The Consequence of Revenge by Rachel Van Dyken || ARC Review

Title: The Consequence of Revenge

Author: Rachel Van Dyken

Series: Consequence #2

Genres: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Skyscape Publishing

Pages: 320, Kindle Edition

Publication Date: June 9th 2015

My Rating: ★★★★★

---

After losing his best friend to another guy, the notoriously too-confident Max Emory suddenly feels lost. He may have devastatingly good looks, an abundance of charm, and a claim to one of the biggest hotel empires around, but he has no ambition anymore. So when his fed-up friends decide they’ve had enough of his moping, they sign him up to be the next bachelor on the reality series Love Island. And between his pride and his forged signature on an ironclad contract, Max just can’t say no. Now he’s stranded in paradise with twenty-four women, one terrifying goat, and Becca, the breathtaking barista who already turned him down back home. The closer Max gets to Becca, the more determined he becomes to win her over. As she gets to know him better, things start heating up. But is Becca really after Max’s heart—or is she after the cash prize she could claim once the cameras stop rolling?

---

Thanks to Skyscape Publishing for providing an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Warning: This review is going to contain a lot of quotes.

When I got the book:

Work it Brad Pitt.

Yeah, so I was taking a break from studying, Amazon, Goodreads surfing and all, then it hit me that I was actually waiting for The Consequence of Revenge. So I went on NetGalley and surfed the ‘Recently Added’ section, the whole time praying I’d find the book. To my utter surprise I found it and I didn’t even have to request it! I just had to hit ‘Read Now’ then send it to my kindle and voilà! I had Max’s story in the palm of my hand. Words cannot describe my excitement even now that I’ve read it; maybe especially now that I’ve read it. If you’ve read my review of The Consequence of Loving Colton, you’ll probably get my enthusiasm.

This book starts pretty much where The Consequence of Loving Colton left off. Ever since Max’s best friend married her longtime crush, Max has been kind of ‘lost’. In an attempt to help him ‘find’ himself his amazing, helpful friends sign him up for a dating show without his consent or knowledge. ‘Cause they’re awesome like that. Unemployed Max with nothing to do and no way to escape is left with no choice but to go on said dating show and spend 21 days with 25 diverse women, a goat, a lizard and an unexpected guest. Almost seems like the perfect chance to find love and friendship right? Well, there’s a catch. With a prize of a quarter million up for grabs there is really no way to know who’s in it for the money and who’s in it for the bachelor. Maybe there’s someone who’d just settle for the guy, afterall it is Max we’re talking about. ‘Trouble in paradise’ anyone?

This book was all I expected and more. It totally lived up to my very high expectations. The fun doesn’t just start with the dating show, it started from page one and ended long after the last page.

The Consequence of Revenge is the sequel to The Consequence of Loving Colton and can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend you read the first one because you’ll fall even more in love with Max if you do!

What I liked:

• The characters- This book featured the original characters, Max, Milo, Colton, Jason, Reid and a whole new set of them, Becca, 24 young women, a goat and a lizard. I absolutely love (present tense) the characters! From the first book till now I have felt a connection to them and when reading a book there is nothing better than connecting with the characters.

– Max is the male protagonist and a sarcastic work of art. But under the façade he’s actually a really lonely guy who feels like he has lost his best friend to another guy. You have to understand that for four years it’s always been Max and Milo against the world. Add on the fact that he sometimes feels saddened by his lack of employment, you get a whole new side of Max.

She’d made me feel confident, carefree, and selfless… so losing Milo? Well it was being abandoned in the deep end with no water wings and absolutely no recollection of how to swim.

In the previous book I only saw his cheerful and bigger than life personality and something that hinted at insecurity, here I got to see things through his eyes, live like Max, think like Max. What an experience that was! I really loved how he developed and was even ready for a commitment and to settle down with someone. Permanently.

Max is notorious for his pickup lines. Here are a few “stellar” ones:

My smile fell. “Stand still.”
“What?” Her hands froze in midair. “What’s wrong?”
“Stand still… so I can pick you up.”

and

“Baby, if you were words on a page, you’d be what they call fine print.”

Not one of his finer moments:

“So.” Rex laughed. “Everyone be sure to check your bags. And remember, nothing over fifty pounds.”
I snorted. All eyes went to me.
“Ah.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Dare I say a few of you are going to be overweight?”
Some of the girls gasped and covered themselves with their arms. What? I meant their suitcases! Not them!

