Truly by Ruthie Knox (New York #1)
Released: August 5, 2014
Contemporary Romance
Loveswept

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote: “You make me want to be a decent person,” he murmured against her lips. “It’s just awful.”

Truly released early this year as a serial, offered for free on Wattpad. I’m not a huge fan of the serial set-up but I am a huge fan of Ruthie Knox, so I knew I would have to read this. I’m so glad it’s being offered as a full length book, and boy is it good.

May Fredericks is from Green Bay, Wisconsin and her boyfriend happens to be the Packer’s star quarterback, who was recently traded to the New York Jets. May worked for the Packers marketing department, which is how she meets the quarterback.  Being a dutiful NFL girlfriend, she packs up and moves to New Jersey, but the transition is hard on May. She doesn’t fit in the city well and she is alone for a lot of the time. When her boyfriend proposes one night at a big event, May realizes she doesn’t love him and his ridiculous fake sentiment makes her not only say no, but she also sticks a fork in his hand. Oopsie.

To cap off her marvelous evening, her purse gets stolen and she has nowhere to go. So she goes where she will feel most at home – a Packers bar in New York City. Hoping to find some midwestern politeness since she only has $5 to her name, instead she meets the surly, grumpy and oh so sexy Ben.

Ben is trying his hardest to put off the” don’t come near me unless you want to die” vibe. An amazing chef, after his extremely messy divorce, Ben lost his restaurant and most of his morale. He struggles greatly with rage and can fly off the handle at the littlest of things. His therapists have tried a lot, but the only thing that really calms him down is his new hobby of beekeeping. Setting up hives on rooftops or little hidden gardens found all over New York City, Ben has become a master beekeeper. He even sells his honey at the local farmers market. When May approaches him and won’t leave him alone, something comes over him. He actually wants to get to know her, and feels protective over her as she is alone with no money in a big city. He lends her some cash, and she crashes at his place until she can get a plane ticket back to Wisconsin. Even though Ben feels beyond damaged and May has just ended a four-year relationship, these two have a lot in common.

Oh what fun characters Ruthie Knox presents us with. First let’s talk about Ben. A renowned chef, his entire life was his kitchen and his cooking, until his wife left him and took the restaurant with her. Now he keeps bees and tries to not scream at random people. He feels hurt over his divorce and exhaustion from his constant anxiety and stress. His goal is to eventually open another restaurant, but he just can’t seem to focus long enough to put forth the effort. When May enters his life, his heart starts beating for the right reasons again. And while he falls hard for her, there are also times in this book where his temper rears its ugly head. It’s not pretty how he speaks to her sometimes, but I really like that Knox shows that. Love or lust doesn’t cure him of his bad mood. It doesn’t make the stress of going into a kitchen disappear. He has to learn to not treat people badly – that it’s okay to be angry, but not okay to hurt people. It’s nicely done.

And May. Oh I loved May so much. I love that she dumps her loser boyfriend and while there is pressure on her from her family and the Packer fans to reunite, she knows from the start she wants to move on. I love that she was dating an extremely popular player, yet has self-confidence issues. She is very tall and feels big. When she first meets Ben, and needs to borrow clothes, this awkwardness comes out and you can feel her (unwarranted) embarrassment:

“I’m sure my shirts will fit,” he said. “Not so sure about the jeans. Were not far off on height, but…”

Aaaand there was the water, the smack of impact as harsh as she’d feared.

We’re not far off on height, because you’re a giantess, but your hips are broad as a barn, and there’s no hope on earth of your squeezing into these jeans.

But once Ben gets to know her and he realizes this insecurity she has, he sets her straight:

They walked a block in silence. May crossed her arms and shivered. He pushed her sweater at her, and this time she put it on. They were crossing the street when she said, “I just liked that he wanted to. I haven’t . . . That doesn’t happen to me much.”

“It should. You’re gorgeous.”

“I’m too big.”

It was the way she said it. So automatic, it was clear she hadn’t even thought twice.

He hated that she did that, hated that she believed it, and hearing her do it so casually lit the sweating fuse he’d been trying to keep in a cool, damp place. He pulled her into an alley, pushed her against the brick wall of the nearest building, bracketed her head between his hands.

“You are not too big.” He kept his voice low, but he knew he didn’t sound calm enough. Not even close. “You’re not too tall or too fat or too loud or too whatever the fuck else you think, so stop with that. Stop.”

When she opened her mouth to protest, he kissed her. He kissed her hard, tasting citrus and alcohol on her tongue, pouring all his desire frustration and desire into her. Her hands came up to his biceps, but she didn’t try to move him or stop him. She stroked his arms through the sleeves of his sweatshirt. He crowded her with his body, and she maned and tilted her hips up, lifting her leg. He caught it behind her knee and sank between her thighs. He was already hard. Always already lost in her, from the beginning.

“I want you,” he said, pushing against her. “Exactly the way you are. I want you naked and panting and wet underneath me. You understand that? Am I being clear?”

It doesn’t get much more romantic than that.

Besides Ben and May, two other things play an important part in this book: food and New York City. I wanted to immediately go to New York and try out all the dive bars and have amazing food. May embraces food like Ben has never seen. It makes him burst with pride when she devours his cooking, or when she praises a hole in the wall restaurant that he knows has good food. I love May’s love affair with food. And Knox writes New York City so beautifully. You can see how May is shell-shocked with the loud noises, the subway, the trash, the people. But then Ben opens her world to show how it can be a home. The tiny restaurants. The amazing people you can meet. The parks, the bridges – so much care is taken with the setting and it really adds a lot to this story.

Finally, the romance. Knox writes such sultry, detailed romance. The sexual tension and the sex itself are very hot. May is a little more nervous and shy while Ben flirts and torments until she is forced to say naughty words or what she needs in bed.

Highly recommend this story.

Rating: B+

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