With a Twist (Bad Habits) Paperback – July 6, 2015

“I want to kiss you until I know the feeling by heart.”“I want the world to know you’re mine before I take you for my own.”I’ve had this book on my kindle since release day, and I was just able to get around to it yesterday. I’m actually kind of mad at myself that it took me so long to get to it, because once I started it, I blew through it in hours. I enjoyed it so much. A friends to lovers’ story that warmed my heart, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I’ve already added the other two books in the series to my TBR and book 2 is my next read, Chaser. I’ll be starting it as soon as I post this review.This series is all about a tight nit group of friends living out their dreams in New York City. With a Twist is the first book in this series and its Lily and West’s story.Lily is a principle dancer for the NYCB, New York City Ballet Company, a dream that she has had since she was a little girl, and now it is finally coming true. She’s also been partnered with Blaine Baker, the man she has a serious lady boner for since she was 15 years old. Blaine has the star in every single one of steamy fantasies since she could remember, but he has never even realized she existed until recently, and Lily is over the moon about it. The story begins with a bang, quite literally actually HAHAHAHAHA.“The roles I’d landed since my promotion a few months ago still shocked me – as hard as I’d worked to get where I was, I’d never expected it.”“Blane Baker, y’all. Blane Do-Whatever-You-Want-To-Me Baker. Making girls lose their minds since puberty, circa 1996.”West Williams is a TA for one of his favorite English professors at Columbia University, working towards his doctorate, and he’s been one of Lily’s closet friends pretty much since the day they met. He’s been “spending time” with another fellow TA, but it’s a physical relationship born of convenience. There’s’ no actual feelings involved, at least on his part.“Maybe I’d read too many books, too much Shakespeare to ever be content with someone who didn’t make me feel. Until I found that girl, I was content to date my degree.”Blaine Baker is a PLAYER with a capital P, and his ex-girlfriend, Nadia is known within the company for being a major biatch. Nadia has always had a problem with Lily and given her a hard time, but now that Lily is beating her for lead dancing roles and partnered with her ex, things are going to get even more heated…“My relationship status was a about as clear as a serial killer’s cellar window.”With a Twist has such amazing characters, that it’s not possible to get sucked into their world. Lily, West, Rose, Copper, Patrick, Maggie, Astrid, Bastian, Jennie, all of them are easy to love. Their friendships are a shining point in this book. Their banter and dialogue will make you laugh out loud and their connections make you long to belong to their group. I mean I wanted to crawl into this book, just to hang out with them at Habits. I know I know they aren’t real, they are fictional characters and I digress.When Lily starts to realize that most times the fantasy is much better than reality, things begin to slowly change. West is seeing one of his best friends in a different light and Lily is having some very interesting dreams as of late.“Lily and I walked in silence for a moment, and my brain kicked into overdrive. I was so overwhelmed by her I couldn’t concentrate – every place where she touched, just the presence of her body next to mine as we walked down the stairs was too much. I tried to makes sense of it, wondering why now? After all these years, why tonight?”The writing here is absolute perfection, the story magical, sexy and incredibly funny. Romance that makes your heart pound and your face flush with heat; West and Lily have a connection that most only long for. Staci Hart has not only crafted a book that is outrageously awesome, but she has created a whole world in which we can hope and pray for many many more books to play out. I can only hope that all of the characters we are introduced to in With a Twist will all get their own books. She started the series with a perfect book and perfect characters. I loved Lily and now I want to be her bestie. And West OHMYGOD, hot does not do this guy justice. He’s sexy of course, but he’s the total package. He’s smart, sensitive, funny, thoughtful, patient, JUST EVERYTHING! Ladies West Williams is going to make you SWOON. HARD.“No one was good enough for Lily. But I could be. I wanted to be. I loved her.”I may have been late to the party in reading this book, as it has a TON of fantastic reviews already but I won’t be missing it again. Chaser (Bad Habits book 2) is next up on my reading list and I cannot wait to dive back into this world and spend more time the Habits gang. Chaser is Maggie’s story (Maggie is West’s sister). Not only do I revel in getting to read what I’m sure will be another breathtaking book, I’m excited to spend some more time with these quirky, and fun characters.“Nothing in life is certain. But as long as my heart was beating, it would beat for her. I didn’t exist solely for myself anymore because I was hers, and she was mine.”

