DNF

This book was a terrible disappointment for me. I found the characters very flat and the story really felt like it went nowhere fast. Pacing was a problem for me. Made me sad because I love Kati Wilde's previous books.

This was my first Kati Wilde book and I am not sure I will be picking any of her books up again. I just did not like the characters.

Kati will always be one of my favorite one clicks! From her quick MC reads to her new adult, to contemporary... it's ALL SO GOOD!

Damaged heroine? Check
Alpha male? Check
All the feels? Check

Kati writes the best MC men and women. The sexy scenes are always SO HOT! I'm constantly flipping the pages and before I know it it's over and I want more! Write faster, Kati! ;)
Love, love, love. One click!

4.5 stars

Aspen Phillips has had a rough go of her life. Her brother is not an upstanding citizen and she has had to help her mom to bail him out of his troubles on more than one occasion. Losing her dad to cancer has put a strain on the whole family and when her best friend has invited her on a month long road trip, there was not a second thought to her quick yes of an answer. However, when she finds out that Bethany’s brother, Bramwell. Bram has been a pain in both Aspen and Bethany’s butts for for as long as they can remember. The brother and sister lost their parents in an accident and Bram has pretty much stepped in to be both brother and caretaker (of both of them for the most part). Maybe this trip wasn’t such a good idea…..

The never giving, Tin Man, was always after the girls and looking for their best interest at heart. But from the beginning, as a reader, you could tell you were going to fall in love with their love/hate relationship. They bickered like teens, but there was always this underlying romantic tension. When the two were able to get past their bickering ways, the book really started to develop and I loved every minute of it. Aspen wouldn’t back down, neither would Bram, but the two together were dynamite. Once the two finally hooked up, holy wow was it hot! This is definitely one that needs to go on your must read list!!

Review copy provided for a voluntary review.

Ok this one frustrated me. so my rating sort of waffles between 3.5 and 4. Up until about 70/80ish % i was sure it's be 4 because i was loving Aspen and her not taking shit from Bram attitude. And whoo! not gonna like the sex was hottttt. their on page chemistry and the tension between them was sizzling, almost off the page.

But...my frustrations lay with Bram. Jesus he was a jerk. I mean i ge this frustrations ove rhow he felt about Aspen but thennnn even after they got together and are in love he just kept spewing awful tings at her. Even if he has his own hang ups the way he blew up at Aspen for keeping a promise to his sister about checking into rehab was ridiculous. He basically made it all about himself instead of showing support for his sis. Plus he takes all that out on Aspen??? Come on man.

And wow his sister was no better. Your best friend covers for you this entire time and it isnt even her fault your secret is out (hell Aspen even takes the fall for that when it's Bram;s best friend who sorta spills the beans) and you basically call her a whore??/ like...what? Both Bethany and Bram pissed me off in those moments.

So i never ended up liking Bram at all. to me he remained basically a jerk to the end. Even though he saved Aspen from a situation that was taking a turn for the worst at the end there. I just couldnt like him for repeatedly hurting her like that.


So while i loved her character and their chemistry...the other half of this duo just left me annoyed, sadly.

I am intrigued by Murphy, though. One niggle about Murphy. it seemed implied that he was a MOC? based off a joke he made re: something Aspen said being racist but he's barely described, at all. We just know he's a big dude, with low black hair? He's around the latter half of the book and we hardly get any description of him? That was just odd and if he was a MOC he should have at least been described as much as the other characters who were white.

I loved the author's writing style (this was my first book of hers) and I'll be interested in reading more of her books, especiallyyy if Murphy get a story. I was sorta shipping him with Bethany sooo...;)

From the moment I read the synopsis I was intrigued and excited to start reading Going Nowhere Fast.

I loved the story and the banter between the characters is something else!These two are seriously hot together.There is a fine line between their love and hate relationship.There are many hot scenes to make you swoon!

Going Nowhere Fast is a steamy,intense,erotic and sensual story .I need to check Kati's other books,because I love her writing.

