Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

The final book in the Perfect Chemistry trilogy is sure to be the hottest of them all.

Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn't live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he's never known, and just when he thinks he's got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father?

Continuing all the steamy romance of the first two books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles gives fans one more satisfying taste of the irresistible Fuentes boys.

Review:

Simone Elkeles has to be one of my favorite contemporary authors out there. Her books, especially the Perfect Chemistry trilogy, are simply EPIC; so to say I was excited to read Chain Reaction, the last book in the much-loved Perfect Chemistry trilogy, would be a serious understatement. I was jumping-up-and-down and running-around-the-house-excited when it arrived in my mailbox. However, with a book like that, some high expectations came as well. Luckily, Chain Reaction managed to reach nearly every one, and while it's not my favorite of the series, it was definitely a pretty darn excellent end to the series.

Luis Fuentes may be the youngest Fuentes brother but he is probably the most put together out of the three. Charming, funny, and shockingly sweet, Luis is the boy all the boys want to be friends with and all the girls love. However, Luis meets his match with Nikki Cruz. Nikki is the ice queen of their high school. She doesn't give her trust out easily, especially when it comes to guys like Luis. This wouldn't be the biggest of problems expect for the fact that Luis is simply enchanted by her and would do nearly anything to gain her trust. That's not even adding in the new dilemma he's facing when an old friend recruits him into a gang, one that opens his eyes to more family secrets than just one. What will Luis end up doing? Will he put his family as well as Nikki before or after his fellow gang members? Or will Luis manage to lose everything in the process? Only time and more pages can tell in this fast paced and shocking new read!

In Chain Reaction, we finally get to find out more about Luis, and I have to say I loved seeing inside his head every step of the way. Cocky and headstrong yet sweet and likable, Luis was such an interesting character. What I liked most about him, though, was that even though he was much more put together than Luis and Carlos in the some ways, he's just as flawed as they are in others. On the other hand, Nikki was someone who managed pull on my heartstrings from the minute she was introduced due to the surprising yet heartbreaking situation she landed herself in. It allowed for a lot of development early on with her character to say the least. Together, Luis and Nikki had a roller coaster like relationship consisting of mixed signals, confusion, and many steamy moments. The various twists and turns it introduced constantly had me wondering how everything was going to end between them.

The plot of this one was also great, and while it contained the basic formula the other two contained, it still managed to become its own based on a chain of various events. I especially enjoyed the focus on Luis's mixed feelings over joining the gang his brother's had tried so hard to keep him away from as well as over his promises when it came to his family and the gang he had been raised with. It was realistic, in my opinion, and Simone did a great job of bringing the mixed feelings of it all off the page and to life. Every plot twist and turn within this also created drama, drama, drama and more drama as well as several shocking revelations that even had even me simply shocked at times. I also loved seeing the whole Fuentes family come together in this one!

Last but not least, the ending. It was just as sweet and adorable as the other ones, but that didn't stop me from loving because to tell the truth it was the perfect way to end the series.

Steamy and action packed, Chain Reaction is a satisfying end to a trilogy I've come to love over time. I simply can't wait to see what Simone has in the works next (another How to Ruin book would be great, as would a spin-off to this series possibly!), but one thing is for sure: whatever it may end up being, it's bound to be fabulous!

However, I have one last question: where's my Fuentes brother? ;)

Grade: A

Chain Reaction is now out!

Source: Publicist at Deb Shapiro & Co.- thanks Deb!

PS) Can I just add that I love that the cover of this is based off an actual scene in the book?

Book Trailer: