I enjoy Naima Simone's books - she writes quick, easy read, steamy books that are very character and plot driven. This one (this series) is no exception! I'm glad I read the first book in the series before picking up Ravaged (book 1 in the Burned, Inc. series is Heated), because I know I would have been very lost with the backstory and the characters involved, otherwise! I read it immediately prior - available from KU.

Ravaged follows youngest sister Miriam, of the three siblings that own and operate Burned, Inc. - a company that helps people break up with their significant other in a gentler, kinder way. We met older sister and one of the twins, Zora, in the first book. Zora started out by breaking up with Cyrus (for his entitled girlfriend), who she ended up falling for. Cyrus is best friends with Jordan, a basketball star and one of his entertainment law clients. Being that they're best friends, and the girls are sisters, Jordan and Miriam meet and have a bit of a fling, but in the first book, she friend-zones him. He's actually quite in love with the girl - but it's unrequited.

Book 2, Ravaged, finds one of Jordan's teammates interested in Miriam. Jordan, now being Miriam's "best friend", and sidelined from the team with an injury, wants to help a fellow (and widower) out, and sort of Cyrano's him with what to say and do to win her over, after Daniel and Miriam's first date goes horribly wrong. She eventually realizes that Daniel is not the one for her, and she moves on (to Jordan's relief). But... Jordan is still just her friend - not a place he wants to be, but not much he can do to get past it.

I really enjoyed how Naima Simone was able to write Jordan's tough story, Jordan's family life and his dad storyline, the basketball teammates close-knit bonds, as well as continue the sibling's experience with their parent's difficult marriage and keep Miriam's big quirky personality going and very much expanding on this... and then there were a few of the side character's story arcs. Miriam's side-hustle of her art and writing career is also quite interesting, especially with where it takes them in the end!

I definitely recommend this book for everyone, as it's beautifully written, but the first book is very important to read first. The continued story arc is necessary. This mixed-race, genius-level IQ, hard to understand and just needs her person to "get" her behaviour character, the difficult family life, the close sibling bonds, it's all there! Also, a great sports romance (sort of behind the scenes with his injury), with close-knit friendships. You will find a lot of great tropes explored here!

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and Montlake, and this is my honest feedback.

Complimentary copy provided by NetGalley and publisher for my honest opinion and review.
Steamy factor: 3 Romance factor: 3. This book took some time to get to the story line. The author used plenty of adjectives in descriptions that sometime became overbearing. On a rating of: I love, I like, it's ok and meh..... this book is a like!

Ravaged was a surprising and wonderful book. Jordan is in love with his best friend, Miriam, but he can't tell her because she has put him firmly in the friend zone. Jordan is a professional basketball player on medical leave from the team while he heals from an injury. This gives him lots of time to think about Miriam and to want to spend time with Miriam. He can't even think about being with a woman who isn't Miriam. For her part, Miriam is just living her life. She likes being part of a company with her brother and sister. She has a successful side career that she keeps secret from everyone. She has no plans to ever settle down with anyone after watching her parent's disastrous marriage and after being treated horribly by men in the past. Can Jordan survive if Miriam meets someone else and starts a relationship? Will Miriam ever realize her best friend is in love with her?

Jordan has a lot going on in this story. I really like that the author had Jordan dealing with healing from his injury by sitting around. It sounds weird but the type of injury he had would require him to just sit around. Jordan's frustration with the situation made sense and really played well with the overall story. I liked the scenes with Jordan's family, both the good and the bad. Learning about Jordan's past and what made him the man he is was very interesting. Jordan has some personality quirks that were really fun. I was glad that the author chose to give Jordan something kind of off the wall as an interest but also made it very meaningful to the character. Miriam is kind of going through the motions at the beginning of the book. At times I got frustrated with her because I wanted her to SEE what was right in front of her. I really enjoyed the moment when she realized her feelings and decided to act on them. Overall, they are a good couple and I can imagine them being happy together long-term. The side characters were really good. I am looking forward to future stories in this series because there are some characters that need to find love!