3.5/5 This is a tough one to rate because I loved the first half because it involved a couple of tropes I adore, enemies to lovers and dating best friends brother but then it almost seemed to be a different book once Aspen and Bram hooked up. The cover makes zero sense until there's this whole motorcycle gang scene that didn't seem to fit except for Kati Wilde has written a series of biker books. So I think the story was a bit off in the start of the second half, like it almost didn't fit the characters but the end brought it back around. Aspen and Bram are great together and I wouldn't mind reading more books in a series if they popped up as side characters updating on what they're doing.

I have been a fan of Kati Wilde since I read the first words of the Hellfire Riders MC and The Motorcycle Clubs series! Her worlds are sexy and delicious! It was no different with Going Nowhere Fast!

This book was engaging and arousing and it had all kinds of feels! I'm telling you guys .... this lady can write a book!!

Copy provided by NetGalley for review

I'm a little torn about this book. I loved the end of the book, but the journey there was up and down.

I liked Aspen - most of the time. She is a tough character and has a very big chip on her shoulder. She doesn't seem like the type of girl who falls as fast as she does in the book. I know that her tough exterior was supposed to be just a facade, but I couldn't see how in two weeks Aspen and Bram go from hate to love. Bram is an ass. Most of the time he doesn't treat Aspen very well. It was hard to like the character, even though it's obvious the reason he "hates" her is because he really finds her attractive. Again, I just don't see this kind of character falling head over heels in love in such a short amount of time.

I did love the intensity of their physical relationship. There was a bit of madness to it that was very well written. I definitely felt that although these characters didn't like each other very much that they were very attracted to each other.

The subplot with Bram's sister felt lacking. The sister is used as a plot device several times, but didn't seem like a fully realized character.

Rating:

I give Going Nowhere Fast a 3/5

Going Nowhere Fast by Kati Wilde is a perfect read for those who love frenemies-to-lovers romances. Aspen Phillips agreed to go on a month-long camping trip with her best friend to celebrate their college graduation - and with her her best friend’s older brother, Bramwell Gage. But at the last minute, her friend, Bethany, bailed on the trip, leaving Aspen to tell Bram, but also forbidding Aspen from revealing the true reason that Beth was not going (she was going into rehab). Bram, who is more like Bethany’s father than older brother, is lost and hurt by the news and wants to know where his sister is. He concocts a scheme to kind of force Aspen to go on the trip as planned, hoping Bethany will show up to save Aspen from him.
 
Bram is surly, unfriendly and sometimes hostile to Aspen. The two have been at odds since the first time they met when Aspen brought a drunk Beth home from a rave. Since that time, Bram has believed that Aspen is a bad influence on his shy and sheltered sister. It doesn’t help that Aspen is poor (she was attending college on a scholarship), and that Bram and Beth are wealthy. But of course, Bram’s feelings for Aspen are more complicated than she thinks. One day on their trip after a swimming lesson, she finds out that Bram’s stony demeanor is his way of hiding the fact that he is very attracted to her.
 
During their time together, it becomes clear that the attraction is not one-sided. Eventually, their desire for each other overcomes their common sense - and boy when Bram lets go, he really lets go. He is a dirty talking sex machine who enjoys talking to Aspen’s pussy. At one point, Bram says “I missed you so much, little pussy. My sweet little bald pussy.” And another, “I’m going under to say good morning to my little pussy friend.” The last one is “Hello, sweet pussy. Little fuzzy pussy. Christ, that’s hot.” Just a side note to say that Aspen had gone to a spa and returned with a denuded pussy that she doesn’t keep up with . . . Whether you are a fan of the dirty talk or not, this romance is extremely hot. There is a great deal of hate fucking early on as these two work out their frustrations on each other.
 
Although these two have a great deal of sexual compatibility, little else is easy in their relationship. They have issues because of the gap in their economic statuses, because of their conflicting approaches to life (Bram likes the straight and narrow path and Aspen likes the impulsive one), and because of the secret about Beth that Aspen is keeping. Everything falls apart spectacularly when Beth surprises them and her brother and best friend frolicking naked. Neither Beth nor Bram is happy with Aspen when all of the secrets are revealed - and Aspen is devastated.
 
