Book Review: Addicted to You

 Addicted to You (Addicted #1) by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

5 stars
Lily Calloway and Loren "Lo" Hale have a lot in common: They both come from wealthy, influential families, they both are loners, and they both suffer from addiction.Best friends since middle school, Lily and Lo discovered some things about themselves-she is a sex addict and he is an alcoholic. Three years ago, they decided to make a pact, and cover their addictions by entering in a false relationship. However, more recently their feelings have moved from platonic best friends to romantic. What will this mean for their arrangement and their addictions?

The book is told from Lily's POV, and the layers peeled back on each page were tender and sometimes heart-wrenching. Lily is a sex addict who goes to parties and clubs for the sole purpose of hooking up with random guys. When she gets her fix, she is Lo's designated driver, or they get car service, so that Lo won't drive drunk. When she has company over, he kicks them out for her in the morning. When he passes out, or binges and vomits, she makes sure he is laying on his side or that he doesn't need to be hospitalized. When she needs to watch porn or masturbate, Lo covers for her. When he wants to cover up smell of alcohol, she helps him find cologne.

Eventually Lily and Lo somehow pick up real friends Connor and Ryke (to replace the fake ones they made up for their families). Between them and familial obligations, reality starts intruding on their bubble until it bursts.

Addicted to You was absolutely amazing. This could have been done badly, but instead I felt the authors did a beautiful job of taking the reader through the journey of pain, shame, and co-dependence of Lily and Lo. The really exciting news is that there is more story to tell-it looks like there will be a lot more from Lily, Lo, and the rest of their crew!

ARC Book Review: The Virgin:Revenge

 Revenge (Revenge #1) by J. Dallas
4 stars, Release date November 4, 2013

This appears to be a first novel(ette) for author J. Dallas, and it is a fine start. The reviews so far have been hot and cold, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the book a lot!

10 years ago, Shannon was naive 17-year-old Shan, and had a great summer romance with 7 years older Drake. Their fathers were in business together, and subsequently, the couple spent a lot of time together at the beach. Just when it looked like they were going to go all the way, Drake broke Shan's heart with one cold statement, and walked away. A few short days later, her father was murdered in front of her, and between those two events, she turned into a harder woman - and a woman who never found the opportunity to go all the way.

10 years later, Shannon wants to get her life back, and thinks exacting revenge on the man who broke her heart is the way to go about it. She wants to make him want her the way she still wants him. An CEO in his father's company, he is powerful and in the market for a new administrative assistant. When the opportunity arises to interview as his assistant, Shannon sets out for the job and gets it. What happens next is a page-turner.

I liked Shannon-she was a little unhinged, a lot confident but managed to display so many vulnerabilities. Drake was of course hot and passionate, but it was nice to see him have moments of insecurity. Shannon was a handful, and we haven't seen the last of these two. I find that exciting! I'm in for the next in this series.

Book Review: Selling Out

 Selling Out (The Lost Girls #2) by Amber Lin

4.5 stars
This is the second of The Lost Girls series, and a fantastic read. Shelly is an old, tired soul who has been groomed for the world's oldest profession since practically childhood, thanks to her sick father. She had a good gig with Philip, a powerful and mean underground boss, as his moll. However, she turned informant when she started falling for undercover detective Luke Cameron. He had feelings for her too, but he never once acted on them, never once touched her. Now, Shelly is ready for a fresh start, but Henri, her pimp, is not going to let her. He and his muscle force Shelly to attend a party, and instead of working, she sees the young Ella and decides to save her - and this brings down the wrath of not only Henri but the Chicago Police Department when the wealthy clients at the party end up dead. 

The world that Amber Lin's characters live in isn't nice-it's gritty and real and sometimes plain sad. However, there are these glimpses of love and friendship that fill the grey street life with bright sunshine. Shelly is only 24 but her life experience makes her about 60. She is world weary and has been a prostitute so long that she doesn't even know how to turn it off. She has some of the best laugh out loud lines, and her wit is part of her coping mechanism. Luke is the stoic cop, but we learn much more about him, and how personal his mission as a detective is. He can see right through Shelly's bravado, and he has just one requirement for them to be together-keep it real.