OH MY LORD!!!!!OH MY GOD.What a great book.What a phenomenal freaking read.You know, going into a novel I always feel a sense of nervousness. Especially if the book's from an author I haven't read before. I'll admit, I tend to stick with authors who I trust to deliver a well written read. I don't step outside of my "go to" bubble very much. Of course, I'll pick up a book here and there, but for the most part I have a list of writers I gravitate to.I'm so unbelievably thrilled to have found a "new to me" author who can write a kick ass novel with some serious depth. This book came out of the left field. I wasn't expecting it. I had seen some teasers that had piqued my curiosity and somehow (Thank you, sweet baby Jesus) I got the book on my kindle.I opened it thinking I'd take a quick look, get a little taste. Well that "quick look/little taste" turned into an - I. CAN'T. STOP. READING!!! OMG. THIS. IS. SO. GREAT - binge-fest.I didn't want it to end.I could have lived within the pages for YEARS.YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS.It was EPIC.The novel starts off with a bang. Literally. LOL. On the first page I could feel my gut tingling with sweet anticipation. I was intrigued, so ready to see where this story was going.I couldn't believe it! PAGE FREAKING ONE and I was hooked.HOOKED!!!!That NEVER happens to me. Typically, I have to force myself through the first 15 - 20%! In this novel, I felt taken.I immediately adored the authors style of writing. I felt drawn to it. It's heavy in dialogue, has the perfect amount of description, and just enough inner monologue where you need it.I laugh and cried and swooned and felt each and every word she had put down.I can't say enough good things.I truly ate this story like it was a chocolate souffle--all melty and delicious.Each character's introduced with a seamless perfection that's shiver worthy. From Lily, to West, to Blaine, to Rose, to Maggie, to Cooper, to Patrick, to Astrid.... ALL of them are so unique with personalities that are simply breath taking.I couldn't get enough.I couldn't read fast enough.I'm telling you, there was a point where I wanted to force myself to slow down and savor each word but I couldn't because the story was so brilliant I had the counter urge to just plow through.God, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.My belly kept twirling in delightful pirouettes.My heart kept tap dancing across the pages.It was awesome. AWESOME!!!The dialogue in this novel is absolutely superb, probably the best I've read in ages. The transitions between the characters is so fluid, the words so realistic. Many times, I felt as if I was sitting in Habits (The bar the group gravitates to) engaged in conversation with these people. It was unbelievably realistic.I swear, this novel is alive.The scenes are so well drawn out, the picture painted for the reader, vivid and visceral. I want to live with these characters, be apart of their day to day. I wanted to laugh with them, swoon with them, love with them. I was completely entangled in each one. I could see potential for story lines bleeding off the pages. Each character's an intriguing blend of wit, humor, and unequivocal sex appeal.Staci Harts blown me away.BLOWN. ME. A. FREAKING. WAY!!!The slow building romance between West (An English Lit TA, who LOVES books **faints**) and Lily (A ballerina) brings such a refreshing and appealing view to this book. The romance progresses beautifully. It doesn't happen on the first page, there's no insta love, no insta lust. They're truly friends with a respect and admiration for each other that made me want to dance with glee.The pacing of the plot was magnificent. At first I wondered how Lily and West would figure it out. How would they come to the conclusion that they were THE person for each other? Both seemed to live different lives, yet somehow the author melded them into one cohesive unit that flourished.I loved the dynamic between them. It was sexy. It was heart warming. It gave me goosebumps.Made me feel high. I was drunk on these characters. They felt so real. So authentic.Everything was seamless.I can honestly say that I was enchanted and addicted to the sweet, slow building, magical romance that Staci Hart created.It was decadent, made my heart soar, and had me feeling feels I strive to find when picking up a novel.I'm so happy I read it. I'm so happy that this book found me. I cannot wait for the next installment. I love Cooper, Maggie, Patrick and Rose. I want a book for each of them and I'm told we're getting that.Ahhhhhhhh. I truly feel like this book--With a Twist--is an Indie Gem. One of those reads you never forget. It was EVERYTHING I love in a novel and MORE. A read that can't be rated on a 1-5 scale. It deserves an infinite amount of numbers. I LOVED it.Gosh, I'll end it by saying, Bravo, Staci. You nailed it. You gave me one heck of a read and in the process earned one hell of a fangirl in me!Just FANTASTIC!