I have to say that Bram is a wounded hero with many issues. He can be mean when he gets angry and he takes his anger out on Aspen several times (verbally, not physically). I believe that I said on Twitter than Bram is a total ass, but not a douche. He has so much unresolved guilt over his difficult adolescence and role in his parents’ death. He hasn’t allowed himself any leeway or forgiveness since taking over his parents’ business and stepping up to raise Beth. It is difficult to read some of the scenes where he lets his anger get the best of him, but the way he finally owns up to his problems and tries to deal with them is great. This leads to a wonderful grovel and a spectacular HEA.
 
Going Nowhere Fast by Kati Wilde is a romance that hit almost every romance high note for me: intense and steamy sexual tension, hot-as-sin dirty talk, a filthy hero, a strong and capable heroine, a superb grovel and a sigh-inducing HEA. I was in romance-reading heaven during this book. This one is a must read!

I'm a huge fan of Kati Wilde's Hellfire Riders MC series, so when I heard that she was going to write a new adult book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! I didn't realize there would be a connection between Going Nowhere Fast and the Hellfire Riders MC series, so that was a lovely surprise. Going Nowhere Fast is a sexy, intense, angsty enemies-to-lovers romance I completely devoured. I enjoyed it SO much. If you love dirty books with seriously hot chemistry in them, I highly recommend this one!

Aspen and her best friend's older brother, Bram, do not get along. One could even say that they hate each other. But only for Bethany, Aspen's best friend and Bram's little sister, would they agree to go on a month-long trip together, just the three of them. But when Bethany cancels on the trip, dealing with issues that Aspen won't let Bram be privy to, the road trip get a whole lot more intense... and tension-filled. Bram blackmails Aspen into continuing on the trip so that he can entice Bethany to join them from wherever she is. And despite their disdain for the other – Bram sees Aspen as a bad influence on Bethany and Aspen thinks Bram sees her as trash – there's an undercurrent of sexual tension between them that they can't ignore the longer they're around each other.

The second I picked up Aspen and Bram's book, I couldn't put it down. It wrought with delicious, undeniable chemistry. These two are seriously HOT together, not that I expected anything less from Kati Wilde. Bram has one dirty, dirty mouth, and I loved it. These two take hate fucking to a whole new level... until the hate turns into something more.

I loved Aspen and Bram's enemies-to-lovers romance. There was a fine line between love and hate between them, and I loved seeing both of them toe the line. If you've enjoyed the author's previous books, I encourage you to give Going Nowhere Fast a try, because this new adult book is just as amazing as her adult books. Plus, there are quite a few cameos from the Hellfire Riders ;) I really hope Kati Wilde writes more NA books, because this was fantastic!

4.5 Stars - Top Pick

The best friend’s brother trope is one of my favorites, so the blurb to Going Nowhere Fast piqued my interest. I’ve never read any of Kati Wilde’s books before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed.

She’s obviously got issues with you having money, and she’ll either end up screwing you over or using you, Beth.

Meet Bramwell Gage, the hero. In the quote above, he’s talking about our heroine, Aspen Phillips. Sounds like a peach doesn’t he? Thought I’d immediately give you the lay of the land. Bram doesn’t approve of his sister’s friendship with Aspen and he’s fairly obvious about that. I wasn’t certain whether he truly didn’t like her or if this was him fighting his attraction. Regardless, the conflict and sparks between them hooked me from the very beginning and didn’t let up until the end.

Four years after they first met, their relationship is still strained, but for her best friend, Aspen agrees to join Beth and her brother on a month-long road trip. There’s just one problem. Actually it’s a big problem. Beth cancels at the last minute. Literally. Instead of the road trip, Beth is checking herself into an addiction program and she begs Aspen not to tell Bram. Aspen reluctantly agrees but has no idea how difficult a promise will be to keep. I’ll be honest, I was rather annoyed at Beth. Her brother took a month off work for this trip and she sends her friend to break the bad news to him? C’mon.

