Goodreads Summary: "Luis Fuentes has always been sheltered from the gang violence that nearly destroyed his brothers’ lives. But that didn’t stop him from taking risks—whether he’s scaling a mountain in the Rockies or dreaming of a future as an astronaut, Luis can’t stop looking for the next thrill.
Nikki Cruz lives her life by three rules—boys lie to get their way, don’t trust a boy who says “I love you,” and never date a boy from the south side of Fairfield. Her parents may be from Mexico, but as a doctor’s daughter, she has more in common with her north-side neighbors than the Latino Blood at her school. Then she meets Luis at Alex’s wedding, and suddenly, she’s tempted to break all her rules.
Getting Nikki to take a chance on a southsider is Luis’s biggest challenge, until he finds himself targeted by Chuy Soto, the new head of the Latino Blood. When Chuy reveals a disturbing secret about Luis’s family, the youngest Fuentes finds himself questioning everything he’s ever believed to be true. Will his feelings for Nikki be enough to stop Luis from entering a dark and violent world and permanently living on the edge?"
You guys would not believe how excited I was when I finally got my hands on a copy of this book. I absolutely loved Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction so I knew that this book would be a must. Yet it's sat on my bookshelf for over a week now. I've picked it up a few times to drool over the cover [the Fuentes brothers books have the yummiest covers!] or to skim the summary, I think I've even read the first page once or twice. But I've been hesitant to start it. I knew Elkeles wouldn't let me down, I had no doubts about how awesome this book was going to be, rather I wasn't quite ready to leave the Fuentes brothers. I love these guys. But I finally did.
Luis was adorable. I hate to call him that because he is after all a Fuentes brother but there's so other way to describe him, or at least not a way that I can come up with. He's persistent to the point of reminding me of one of those blow up punching bags you give to children that just continually bounce back, smart WITH a life plan, and a heart of gold. Did I mention he's a total adrenaline junkie? Oh yeah he's still a Fuentes brother.
My initial reaction to Nikki was that I felt sorry for her but I didn't particularly like her. Later in the novel I found myself able to relate to her, and while she still wasn’t one of my favorite characters that Elkeles has created it allowed me to enjoy the story more. Sometimes understanding a character, and being able to relate to their experiences, can be just as good as liking them.
Just because I dubbed Luis to be adorable doesn’t mean the romance in this novel isn’t as spicy as in the other books, things between Nikki and Luis get plenty hot at times. The romance between them reminded me a great deal of that between Alex and Brittany with a few minor changes to make the story a Fuentes original.
While Chain Reaction wasn’t my favorite of the Fuentes brother series I still really enjoyed the story that it told and getting to see these brothers again. I'm giving Chain Reaction a five out of five stars review. It was a really good conclusion to the trilogy and I’m sorry to see it come to an end.
And one more thing, I officially dub Simone Elkeles the all-mighty Queen of the Epic Epilogues. 'nuff said.
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