Heather NotGuiltyofBooks calls Hostile, "an opposites attract story about young love and being your true to yourself."
"One simple kiss. And it's turned my life upside down"
From the blurb:
Grayson
Life has been easy for me. Top of my class. Star quarterback of the football team. Every guy wants to be my friend, and every girl wants to date me.Yeah, life is pretty sweet.
Except it’s not.
It’s all fake. School comes too easy for me, and I’m bored. Football isn’t fun anymore. The guys I hang out with aren’t really my friends.
And the girls? I don’t want to date them.
The only one I want to date . . . He’s a little bit . . . hostile.
Rhett
Life has never been easy for me. A foster kid, lucky enough to be adopted as a teen but who still can’t find a way to be happy.
I have two best friends who are amazing and supportive, and yet, I can’t bring myself to tell them my biggest secret.
Parents who pay for a private school a kid like me could never have dreamed of . . . that I hate.
It feels all wrong when it should feel right.
And I guess . . . that’s made me nothing but . . . hostile
Amy_TBS Review:
H, WOW! This was so beautiful! I'm sat here after reading this with warmth in my heart and tears in my eyes. Grayson and Rhett's love had a great deal of hardships and challenges from their peers, society and their own insecurities. I went in to this expecting your average high school jock falls for the Outcast situation with lots of angst and although Grayson is a star quarterback it is not the sole focus of the book. What we actually got was a thoughtful, honest, unapologetically raw story about overcoming obstacles and fighting for what's important, family, independence and love! And being our authentic selves. I applaud Nicole Dyke for bringing forward issues that are overlooked and tender subject matters. Knowledge is power and we could all learn a little from Hostile. I don't even have the words to explain the beauty within Hostile. I advise to Just read it! I can't recommend it enough. I feel so honoured to have been given the opportunity to read Hostile early.
Rating: 5 Stars
Heather NotGuiltyofBooks Review:
Grumpy guy from the foster system. Star jock from a wealthy family.
This is such a fantastic story. Both guys are wonderful and deep with an amazing connection and it doesn’t contain any of the usual high school drama. Rhett bounced around the system for most of his life until he finally found a family. It left him feeling distrustful, closed off, and a little grumpy. Grayson comes from the kind of wealth that carries a lot of expectations and very little love, but also a great deal of charisma. Being friends is questionable, let alone lovers. Ultimately they must decide if they are going to live for other people and their pasts or for themselves.
I loved how opposite yet complementary they are in every facet. Though Grayson may seem like he’s the more outgoing and strong one pushing Rhett out of his comfort zone, forcing him to open up and learn to enjoy what life has given him, though he does it in such a compassionate manner. He truly is a sweetheart. Rhett, however, is the one that shows Grayson that perhaps the cost of the expectations that he and his family have placed on him isn’t worth the sacrifice it’ll take. He’s also the one that isn’t willing to live inauthentically.
It was wonderful to see them both grow and learn to love completely. And that ending was tops!
Rating: 5 Stars
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's Review:
The first book I read by Nicole Dykes was Immoral...then I read Backslide...and now I've read Hostile.
Rating: 5 Stars
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's Review:
The first book I read by Nicole Dykes was Immoral...then I read Backslide...and now I've read Hostile.
I can honestly say I haven't been disappointed in any of the aforementioned reads, but Hostile is definitely my favorite.
Rhett and Grayson were such an unlikely pair from the outside, but together they just fit. They both wore masks, admittedly of a different type, but once those masks came off when they were alone their chemistry was dazzling. Grayson wears his mask to play the perfect golden boy. The popular jock who everyone loves, yet no one actually knows. Rhett wears his for protection. His attitude warns others to stay away, because if you don't have anyone then you never have to watch them leave. I loved watching Rhett slowly come out of his shell with Grayson. He was just the person Rhett never knew he needed. Grayson never pushed Rhett, but he always listened. He provided Rhett with a safe space and never gave him shit for being who he was. In turn, Grayson too got to be himself. He didn't have to be "on" with Rhett. He could just be Grayson, closeted son and secret artist.
Their path to love was not easy by any means, and yet it was during those stolen moments when they were alone with each other. Both MCs read much older than their ages of 18, but that's likely due to their respective upbringings. Parental neglect can take many forms, some worse than others. Reading about those lost to the broken foster care system solidified further my previous decision of one day fostering a child of my own. At least Rhett got a happy ending. The epilogue couldn't have been more perfect and ended this slightly angsty read on an amazing high note.
Rating: 5 Stars
Heather's Review:
Nicole - you owe me a night's sleep - I started Hostile after supper and couldn't put it down...
Nicole Dykes has taken to new adult M/M romance like a duck to water - and written their story beautifully! Like layers to an onion, she reveals layers and hidden depths to both Rhett and Grayson in every one of the fifty chapters... and takes them through so many final high school moments and into adulthood...
A lot of the angst comes from Rhett, a former foster child, who as he grows into manhood has things to prove and walls to shatter... and Grayson is the perfect foil for that, exposing them both to explore what they really want in life and in relation to each other.
Hostile is emotional, compassionate and thought provoking, but also funny, sweet and steamy... the perfect combination for losing a night's sleep reading. Warning - If you read slowly, please plan a day where you get up early and have nothing else to do, or plan the next day accordingly...
Rating: 5 Stars
Tatted_book_freak's Review:
Nicole has completely broken me with this one, then slowly put my pieces back together. The depths at which she dove into with this masterpiece of emotions, left me mesmerized with her unique ability to touch the souls of her readers. The accuracy of pain and abuse foster kids are forced into, will leave any person with a hole in their heart.
“ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛʟʏ.”
Grayson and Rhett had a chemistry and connection that was felt deep under your skin, radiating through the words of their story. Their story had passion, depth and an intensity that took you by surprise. For all the tears I cried, I also smiled equally as much. As the story was coming to an end, we were treated with an epilogue that made me laugh till I was crying and swooning for a love that was written in the stars
Rating: 5 Stars
Hostile is currently available in e-book and paperback and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription! You can also order the beautiful alternate cover paperback edition shown below, or the regular edition, both autographed by the author, directly from Nicole Dykes' website by clicking on the image:
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