As you can imagine, Bram wants to know why Beth cancelled and Aspen can’t tell him the truth. He jumps to the conclusion that it’s Aspen’s fault. With him, everything is Aspen’s fault and she’s sick and tired of thinking the worst of her. Thankfully, that changes after he drops her home. Something happens with her brother’s friends and it’s then he realizes how wrong he’s been about her. Long story short, he kind of blackmail’s into going on the road trip with him. No, I don’t buy his reasoning but I do buy Aspen’s reasons for accepting. Who wouldn’t want to be able to relieve their only parent (her mother) of a huge financial burden? Then there’s the whole having her master’s degree paid for.

Of course it’s on the road trip that they get to know each other better. Aspen teasingly—sometimes not—calls him Tin Man and she discovers he does have a heart. She also discovers that he sex talk makes him uncomfortable. Like when she is frank about her lack of a current or ex-boyfriend, using an amusing analogy to discuss her sex drive.

“Nope, I just find a good mechanic now and then. You know, to keep all my parts in good working order. Like an oil change.” I sigh. “Except lately I usually just end up doing the job myself. Not as much hassle that way. Especially since most mechanics just poke under the hood a little and call it a day. I end up having to finish the work, anyway, so now I don’t even bother taking it to the shop.

I have to tell you, I finished this book in a day, and the anticipation of watching these two finally get together is well worth the wait. Hot. Scorching hot. Combustible. That doesn’t adequately describe their love scenes. Bram can’t help himself and neither can Aspen. For me, I loved Bram losing it more. I’m remembering the scene when they’re playing football with Aspen’s cousin’s motorcycle friends. And if you’re not into MC romances, their stint with club is short, but what happens between them pushes their relationship to a whole different level.

What we learn about their past is heartbreaking. Aspen’s we learn early on in the story but Bram’s we don’t learn until much later on, and it explains why he’s the way he is. That still didn’t prepare me for what happens when Beth comes back into the picture. Boy did my heart hurt. I was mad at everyone for Aspen and I wasn’t in a forgiving mood days later when she was. I know. I can hold a grudge. ;)

You’ll be happy to know my hardened heart was eventually appeased and did soften, and the epilogue was the cherry on top of my hot fudge sundae. What a wonderful HEA! Ms. Wilde, I want more books like this.

~ Beverley

Will also post on the blog this week

Kati Wilde can write one hell of a biker story so I had high hopes and crossed fingers when I started her first straight-up contemporary new adult. After not being able to put Going Nowhere Fast down until I’d read the last page at 2:30 in the morning, I think I’ll just go ahead and throw out there that if Ms. Wilde writes it, I’ll be reading it. This was a snarkily funny slow burn full of goodness and all kinds of feels. As for the sexy times… all I can say is Wow! Seriously that’s all I can come up with since they brought hate fucking to a level that was so hot my brain short circuited.

Bram takes his responsibility for his baby sister, Bethany, seriously. An unfortunate first meeting has him making some serious assumptions and accusations against his baby sister's college roommate. Aspen, the roommate, then spends the next four years doing her best to avoid Bram without making Bethany feel like she’s in the middle. Thing is, she may be being just a bit judgmental herself. I guess no one told these two (like my Grampa told me) that when you assume, you make an ASS out of U or ME (or both in this situation).

After graduation, Bethany comes up with the idea of a month-long road trip for the three of them before heading off to different sides of the country. From the beginning, problems occur, but a deal is struck and the trip goes on.

Almost the entire story is told from Aspen’s POV so it’s good she won me over quickly since I’m not usually a fan of new adult heroines. Her life wasn’t easy, but she never gave up all the while keeping her attitude about living life to its fullest no matter what. She had her immature moments, but her loyalty and care towards Bethany is what won me over, no matter how much pressure Bram put on her to cave.