I want to give a round of applause for one thing that the author did that I really appreciated. Both Jordan and Miriam have moments that happen off the page that are important to the story. A lot of authors would include scenes with all of the details and then rehash them later in the book when it becomes relevant for other characters to find out what happened. The author opted to let things happen off-page. Bravo! It was nice to have the characters have to talk it out in order to find out all of the details.

The one area that I thought the author needed to explore a bit more was the fact that Miriam thinks Jordan is a player. I was left wondering if he had been a player or if she really misunderstood him. Ok, I have a bone to pick! Jordan is TALL and Miriam is short. There were moments when I felt like maybe their heights were adjusted to make it fit the scene better. It's an issue for me this happens after the author sets up a serious height difference and then throws it away briefly when it's inconvenient (it's not a deal breaker but it's annoying).

Ravaged is a contemporary romance set in Denver. This story is part of a series but can be read alone. I wish I had read book one first because I think I would have enjoyed knowing about Jordan and Miriam before this story started. I would recommend this book and I plan to read more from this author.

I really wanted to like this book but I have to say that I was not a fan of Miriam. Written as a strong, smart character, there were too many internal monologues that made me question her strength as a female character. Her blanket statement regarding how she was not going to get together with Jordan was also a little odd, given they were best friends and then the whole book, we had to hear about how attracted to him she was. It all just ran a little odd to me. There were plenty of funny moments and I liked how Miriam was with her family and how Jordan (who was a really great character) was with his best friends. I just wished the book didn't drag so much as we waited for Miriam to warm up to the idea of Jordan. And of Jordan's kind of weak character when it came to Miriam- like not speaking up when his best friend wanted to ask Miriam out. All of these made the story just feel slow.

I loved Miriam!

Miriam Nelson avoided all athletes since college but now she is best friends with tattooed Viking pro basketball player Jordan Ransom. But Miriam doesn’t know that Jordan has been in love with her since the one night they spent together because he knows that Miriam doesn’t have relationships but that is his goal and he is a competitor.

Miriam Nelson is the character that I really wanted to know more about after reading Heated (Burned Inc. #1) because they never knew what she was going to do. Miriam has layers upon layers and it takes Jordan a long time to get to her center and learning all of her secrets as they go from friends to lovers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the 2nd book in the “Burn Inc. Series” and this is the romantic journey of Jordan who is a professional NBA basketball player and Miriam whose family has a service called Burned Inc a break up service and she is a graphic novelist. Miriam and Jordan are the best of friends and the two shared one sizzling hot night of which the two can’t seem forget nor let go of. Miriam does not do athletes but somehow she found herself in bed with Jordan. Miriam just happens to be the love of Jordan’s life. These two were a piece of work, there were so many obstacles in their path. They couldn’t see the forest for trees, others saw that they were perfect for each other but they were just in their own way. As the two continued on their journey they finally got it together.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Montlake and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Steamy and seductive!

Miriam and Jordan have moved on from their ONS - or have they? Their lives are complicated - hers, as she works for the family "we'll do the break-up for you" company while also pursuing her own ambitions; his, as his NBA career is on the line due to an injury and his lawyer/agent is Cyrus, who is involved with Miriam's sister, Zora. Their determination to remain "just friends" quickly dissolves as the slow-burning attraction between them continues to grow.

I loved the writing here, how the author let us see both characters' vulnerabilities and insecurities, while keeping the passion high and building their friendship from the foundation up. I adored the way everything worked out in the end, especially for Miriam's dreams. This had a very satisfying HEA. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥.5

The angst. The pining. Miriam and Jordan can definitely generate feelings in a reader's heart..and well, down there.

After a brief fling, these two decided that they were better off friends. You know the saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder?" In their case, the absence of intimate touch has led to a serious amount of longing and emotional connection. The platonic area in which they have firmly tried to put each other has bloomed into a great, flirty friendship with some delicious unresolved tension simmering underneath.

The angst is definitely real between these two. Naima Simone turns the tension knob all the way up when Jordan encourages Miriam to date one of his teammates, leaving us readers at the edge of our seats as we sit through the slow burn.

Boy, was the wait worth it. The spice was definitely hot, hot, hot.

