Whatever It Takes (Bad Reputation Duet)

I can’t wrap my head around how awesome this book is and maybe I’m a bit biased because I literally waited years for this story. Willow and Garrison were first introduced in 2014 in Addicted After All (book 3 in the Addicted Series) and I’ve been hooked ever since! (Side note: we actually meet Willow in Addicted for Now, book 2 in the Addicted Series). I needed their story like I need air!!! My entire life I’ve been waiting for this moment. I’m the happiest person on earth right now.

Quick note: if you’ve read the web series and loved it, you’ll be happy to know that most of Parts 1 and 2 made it into Whatever It Takes. There were some deviations and changes, but nothing major. I will add that without Parts 3 and 4, we don’t get a lot of insight on Garrison, so you won’t see all of his struggles from his POV. This paints a different picture and really gives him more of the “troubled, misunderstood, bad boy persona.” This book does end on a cliffhanger but thankfully, book 2 releases soon after this one. I can’t wait till book 2 is released so I can get all of my questions answered and to hopefully tie it all together.

Willow and Garrison are so precious. They are an unlikely pair: she’s the good girl - the shy wallflower, who’s never been kissed, and he’s the bad boy with a bad reputation; yet somehow, they work. The “us against the world” thing they’ve got going on is a little heartbreaking, but I love that they respect one another and how they care and look out for each other whenever the world takes a big dump on either one of them.

I relate to Willow so much it’s almost scary. I feel like her thoughts are my thoughts exactly, even down to her actions and reactions to situations. She is honestly the most relatable character for me and I absolutely LOVE her. Get ready for another emotional ride from the Ritchie sisters. This one will twist your heart and have you begging for more. I’m so excited for the release of this book and I’m glad that book 2, Wherever You Are, is releasing only a week after!

This was my first read by these authors. I know it's book one of a duet (yay, I love duets.), so no HEA...yet.

Willow and Garrison met through a series of random circumstances when they are 17. She's the shy, awkward, geeky girl. He's the broody, angsty bad boy.

They become friends. He takes her under his wing when she ends up in Philadelphia. Both of their lives changed by the same man, her brother Loren Hale.

They are there for each other. They both discover new things about themselves because of each other. Garrison goes from being the rich popular guy to being the outcast because he rocked the boat. Willow starts to spread her wings since she ran away.

The book bounces between the past and the present (them at 17 vs 20). Giving the details that explain the angst of the present. In the present they are trying to maintain a long distance relationship. A long long distance. He's back in Philadelphia and she's in London. She's coming into her own and making friends. He, on the other hand, is isolating himself, except there are those around him (her brother & friends) trying to bring him out of his cave.

In the past, we see them shortly before they meet and after and all the circumstances that have led them to this point.

They both shy away from the fame adjacent life they have now. But they adore each other. But can it work? Especially when one of you thinks they don't deserve anything good.

This is not a happy uplifting read. I loved it! I adore angst though, so that is no big surprise. And Garrison has a lot of angst.

And now I am impatiently waiting for the second book!!!!

I received a review copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Reading this book over these past two days has been absolutely wonderful. I read it slowly because I did not want it to end. Willow and Garrison are absolutely amazing. This is a book that I have been dying for. It was everything I wanted and so much more. This story is so different from other new adult romance’s out there. It starts off with a bang. Once you pick up this bad boy and his girl you will not want to put them down. Garrison is a tortured soul calling out for help. Willow is a wallflower who is daring to be brave. Together they are just what each other needs. Willow and Garrison are made for each other and even though they struggle they still fight for their love. This story is full of emotions and angst. It will captivate you and make you feel. I promise you that Garrison and Willow will steal your hearts. I can not wait to read part 2 “Wherever You Are”. This one ends so good and has me craving more. I am absolutely in Love with this story. If you have never read a KBR book before this is an amazing place to start!!

P.S. This book is about two side characters in the “Addicted/ Calloway Sisters” Series but you do not have to read that series to enjoy Willow and Garrison’s story.

Holy moly, I loved this so much and am so glad to be reading it when the duet is completed. Willow is just so adorable and strong, and Garrison, my poor little mistreated and misunderstood bear. I love that their relationship is built around understanding each other's boundaries and building up on friendship. I know a lot of people dislike the time jumps, but I think it is useful in condensing their story into two books while not taking away substance from both their past and present.