Like I mentioned in my other review, Max was a riot!

– Becca is Max’s love interest and his partner in crime throughout the book. Just think Max, but female. Okay, yeah, maybe she is more “normal” than Max, but they get each other on a different level. She didn’t just humor him, she joined in the fun and did things only Max would do. She also presented a constant challenge to Max, she had him thinking of commitment, a job, goats… No doubt, Becca was badass, she fought fire with fire.

– Jason was one of the recurring characters from The Consequence of Loving Colton and nothing much has changed for him except for the fact that he’s no longer “attached” to Jayne. Once again poor Jason ended up as the punching bag of the gang, if you’ve read the first book you’ll understand just how many bruises he got. Well, he didn’t get as many in this book, but he did have his “moments”.

• The Max and Becca moments- There were so many of them! Some funny, some sweet… They’re just perfect for each other! I ship it!

Times Becca totally gave it back to him:

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I blew her a kiss.
“Oh, let’s hope not”, she said through clenched teeth.

Burn Max, burn.

“That’s twice now.”
“Twice?” She tilted her head, pieces of blond silky hair falling across her bare shoulders. “That I’ve saved your ass or that you’ve made an ass out of yourself?” I laughed.
“Aw, my jackassery is interchangeable!”
“Probably not something to celebrate.”

I hadn’t even thought of the possible existence of “jackassery” before Max.

“What are you doing?” I blurted. Wow. Smooth. So smooth.
“Thinking,” Max said without looking up.
“Finally.” I sat down next to him.

– I cannot lie guys between Max’s fear of goats and Becca’s fear of sharks I was thoroughly entertained.

“He needs to smell you,” Becca said sternly. “He’s afraid.” “That’s how they lure you in.” I leveled a gaze on the goat. “Huh, big guy? You lure people in with your crazy eyes, then eat them. And what are you, anyway? The damn goat whisperer?”

Their conversations are just something else:

“I’m going to name a goat Max, then sacrifice it so its spirit haunts you for the rest of your life.”
Max froze. “I will freaking buy an aquarium and name every damn shark after you, then train them to roar whenever they see your picture.” “False, sharks don’t roar.”
Max’s eyes narrowed. “Mine will.”
“What, because your sharks are going to be special hybrids?”
“They’ll be badass! Just don’t sacrifice the goat!”
“I think I’ll buy a second goat, and send you picture texts of him in various states of rage in your house, so that you never have peace and-”
“Fine!” Max shouted. “I’m sorry, leave the goats out of it!”

• The bromance- The bromance was absolute perfection! Ever since Jason broke up with crazy Jayne and Max lost Milo to another guy, Jason and Max have become best buddies and it’s insane! Not to mention the fact that numerous people thought that they were gay.

Jason cleared his throat. “I, uh, I sort of got something for you.”
“You did?” I blinked away the fear and watched as Jason handed me a paper bag. Curious, I opened it and smirked. A six-pack of beer and chocolate.
“The, uh…” Jason scratched his head. “the chocolate has a flower on it, you know, kind of like… special chocolate.”
My eyes welled with tears. “You did this for me?”
Jason nodded and patted my back. “He didn’t even ask for your middle name before doing-what he did. What type of doctor does that?”
“A monster.” I started unwrapping my special chocolate.
“Yeah, well.” Jason put the car in drive. “We’ll get you drunk enough that you won’t remember.”

• Everything!- The plot, the twists, characters, the analogies, every freaking thing! It also alternates between Max and Becca’s POV, which added awesome sauce to the awesomeness!!

Once again, I wouldn’t change anything about this book. It had a balanced amount of romance, humor, emotion and so much more. Now, I can’t wait for the third book, The Consequence of Seduction which is Reid’s story!

But I don’t see an expected publication date on Goodreads. 😦

Please let it be soon… Please Rachel Van Dyken..

---

That’s it for the day, lovelies! Have you read any of The Consequence books? If you’re looking for a good time and something relaxing I highly recommend you read them. You will not regret it! Exams were so tiring today and I really hope to unwind by chatting with some of you, so leave some comments! Happy reading and good luck in your exams! Hugs! ❤