This book is the second in the Burned, Inc. series, but it can be read as a standalone.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Naima Simone, Montlake, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **

I was happy to be Ravaged. After yesterday I felt ravaged so I need an escape which Simone provided.
Hot
Intense
Molten lava
Unrequited lust and love from both main characters
Jordan calling her sweetheart made me weak in my knees
His loving her from the first Made him endearing.
I’d go down the court with Jordan any day.
Ravaged is a ravishing read!

I read an ARC in exchange for an honest review. As I was contemplating how to review this book, I came across Melissa T's review and it was everything I wanted to say. See her review linked below. Only thing I will add, I do believe although this is technically a stand alone, reading the first book in this series would have been beneficial, as there seemed to be a lot of overlap.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5083078142

To summarize my thoughts on this book, the first half felt very redundant, like the author was a little too desperate to convince the readers that Jordan and Miriam were in love but were resisting that. I did not connect with the roadblocks in the way of them being together. I also felt that there were several plot points that were missed opportunities in the sense that they were not elaborated on at all. There wasn't enough smut to skip those plot points, so overall I would rate this 2/5 stars for the plot and 2/5 spicy stars for the smut scenes. The positives - the narnia quotes were cute, and it was a quick read.

Having read book one of the series, Heated I knew when I saw this book on @netgalley that I had to request it and when the confirmation email came through, I started it that night.

Miriam and Jordan, right from the start the tension was there. The sexual tension, that is… and it was roaring.

Miriam is a strong, independent woman but she knows her limits of how she portrays herself. How she needs to put up a facade for everyone; everyone, apart from Jordan. With Jordan, she can be herself.

It was a hot, sexy read with a lot of tension and build up from both Jordan and Miriam. They were both denying themselves each other for so long, debating on whether or not it would be sensible for them to get together. Trying to move on with their lives without each other.

It was a fab read, sexy, romantic, hot and I adored it. It was the perfect book to read whilst driving to Portugal and I was hooked!

Thanks to @netgalley and @naimasimoneauthor for allowing me a copy of this ARC. @naimasimoneauthor you know I’m a huge fan and love your work! I can’t wait to read more, keep them coming, please!

Miriam is hilarious and I aspire to be more like her. She is witty and sarcastic and takes no sh*t! My personal favorite Miriam quote in this book is "And by “I hadn’t liked it,” I mean, it’d taken every bit of my flawed self-control and a rousing pep talk of “chicks before dicks” to keep me from flying over to them and punching ol’ girl in her tit." Loved the dynamic between Miriam and Jordan, constant tension 🔥🔥

Fans of pining, this one is for you!!! From almost the minute they met, Jordan has been infatuated with Miriam and her unabashed, breath-of-fresh air personality. For her part, Miriam is drawn to Jordan too, but absolutely refuses to get involved with an athlete who has a reputation for getting around. Neither can seem to let the other go, so they maintain a close friendship, but those powerful feelings simmer just below the surface.

This was fun and enjoyably spicy. I grew to care about both Jordan and Miriam and cheered on their growth. Ostensibly Miriam co-owns a business with her siblings that handles breakup for rich and powerful men? It barely factored into this story and might have been more of a distraction to the plot instead of an addition. Miriam's side career was much more interesting. This does occasionally veer over the line from frank to crude, but there's also genuine heart and emotional intelligence, especially from Jordan. Anyone who enjoys vulnerable men and intense longing will have a great time with this one!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Ravaged is a friends to lovers second chance romance involving Miriam (maths genius, business guru, graphic designer come novellist) and Jordan (sexy NBA star). Sounds like alot, right?

These two were friends, had a one night stand and then friend-zoned on another three months ago. They continue to wade through the attentions of others, an attempt at one matchmaking the other with their friend, and a host of other diversions from the real story-line, that being the romance. Individually these are great characters who are complex and alot. There was a significant amount of monologue driven chapters which got a little much - there was thinking, more thinking, then doing and it all made a bit of a messy feel for mind. Sometimes if felt like there was too much the author was wanting to say and include, particularly with the graphic novel, fantasy stuff with that replicating what was happening IRL.

We get that with romance there's miscommunication at times, that could really just be fixed if the couples sat down and talked about it. This book is no exception. They circled and circled each other, and the big twist was probably not that bad really.