Willow and Garrison… gah! This is one of those stories I’ve wanted for forever. I am the biggest ‘Addicted’ fan. It’s my favorite series ever and Lily and Loren Hale are my #1 favorite book couple. So it’s a given I’d want to read Lo’s sister Willow’s story. This one gave me so many feels and kept me on the edge of my seat. I absolutely love the bad boy/good girl troupe and I can’t wait to get to part 2!

Whatever It Takes is told in alternating past and present chapters and follows the POV of both Willow and Garrison. The past chapters show Garrison when he is at his lowest. The Garrison we first met in the ‘Addicted’ series. He was a delinquent with an unsavory home life who could relate to Loren Hale in ways he never imagined. Willow has just found out she’s Loren Hale’s sister and goes to Philly to find him.

It’s clear that Loren Hale changed both of their lives for the better. For their senior year of high school, Willow and Garrison become friends. They’re going to the same school and Willow becomes Garrison’s girl. Oh the 'My Girl’ references had me swooning. I loved these past chapters so much. Watching these two go from friends to more was great, and it was the most delicious slow burn.

The present chapters take place when Willow is in college overseas and Garrison is still in Philly working with Conner Cobalt. Things aren’t easy for them being apart, but they are willing to do the long distance thing. They love each other and want to make it work no matter what. Garrison knows how much easier it is for Willow outside of Philly. She’s not hounded like she is in the states. Being Lo’s sister comes with a lot of media attention.

I never grow tired of the bad boy/damaged boy finding the girl who helps heal him. It is one of those story lines I devour. Garrison Abbey is my kind of hero. I loved him. I loved how much he loved Willow and did whatever he could to make her happy. Some of his story was hard to read about, but it’s a good thing that he got away from his family and now has the Hale’s. Plus… Loren Hale! I know he’s mentioned like 20 times in this review, but as my favorite book boyfriend, it bears repeating that we get lots of Lo in this book!

My heart is so full right now. This story hooked me from the start and never let go. It’s part 1 of a duet and there is a bit of a cliffhanger, but nothing too awful. And lets be honest, if you’ve read the ‘Addicted’ series, you know how Willow & Garrison end, you just don’t know how they get there. I can’t wait to find out. Krista & Becca Ritchie wrote another amazing book with Whatever it Takes. It’s got so much heart and I couldn’t have loved it more!

I like these authors and I am positively obsessed with Maximoff and Farrow. I've read their stories and listened multiple times. So yeah, I'm a likely customer for any of their new stories and I can say I liked this a lot and was quite dismayed when it ended. I can't wait until Tuesday for the second book.

I enjoyed seeing some familiar events from the perspective of another character: when Willow arrives at Superheroes and Scones, Willow's understanding of Loren's first visit to Maine, etc. There's a bit of angst in this book, but it's understandable because Garrison has had a messed up childhood and incredibly mixed up self-esteem. And Willow has been so sheltered. So, I love how tender Garrison was with her. And I was okay with the angst. (Their phone sex was hawt!)

I love some of the minor moments these authors include in their books that make it so real and feel so 'smart.' When Willow spills items and is mortified, Lo calls Rose, knowing full well what she will say. And Rose's words are quote-worthy for girls everywhere! LOVED IT. (Women, get a man that will buy tampons for you with NO quibbling or questioning.) Another minor moment that is beautiful is when Garrison is babysitting Moffy and Moffy glances back at Garrison when his favorite part is on TV - making sure Garrison is paying attention. Can't you just picture that! It's such a simple detail but it adds so much depth. We KNOW Garrison is focused on Moffy!

What irritates me are careless errors or language mistakes. For example, Willow drops her backpack on the bench 'slates.' This should be slats. Slates are a type of rock. Or Garrison's parents hired a 'top shot' lawyer. That should be 'hot shot.' Top shot is not a thing unless you're doing target practice.

Then there are mistakes like Garrison contemplating his 'oddly friendly' roommate. Garrison actually doesn't have a roommate, nor should he as he is rather anti-social. The annoying guy is a neighbor and how this ended up in the book as roommate is a mystery to me. But it's the sort of error that takes me immediately out of the story with a lurch, hence the utter inability to ignore them.

