Review: Furious Rush by S.C. Stephens
TITLE: Furious Rush AUTHOR:S.C. Stephens GENRE: Contemporary Romance RELEASE DATE: August 23, 2016
Too fast, too furious-and way too hot to handle . . . Mackenzie Cox has a lot to prove. Daughter of a racing legend, she is eager to show the world that she has inherited her father's talent in the male-dominated sport of professional motorcycle racing. The last thing Kenzie needs is to be antagonized by her rival team's newest rider, Hayden Hayes. Plucked from the world of illegal street racing, Hayden immediately gets under Kenzie's skin. His insinuations that Kenzie is a spoiled princess who was handed her career fuels her desire to win, and much to her surprise, Kenzie soon learns she performs better when she's racing against Hayden. As Kenzie and Hayden push each other on the track, the electric energy between them off the track shifts into an intense--and strictly forbidden--attraction. The only rule between their two ultra-competitive teams is zero contact. Kenzie always does her best to play by the rules, but when her team slips into a financial crisis, she has no choice but to turn to Hayden for help. The tension simmers during their secret, late-night rendezvous, but Kenzie has too much to lose to give in to her desires. Especially when she begins to doubt that Hayden has completely left his street life behind...
I’ve been a fan of S.C. Stephens’s writing since Thoughtless. The way she makes her characters multidimensional and all the angst in her stories is incomparable and addictive. Furious Rush had all of these elements so it’s not a surprise that I loved it!
“Racing gives me a high… but you make me feel alive.”
Mackenzie Cox has been racing motorcycles since she was very young, but now it’s time for her first year on the professional circuit. She must prove to her dad, the owner of Cox Racing, that she has everything she needs to save the family business by winning races. What she doesn’t expect is to meet a sexy forbidden rival who makes her blood boils. Hayden Hayes is the definition of reckless and the new racer for their biggest competitor, Benneti Motorsports. They don’t see eye to eye and the competition is ferocious on the track between them. But, they soon discover that they bring better performances from each other. At first they deny this connection because of the ban between the two companies, but the chemistry can’t be ignored for long.
Each time Hayden and Kenzie are together, the pages ignited and it's all about the FEEL! Hayden is the perfect hero with his confident and funny personality, and he isn't afraid of demonstrating his feelings to Kenzie despite all the mess it could cause to their career. He realizes that what’s in front of him is important in his life and he needs to convince Kenzie time and time again how good they could be together. I felt that Kenzie was really in a hard place, her attraction to Hayden obvious but her loyalty to her dad even more. There’s a lot of action with the racing and unexpected incidents that occurs at each race. It brings a little suspense to the story, trying to figured out the person responsible.
I felt the beginning of the book was a little slow, with not as much interaction between the main characters as I would have liked. But this desire was soon forgotten with the perfection that is the second half of the book. When they're together, you just feel their unquestionable bond. Their circumstances gave me a Romeo and Juliet vibe with this complicated romance between rivals.
“Keeping the feelings to myself won’t save us any pain. Nothing will save us, Kenzie. We’re doomed. And I love you. And I don’t regret a thing.”
I first thought I was reading a standalone, but I guess with the ending it’s going to be a series. There’s situations that need to be explained. I hope I’m right, because I don’t want to let go of Hayden and Kenzie yet! As always S.C. Stephens grabbed my attention with the drama, action, angst character and undeniably sizzling chemistry of her character. Furious Rush was an amazing read!
