Wrong to Need You (Forbidden Hearts, #2)

by Alisha Rai

[Rowena]

Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai is the second book in her Forbidden Hearts series and it follows the best friend and brother of the heroine from Hate to Want You, Livvy. The heroine of this book also happens to be the heroine from the last book’s sister in law, so yes, that makes her the hero in this book’s sister in law too.

Jackson Kane and Sadia Ahmed have been best friends since they were kids and Jackson used to protect Sadia from the playground bullies. That friendship blossomed into a love that Jackson can’t shake, not even when Sadia grew up and married his brother. Fast forward years and a whole lot of space later, Sadia lost her husband and Jackson lost his brother and he’s back in his hometown to check on his long lost sister and to help Sadia keep the family cafe afloat. He’s grown up a lot in the time that he’s been away. He grew up to be a world-famous chef with pop up restaurant success in different cities all over the globe so when he comes home to cook in his family cafe, Sadia is conflicted because on one hand, she’s pissed that he disappeared from her life without ever acknowledging any of the emails she sent his way over the years but on the other hand, the cafe is his family cafe so he has just as much right to work there as she does.

Jackson left town for a whole lot of years because it was hard for him to live in a town where everyone whispered behind their hands about him. He was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and even though the charges were later dropped, people had long memories back home and he didn’t want to be around any of that so he took off. He also had a lot of mad going on where his own family was concerned so even though it wasn’t easy, he stayed away. When his brother Paul died, Jackson hurt but there wasn’t anything he could so even though it pissed Sadia off, Jackson stayed away. He missed a lot of things while he was away, too. He missed seeing his mother growing older, he missed getting to know his young nephew and he missed Sadia.

This was a sticky romance, in the sense that Sadia and Jackson are extremely close. Sadia considered Jackson family and muddying those waters wasn’t easy for her. She was married to his brother and that was something that she didn’t take lightly. I thought Rai did a great job of making the reader understand their relationship and root them on toward that happy ending.

I loved Jackson. I loved Sadia and I really loved them together. Seeing them deal with the drama between the two of them, then Jackson’s personal drama and his family drama, plus Sadia’s own insecurities and family drama while trying to find common ground between the two of them, made for an interesting and passionate romance. Kareem was a fantastic addition too. He was so adorable.

All in all, this was another winner for me and I’m really looking forward to Eve and Gabriel’s book next. I’m so thirsty for it. This gets a definite recommendation from me. If you’re in the mood for some drama and a steamy romance, this is a good choice.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5