A very good book that could have been great. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm listening to "Lovers Like Us' for the 4th time so I'm out. :)

Pros:

• Garrison and Willow are so freaking perfect and soft together and I loved it.

• I also loved how even though Willow is anxious and awkward about sex, we see that she wants it and craves it. I feel like so much of her self-esteem, confidence issues stems from physical touch and how she has never really had any of that in any form her entire life and so in many ways it affects her relationships with the people around her. She definitely still needs to grow into herself when it comes to feeling comfortable about sex since she won’t/feels to anxious to even touch Garrison but I think that will come to her as they are more physical together and also she becomes more comfortable with herself and is able to stop overthinking everything to such a degree that she freezes the moment she touches him.

• I love that Willow had friends in London and that through that we got some great diversity! POC characters and two female gay characters(not specified in the book whether either of them are lesbian, bisexual, etc) that are in a super cute relationship together! I loved Willow's life in London I really wish we got more of it and I wish that Garrison could be a part of it (even though I know that's not how their love story went but I wish he could be a part of it because she's living an amazing life over there and it made me so happy seeing her come out of her shell).

• I love the juxtaposition between Willow and Garrison’s lives throughout the book. It was really heartbreaking seeing how sad and alone Garrison feels and how Willow feels the same but yet they are handling it in two different ways. Garrison is really struggling with life at this point and he’s so focused on not ruining Willow’s life or chances in London that it’s kinda putting a gap in their relationship. Garrison’s self-loathing for himself is heart-breaking and I can only hope we see an extensive character arc for him in the next book.

This book was sooo short. Like, depressingly short. I could not believe that it was over when I’d only started reading like 3 hours ago. It felt like I’d just started and didn’t even get into the meat of the story and it was over. Which ok, I know it’s a duology but this felt different. It felt like there needed to be more in book one because it ended when there could’ve been more development, more substance so that readers are getting more background and more from their present day. When I think about it, nothing really happened in this book. We barely scratched the surface on how they first met and went from strangers to friends to more. In fact from the past chapters we were just getting to them being friends. I just think about people who may go into this and not know anything about this world and I truly cannot see them enjoying this book the way I or anyone who has read their previous series would.

*I wish that there weren't "past" and "present" chapters and that it wasn't the way it was set up. Now to be fair, I don't typically like books that go back and forth to begin with but with this one I couldn't help but think it would've been better to the overall story and help it feel more cohesive if the first book focused on their high school years and leading up to London and then the second book was London plus everything after. The past chapters didn't really connect with what was going on in the present and so it just kept taking me out of what was happening in the previous chapter.

• I’m really worried that the next book won’t be long enough to give us EVERYTHING we’ve been waiting for. This book was just so short and only covers a few months when I was hoping we’d at least get 4 years of their relationship in college and if we don’t get that and everything that comes with it (the development of Garrison’s character as well as Willow becoming more confident in who she is, etc) I’m going to be seriously disappointed. There were so many scenes that I've been waiting years to read in their POV not to mention so many little questions and curiosities I've had about their relationship and I'm really worried I won't get all the scenes I wanted. This doesn't really play a part in my rating, per se but it does play into why I feel like this book could've been longer because this is like maybeeee20% of their story and we only have one book left to get the other 80% of their romance and...yeah. I'm worried.

I really am so happy that I read this and I'm so happy that we finally got Garrison and Willow's book. And I definitely can't wait to read the second part of their love story!

4.5*

Whatever It Takes was my first introduction to Garrison and Willow, well except for that very brief mention in the Like Us series when it’s requested of Garrison to pick up a wedding ring. I’ve not read the Addicted or Calloway series yet, nor did I read this story when it was on Wattpad, so everything was new to me- and now I really can't wait to go back and read those series!

Some thoughts I jotted down while reading- Garrison’s brothers are a$$-holes! Baby Maximoff!!! “Bravery exists somewhere inside of her. She just needs to remember that.” My heart is clenching while Garrison reads Willow’s answers to the Tumblr questionnaire. Ugh, my heart hurts for Garrison, I want him to have friends! He makes me so sad. &$#@ HIS BROTHERS!!! No seriously, &$#@ HIS BROTHERS. His family is awful. Why are his brothers such eggplants?!? What is wrong with his family??? Ugh, that hug- making me cry. *I had to do some editing there!