I loved this book, and I love this series. There are so many rich characters, and I can't wait to see what happens with Philip- it looks like we have a long wait, unfortunately.  Even still, Shelly and Luke, the star crossed lovers, will keep you satisfied in the meantime.

Book Review: The Edge of Never

 The Edge of Never (The Edge of Never #1)
by J.A. Redmerski

Camryn Bennett and Andrew Parrish are two souls bumping along in life. They have both seen their share of tragedy, and yearn for the open world and all of its possibilities.

After a disappointing incident with her best friend since 2nd grade, Camryn packs a small bag and heads to the bus depot, with no particular destination in mind. On a fluke, she decides on Idaho as a general direction and leaves the rest of her life behind. In Kansas, she meets the hot and equally restless Andrew Parrish. He is a couple of years older and a bit more worldly, and they have a tentative friendship that begins to blossom into something more. He watches out for her on the road, and reveals that he is on the trip to visit his dying father in the hospital. Camryn is escaping a dead first love, a cheating ex, and a shitty best friend.

When it is time for them to part ways, neither of them wants to admit how quickly they became attached to each other. They decide that Cam should travel with Andrew to see his father, and then take on the open road.

This book was beautifully written, wonderfully paced, and heart wrenching! So many New Adult novels have crazy drama for drama's sake, but there is no real emotion underneath. This was a marvelous departure from trend. JA Redmerski's writing was so smooth and genuine, and elicited a real emotional response from even me (which is a challenge.)  Camryn and Andrew fell in love - hard - and decided to live life on their terms. If only we could all be so brave! I can't wait to see what happens next.

Recap: Scandal Season 3, Episode 4

I'm at Heroes and Heartbreakers this week with my Scandal recap! Check me out there!

Book Review: Everything for Us

Everything For Us (The Bad Boys #3)

by M. Leighton 

4.5 stars
This was a story with a strong theme of redemption, and the pages flew by as I devoured every word.
We met Marissa in Down to You as the jilted girlfriend of one of the Davenport twins and bitchy cousin to Olivia Townsend (whom Marissa was dumped for.) But life got real for Marissa in Up to Us, and her priorities changed drastically.

In Everything for Us, we see Marissa seeing herself and her snobby world through different eyes, and the harsh eyes of Nash Davenport. Their attraction is hot, nasty, and without boundaries...except Nash is bitter and angry about his lot in life and only wants tonight, not tomorrow.

Nash has been through hell. He has lived with his anger and resentment so long as a coping mechanism, it hurts to deal with the feelings he has for Marissa, especially if she finds out about the secret he is hiding from her. Feelings hurt, and family can hurt you the most-Marissa and Nash both find this out the hard way.

I loved this book. Nash could have been a real alpha-hole, but M. Leighton did such a great job of making him relatable,  and the same goes for Marissa. I really didn't like her in this book, and it is a testament to the author that I believed this turnaround in both characters. I also have to say, Nash is off the charts smoking. Most of their sex scenes are like hit and run car accidents, but you need a cigarette instead of an ambulance afterward. I don't know if the series with continue-it looks like this arc is complete, but there were a few other interesting characters that I would like to hear more about. Great read!

Book Review: Revealing Us by Lisa Renee Jones

Revealing Us (Inside Out #3) by Lisa Renee Jones 

3 stars

Revealing Us is the last of the Inside Out Trilogy by Lisa Renee Jones. When the book opens, Sara has a decision to make-go to Paris with Chris, or stay in San Francisco to make her own way. She quickly decides she must be with Chris, and the Parisian leg of the trilogy begins.

In the second book, Sara was infected with TSTL (Too Stupid to Live) symptoms, and this time around, it was a chronic condition. She got herself into at least 3 unnecessary scrapes that Chris had to get her out of, and she blamed him for her stupidity. Once she even called herself out on her own stupidity. It was infuriating. Her neurosis caused whiplash-she even called herself out on that, too!

Besides these criminal lapses in judgement, we learn a lot about Chris in this book, and about the secrets he keeps in Paris. Ultimately, *SPOILER* Rebecca and Ella's situations aren't resolved, and that was unfortunate for Rebecca because it appears she has been murdered, and for Ella because it appears she is caught in someone's crosshairs. It looks like Ella may be getting her own book and she certainly has a champion in the rich and enigmatic Garner Nueville - apparently they had quite the 3 weeks together.

