C.E. Ricci

Follow the River

Follow the River is a full-length, mature, new adult bully/enemies-to-lovers MM (male/male) romance with dark themes. There will be triggering content for some readers. Specific triggers WILL NOT be listed at the beginning of the book as they will be spoilers, so please be advised that if you have triggers, any at all, this book might not be for you.I've never been one to back down from a challenge. Rather than shy away, I grit my teeth and use it as an opportunity to prove myself.Not just in football, but also in life.Even when I was thrown through a loop in discovering I was bisexual, I embraced it.Owning it so no one can use it as ammunition against me.But when Ciaráin Grady comes barreling into my life with his venomous tongue and amber eyes brimming with disdain, I realize every test of my character and strength could never have prepared me for the trial he holds.One that toes the line of love and hate.It's all-consuming and toxic.Yet under the layers of revulsion he masks his face with, I see it.A glimmer of lust from deep within his secretive, broken soul.And when we're thrown together under heinous circumstances, the distinction between enemy and lover begins to blur.So...what is Ciaráin Grady to me?I'm only certain that he is the greatest challenge of my life.

aleksandra

2/5

Please, please check the trigger warnings for this book, because the author did not put them at the beginning of the book, and you really should. Someone write them in their review so check it. 

This book has so many wrong things in it, and the relationship between two main characters is really toxic. There is one chapter that is REALLY unnecessary and I don't know why the author wrote it. I will probably read the second book because I’m curious how their story will end, but that’s the only reason.


  
    "Yet as messy as this love is, it will always be beautiful. Because it will always be ours."

"I’ve found you and I’m here, and I promise I will always be your safe place for as long as you need one."

JoLee

4/5 Loved It

New Adult M/M, enemies to lovers, bully romance.

Fell in love with River. Loved how he does not hide who he is. He is bisexual, easy going and cares for others. Many swoon moments with him. Rain had a hate to love with him. His past broke my heart and really needed that to understand why he has a hot temper and has a chip on his shoulder. The angst is good loved the football throughout.

Yaneli | @aquariusbookadventures 

*Received ARC in exchange for an honest review*
5 Stars!
https://bookboyfriendsdoitbetter.com/

I cannot believe this is a debut because the writing, the seamlessness, the characters, the EVERYTHING is so devastatingly beautiful. I fell in love with the story almost immediately and read it in one sitting. 

FTR is 100% one of my top reads of 2020! It's been about a month since I read it and I *still* can't get over it. River and Rain are just so absolutely perfect for each other. They fit in a way that just makes sense and leaves absolutely no room for doubt. 

I had all the feels while reading this. I felt their attraction, their hatred, their love, and their pain. I didn't even have to let myself get attached to the characters because, by the time I was about to let myself, I already WAS. River and Rain hit me in my feels and I already know I will bawl my eyes out in book 2. 

I keep going back to the book even still, I just can't get over their story. I was very worried at first because you never know when a friend of yours writes something BUT all my doubts were disproved within the first few chapters! I love that while this isn't the lightest romance nor the darkest one, I can recommend it to everyone and anyone who reads or would like to read MM. This is my top MM book and you can't change my mind.

Navya 

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 . 𝑼𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒌𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏.”

Holy fuck. THERE. IS. NOTHING. YOU. CAN. DISLIKE. ABOUT. THIS. BOOK. PERIOD.

This debut novel, which I likely doubt is a debut, because!!! Howww? How can @CeRicci write her first book such a soul destroying one? Woman, you need to give tips to others. 

This book destroyed me, made me cry, gave me some moments to laugh, contains some suspense and there's nothing more I would want in my first m/m read. Yes, that's right.

Rain & River are fire, but Roman? Roman is going to kill me and I know this even before meeting him. Uggghh! Roman! ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ♡

An amazing to be read book which has darkness and steamy sex scenes!

“𝑇𝑎́ 𝑚𝑒́ 𝑖 𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑎́ 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝐴𝑏ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑛,”
Yes. Break my freakin heart! ಥ_ಥ

I've read this the first time in my reading slump, and it didn't work for me and I couldn't connect with the feelings but, I read it again and I'm a fan now!

⚡We. Want. Book. 2. NOW ⚡

Michelle Vasquez

“I was up there one day,” Rain mutters, his voice muffled slightly by my shirt, “and I was so fucking sick of fighting with you. But I was even more tired of hiding from you, so I slipped out and hiked up there to see what all the fuss was about. And when I got there, I figured it out, you know? I didn’t realize it immediately because I was busy painting, trying to lose myself in the task. But when I started on the lake, it hit me. How can you stare into something so blue and not just drown in its depth?” 

He pauses and slips away from me, my hands with the painting falling from around his neck and onto my lap. His gaze searches mine for a second before he continues in the softest whisper, searing my heart entirely. “The color... it reminded me of your eyes.”

Rain. Resident asshole. King of broody. Star Wide Receiver. He’s running. Running from his past, and trying to blend in and fall through the cracks. He wants to be invisible; when he’s an enigma- one that River picked up on the first moment they met.

River. Golden boy. Brutally honest. Quarterback. He loves with his heart on his sleeve. He is incredibly kind and loyal. He set his eyes on Rain from the beginning and didn’t back down from him.

They were each other’s match. On the field and in each other’s hearts.

“Follow the River,” by CE Ricci is her first breakout novel. It is MM and this story is part one of the River and Rain Duet. It surrounds River and Ciarain. Rain is used to fighting his battles alone, because he never truly had someone in his corner that would be there for him simply out of sheer love. He had towers around his heart so high, that it took the force that River is, to break them down brick by brick. This story is emotionally raw, full of anguish and will have your emotions running high for both River and Rain. Beautifully written - it takes a completely tragic plot and shows that through all this pain, there is beauty in the midst of it. Tears will be shed, and it will leave you with a book hangover so high that you won’t be okay with how this story pauses.

I’m embedded in River and Rain’s relationship; all the deep cracks and mountains they will fight to climb to get their HEA. CE Ricci. You are a GODDESS. This was the top breakout read I’ve ever had. You set the bar WAY high on this one.

Anna // read.all.night 

This book has caused me to basically have a mental breakdown, thank you very much CE Ricci. My heart has been rung out like a rag and all I want to do is stare at the wall and think about River and Rain. 

This is a a story about two football players who have immediate chemistry but one tries to fight it and they low key hate each other. But you know the line between hate and love is a precarious one. 

I don’t want to spoil anything but I will say I’m obsessed with them, they are perfect together, I want to invent a time machine for the sole purpose of getting to the next book, and you need to read this ASAP.