Twisted Love (Twisted, 1)

I don't really understand what this book was meant to be... I liked it but it had a lot of everything. It had too much happening with no character development. Alex is Ava's brothers best friend. josh the brother goes aways for a year. Josh asks Alex to move into his house next door to his sister to keep an eye on her because her ex is bothering her and she's get herself into stupid situations. Alex is the COO of his uncles company. Hes 27 or 28. A bit grumpy and just uses woman. The way he is written, he meant to be this powerful man, I didn't get that. He wants revenge for the killings of her parents and sister. Since he was very young he has had a plan. He wants revenge. There is a plot twist I saw from miles away. Anyway he moves in and Ava's friends basically dare her to try and get some emotions from him. Why start as a game end up with them spending time together. But there's no connect between them in my opinion I didn't feel it at all in this book. The sex wasn't anything really. He calls her slut. The way people went on about alex on IG I didn't get any of that while reading him. I found him to have no personality and I found Ava to be very childish. She was meant to be 22, lived on her own. But she came across like she needed looking after all the time. As the story goes on, the plot is the main focus rather than the couples development. Alex finds out the truth about his parents. Ava find out he lied. Ava and the princess get kidnapped for about 1 minute lol. I think I would of liked this book more if I connected with the characters. Or if it was just grumpy guy who gets with his bestfriends sister. It didn't need everything that was in this book. It was just okay read. I think if you under 20 year old and haven't read much romance you will love this book. For someone who read romance for over 10 years this book was basic and very over hyped.

Before I started Twisted Love, I didn’t know much about the series. However, I had seen it quite a few times on TikTok & Bookstagram. So, it was fair to say that I did go into the book blind, only knowing that it was a brothers best friend + grumpy/sunshine trope too! Which are both in my top ten of favourite tropes! At first it took me a while to get into the book. I’d say just after the 100 pages mark did I finally start to enjoy it more. Although that probably has nothing to do with the book itself and more to do with me as a reader, as I was experiencing a bit of a book hangover from my previous book. Once I got into it I absolutely loved Ava & Alex and needed more of their story. Ava is such a unique character. She has had such a rough upbringing but she never lets any of it deter her from seeing the good in people. Whereas, Alex also had a traumatic childhood he took a different route when it came to viewing the world. He uses his pain to seek revenge for his family. He’s very much one of those people who hates the world and everyone in it but Ava! And I loved that about their dynamic. She was the light to his dark & the sunshine to his grumpiness! Also, the plot of the book was amazing too! Ana seriously knows how to throw in plot twists. I really did not see that coming about Ava’s dad. The book wasn’t just romance and spice (which we’ll come back to in a minute), it had a story with lots of mystery. Both Ava & Alex were trying to seek out the answers to their childhood and Ana delivered on that part too. Back to the spice, along with everything else the spice didn’t disappoint. The hotel/phone call scene was by far unforgettable and lives in my mind rent free! Finally, I could go on and on about this book but i just think everyone should read the twisted series because its just that good. I really enjoyed it! I may not have read the rest of the books in this series yet but I don’t doubt I’ll be disappointed there either.

OK, so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did, tiktok hyped books can be a bit hit or miss IMHO. Ava's brother is going away to work so asks his best friend Alex to keep an eye on her in his absence, cue some sould searching about whether them being more than friends is a good idea and some very steamy scenes 😉 I enjoyed the opposites attract/ stay away from my sister thing, but if you don't enjoy the whole possessiveness thing, then maybe give this one a miss, because Alex is possessive to the MAX. There's also a whole other storyline going on about Ava's past and that was gripping and a real page turner, CW galore though. I listened to the audio of this one and if you plan to do the same, maybe make sure you're alone, because those steamy scenes are a lot to process ha.

This is my first read by Ana Huang, and definitely not the last. At first, I wondered how Twisted Love would be different from the other books that follow similar tropes. But Ana brought me out of that weird slump. Her writing style is smooth. After a couple of chapters, I was absorbed into the story, liking Ava for her sunshine like personality and intrigued by Alex and his mysterious past. The story is in dual POVs so we get to know both of them. The plot is evenly paced and quite interesting! A steamy read with a perfect mix of darkness and light, the mystery surrounding both the characters and the suspense weaving its way throughout the story. Although predictable, I certainly didn’t see how everything would play out. There’s Ava’s cheery character and playful moments with her friends. Intermingling with that is Alex’s and Ava’s dark past catching up to them. Alex has some hidden motivation, Ava’s just trying to keep the hope of light in her. There are some villainous characters out to get them. It made for a really interesting read. Ava Chen is a sweet, naive girl, with a past that haunts her. What should have broken her, instead made her a strong person. She refuses to drown in the darkness and she’s this ball of sunshine, striving to believe in the goodness of other people. I loved her genuineness. She didn’t come off as being naïve in a deliberate way. She loves her brother Josh and has an amazing group of friends. They are a close-knit group, and I wish I was a part of that! Alex… well, I started reading this book for him, and damn, he completely took over my mind. From his first entrance, this enigmatic character intrigued me. Best friends with Josh, he’s always looked at Ava as his sister – we know how’s that going to go lol. Eventually, when Josh entrusts Alex to take care of his sister, he moves into Josh’s home, right next to Ava’s. Alex is a sexy, dirty alpha male. He remembers everything that’s happened in his life. (Hyperthymesia – It was a new term for me.) His dark past drives all of his actions (which the author brilliantly laid out in chapters – giving us bits and pieces). I love how possessive and protective he is about Ava. He exudes this cold, emotionless personality to others, but those walls come crashing down with Ava. Ava and Alex have amazing chemistry. They just balance each other out. Throughout the story, you see them growing together as individuals and as a couple. There’s also the darkness in their story that plays in. One of the reasons it jumped quickly into my favorite list is the NA Romance that took me back to those days where I would devour literally any college/brother’s best friend romances. Twisted Love by Ana Huang kept me engaged, made me love the main and the supportive characters. It has a unique touch despite the cliches. I recommend this book...

4.5 ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️ overall plot 3🔥🔥🔥 spice scale 5❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 characters (spe specifically Alex😅) I really like this book like a lot. Specifically I loved Alex , everything about him was just fireworks rainbow And puppies. He literally was the epitome of the perfect amount of overprotectiveness possessive grumpy sunshine I needed in my life. I like that Ava was an optimist and How she was trying to cope with our childhood dramas and how Alex helped her with that period I thought that was such a beautiful scene. And can I just say the spice between these was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed this 1st book in the series , Literally one of the quickest reeds that I've ever done in my life That is how enthralled with the story I was.