Man did Willow and Garrison tug at all the heartstrings! Both during the present chapters and the ones set in the past. They each have pretty crappy family lives, so it was awesome to see Willow and Garrison embrace each other, and be embraced by Loren and Ryke, and the rest of the "core six". I loved seeing the relationships grow, especially Willow and Garrison's- they were 2 people who really needed each other. My poor heart broke for both 17yo Garrison and 20yo Garrison. I didn't understand his family, at all- they made me so angry, if you couldn't tell from my ramblings above. I felt so sad for him, he was troubled but such a sweetheart. He was so wonderful with Willow- you could just feel how much he cared. Willow was a sweetheart as well- these two really were made for each other. While I felt sad for Garrison, I felt really bad for Willow when it came to her family. Finding out that pretty much everything you knew about yourself was a lie, well that would be a lot to take let alone finding this out when you're just a teen-ager. I have to hand it to Willow though, she was so brave. She might not have thought she was, but I tip my hat to her!

While certain parts of this story were definitely angsty, I'm looking at you Garrison's brothers and you, last chapter, overall I feel like this was a really heart-warming story. I've loved Willow and Garrison's journey so far, and I cannot wait to see what is to come for them!

I liked this book. I liked it a lot. (Amazon needs to let us rate properly: 4.5 stars) Let's ease into this review by saying it wasn't the best Krista and Becca Ritchie, but for fans of their Addicted/Calloway Sisters series, the books of Bad Reputation duet are GOLD. Willow and Garrison's story had been long expected, and in my humble opinion, our favorite authors did us right!

The story follows two timelines: the present, Willow and Garrison already 'together' - Willow in London attending college, Garrison in Philly working at Cobalt Inc; the past, Willow new in Philly searching for a family she never knew she had, Garrison trying to find his way out of the mess that is, well, his life. The 'before' chapters were emotionally heavy but sweet - we see both Willow and Garrison on their paths to self-discovery. It's very new-adult-ish. The friendship between the two main characters is very prominent in the book, even more than a relationship that is pretty tame. These authors had written some of the best sex scenes I'd ever read, so I was a bit disappointed there weren't more heated moments. However, the overall 'feel' of the book suited Willow and Garrison's story, so I don't really object. The 'present' chapters brought much-needed angst to the story. Long-distance relationships aren't exactly fun, especially for Willow and Garrison, with their doubts and insecurities, Willow's fear that her newly acquired fame would destroy her college experience, Garrison's self-destructive tendencies, and trepidation for the relationship they both want to fight for when the circumstances make them feel powerless and vulnerable.

All in all, this was a nice and deep look at the beginning of Willow and Garrison's friendship/relationship. However, I hope for more content in Wherever You Are: more sexiness, more angst, more EVERYTHING. Even though the outcome of their relationship isn't anything new for the fans, the ending of Whatever It Takes left me heartbroken.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend these books as a starting point if you haven't read any Krista and Becca Ritchie before; personally, I'd feel hella lost. That said, if you feel adventurous, why not pick it up - I'm sure you'll want more as soon as you're done, and that means jumping into the world of awesomeness these authors created with their books. For the longtime fans, I'm sure you're already reading, no recommendations needed. To all, happy reading, hope you love it as much as I did.

I had always been a little bit curious about Garrison and Willow's story. I was looking forward to reading it in an effort to get to know them more. Having said that, I prefer them as secondary side characters. They aren't like the others in the series and my favorite parts of the book are when those main characters are on the pages. Willow hates attention and prefers to be on the sidelines. Maybe that's similar to Lily, but Lily had issues that made her front and center because they needed to be dealt with and caused her to be headline news. Willow really doesn't have much going for her besides her blood relationship to Loren Hale. And I never felt like it was well explained about her biological father. Willow is actually not that interesting overall, she's an ordinary girl overall. Garrison comes from a complicated family dynamic. By comparison, he's a little more interesting that Willow, but because he doesn't have the family relationship that she does, he isn't a headline grabber until he becomes associated with her. I do like how sensitive Garrison is to Willow's personality. Other than that, I just didn't love this book as much as the others in the series.