WANDERLUST, the second book in The South Beach Connection Trilogy, is LIVE!!
Three books! One epic journey! Follow Cal and Annie as they ride the wave of hope, risk, passion, and love!
WanderlustThe South Beach Connection Trilogy #2
by A.R. Hadley
Published: May 10, 2018
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Cal Prescott is the summer Annie Baxter will never escape. The man she’s destined to remember.
Except Annie doesn’t believe in forever or kismet or soulmates. The traveling daydreamer has places to visit and photographs to take.
Her heart is made to wander.
It doesn’t matter where Annie roams...
New York to Seattle to California
…she finds herself drawn to Cal.
Inexplicably so. A magnetic attraction. Like the moon and the tide — two forces of nature decidedly connected.
Only they’d decided not to speak of their future or talk about what-ifs. It's one summer. A chance to escape. A time to forget.
But love won't wait for the perfect moment. Fate doesn’t require belief to exist. And maybe the freedom they both lust after has been right in front of them all along.
BOOK ONE ✫★LANDSLIDE➜ AMAZON
BOOK TWO ✫★WANDERLUST➜ AMAZON
BOOK THREE ✫★CONTINUUM (coming summer 2018)➜ GOODREADS
Being afraid belonged to yesterday…
Review
4.5 Stars
Cal and Annie share a connection, one that will stay with them a lifetime despite its expectation to only last the summer. They're each running from something and fall into one another first as a recognition of the lust they share and secondly for the perfect escape they can give to each other. The only problem? The feelings that spark between them are growing larger than the summer and their friends can't seem to get past the age difference...and neither can Cal.
"She smelled like home. Fields of citrus, seasons, a reason."
I really enjoyed Landslide, the first novel in The South Beach Connection Trilogy, but I liked Wanderlust even more. A.R. Hadley explores grief, lust, love, sadness, and trust with such depth and really makes you feel the emotions alongside the characters. I initially had reservations about Cal, but he grew on me with all that is revealed in this novel. We get a bit more of a glimpse into his past and the family, and many partners, that turned him into a man seeking only short term companionship. Annie, of course, is still reeling from the loss of her brother and trying to find her way in a world where the only thing that keeps her looking forward is art. The two have many discussions regarding the future, particularly around the twenty years between them and the large influence their family matters, though yet revealed, play in their lives. With both characters we are still left with many questions, but we do finally have answers regarding their relationship and the direction it will take. I can't tell you that, you'll have to read it, but know it makes for an incredible contemporary romance storyline. We also finally get the secondary character's perspectives on the whole affair and see the lives both Cal and Annie lead when not in South Beach escaping it all.
"I float on love we refute."
I have to say I love how lyrically A.R. Hadley writes, it really is beautiful, but it might be just a bit too much for a contemporary romance title. I felt like some of the description, though very detailed, gave the chapters length that took me away from the overall story. It does successfully add more weight to the story though and it is a beautiful example of how skilly A.R. Hadley is at telling a gripping, emotional story. I guess what I mean to say is, I think a more mature reader (and not in age) will get out of this novel the story A.R. Hadley is trying to tell. It isn't easy-going contemporary, but I prefer my novels to tear my heart out a bit rather than be as sweet as candy.
"She risked. He devoured.
She needed him. He needed her.
Time was precious. Time was now."
Wanderlust is the perfect middle novel, in my opinion, and I am beyond excited for the third novel in The South Beach Connection Trilogy. I love a novel with depth and a storyline that is realistic, classically contemporary, and still full of just the right amount of surprises and risks to keep me engaged. It's not the sort of romance you can predict, which means you'll be hanging on to every word just like I am.
A.R. Hadley
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