Hey there, bookworms! Happy Sunday! I hope you’re all well and you’re spending your weekend relaxing with your latest reads! I know I’m sort of doing that, but I’ve also been doing a bit of something else (besides sleeping).. and although I came on here to give you a book review, I’m too consumed by the events of this weekend to not talk about what I’m going to talk about today, so let’s get to it, shall we? It’s still literary themed, and a review of sorts, I promise!
If you are a reader of romance, or you’re a member of Passionflix, you probably know what I’m talking about right now. You can check out my previous post about them here. I’ve talked about this site before and it’s goal to bring some of our favorite romance novels to the big screen. This past Friday, they released the first three (of six total) episodes of Driven, the novel by K. Bromberg. That being said, I’ve spent my entire weekend in a Driven slump and practically watching these episodes on repeat.
I’ve had the Driven series on my iPad practically since I got an iPad about four years back. They’re some of the first books I downloaded, and I’m ashamed to say, I never read them. Even when Passionflix had the movie option on their roster, I was still so far behind in my reading that I never got to them until a couple of weeks before the series debuted. I’m on book three now, and I’m making my way through them slowly because I don’t want them to end, but I can’t seem to stop watching these episodes over and over.
There are five books in this series, but to sum things up (I’ll review the books separately once I’ve completed the series), Colton Donovan is a famous racecar driver with a traumatic past. Rylee Thomas is the sensible, grounded girl with pains of her own. She channels her past into kindness and generosity with the foster program she runs, while he loses his in temporary pleasure and casual encounters. They’re both wounded, and both have so much to work on, but when they meet and realize that there’s a potential that they can heal one another and have a chance at happily ever after, they can’t seem to stay away from one another. There’s tons of angst, lots of drama, and off-the-charts steam, and if you haven’t read them yet, you should go check them out!
That being said, I just have to say that I’m blown away by the work of the Passionflix team. In a time when the mainstream industry is hell-bent on reboots and revivals and sequels/prequels for projects that have seemingly been beaten to death, they’re doing something every book lover dreams of, and they’re taking our favorite novels and love stories, and they’re turning them into such fun visuals for the fans.
In addition to that, I feel like the romance novel is still, to this day, a bit of a taboo situation, and they seem to get a bad rep for being either cheesy, nonsensical, or just pure porn. I know some are written better than others, but it’s about the bigger picture. Overcoming adversities, gaining trust, finding who you are, making compromises, and taking a leap of faith to find happiness. With all of those things come the fights, the making up, the intimacy, and more, which is why I love losing myself in these books. Passionflix has taken things a step further and brings an entire genre to life, giving it the credit it deserves. An added bonus is that things in their company are run by women who make stories for women, which is so empowering.
They seem to get better with every story they bring their audience. Right now, Driven is that story. The cast is just swoon-worthy and I adore Casey Diedrick and Olivia Applegate as Colton and Rylee and I just could not get enough! I mean, look at them!
Every single time I finished these episodes, I found myself in a funk as if I had closed a book and lost something forever. This fun and sexy story has taken over my brain and I find myself logging online and repeating the process because I’m not finished with the experience. For that, I have to thank the actors, Passionflix, and Bromberg as well because admittedly, it’s been awhile since I’ve lost myself in an entire fictional world. With so much going on in my personal and professional life, I’ve felt like I’m reading books purely out of routine or on autopilot, and it’s been so long since I’ve picked up a book and disappeared to the outside world for a solid chunk of time. Not only does their story and all the obstacles Colton and Rylee encounter have me completely engrossed, but having a visual in my head because of the actors and the entire flix team just makes it all that much more captivating as I move through the rest of the series.
Needless to say, I’m a big, fat, emotional pile of mush and in a total cloud of Driven bliss/funk (that makes no sense, but I swear.. it does). I can’t wait for the second half of this book to come to life in the coming weeks, and I anxiously await for them to make Fueled and Crashed into episodes as well in 2019.
I’m going to leave you with the trailer for the show, and a link to go download book one now. It’s free for a limited time on kindle, so grab it while you can! As I’ve said before, if you haven’t signed up for Passionflix yet, please do and support this awesome team doing such cool work. Enjoy all of that original content!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to obsessing over all things Colton Donovan (seriously, if you’ve watched this series.. is anyone like head-over-heels for Casey Diedrick the way I am?).. talk amongst yourselves until next time!
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