Bram was a little more difficult to wrap my head around. It’s obvious there was more to his over the top reaction than just wrong assumptions, but he keeps his secrets his own. As the trip progressed, he grew on me so I decided to go by his actions instead of what came out of his mouth. After that, he continually surprised me, especially when they met up with Aspen’s cousin and the Hellfire Riders. What a fun cameo!

The hate generated between Aspen and Bran personifies into a virtual character that matures into an emotional force well beyond its heated beginnings. Still, no matter how close they became in or out of bed, I knew Aspen was headed for heartbreak when the big secret came out but I was surprised at what went down when it happened.

My only complaint was with how quickly things were resolved with Bethany at the end. It was too easy for more than one reason. Other than that, this was everything I wanted it to be. Thank you, Ms. Wilde for putting my faith back in having high hopes and crossed fingers.

4.5 Hate Can Be An Awesome Aphrodisiac Stars

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Going Nowhere Fast caught my eye in the Berkley roundup email and I was quite intrigued. I read a Hellfire MC novella of Kati Wilde’s a few years back and enjoyed it, but as usual with me and many series, I didn’t go back. Going Nowhere Fast is a standalone title, though it’s loosely connected to the Hellfire series.

I freaking loved this book. I wasn’t expecting it to be in my top reads of 2017, yet here I am plonking it in the list. It was so bloody dirty. Like super, sexy, rawr dirty that had Aspen squirming in delight because of Bram, and me fanning my face.

Bram and Aspen had a ‘I hate you thing’ going on, with Bram the disapproving, older brother who believed Aspen was a terrible influence on his little sister, Bethany. From the very moment Aspen met Bram the two clashed heads. She didn’t back down from him and went off on him when he lashed out at Aspen at the audacity of her treating his sister like an adult and by simply being her best friend. I loved Aspen. She was so loyal. Aspen and her family struggled financially in debt after the death of her father, but she worked her butt off, along with her mother, to get where she is today.

Oh Bram. Bram was Mr Disapproving and was nicknamed Tin Man by Aspen for his robotic ways. Bram became guardian of Bethany after their parents were killed in a car accident. Bethany was his number one priority and when Aspen came into Bethany’s life he wasn’t a happy bunny. Bram did have a stick up his butt when it came to Aspen, but for reasons of his own that were revealed later in the book. When Bethany pulled out of the road trip it was a delight seeing Bram losing control with Aspen. The two had so many arguments, though Bram was the instigator most of the time. Bram was a complicated guy. I did want to slap some sense into him on a few occasions. And that’s where the conflict came in, with Bram and Aspen sharing this incredible sexual chemistry, but Bram and his cutting remarks always managed to find their way into Aspen’s heart and he hurt her so many times. I never believed in the old and now outdated term that bones may break me, but words will never hurt me. Nope. Words do hurt. A lot.

Despite Bram and his scary ways, he was so into Aspen. The guy was a walking, dirty-talking sex machine. Have I mentioned how dirty this book was? I’ll mention it again. SO DAMN DIRTY. Here’s a little teaser excerpt from one of my favourite scenes in the book.

In the dark tent he’s a darker shadow looming over me, kneeling between my spread thighs. I push up onto my elbows.

Too late.

Hard hands grip my waist. My shoulders hit the mattress again as he lifts my hips high into the air, then braces one strong forearm beneath my lower back. Oh my god. My hands push wildly against the mattress but he’s kneeling between my legs, my soft inner thighs clamped around his hips, my body bowed into a bridge with my shoulders on the bed and my toes barely brushing the surface.

I’ve got no leverage here. I’m completely open to him, his for the taking. I can’t do anything but lie here and be fucked.

And I’ve never wanted anything so much.

I was hooked on this book and ended up glomming late into the night. Bram and Aspen grew closer with one another on their road trip as they explored not only sights, but each other. From that amazing tent scene to the scene in which Bram and Aspen met up with the Hellfire crew, this was such a fun and emotional road-trip romance. There was always a strained tension between them, though, and that was Bethany. Aspen’s loyalty was deep and no matter how much Bram tried (taking Aspen on the road trip and sending pictures was his way of luring Bethany out) she wasn’t breaking her oath to her best friend.