I appreciated how Chris and Sara had a dynamic that was not typical-they suffered a lot of loss in their lives and decided they didn't want children in the future. Chantel was a bright light in the book as well, and she certainly had eyes for Rey, the security specialist. Overall, the book was a page turner, sometimes for the wrong reasons, but the chemistry between Chris and Sara was hot and ultimately believable. They learned from each other, and through all the ups and downs eventually solidified their relationship. The biggest question at this point is this: Will I continue on to Ella's adventures? I'm not sure.

Recap: Scandal-Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington

When Scandal opens, Liv is crouched on the floor, still shell-shocked at the turn of events from last week. Jake is lying prone on the bed, alive, but asleep. Fitz calls, but Olivia isn’t in the mood. She calls Huck, but Huck isn’t in the mood. He is too busy stalking Liv’s father.

Liv reports to work and finds a client with a huge retainer waiting, but the client has to run since she has a “meeting on Capitol Hill”. The Gladiators do a little more digging, and something smells rotten in Denmark. Liv decides to head to the Capitol to see what the deal is.

At the White House, it’s a typical merry morning. Fitz, Mellie, and Cy are strategizing at the breakfast table. Mellie is feeding baby Teddy so that he knows who she actually is, Fitz is snapping at Mellie and Cy, and Cy is trying to convince the two that they need to sell a reconciliation to the world. Finally, after Mellie and Fitz yell “Shut up!” at each other, Cy demands they spend the weekend at Camp David as a photo op.

We see a familiar face in a White House tour. He escapes, and tries to get to the Oval Office. Security takes him down quickly, but not before he starts screaming about talking to the President about Remington. (!) Meanwhile, Liv walks into the Capitol, and between the empty offices and running employees, she follows the action, walks into an office, and her client is there with a huge bomb strapped to her chest.

Fitz and Mellie are whisked away to a protected bunker while the Secret Service investigate the intruder and the potential bomber. In the office, said bomber, Mary Nesbitt, is adamant her son was mistakenly killed by the FBI in a raid. The records were sealed under the Patriot Act, and all they would tell her was that he was a terrorist. She has tried every way she could to get someone to unseal the file, and feels this is her final option.

Enter hostage negotiator Ernie Hudson!(I don’t care what his character’s name is, it’s Ernie Hudson.) Nesbitt has put Liv in charge of talking to him, and lays out her demands-unseal the file or she blows the place up, hostages included. Meanwhile Cy gets intel on the man attempting to see Fitz (Pete Foster), and tells the Secret Service to release him. He then places a call to Eli (who narrowly misses getting executed by Huck on the street) and tells him, “We have a Remington problem.”

Ernie calls Liv and tells her that that Mary can see the file, but only if she turns herself in. Liv knows that is not going to fly, so she changes the game and gets Mary to release the aides as a show of good faith. Now released from the bunker, Fitz gets the file on Mary Nesbitt’s son, and we know from his grim expression this isn’t going to be an easy fix. Liv has been on the phone delegating tasks to her Gladiators. Fitz is in the situation room and OKs the order to have Nesbitt taken out by snipers. Harrison is on the ground and passes the info to Liv. In a show of incredible bravery/stupidity, Liv plants herself in the window to replace Mary as the target. Fitz almost loses his lunch and demands the snipers STAND DOWN.

Ernie calls back, pissed at Olivia, and demands the congressman’s release. Liv tells him it isn’t happening and demands to talk to Fitz He tells her despite the fact that she thinks she is callingythe shots, the United States doesn’t negotiate with terrorists so he isn’t negotiating with her. (Oooo!) About 5 seconds later Fitz gets a call on the bat phone, and he expects Liv to be on  thother line, but it Jake (looking pretty damn perky) calling on behalf of Liv to get info about the sealed file. Fitz blows him off, and calls him an errand boy. Eli goes to visit Foster, and promises him that he can get an audience with Fitz. When Eli leaves, Huck is waiting with a gun to his head.

.