I had such high hopes for this book but sadly I was disappointed. I’m not sure why but I just found it impossible to get into it. It really didn’t grip me at all but I persevered until the end in order to be able to give an honest and informed review. The plot was good and the supporting characters were all likeable but I found the progression of the book far too slow. It was at 55% on my Kindle before the main characters even acknowledged their feelings for each other which meant I’d spent over half the book reading about Lily’s infatuation with the extremely unlikable Blane. In general I found the heroine really irritating and she seemed to behave immaturely for the majority of the book. Felt let down by this read.

I loved this friends to lovers romance.A friends sit-com feel as all friends live in the same apartment block share laughs and good times together they wander into each others apartments and are a close knit group of friends but what happens when lines begin to get blurred?A slow burn romance.Lily is a ballet dancer she who has landed the lead role in Swan lake and along side her is her dream partner and crush Blane Baker.West is a teacher, a hottie, he's the kind of guy who just hasn't met the right girl, he has one night stands and when he first met Lily he was in a relationship so from there they have both just friend zoned each other despite their closeness.This is one of those relationships where all their friends can see clearly that West and Lily are in love with each other and are all just waiting for the penny to drop and one of them to be brave enough to make a move.I loved the build up in this book. Lily mistakes wither her current crush, realising that not all fantasies are as good as they are built up to be and West realising after all these years that he is actually in love with Lily.A great book with a great feel to it.I listened this on audio and the narration was perfect. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

With a Twist is book #1 in the bad habits series and the first book I have read by this author. I grabbed this book in the sale at Amazon.Hmm mmThis book has the most beautiful cover and I’m a sucker for a good cover.But honestly this book didn’t rock my world!I adored West I mean seriously. .. beard, manbun the images I picture of him are practically xrated lol. I thought Lily was very sweet although honestly at times she needed some sense knocking into her!!I just found this whole story a little slow! I think I was waiting for something unexpected to happen and unfortunately it just didn’t.I’m used to reading predominantly ARCS so there tends to be a lot of typos etc. But this was a final Amazon paid purchase and yet there were still quite a lot of editing issues.I found this book enjoyable and not badly written just incredibly predictable and I was just hoping for something more.The sex with Blane was epically bad deliberately by the author but then the other sex scenes were so boring I almost fell asleep!Perhaps I’m being a little harsh but just my hopes were high and unfortunately this is just a nice story.With a twist gets an OK 3 stars from me.

Best friends are there for everything until best friends are going out with other people, not serious in either relationship but where does this leave West and Lily. Loved West when he recognises his true feelings for Lily , Lily however has blinkers on but luckily she gets her act together. Her interaction with Rose is so great everyone needs a Rose for a best friend. West and Lily such a great couple with great friends

I liked the book, but I felt like it was missing something.It was very predictable, which is fine when you are looking for an easy read. I did skim over a few pages as I felt it went on a bit, like it was padded for a longer book!But as I said, it's an ok read if you are looking for one of those cute, drama free books. It just wasn't for me.