So when they finally fall deep in love and Bram opened up to Aspen about his past and his family (sad and heartbreaking) it’s Bethany that is the catalyst that turns shit up. And oh boy did I really dislike Bram and Bethany for a short while. Aspen loved these two siblings so much and when Bram found out the reasons behind Bethany’s issues, they both take their anger out on Aspen!!!! I was so mad.

Aspen is no doormat and she finally doesn’t forgive Bram for lashing out. And Bram grovelled and he had to go through a lot of pain for causing Aspen pain. So the grovelling scene was pretty damn good. I loved this book so much because Wilde made me believe 100% that Bram and Aspen were made for one another. So I now need to go reread all of the Hellfire titles. And I need Bethany’s book and Murphy! Murphy, Bram’s best friend, was hilarious. Wasn’t sure if there was a little sequel bait planted by Wilde between Murphy and Bethany.

Going Nowhere Fast was an amazing dirty book that packed in a lot of emotions and tension with amazing characters that had so much depth. I can’t wait to read more of her work.

I give it an A.

So. Freaking. Good. I literally could not put it down. It starts off so good and totally sucked me in. The sexual tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife and it almost gets unbearable at one point. But then the dam finally breaks and it's so freaking hot and you just want more, more, more. And Kati Wilde gives it to you! Ugh, Bram's dirty mouth is the absolute dream of naughty girls around the world. Although you want to hate him because he's such a dick to Aspen sometimes, you can't help but be drawn to his sexy personality. And Aspen is such a head strong, spitfire. She doesn't take shit from anyone and she's fiercely loyal. I loved every single ounce of this book. It made me feel so many emotions. I laughed. I cried. I got turned on because of the abundant smexiness. It's such a complete, fulfilling story and my only regret is that it ended. I'm really hoping Kati is writing a Murphy and/or Bethany!!

Talk about sexual tension and anticipation Bram and Aspen had this in spades. Bram is the big brother to Aspen’s college roommate and best friend Bethany and he just happens to be hot and rich; also being someone who Aspen cannot stand to be around with all of his judgmental crap. She believes that he thinks her to be some poor girl who is friends with Bethany only because she has money and he thinks that Aspen is using Bethany. Bram also believes that she is a bad influence on his little sister. Little did Bram know that his little sister has some big time issues that were brought on by a rich guy who happens to be an acquaintance of the family. It is Aspen who is supporting her friend and she refuses to tell Bram where his sister actually is because Bethany has sworn her to secrecy and Aspen was taught by her mother to always keep her word.

You would think this would be easy since not only does Aspen not like Bram and she never sees him but this is so not the case because as a college graduation present Bram is taking Bethany on an all-expense paid four week road trip to places they had went as kids before their parents were killed in a car accident and Bethany has asked Aspen to go with them. So, when Bethany backs out last minute Bram is going to blackmail Aspen to still go with him on this road trip in hopes that if Bethany sees pictures of how much fun they are having she will join them on this trip after all. Plus Bram is thinking that he can get Aspen to tell him what’s up with his sister.

The storyline between Bram and Aspen was fantastic making it so I could not put this book down. They say there is a fine line between hate and love but these two redefine this like no other. The sexual frustration that they shared was agonizing even for me and who knew if these two would ever hook up. Going Nowhere Fast also had just enough humor in it to relax some of the tension I felt and it also was one of those stories that pulled at your heartstrings and made it hard to read at times because of the tears in my eyes. Yep, this author worked me over emotionally and I loved every minute of it! I would definitely recommend this book!!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for a freely given and honest review.