The Gladiators are busy: Quin has been frantically trying to hack into the FBI database and calling Huck, who isn’t answering the phone. She decides to go to his work station and see what he was working on before he decided to go MIA. Abby goes to David to get help, but he’s got nothing to give. Harrison gets a visit from an FBI agent who has video proof that Mary’s son was in fact a terrorist with Islamic extremist ties. He calls Liv with the bad news, but he realizes that FBI agents don’t drive State Department cars, and Abby gets David to look up this so called agent. Turns out she doesn’t exist. Liv gives an impassioned speech to David about truth, justice, and the American way, and gets him on the team.

David visits Cy to get answers. Cy (he thinks) decimates David, and tells him this is above his paygrade. David ignores Cy’s rant, and pulls out evidence that something is being covered up-probably the murder of an innocent young man by the FBI. Cy admits to David that something is happening, but it isn’t what he thinks.

Finally, Liv gets a call from Fitz, and what he tells her is classified and he asks her not to react to the news. Mary’s son was not a terrorist, he was a hero. He was undercover CIA, and infiltrated a high level Islamic extremist group. The FBI did make a mistake in killing him-they thought he was the real deal. If the records are unsealed, the 57 agents he recruited will be tortured and killed. At first Liv resists keeping the truth from Mary (Really???) but quickly realizes there are 57 lives in jeopardy. She has the unenviable task of telling Mary her son was a terrorist, but assures a broken Mary that she will do everything to help her.

Mary releases Olivia and the congressman, but at the last minute she locks herself in the office and blows herself up.

Shaken, Liv staggers back to the office, and encounters Huck sitting at her desk in the dark. He tells her about his day, and how he stalked her father and put a gun to his head. Liv demands an answer, did he kill Eli? Finally, Huck breaks down and tells Liv what happened, and how Eli controlled him despite his best efforts, and how he killed Pete Foster for Eli. He was a broken man, and he an Liv cried it out in her office.

Fitz gets back to the White House, Mellie is drunk off her ass. "Cheers Baby!" she slurs, as she lays out her plan for Fitz domination-use Olivia against him, and use her well. You can just see the cogs turning in Fitz's head. What's his play now?

Worse off than earlier, Liv staggers home and finds Jake waiting for her, being Creepy Jake again, asking if she is hungry, giving her a domestic kiss on the cheek. Liv is beside herself, and demands to know How.Is.He.Here. Is he on assignment? How did he get out? No one ever gets out. No one walks away, including Liv herself. She and Jake sit on the couch, ignoring the calls from Eli and Fitz, realizing the lot of their lives.

Whew! Someone tell a joke!

This is my week here at my blog home, but every other week I share Scandal recaps at Heroes and Heartbreakers...see what Kwana Minatee-Jackson has to say about this week's episode here.

The Rundown: Once Upon a Time

I know I'm late on this rundown, but you will forgive me!

1. Who HAVEN'T you pissed off?


2. At the same time, however...Bitter much? Nobody told you to do all that dirt. And you were in trouble before you met Regina...


3. And true love for Regina means the humble and single father Robin Hood? I can kind of see it.


4. I'm so tired of this kid's shit.
 You know he's annoying.

5. Wow, so...I got the gender wrong when I accused Mulan of being a maneater a couple weeks ago...
 Girl, bi...

Bonus: Just for shits and giggles...Buzzfeed lists 6 potential girlfriends for Mulan

The Rundown: Sleepy Hollow

1. ROANOKE! One of my favorite things in history is the story of the missing Roanoke colony. I LOVE that it was included in this week's episode.


2. I have said it once, and I will say it again-nosy people will be the cause of the end of the world. Thomas just had to go play with that little girl, huh?


3. Oh Ichabod, you are so clever with your Middle English/John Doe knowledge, and silly with your lack of plastic/spackle knowledge.


4. Katrina, what have you done??


5. A little faith goes a long way...

Recap: Scandal, Season 3, Episode 2

Check out my recap of Scandal at Heroes and Heartbreakers! This one was a doozy! 

Book Review: After the Ending

After The Ending (The Ending #1)
by Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue

After the Ending is the first book about a post-apocalyptic United States, and two best friends who manage to stay in contact with each other, even as the world changes from what they know to After.

