Hold On Tight Tour Stop!! ~ Crystal's Many Reviewers

A figure from Dexter’s past has uprooted all the memories he has tried so desperately to bury… to forget. The terrible events of his past have been blown wide open once again, immersing him a pool of guilt deeper than he’s even experienced before.

Dexter feels powerless. The future he foolishly allowed himself to conceive is falling apart around him and there’s nothing he can do about it. But there’s one thing he can control – one thing he’s an expert at… blocking everything out. Losing all control, Dexter copes the only way he knows how – he dives so far into the well of addiction, the only thing that matters anymore is where his next fix is coming from.

Mission accomplished – there’s no one left. He’s successfully pushed everyone away. Nobody left to care about means no more guilt, right? You can’t hurt people who aren’t there…

But has he really pushed Emily as far away as he thinks he has? She’s given up everything for him – her home, her friends… her whole life. And she doesn’t regret a single thing. But can she save him from drowning, or has he finally sunk too far?

(Not suitable for under 18’s due to language, sexual content and explicit drug use)

Hold On Tight is the second book in this series. I fell in love with Dexter and Emily and their relationship in Take My Hand, which is the first book. We were able to see Em let down her guard and allow Dex into her heart, even after he took her back to America and shared his secrets about his mother. The first book ended as his mother died and we were left wondering if Dex would be able to handle the guilt and pressure without going back to his drugs that he used to escape. Would he be able to trust that Em isn't going to leave him as soon as she sees all of his flaws and cracks in his walls. Em just wants to love him, she wants to be there for him but at some point she has to decide when she is done with him pushing her away and running from her.

As this book begins we see them trying to sort out what to do with his mothers house and belongings and making plans for his Aunt Sarah to come back to England with him and Em. All was going well till his father showed up. That man is pure evil and had abused Dex and his mom for years. He was there to let Dex know the house belonged to him and he knew about the secrets that Dex had been hiding. When his Aunt Sarah came home, she had a few secrets that she had learn from the lawyer, unfortunately, what she had found out didn't go along with what Dex had found out so the mystery begins. Dex was left once again knowing his father hated him, but why. What did that little boy do to this man that would create such a need for him to torture Dex? Em needed those answers as well and she was determined to find out. She got the answers but she also gain more knowledge than she counted on, so much that she knew if Dex found out, it would push him over the edge.

While I wanted more of Dex and Em's relationship in this book, what we ended up getting was Dex, his addiction and his battle in fighting his addiction. We also watched him come clean with the baggage he had been carrying around all of his life about his mother and how she died. I adore Dex, he melted my heart in the first book and it would of been very difficult to turn my back on him in this book after learning about his past and seeing the broken little boy he was inside. His Aunt Sarah was a life saver for him his whole life. She could seriously be called an angel the way she gave up her own life to take care of Dex and his mom. Em showed us how strong she is, yet also the deep amount of love and acceptance she had for Dex. Hers was a true love that Dex never knew was in the world. In the end, I think the author was a genius to take us down this path with Em and Dex. So we didn't get a bunch of love story, we did get a stronger couple who will need this bond to face the next book

The ending of the book left me once again dying for more. We will get to see more of Chris, find out his future and I pray that Dex can be to Em what she is going to need in the next part of this story because this will crush her. The author gave us back the characters we fell in love with and introduced us to more people, some who I wanted to kill, a few I started to hate, but by the end could feel real empathy for. It was clear that the author did her research about drug abuse and addiction. She kept the story real with no fluff about life as an addict, but she kept it respectable and within reason so those who have never dealt with it could grasp the story, understand and be able to separate the addiction from the person.

I so love this authors writing style and the flow she used in this series to keep you on the edge of your seat without overwhelming you with so much drama. She leaves you wanting more Dex, Em and yes even Rachel, the spit fire best friend. I highly recommend this series.

Nicola lives in Rochdale, England with her husband and four children (six if you include the dogs!) She is the author of New Adult/Contemporary romance novels Inevitable, Saving Amy and the Take My Hand series. When she is not busy playing with her imaginary book friends (or talking about them with real life friends!) she can usually be found carrying out her ordinary mum/housewife/all round slave duties. Oh, and if the kids ever ask, she moonlights as the Pink Power Ranger while they’re sleeping…