Review will post at http://romrevtoday.com/

GOING NOWHERE FAST – Kati Wilde
A Perfect 10
Berkeley Intermix
ISBN: 978-0-3995-8525-8
April 2017
Contemporary Romance

Oregon and California – Present Day

To celebrate their graduation from college, Aspen Phillips and her best friend Bethany Gage have planned a month-long trip hiking, rafting, and other things in Oregon and California with Bethany’s older brother, Bram. But just as Aspen meets up with Bram to start the first leg of the trip, Bethany sends a text message to Aspen that she’s bowing out and instead going to enter a drug treatment facility on the Oregon coast. Bethany begs Aspen to not tell the overprotective Bram where she’s at. Bram is upset to say the least, especially since Aspen won’t divulge his sister’s whereabouts. She figures their planned trip is now kaput, but to her surprise, Bram wants it to continue, just the two of them. Bram is wealthy and waves money in front of her to convince her. How can she turn down a free ride to graduate school and a chance at her mother’s massive debts being paid off?

In the four years that Aspen has known Bram, he has always looked like he hates her, and she expects the trip will turn out to be one massive mistake that will make her miserable. At first, that turns out to be true as they fight and argue, but that anger Bram expresses soon turns into lust, especially after a day riding with Aspen’s cousin’s biker gang. They can barely make it back to the campsite before they’re having sex. A night of burning hot sex leads to the inevitable conclusion for Aspen and Bram that they’re strangely attracted to one another, and the fighting between them only leads to even better makeup sex.

GOING NOWHERE FAST proves that opposites attract for Aspen and Bram, as they find themselves involved in some steamy hot sex while on the trip of a lifetime. Up until now, every time Bram was around Aspen, he made his disapproval known because he’s always thought Aspen was a bad influence on Bethany. While the girls do like to party, it was an ex-boyfriend from Bethany’s hometown of Seattle who led her into using hard drugs. Now Bethany wants to get clean, but doesn’t want to deal with Bram, who would likely be disappointed in her. Bram and Bethany lost their parents eight years ago, leaving Bram, as the oldest, to run the company and raise his sister. This has made him act responsible to the point that he is no fun to be around. He only agreed to the trip with the girls because it was a way for Bethany to relive a fun childhood experience with their parents.

Aspen was raised by her widowed mom growing up in a trailer home, and they have always had to fight hard to earn the money to live on. After Bethany ditched them, Bram took Aspen home, only to end up rescuing her from her brother’s drug high buddies who’d taken over the home while her mom was in Vegas. She appreciates Bram’s help, but then he turned it around to blackmail her to accept his help. He really wanted to go on the trip…with her? Lurking in Aspen’s brain is the realization Bram is sexy and dangerously attractive. He exposes her to the life of someone with money…and she grows to like it…and falls in love with him. But love isn’t easy when cultures clash.

GOING NOWHERE FAST is told in the first-person narration of Aspen, but it’s done so well that readers will immediately understand what makes her tick, but also get the underlying feelings of Bram. It ended up being a hard to put down story for me, turning out to be one of the best books I’ve read in April and the reason I have to give it a Perfect 10. It’s in eBook form only right now, but I urge you to go to your nearest online bookstore and snag a download of GOING NOWHERE FAST.

Patti Fischer

3.5 Stars Going Nowhere Fast was a good read. I really wanted to like these characters but I struggled a little with Bram, not enough to detract from the story but enough to make me still be unsure at the end. Overall the story and the character interaction is enjoyable. I will read more by this author.

This book was just OK for me. It has two of my favorite romance tropes: best friend's older brother and hate-to-love romance and I liked combination of the two. What I didn't love is the main hero, Bram. He was a jerk with holier-than-thou attitude for most of the book and I am not sure what Aspen saw in him! Also there is a lot of sex in Going Nowhere Fast. I don't mind sex scenes, I usually like my romances steamy, but I also want a well-developed story. In Going Nowhere Fast Aspen and Bram were on a road trip together and so I was hoping for some adventures but instead was overwhelmed by these characters either being horny and obsessing about sex, or having sex. The story and the adventure got lost amid all the sexy times.

One promise.
Two hearts.
Three rules.
Four weeks to break them all.