I enjoyed this one but it felt like it needed to be a little more simple to really work well.

Unfortunately I am going to DNF this book. I am not meshing with the writing, and don't want to give it a bad review because of that. I will not be rating it in other places. Thanks for the opportunity.

A sports romance story with characters that have feelings for each other but refuse to admit them right away.
This story was good, with steamy scenes as expected from the author and some frustrating scenes when they got so stubborn and didn’t communicate with each other.

Many romance readers will enjoy it.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

This was my first Naima Simone novel, and I was excited to give her a shot. The premise was promising, but sadly, this novel fell short for me. In short, it’s a masterclass in what NOT to do as a writer if you have any trust in your readers.

Miriam and Jordan had a one-night stand a few months ago, then agreed to be just friends because God forbid they admit they like each other. Miriam has decided all athletes are “narcissistic manwhores,” Jordan excluded. No, he’s just a Viking god who makes her lady parts quiver every time they’re together. And he fantasizes about her too, constantly telling himself he needs to move on and stop wishing she shared his feelings. Of course, she does share his feelings, they just never talk about it because that would be too mature.

Jordan is truly a nice guy, a loyal and good friend. Although I dislike it when authors write a pro athlete and then give him an injury so that he’s sidelined. It seems like a cop-out to make it easier to write the character in first person. Miriam is a strong, intelligent woman, but for a card-carrying Mensa member, she sure can be clueless.

I didn’t connect with the writing style at all. I’ve never read so much telling in one book. The author seems to have zero trust in the reader because she SHOWS through dialogue, body language, or action, then proceeds to TELL too, as though we’re idiots. And the telling goes on and on. There is a ton of inner monologue, often pages of it between lines of dialogue so that I forget what they’re talking about. Why do we need to hear their every thought? I don’t need to constantly be told WHY a character is doing something; I can figure it out. If you’ve done your job as a writer, trust your reader to connect the dots. You don’t need to hammer the same point home again and again or rely so heavily on isolated sentences for emphasis. The writing was so distracting, it became impossible to connect to the characters or ever think of them as real people I could care about.

Writing issues aside, I can’t stand romance novels where the grown adults act like pining teenagers for 75% of the story—this angsty slog could have been much shorter if they’d had a conversation about their feelings in chapter one. On the bright side, the steamy bits were well done (although it took WAY too long to get there).

One last note: the cover is all wrong. As a pro basketball player, Jordan is supposedly “closer to seven feet than six” but that model doesn’t look nearly tall enough to fit the description.

Ok so Ravaged is the perfect title for this book because it literally ravaged my emotions in, like, the best possible way. The best. I don't even know where to start with this review, other than drying my eyes.

Miriam. Is. Brilliant. Yes, she is a genius, but her brilliance is in who she is, who she has to be, and the parts of her that she has to hide. She hides at work and with her family, from the whole world, but the one person she can be most of herself with is Jordan... Which is terrifying for her in every single way. Friend zoned it is.

Jordan is pretty much my perfect cinnamon roll of a book boyfriend. He has his own past that has hurt him and he needs to accept and move through... Not to mention a burning desire for a certain best friend that he can never have. Better to be near her as her bestie than to not be in her life at all, right?

Growth is hard and painful and tears you up inside. But to get to the point of joy and happiness and love? All that angst will be worth it.

Trying to break out of what I normally read. I used to be a huge romance fan, but got out reading them. This book was a good introduction back into the genre. Funny, snappy, electrified read. The characters were refreshing and I enjoyed the different situations they found themselves in. The writing was smooth and the chemistry was hot. This was my first read by the author and it will not be my last.

#NETGALLEY #RAVAGED

Naima can do no wrong with words…..

The Burned Inc series continues with Jordan and Miriam, two best friends who are not supposed to be attracted to each other. This story gave me serious Brown Sugar vibes. Jordan being the athlete gives the impression that love is for the birds. Miriam coming from a family who owns a break up dating service has this perception that love is not for her and just having her best friend around is enough. There’s nothing sweeter that best friends turned lovers ! Rules are broken, and so are hearts and egos.

#ravaged #netgalley