Playing With Fire (Guarded Hearts #1) by Ashley Piscitelli *REVIEW*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Madison Stevens has had a shitty life, her mother died at the age four and her father has always blamed her for it. She went through the foster system and is now attending college. Her boyfriend Chris is not willing to share Madison with anyone, not even her friends. 

Her first day at college she meets Carter James, who makes her want everything she never thought she could have. She knows that she should ignore her feelings for Carter, but it's not as easy as it sounds.

As Carter and Madison begin to fall in love, they face many obstacles. Their biggest one is Chris who is not going to let her go easily.

Playing with Fire will be the first book in a three book series. It is about the obstacles that stand in your way on the path to love. It tests the characters strength and commitment to each other on every level from old boyfriend/girlfriends, to insecurities, and throws a little violence and scheming into the mix.

"Chris was like fire. It was pretty to look at but if you got too close you got burnt, and if it wasn’t controlled it would destroy everything in its path. Doing what I was about to do with Carter was dangerous, but what can I say I never had parents to warn me not to play with fire."

**Playing With Fire is for mature audiences only—strong language, and explicit sexual content are apparent.**

Ariana's Review:

4 - 4.5 amazing stars!!!

What a great read this was! I flew right through this book. Characters were very well developed and the flow of the story overall is very good. There were a couple small parts that seemed a little repetitive to me, but other than that I don't really have anything negative to say about Playing With Fire. They author, Ashley, really made it so that I was able to connect to the characters and fell different emotions as I read. Warning, this book does contain quite a bit of sexual content (both consensual, and non-consentual), and some violence as well. If you are not okay with reading this kind of stuff, then this book probably isn't for you. Me, I loved every bit of it.

I absolutely LOVED Madison (the lead girl in the book). The things that the poor girl had been through in her life were absolutely horrible. Her mother died when she was a little girl, and her father became a drunk and constantly told her how it was her fault for her mothers death. Eventually she was taken from her father and put in foster homes where she was abused and taken advantage of in many different ways. All her life she had been told she was worthless and that no one would love her. Hearing about Madison's past completely broke my heart. Present day, she was off at college and dating a guy named Chris whom she had been with for some time. Now you want to talk about a complete Asshole, Chris is the biggest piece of shit. His Character made me so angry throughout the story. He was an abusive, psychotic prick! He would hit Madison, boss her around, threaten, and talk down to her. She was too afraid to leave him. But then she met Carter. Carter was not the type of guy who dated. He had no problem getting girls in bed, but never wanted anything more... until he met Madison (Maddy). Now, every guy in the world should take a page out of Carter's book with how he treated Maddy. What a sweet, romantic, loving, sexy (the list goes on and on) man. *Swoon*

"Every time she comes into a room, I can't take my eyes off of her. When she touches me, sometimes I need to remember how to breathe."

It wasn't long before they fell for each other, but Chris was always there trying to break them apart and stake his claim back on Madison. I don't understand why he couldn't just leave her alone! He did not love her, or even care about her. So many times throughout the story I found myself wishing I would run into him in real life so I could kick the ever-loving shit out of him!!!! And every time you thought Maddy would have a happily ever after, something else would come and try and knock her down. But the best thing about her character was her inner strength. With everything that happened in her past, and what happened throughout the story, she would pull herself through it and not let it turn her into an empty shell, or into a person like the ones that hurt her. She had a heart of gold even though she was damaged so badly.

There were a couple other characters that played a big part in the story line. Nicole (Nic) was Madison's roommate, and one who became such an amazing friend to Maddy and helped her through everything. There was also Jason and Shawn who were Carter's best friends. They were such awesome characters too, and they looked out for Maddy like she was their sister... especially Jason. They all became like a close knit family. But I am dying to know what the hell was going on with Shawn later in the story? Although that didn't play a huge part in the overall story, its still driving me nuts! And when the book ended, I still did not have answers! I really hope book 2 will get into this and explain why he keeps going MIA and whatnot.

I loved how Carter did all he could to show Madison how much she meant to him, and how special she was every single day. After all she had been through, she deserved everything good.

"This is me and you, Maddy. Separate from you, I look normal, but I am only complete when we are together. I need you with me, by my side, and in my life because you're my other half."

Have I mentioned the sex yet? No? Well, let's just say that I needed to take MULTIPLE cold showers while reading. Heck, maybe I should have just sat in a bathtub full of ice to keep myself cool. Those scenes were HOT! I'll take one order of what Carter is serving please!!!!

This book will have you feeling all sorts of emotions throughout the entire story. When this happens, and you can really connect to the characters, you know you found yourself a good book. Playing With Fire is that and so much more. Amazing story and an ending that will knock you off your feet! I did not see that one coming!!! Thank god I was given the second book (Breaking Through the Wall) at the same time because if I had to wait even one day to continue the story and find out what happens, I may have lost my mind! HOLY CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!