Trust Me (Rivers Edge # 1)

By Lacey Black

Synopsis

After all of the devastating betrayals by the one she loved, Twenty-two year old Avery Stevens has spent three years raising her daughter alone, with her family and best friend as a support system, never leaving her small hometown of Rivers Edge, Missouri. Though Rivers Edge holds the pain of her past, it also holds the one person she wants but can’t have – her brother’s best friend, Maddox Jackson. When she learns the attraction might not be one-sided, will Avery be able to trust Maddox with the one thing she’s held onto tightly for the past few years?

Police officer Maddox Jackson is a ladies’ man with one foot out the door. Never planning to settle down, Maddox fights the attraction he feels for his best friend’s little sister, Avery. But can he continue to fight it when his body and his heart are leading him to the one woman he shouldn’t want?

When secrets are finally exposed, can Avery and Maddox trust each other enough to overcome the past, handle the present, and preserve their future? Can Avery trust Maddox with her heart? Will Maddox be able to convince Avery to take the chance?

Review

TRUST ME is the debut novel from Lacey Black and after reading it, I’ve added the next two books in this series to my TBR list.

At the young age of 22, Avery is a single mother to her 3yo daughter, Brooklyn. Her ex-boyfriend, Drake, dumped her at hearing she was pregnant and has never acknowledged that Brooklyn is his daughter. Luckily for Avery, her parents and her four older brothers banded together to help raise her beautiful baby girl.

Maddox doesn’t date or do relationships. He picks up women, heads over to their place for some good times and leaves as soon as he’s done.

Maddox: I don’t want to snuggle or spoon or any of that other mushy shit that girls want to do. I want to fuck.

To Maddox, Avery is off limits. Not only is she 10 years younger than him, but she’s also his best friend, Jake’s, little sister. He’s always been very protective of her, but lately that protective instinct has evolved into something more. Something possessive. Something that has him thinking to the future and what might be.

But a bitter ex threatens their relationship, the situation made worse when their secret relationship is discovered by Jake.

As I mentioned above, this is Lacey’s debut novel. I’m always pleasantly surprised when I finish a book, and only when I’m about to review it do I find out that it was a debut novel. This tells me that not only does the writer have great talent, but their support team does an amazing job as well.

This story was well written and it flowed very nicely. The relationship between Avery and Maddox is scorching hot and beautifully sweet.

Maddox: “Tell me to stop, Avery. Tell me to stop right now and I will. But if you say nothing, I’m taking you back to my room and burying myself deep inside you. I’m going to make you come and scream my name. All. Night. Long. Tell me you want this as much as I do.”

You can see that he cares very deeply for not just Avery, but Brooklyn as well. In fact, I think it’s his interactions with Brooklyn that melted my heart the most. The supporting characters are also amazing. Avery’s best friend Holly is a riot and I hope she’s able to snag one of the Stevens brothers. And Avery’s family is what you wish every family could be like: loving, funny, supportive and loyal.

Avery: I do enjoy watching him leave. Maddox’s ass in a police uniform should be illegal.