ARC Review: Worth the Risk by Bella Matthews

Not all love stories have happy endings. Some are destined to crash and burn.

Growing up, I was the youngest member of my family. Sheltered and protected by my older brother and his friends. Always on the outside looking in. College was supposed to be my chance for a fresh start. My opportunity to figure out who I am and what I want.

I thought I knew what I wanted until he charged back into my life and changed the game.

Cooper Sinclair was my brother’s best friend long before he became my stepbrother. A navy SEAL who’s owned my heart since the day we met. Loving him was easy. But time was never on our side, and stolen moments only last so long.

Are we worth the risk, or will we both go down in flames?

*This book was originally titled Changing the Game but was changed after release.*

---

I was not prepared to be pulled into this story so completely but I was hooked right away. The tension between Carys and Cooper is off the charts, but it’s also each one’s deepest dark secret. After all, they’re step-siblings now. There’s a push-pull between these two that’s addictive. They’re both fighting it with everything they have but it’s fun seeing their resolve crumble as they flirt with giving in.

There’s not much to say without being a spoiler, so I’ll focus on how much I loved these characters. I wanted to take care of Carys early on. She’s going through a lot, like being hopelessly in love with your step-brother is the least of your problems type of problems. Things are tough and she only has her friends nearby since her family is across the country. Cooper isn’t sure what his future holds beyond being a Navy SEAL, but the more time he spends with Carys, the more he wonders what he wants from life.

There’s a great cast of secondary characters, mainly Carys’ friends in San Diego and Cooper’s team but we also get to see many favorites from related series. That’s always fun because it’s a sort of bonus epilogue on those characters. The cliffhanger here is brutal, even more than usual because of some horrible information revealed in the last pages. This was sweet and steamy in the first half, but the second half is more angsty and emotional. The wait for the conclusion is torture already and I still have weeks to go (sniff). I received an ARC from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review.