Dani and Zoe have been best friends since 4th grade. Now in their mid-20's, and living in different parts of the country, they see everyone they know getting sick around them. This great flu epidemic  has taken out almost everyone they know. Zoe's brother, Jason (and Dani's crush for most of her life) warns Zoe to get to Colorado-that's where they will be safe and where survivors are going. Zoe passes this info to Dani, but Dani almost dies from the sickness. Luckily, Jason and his crew arrive just in time to save her, but it was too late for Dani's boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Zoe ends up with another crew on the other side of the country-safety in numbers is important. Droves of people who have survived the virus have gone insane-Zoe and Dani call them "Crazies"-and while some of the Crazies are slow and twitchy, others are violent, angry, and fast.  Something else happens-people who survived the virus start to display psychic Abilities. Some use their Abilities for good, some for evil, and some become mad with power. Zoe and Dani manage to stay in contact through spotty internet connections, and through their emails to each other we learn about the deceptions, deaths, and toll After the Ending has on them.

It's worth mentioning that the apocalypse has been kind to both young ladies, as they have some real hotties in both of their camps-Dani has the womanizing Jason, of course, and in Zoe's camp the enigmatic and stoic Jake  appears. There is also MG, aka Mystery Guy, who uses his Ability to contact Dani in her dreams to help her learn to use her Ability better. 

This book was a page turner, and while some of the angst was a tad adolescent, it was a mostly welcome speck of innocence as the world around Zoe and Dani went from cosmopolitan to frontier in the blink of an eye. The book ends on a cliffhanger, but not one that makes you throw your Kindle across the room. I'm in for the next installment.
4/5 stars

The Rundown: Sleepy Hollow

The Lesser Key of Solomon
First of all, congrats to the bigwigs at FOX for getting it right and renewing Sleepy Hollow for a second season! Now on to the Rundown...

1. Ichabod is the best wing-man ever.

2. I'm gonna need the Mills sisters to button it up (or get laid). I can't take all the sniping at each other! #KeepingItTooReal

Ladies, do shutup

3. Fuckin' Hessians.
4. Fuckin' Moloch.
5. Still can't tell if the Captain (Orlando Jones) is working for good or evil-he is definitely not a neutral party.

I don't know what team I play for either.

6. Sexton. Heh.

The Rundown: Once Upon a Time

Season 3, episode 2

1. I see Peter Pan is still flapping his ears around causing trouble.
2. Am I the only one happy Charming is injured? He's sort of a dick. The Dwarfs called it.
3. Rumple always proves that sometimes you got to Olivia Pope it and put your good suit on and flat iron your hair to take care of business.

Stunning

4. Speaking of Olivia Pope-ing it, Regina is flawless no matter what realm she is in:

Say out of her way, duh!

5. I have no idea what the Tinkerbell storyline is going to be but when I saw this:

I thought, we all deserve to see Captain Hook have some sexy times, yes?

Scandal: It's Handled

Every other week I will recap Scandal at Heroes and Heartbreakers. This week check out Kwana Minatee-Jackson's take on Scandal!.

The premiere of Scandal’s third season had me on the edge of my seat! Let’s take a look at what happened, shall we?

When the episode opens, we see the media blowback of Olivia’s name being released to the press. Her father, the enigmatic Rowan Pope, has jumped into his own crisis mode, and we definitely see where Olivia gets it from. He has spirited her away in a limo and has a plan. Calm as you please, Olivia asks him why he tried to have her killed. Calm as you please, he explained that he actually tried to have Jake killed. (Their family dinners must have been a riot.)

Rowan explains to Liv that since she “opened her skirt and spread her knees and gave it away to a man with too much power” she now needs to protect herself-who does she think the White House is going to support? We get a glimpse into the Pope family dynamic as he berates Olivia, even calling the aspiration to First Lady “mediocre”. Despite his disappointment, he has arranged an escape plan via airplane wherever Liv wants to go, but a quick chat with Cyrus convinces her to stay and attempt to fix this problem.

Cy tried to strong-arm Sally Langston into taking over some appearances for Fitz while they came up with a game plan to deal with this media storm. When they didn’t work, Fitz charmed her with the truth. He confessed to his affair (no names mentioned) and asked for time to arrange his affairs as he prepares a speech to come clean about his affair. She agrees (a Festivus miracle!)