When Aspen Phillips’ best friend invites her on a month-long road trip, she has serious mixed feelings. Sharing their tight quarters will be Bramwell Gage, overprotective brother and all-around jerk. Bram may be ridiculously sexy, but he’s made no effort to hide how he feels about Aspen—that she’s trash who’s no good for his sister. But Aspen is determined to get along with the uptight millionaire—and to keep her promise, concealing a secret about his sister that Bram can never know.

But after a scorching kiss reveals that Bram’s feelings toward her run much hotter than she believed, Aspen's emotions swerve into a complete 180. Suddenly the girl who has nothing has everything—but only as long as the truth about his sister remains hidden. Because when all the secrets and promises unravel, she risks losing it all...

Aspen is meeting her best friend, Bethany, so that they can go on a post-college graduation trip. Unfortunately Bethany’s brother, Bram, will be going as well and Aspen and Bram don’t get along. The first time they met Aspen and Bethany were getting back from a rave they’d gone to and Bethany was drunk. Since they were freshmen they were underage and Bram didn’t like the fact that Aspen was “ruining” his sister and having a bad influence on her. This continued for four years so the thought of spending a month with Bram is not something Aspen is looking forward to.

When Aspen gets to the meeting place Bram is there but Bethany is nowhere in sight. Aspen gets a text from Bethany stating that she’s checking herself into a rehab but doesn’t want Aspen to tell her brother where she is, even though they’re close siblings. One thing leads to another and Aspen ends up on the trip with Bram anyway. During the time they’re traveling they discover a lot about each other and they end up creating a truce…or two…or 85. They’re so attracted to each other that they decide to have “hate” sex, but can it really be considered hate sex when at least one of them is in love with the other?

I have to say that I love romance travel stories. Something about moving from place to place and well, being separated from your norm just does something for me. I think because it’s all that more exciting when they get home and they discover that it works at home as well as it does on the road. In this case, that didn’t exactly happen but it still worked out in the end.

Aspen had once been a middle class girl but then her father got cancer and died, her mother lost her nursing job as she couldn’t take care of dying people any longer, the family lost their house because the medical bills were astronomical. Now they scrape together what they can. Aspen was thrilled to go on the trip as it was pretty much all expenses paid but she hated that Bram was going. She knew that he loved his sister but he was so over-protective with Bethany it bothered Aspen. She knew it stemmed from their parents dying in a car accident when Bram was 19 years old but Aspen felt that Bram needed to be a brother to Bethany, not a father figure. Because of the father figure mentality, he was quite harsh with Aspen and what he felt where her bad influences on Bethany. He was constantly telling her this and it started to get on my nerves after a while, I must say. I knew that he was attracted to Aspen but despite their “truce” he still was harsh with her.

Aspen was a strong woman but a person can only take so much before they break. In her case it was Bram still being angry toward her supposedly bad influences even after they were having sex and having a good time together. He kept telling her that he shouldn’t want her and shouldn’t be with her and of course she thought it was because she was poor and he was a millionaire and that he was slumming and felt bad about it. My problem came when she actually told Bram all of this and he was shocked at the revelation. He basically told her that he had never thought badly about her because of being poor and that she was projecting her bullshit on to him. As this is a first person POV book we had never been privy to Bram’s thoughts, only Aspen’s, and as such was led to believe that Bram was an ass but was he? The guy that I had just spent 75% of the book kind of disliking isn’t who I thought he was and now I’m supposed to like him? Gah! I’m so confused! When I then looked back at Bram, not through Aspen’s eyes, I realized he’s not a bad guy. While he could be an ass he wasn’t as mean and judgey as I thought and made me rethink my entire take on the book. It was exhausting.

Bram ended up being an emotionally scarred hero and by the end of the book I liked him. Yes, he could be overbearing but he did it with good intentions and he had a big heart. I was quite happy that Bram and Aspen finally worked out their issues and got their HEA – they worked hard for it and deserved it.

Despite my issue (named above) I also liked the writing in the book and the secondary characters. I’ve only read one set of short stories by Wilde and they were erotic romances. This was a good full length novel and made me want to read more of her books.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

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