Craving Ava

Synopsis: Ava Brown, a struggling waitress haunted by her memories, was someone who could never go unnoticed, despite how oblivious she was to that very same fact.

Easton Maxwell, a well-known billionaire C.E.O. with a thriving company and a troubled past wasn’t used to not being noticed, especially by such a distinctively beautiful woman. From the moment he laid eyes on her but went unseen, he was determined to make himself known. She had carved herself onto him without even trying, and the need to have her suppressed everything. Why? He couldn’t quite figure that out yet. All he knew, was that his bed had been empty for quite some time, and she was the only one he wanted in it.

When she slipped through his fingers, he decided he wouldn’t rest until he found her again. Luckily, he did, ninety-three days later. And for better or worse, their lives would never be the same again.

Publication date:‎ February 14, 2023

Length: 438 pages

The Genre: Romantic Erotica

The Tropes: Love at first sight, Falling fast, CEO/Waitress, Billionaire, Family drama, He falls first.

The Spice Level: 5 Peppers! 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ It’s hot! I mean it is classified as erotica so if you wanted to read this thinking it’d be clean…what kind of delusion are you living in?

The Characters:

Ava – Ava ava ava, darling angel, red, girl I love you :’). Ava is strong! Usually, when there is a billionaire trope he is saving the girl, but Ava is no damsel in distress! Nor is she a gold digger, she adamantly refuses any help offered by Easton…not that he cares, he does what he wants. Ava has her own set of issues that stop her from getting the things that she wants, all she needed was someone to believe in her so she could believe in herself.

Easton – Easton is…Easton is wonderful. Again, usually with these tropes there is an arrogance to the men, and they have a “money fixes everything” attitude. Don’t get me wrong, Easton definitely has this attitude, but it’s not the same…he’s not throwing money at people just because he wants more power or because he can impress Ava, he is simply buying things 🤷. He has money and things cost money, that’s all it is to him. Easton also carries himself with a confidence that just screams BDE, before we even get close to seeing his pants come off.

Side Characters – Both Ava and Easton’s family dynamics are interesting, the sibling dynamics are great and I am rooting for everyone. Easton’s parents…confuse the hell out of me. Easton’s ex-girlfriend…makes me want to scream that sometimes violence is the answer.

The Book: 4.9/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! Because again, my dumbass told people I don’t give out 5 stars. Craving Ava is what 50 Shades of Grey wants to be…or so I assume, I did not finish the book or movie. The characters are opposites in lifestyle, fashion, and personality, but it isn’t so polar that they are constantly butting heads. They mesh well together and in the areas where one might be lacking, the other teaches them how to do better. The writing expertly changes tones as we move from each character’s POV, even if the author didn’t tell us who was speaking or if both characters were of the same gender, it would be clear in the way the character speaks to others, themselves, and how they move about the world.

Easton does start out with some not-so-great traits, but with characters like these I often find myself thinking “if it’s him, then I accept the stalking.” However, that’s the extent of his not-so-great behavior and it only lasts the first 10% of the book if that. Again, I can’t help but think back to other billionaire tropes that I have read where the man is controlling and arrogant, and the woman is soft-spoken and just does whatever he wants, she’s looking for a savior. That is not the case for Easton and Ava. Easton is down to earth and accepting of everyone, he does whatever he can to help his loved ones and strangers who are in need, and he does it without putting on a show. Ava does not need to be saved, well, she needs a push, but not to be saved. She just needed someone to smack her (not literally) and force her to look in the mirror, once the mirror was clear she knew exactly who she was and what she wanted to do.

This book does not flow as other romance novels flow, but in all honesty, I don’t read a lot of erotica so this may flow exactly as it should for that. When I think romance novels I think cookie cutter – for one-quarter of the book they deny their feelings, the second quarter they are together, the third quarter something drives them apart with an explosive betrayal of some sort, and the fourth quarter they forgive and come back together. Craving Ava is not that. Our couple is together for the majority of the book and what we are seeing is how they navigate life and love as adults. There is drama, there is intensity, but there is also communication, and god damn is it refreshing.

I mentioned I don’t read a lot of erotica, and it’s because any time I have tried I did not finish the book. Either it was just too much sex, and I know some of you are going “how is that possible?!?” well it is, I would like some kind of plot, please. Or, the plot is there and sex is there but it’s just written so…I don’t know. Cringey? Or aggressive? Both? Sometimes the words used during the sex scenes are just like whaaat is this?? Who speaks like this? Who moves like this? Or sometimes the plot and the sex is just too aggressive, and everyone is entitled to their own kinks and sometimes the kink moves outside the bedroom, but there is a difference between being a dom, and being an asshole.

…Tangent over. The point is, Craving Ava is not cringey or aggressive, and it has a plot that you can actually follow and enjoy. The sex scenes were long and detailed and hot, I think I cringed a couple of times, and both times Ava says something about Easton’s “grotesque way of speaking,” acknowledging that this is how he is talking in the heat of the moment. Acknowledging that sometimes the way we speak during sex is odd.

My one complaint about the book is the ending…but this is partially my fault for going into this not knowing it was Book 1. So if you read this, and you should, go into it knowing there will be more! You will have somewhat of a cliffhanger and you’ll be going “What? What! What happens now?!” It also was just not what I was expecting, which again means it’s not predictable like other books may be. I got to a certain point and could feel the drama was ramping up, I was 90% done with the book, and I thought “okay, here it is, we’re getting to the big dramatic scene that will throw everything off course.” As I moved through the ending chapters I got more and more nervous and then finally we got to it and I was flabbergasted. This is not what I was expecting. I can’t even say it was the last thing I was expecting because it wasn’t even on the list of possibilities for how I thought this fucking thing going to end. I just. I don’t. Words. There are no words. It was confusing, how did we get here, where did this come from, where does this go, where did this come from Ms. Ribeiro. Hand over the second book now, please.

The Author: I do not have a lot of information on Rita Ribeiro aside from the fact that she seems like a lovely person, and this book is a huge accomplishment, and being that she is 25 makes it an even bigger accomplishment. You can find her at RitaRBooks on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/ritarbooks/

You can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSG3D3CN