Olivia goes to work like it’s a normal day, and the Gladiators are worried when clients start dropping like flies. Spearheaded by Harrison, they decide they need to take action. Meanwhile, Cy and Mellie sleuth around and find out a piece of the puzzle regarding who leaked Olivia’s name. However, footage of Fitz leaving Liv’s apartment surfaces, and Cy reluctantly requests info to start a kill folder on Olivia. Notably absent from the dossier was Rowan (no pictures of him at all!)

Rowan contacts Olivia again to extend help to her, but she demands information on Jake. Rowan tells her Jack-Nicholson-A-Few-Good-Men-Style that she doesn’t get to ask those kinds of questions. He tells her she is running out of options, and Liv lets him know she is “never out of options”. Next we see her cracking open her secret black folder, and calling in a special number, password Providence. After a slick escape from her office with the aid of several limos, Olivia ends up at a bunker with Fitz...and Mellie.

Olivia brings them together to strategize the fix in this crisis. To say the tension in that room was palpable would be an understatement. Bravo to all three actors for that scene-it was tense, honest, and emotional.

Fitz suggests telling the truth as a way through the storm, instead of trying to figure a way out of it. At first Mellie balks at standing with Fitz, possibly having to give detailed explanations of his affair with Olivia. Stunning both women into momentary silence, he admits falling in love with Olivia. Mellie promises hell on earth if he recounts that “disgusting fairytale” to the press. Liv asks Mellie how many times would be acceptable to her that she and Fitz slept together. Mellie says two times, and the trio comes up with a plan.

Mellie leaves, and Fitz has to take a moment to check in on Olivia. Despite her insistence that she is fine, Fitz sees right through it. She allows him to comfort her shortly, then leaves the bunker.

Sally takes another meeting with Fitz, where she reveals  that her own husband is “having a lot of fun” and (one can assume) perhaps unfaithful? Fitz tells Sally to take advantage of this moment, and be the moral high ground of the party. Meanwhile Mellie and Cy conspire a bit more, and thanks to some footage found by the Gladiators (thanks to Mellie?), Cy leaked it to James. The footage was of a drunk  communications aid  talking about how hot Fitz was. The ravenous press fled from Olivia to this innocent young woman, calling her the mistress.  

Olivia is incensed with the Gladiators (“What.Did.You.Do!?”) but that was nothing compared to the showdown between Mellie and Fitz. Mellie bragged to Fitz about leaking the aide’s name to the press, because if they went public with Olivia’s name, there would be too many repercussions. She also called Fitz out on being the one who leaked Olivia’s name to the press, thinking it was an romantic notion. Fitz laid it all out on the line and told Mellie they were at war, and he had been playing her since he went to her on his knees in the Blair House. He told an astonished Mellie that he released Olivia’s name so that Mellie couldn’t hold it over her head indefinitely. Boom! How do you like them apples?

Back at Gladiator HQ, Olivia is still pissed at the crew, and decided to take on (of course) a new client-the communications aid being eviscerated in the media.

Just when Cyrus thought it was safe to go home, he finds Charlie waiting for him, gun drawn. Apparently Charlie is back with B613, and Rowan has some information he wants Cy to read-it was the declassified debrief of the mission Jake and Fitz were on years ago. The reading was enough to shock Cyrus Beene, so I’m sure it will have the rest of us reeling.

There are so many questions! What is in the file? Will Fitz get back with Olivia this season? She is trying to fight it, but she still wants him so bad. Did anyone notice Abby’s makeover or Quinn’s bloodlust? And WHY did Harrison have clothes on? I suppose we will have to stay tuned, Gladiators!

Quotes of the week:

“I am many things. Stupid is not one of them.” -Olivia

“In order for me to do my job effectively, I’m going to need you to refrain from calling me a whore. At least in front of my face. Alright?” -Olivia

“Are we Gladiators, or are we bitches?” -Harrison

“Let’s just kill another intern.” -Quinn

It's Almost Time for Scandal!

Scandal is back tomorrow night! I know I'm excited-and you can check in with me at Heroes and Heartbreakers to see Scandal recaps. My first post is already up!

Considering how we left season 2, there will be no

or

or


...so let's take a detailed look back and see why!

Previously on Scandal…

When season 2 opens, First Lady Mellie is well along into her pregnancy with America’s Baby, Olivia calls in a favor and gets the charges dropped from Quinn for the Cytron bombing that killed 7 people, and Fitz has been calling Liv like clockwork every night. (I have to say, those moments on the phone between them were so real, and displays the real genius of the show.)

