heated (angry) scenes between the two as a lead up to this book’s catalytic moment. Reid pulls some pretty low and devastating verbal punches due to his frustrations and pain. Reid, Caleb, and Sienna haven’t had the best of upbringings. It’s relieved that Caleb and Sienna’s father is a reckless drunkard, running a bar empire into the ground and ignoring his children. Caleb supposedly stayed behind to “clean up the mess” allowing Sienna a Chance at an education.
We gain glimpses of Reid’s parents scattered through the story. At the heart it appears he has an absentee dad who could care less about his wife and child coupled with a vacant mom who lives the life of “that lady who lunches” - with a constant bottle of booze.
The true start of this story is when Caleb calls Reid to tell him that Caleb’s dad has died and he needs Reid and Sienna to come home. This is easier said than done given Sienna’s feelings regarding both Reid and her father.
I loved the meat of this story. Reid decides to drive Sienna cross country to get her back home. It’s for selfish and selfless purposes. He knows she’s dreading going back, and he just wants her to himself. Over the cross country trip the former friends begin to open up to each other about the changes they’ve been through since starting college together. Sienna lets out her frustration and hurt at Reid for his behavior towards her. He slowly begins to show Sienna the side of himself he keeps hidden from everyone. Reid turns out to be a soft hearted romantic who has been tossed aside too many times by the people he cares about. He’s scared to admit his feelings to Sienna and frightened to death of Caleb’s possible reaction. Sienna feels the same. Eventually, these two figure out that they are fighting the same battle and just give in to their hearts.
Claire Raye write a wonderfully broken pair of people who want to be loved and needed so badly, but have been taught that they shouldn’t expect those things for themselves. The road trip is just one long winding way of Reid showing Sienna how much he loves her and sees her. The stops they make, the give and take in their fighting, the delaying their eventual arrival back home...it’s all Reid trying to give this woman as much love as he can before their world crashes.
Sadly for this book, their world crashes hard. Very very hard. Immediately upon their arrival the duo find Caleb in a life or death situation. As the quickly unfolding events of the final chapters bring us emotional and physical pain for the trio, it’s finally revealed to us exactly who and what Reid’s father is.
The story closes with an incredibly painful cliffhanger that has the reader wondering how this will ever be overcome. I’m anxiously awaiting the conclusion to this duet.
As with all the stories that I truly love, this one has a plot deeply embedded in the emotional portion of the characters’ lives. Even for being new adults, the trio is a complex mix of deep emotions, turmoil, and stories. The deeper Reid and Sienna get into their trip, the deeper the reader falls into both their back story as well as their now story. Sienna is one of my kick butt and take names female leads that I love to read. She has SUCH a deeply destroyed heart from her childhood, yet a capacity to love deeply and so loyally that I’m anxious to see what her final story will be. As it is, it looks like it’s going to emotionally destroy her based on the choices she’s left with at the conclusion to book one.
This book is a gripping read. I both eagerly devoured it, and anxiously feared what I knew would be an unresolved ending.
However, the authors tease us with a second duet for Caleb.
So, bring it on ladies. I’m all in. I’m ready for the Reid Sienna conclusion, and becoming more and more curious about how complex and broken Caleb will be.
the_librarians_daughter's review against another edition
5.0
This book is the closure of Reid and Sienna’s story which was opened in Complicate Me. This can not be read as a stand alone.
This book was incredible. The first part of the duet set up the main trio of characters (Reid, Sienna, and Caleb) perfectly. Complicate Me illustrated the bonds, feelings, and emotions these three discarded kids felt growing up, and how they became family. Reid and Sienna’s road trip home opened up their true romantic feelings towards one another. Then they arrived home to a horrific scene.
Complete Me picks up pretty much right where Complicate Me leaves us. Caleb is broken. Physically, Mentally and Emotionally. The twins father is dead, and not just dead, but murdered. By Reid’s dad. Where Complicate Me was a wonderfully well written book of discovering surpressed emotions, personal trust and gains, Complete Me is and absolute emotional bomb of the best kind. This book digs deep into the trio’s psyche. It drags the reader through heart ache, turmoil, regrets, betrayals, loyalties, and acceptance. This isn’t an easy read, but it is captivating to a point where you’ll finish and need to recenter yourself outside of the trio’s world.
Complete Me is focuses more on Reid’s story and feelings. While Complicate focused on Sienna’s past, the scars her childhood left her with, and her coming to terms with the woman she is now; Complete places Reid front and center. Forcing him to review who and what family is. What is right and wrong in his world. Where are his priorities and his love. Who are his true family.
Caleb has had a brotherly bond with Reid for years and while he is willing to see past what Reid’s father has done to him, Caleb lets Reid know that he is “forgiven” but the twins need space from him.
For the first time ever, Reid is alone in his mess of a world. His mother is gone, having almost completely finished her process of abandoning her son physically and emotionally. At this point he is just a necessary yet unwanted tie to her marriage. His Dad is brutal and unforgiving. There are clear cut lines in his father’s life and Reid is at the apex of needing to chose his dad’s version of life, or his own.
