
I’ve been sitting on this review for months because I’m still mad Wreck and Gia had to go through ALL that.
We’ve come to the end of the Porter family saga. Wreckless is the sixth book in this emotional rollercoaster of a series and Nina made sure to bring everything full circle. After watching Wreck struggle, mess up and run from growth and healing throughout the previous books, it was finally time for him to step up and take ownership.
While Clear Water was a breath of fresh air, Wreckless is a reality check of what it actually takes to heal after years of toxic behavior and deep seated trauma. Y’all the trauma bonds run deep in these books man.
We already knew from On Us and Clear Water that Wreck completely fucked up with Gia one time too many and she finally left him without warning. Wreck was always the hit it and quit type, but Gia did something different to him. She made him feel. Finding out she was a virgin threw him off his game but instead of dealing with his feelings, he kept running back to Najaah, his childhood girlfriend to get his sexual needs met while telling Gia he was waiting for her.
Gia was dealing with her own family trauma and had been finding solace at the bottom of the bottle since she was thirteen years old. After her last fight with Wreck, he promised that if she got help and started going to therapy, he would come to her sessions. He didn’t. Once she had a major blow up with her father, the bottle kept calling. She wanted & needed Wreck but her father forbid her from seeing him again so she cut him off without warning.
A year later, Wreck saw on Gia’s social media that she was engaged and his world was shattered. Mind you, he was already in a state of depression from her ignoring and refusing to be around him. The flashbacks of both Wreck and Gia’s memories of each other over the four years they’ve known each other were intense. He and Lake had a heart to heart, then Wreck started working out and taking better care of himself. He always found comfort in his grandmother, so her presence helped, but his mother being around was another source of trauma which further complicated his life. Wreck had found solace between the legs of one of his employees at the strip club who reminded him of Gia. He was emotionless every time he was with Cosi, zero intimacy at all. She wanted more but she was only a filler.
Because nothing and no one mattered once he lost Gia, Wreck had to learn to be completely alone. While he was happy for them, seeing his brothers and sister all have their person and their children made him feel like he had nothing. That was until Rushon Porter Jr. appeared. Wreck ran into his play cousin Marshay at the mall and found out the baby he and his brothers asked “Aunt Mucci” to figure out what to do with after a hit they did 10 years prior was being raised by her as HIS son. Baby… how TF was Mucci STILL ruining their lives from the damn grave?! In Wreck’s mind, the child had to go because he tied the Porter brothers to a double murder and kidnapping. But once his grandmother laid eyes on RJ, even knowing he wasn’t biologically hers, he became her grandbaby and she would die before she let Wreck or his brothers harm him.
While living with Wreck and his grandmother, RJ got very sick. Wreck knew he couldn’t take him to the hospital because that would open yet another can of worms so he called the only person he knew could get him better. Gia. She came to his rescue still trying to understand how Wreck had a 10 year old son she knew nothing about. That visit started a bond between her and RJ but it also reopened the door between her and Wreck.
Gia was being forced into a marriage she didn’t want and had to exclude all the Porters, even her best friend Avery, from the nuptials without explanation. Gia was still in love with Wreck. Wreck was still in love with Gia. And both knew her marrying Amir was a mistake. So, on one of those visits to check on RJ, Wreck made sure Gia gave him what he felt belonged to him AND let her know he wasn’t pulling out so she’d be stuck with him for life regardless. Now that was triflin and I wanted to slap him for Gia but chile, she was so sprung she barely protested.
But again, I ask… WHYYYY did Wreck and Gia have to go through hell? Finding out that RJ was biologically Gia’s nephew was gut wrenching (but I saw it coming from a mile away). Her being pregnant and considering getting rid of the baby because of it. Not only did I not see them coming back from that, but what Gia’s father did at the climax? Also unforgivable. My heart was legit broken. I just knew Wreck and Gia were DONE DONE but God, aka Dr. Pie.
Of course it wouldn’t be a Porter book without the rest of the family carrying on and being heavily involved. Seeing how the brothers, Lake, Vant, Dem and Sav, have grown into their roles as husbands and fathers while still being fiercely protective of one another is so satisfying. We also get more of that beautiful healed energy that Ivy and Dr. Pie brought into the family dynamic through therapy. And seeing Pavati and Daly finally say I do just added to the joy.
I was SO HAPPY that Wreck and Gia were able to heal themselves and each other and have the life and love they always dreamed of in spite of everything that tried to tear them apart. While Clear Water was definitely my favorite of the books, this love story right here made me proud.
TW: alcoholism, trauma, violence, murder, grief
Rating: This one took me through it from start to finish but I’m glad Wreck and Gia STILL
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