Abby starts sleeping with David, who is trying to unravel the secrets of Olivia Pope’s reach and by extension, the answer to who is responsible for the Cytron bombings. When Abby stumbles upon his research, she picks up the white hat and wears it for David’s team...until Olivia gets Harrison to make David look like he abused a former girlfriend.

Huck starts attending AA meetings in order to curb his murderous tendencies, and meets Becky. Speaking of new relationships, Liv starts dating (again) the very persistent and perceptive Edison Davis. James hooks up with David and starts getting way too close Defiance. Meanwhile, back in DC it’s time for Fitz’s birthday gala, but he never makes it because -game changer!- he gets shot! (Here is where I would like to interject a very large plea to ABC to PLEASE make an effort to show Scandal more than every 3 weeks or whenever they happen to feel like it.)

In the wake of Fitz’s shooting, we get a chance to look at the past and what Liv and Fitz’s relationship was like when he was first elected - and more glimpses of the ridiculous chemistry that Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn have. Bouncing back to the current timeline, Sally Langston takes (borrows) the White House and Hollis Doyle, the original snake in the grass, has partnered with her to do political evil. Speaking of evil, turns out Becky is an operative who set Huck up for Fitz’s attempted assassination. After being tortured at the Pentagon, Huck turns the tables and gets her arrested.

In an act of desperation, Mellie forges Fitz’s signature on a letter that requests he be reinstated to the presidency. Just as those cards are about to fall, Fitz comes-to, and the first thing we hear him say is an emotional “Hi” to Liv. (Swoon!)

Edison directly asks Liv if she was sleeping with Fitz, and she gives him the (epic!) 5,4,3,2,1 countdown breakup smackdown. Fitz pushes himself and shows up to the White House unannounced just as Sally Langston is about to get congress to sign off on her presidency bid. We see the original Gladiator crew together for the first time, digging up dirt on Fitz’s opponent Samuel Reston, and we also see how the Defiance crew decided to rig the election, thanks to Hollis’ urging and despite Olivia’s reluctance to participate.

Coming back to the present, Fitz decides life it too short, and demands a divorce from Mellie. Meanwhile Edison comes back to Liv with an engagement ring in his hand, and David Rosen goes to Hollis with a warning in his hand-he is coming for him on Defiance and Fitz’s assassination attempt. Mellie decides the best way to handle Fitz is to get her doctor to induce her pregnancy early. Fitz is not detoured and stays the course, asking Liv to wait for him.

The Gladiators find out that Verna is actually the one who hired Becky to kill Fitz, but in another game changer, she confesses Defiance to Fitz, and he forces her to asphyxiate before she can spill her guts to David Rosen. We find out how desperate Cy is when James is called in to a grand jury to testify about the election rigging scam-and almost sics Charlie from B613 on him. James lies on the witness stand anyway, and it’s the nail in David Rosen’s political coffin. At Verna’s funeral, Liv tells Fitz she will wait for him, but he tells her don’t bother-and indicates that he knows the truth about Defiance.

10 months later…

Heartbroken Olivia swims a lot, betrayed Fitz drinks a lot, Quinn is turning into Huck’s protege (Huckleberry Quinn!), and for some reason the disgraced David Rosen wakes up next to a dead and bloody young woman. The Gladiators help him out of that pickle, but it is the catalyst to a whole new game changer-the Creepy Hot Captain Jake era. CHCJ has in depth video surveillance at Liv’s apartment, and is old friends with Fitz, who apparently requested it. What he didn’t request is the flirting that CHCJ has been doing with Liv.

There is a mole in the highest level of government, and that mole is somehow related to David’s dead bedmate. Evidence implicates Director Osbourne of the CIA as the mole, and Liv passes that intel along to CHCJ. Fitz and Olivia have another epic hot sex/break up scene (I would like to take the time to thank the musical supervisor for superb song selection and placement this season.) The Gladiators end up with a new roommate, as David Rosen is being followed by someone who knows he has mole intel.

The sparks between Jake and and Liv are catching fire, but Jake is skulking around doing creepy things. He passes the mole intel on to Fitz, and when they shake down the CIA director, he kills himself...until we see Jake having a clandestine meeting with his boss, aka The Guy From Terminator 2, and realize it wasn’t a suicide after all.