Sienna is written as a twisted emotional mass of chaos. She’s untethered from everything in her world and is collapsing in on herself from guilt, anger, loss and so much complex grief. Honestly, Claire Raye have written one of the most properly graphic and beautiful depictions of human suffering I have ever read. Sienna is top kick butt character writing. They weave Sienna a heart wrenching mass of grief for her father, the life that she thought she had in Providence, and the death of her trust of Reid. Then they add in the emotional toll of seeing her brother physically and mentally struggling from every thing that’s happened. Then, both twins are circling the “is Reid family or is he not” drain. Be very prepared to have a hurt heart and tears through this section of the book. It’s so difficult yet so beautifully perfect.
Caleb begins to come out from underneath the weight first. Recognizing that Reid is essentially abandoned and falling into his own pit, Caleb reaches out letting Reid know that the twins are his people. His family. Caleb admits that Sienna is stubborn, strong, and devastated. However, he lets Reid know that she will forgive him in time.
Reid then does something that clearly shouts whose family he is and where his heart is. It places all three of them in more danger than they’ve ever lived in, but if they can get through it, it will set them free. Reid breaks all their rules about who to trust and what to do. He breaks apart one family to create another. Again...this book never lets you put it down.
Sienna learns of what Reid has done in a very slap in the face way. It wakes her up to what her heart needs and what she needs to do. And then, the trio start building themselves back into their unit.
This duet is some of the most emotional and gripping writing I have read this year. I was heavily anticipating this book after reading Complicate, but I did NOT see the breadth of this story coming at me. This is being shelved in my rereads area and is going onto my most recommended reads of this year. Stunningly done.
Oh, Caleb’s story is up next. I’m ready. And waiting. Bring it on ladies.
This book was incredible. The first part of the duet set up the main trio of characters (Reid, Sienna, and Caleb) perfectly. Complicate Me illustrated the bonds, feelings, and emotions these three discarded kids felt growing up, and how they became family. Reid and Sienna’s road trip home opened up their true romantic feelings towards one another. Then they arrived home to a horrific scene.
Complete Me picks up pretty much right where Complicate Me leaves us. Caleb is broken. Physically, Mentally and Emotionally. The twins father is dead, and not just dead, but murdered. By Reid’s dad. Where Complicate Me was a wonderfully well written book of discovering surpressed emotions, personal trust and gains, Complete Me is and absolute emotional bomb of the best kind. This book digs deep into the trio’s psyche. It drags the reader through heart ache, turmoil, regrets, betrayals, loyalties, and acceptance. This isn’t an easy read, but it is captivating to a point where you’ll finish and need to recenter yourself outside of the trio’s world.
Complete Me is focuses more on Reid’s story and feelings. While Complicate focused on Sienna’s past, the scars her childhood left her with, and her coming to terms with the woman she is now; Complete places Reid front and center. Forcing him to review who and what family is. What is right and wrong in his world. Where are his priorities and his love. Who are his true family.
Caleb has had a brotherly bond with Reid for years and while he is willing to see past what Reid’s father has done to him, Caleb lets Reid know that he is “forgiven” but the twins need space from him.
For the first time ever, Reid is alone in his mess of a world. His mother is gone, having almost completely finished her process of abandoning her son physically and emotionally. At this point he is just a necessary yet unwanted tie to her marriage. His Dad is brutal and unforgiving. There are clear cut lines in his father’s life and Reid is at the apex of needing to chose his dad’s version of life, or his own.
Sienna is written as a twisted emotional mass of chaos. She’s untethered from everything in her world and is collapsing in on herself from guilt, anger, loss and so much complex grief. Honestly, Claire Raye have written one of the most properly graphic and beautiful depictions of human suffering I have ever read. Sienna is top kick butt character writing. They weave Sienna a heart wrenching mass of grief for her father, the life that she thought she had in Providence, and the death of her trust of Reid. Then they add in the emotional toll of seeing her brother physically and mentally struggling from every thing that’s happened. Then, both twins are circling the “is Reid family or is he not” drain. Be very prepared to have a hurt heart and tears through this section of the book. It’s so difficult yet so beautifully perfect.
Caleb begins to come out from underneath the weight first. Recognizing that Reid is essentially abandoned and falling into his own pit, Caleb reaches out letting Reid know that the twins are his people. His family. Caleb admits that Sienna is stubborn, strong, and devastated. However, he lets Reid know that she will forgive him in time.
Reid then does something that clearly shouts whose family he is and where his heart is. It places all three of them in more danger than they’ve ever lived in, but if they can get through it, it will set them free. Reid breaks all their rules about who to trust and what to do. He breaks apart one family to create another. Again...this book never lets you put it down.
Sienna learns of what Reid has done in a very slap in the face way. It wakes her up to what her heart needs and what she needs to do. And then, the trio start building themselves back into their unit.
This duet is some of the most emotional and gripping writing I have read this year. I was heavily anticipating this book after reading Complicate, but I did NOT see the breadth of this story coming at me. This is being shelved in my rereads area and is going onto my most recommended reads of this year. Stunningly done.
Oh, Caleb’s story is up next. I’m ready. And waiting. Bring it on ladies.