With prompting from Osbourne’s widow, the Gladiators look deeper in his suicide, and figure out he isn’t the mole...but Cy doesn’t want to hear it. Huck gets trapped in a box in a storage facility when he and Quinn get too close to the truth, and when she gets him out it isn’t pretty. Mellie hands Fitz his ass (the secrets of the universe are not between Olivia Pope’s thighs!) for being an ass and taking his hurt at Olivia’s participation in the rigging out on everyone.

Cy and James finally have a heart to heart about their relationship after Fitz encourages Cy not to give up on him. Olivia surprises Captain Jake with Gettysburger, and then bow-chicka-wow-wow! Unfortunately for Liv, Jake has reported to TGFT2 that she knows the truth about the mole, and he tells Jake to deal with it...whatever that means. Olivia finds Jake’s surveillance cameras and freaks out, attacking Jake for all she is worth. He tells her he is trying to protect her, and shows her live footage of a masked man in her apartment...but she bumped her head in the ruckus and ends up in the hospital. When she comes-to, Jake is there with specific instructions, and when Fitz walks in and shakes Jake’s hand, she understands why.

Fitz runs to Liv’s side, but she wants nothing to do with him and tells him so. He begs for another shot, and just when it looks like she might give in, she kicks him out. Mellie decides she has enough, and moves across the street to the Blair House. She throws down an ultimatum with a timeline-and says she will tell reporters at the end of that timeline about his affair.

In the episode 752, Huck is hiding in a corner, saying 752 over and over again. We get detailed background on Huck and how he went from a soldier to a recruit in the exclusive B613 program(Charlie was his trainer!) We find out that he has a wife and son, why he hates small spaces, and that 7:52 am was the last time he saw his son. We also find out that Terminator Guy is the head of B613...so we know who Jake works for.

Cyrus is busy playing referee to Mellie and Fitz, but he puts Charlie on the job of investigating exactly how close Jake and Liv are. Huck identifies Charlie as the man who attacked him and broke into Liv’s apartment. Meanwhile, Fitz takes Liv’s advice to “earn” her, and decides to wait out Mellie’s clock with hr. Jake discovers Charlie in his apartment getting the info Cy requested, and Cy ran the tunnel between the White House and the Blair House for all he was worth when he realized James was the one interviewing Mellie as she reveals Fitz’s affair.

Cyrus is absolutely furious about the turn of events and is exceptionally cruel to James along the way. The head of B613 pays Cy a visit and insists he uses Jake’s sex tape to break up Fitz and Liv. Or. Else. Liv convinces Fitz to run for a second term, but poop meets fan when the Cytron card goes missing (thanks to David framing Charlie!) and we find out the mole is...Billy Chambers? (From the first season? WTH? And apparently in cahoots with David Rosen!)

The Defiance crew has an emergency meeting with a special guest - Fitz. The Gladiators find out that Billy Chambers is working with Reston-and when Olivia passes this info to Cyrus he literally has a heart attack. Reston comes to Fitz with an ultimatum-put him on his re-election ticket or get exposed. Unfortunately for Billy Chambers, Huck and Quinn (mostly Quinn) catch up to him and torture the Cytron card whereabouts from him. Billy also reveals that he was working with David.

Olivia was almost killed by a B613 agent, but Jake saves her, and they both know it’s probably a death sentence for him(or a lot of time in the hole.) Cy decides to unravel Liv and FItz’s rose-tinted glass dreams by telling secrets. He tells Liv about Fitz killing Verna, and he shows Fitz the sex tape. Fitz was ready to forgive all, but Olivia tells him they have too much bad blood-and heartbroken he crawls back to Mellie.

David Rosen returns the Cytron card to Cyrus, but in exchange he gets hailed a hero by Fitz and is promoted to the US Attorney for DC. As a gift to Liv, he sends her a fabulous white hat. Head held high, Liv goes for a run and encounters a swarm of press-her name has been released as Fitz’s mistress. She is pulled into a private car, where Terminator 2 Guy is waiting...and it turns out he is her FATHER.

The possibilities are endless on this show.  I can’t wait to see what they do this season!