Craving Candy

by Rii Finley

He was her first love, and wanted her to be his last…but life got in the way.

Caroline:
No matter how much I wanted love, it wasn't meant for me…until I met Jude. For the first time, I felt things—genuine attraction, a connection. Broody and troubled, he was everything I shouldn't want. Still, I let him break my heart. Lesson learned; love only leads to pain. I’ll never make that mistake again.

Jude:
Young and in love, I had told myself Caroline was different; someone worth keeping. Too bad she didn’t feel the same. Years later, our worlds unexpectedly collide. Forced to work alongside her, resentment quickly transforms into renewed longing. I want her, now more than ever. How do I make her look at me?

421 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2025

About the author

Rii Finley is a coffee-drinking, music-loving introvert. She finds joy in all kinds of creative outlets from painting and sculpting to writing (obviously). She loves animals and has two rambunctious boxer dogs. The Spotify team is probably concerned by how much of her listening time is consumed by Sleep Token.

Romance novels are her escape—her happy place—she's usually reading one on her phone in her down time.

If you love good banter and lighthearted humor in the midst of chaos, and prefer your books spicy and heartfelt with a splash of darkness, you've found your new favorite author!

Reviews

[Chelsea Gorbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC READ. If you were looking for a forever love, kind of romance than this is the book for you! This book talks about love, grief, overcoming grief, and how love conquers all. Absolutely fell in love with the characters and made you root for them the entire time first time author read, and can’t wait to read more!

[Dionte Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Rii for allowing me to read an early release copy of Craving Candy! The story is both spicy and romantic. If you have triggers, please make sure to review all of the trigger warnings. I do not have any triggers but became very curious and went down the rabbit hole the further I got into the book. The spicy scenes are well written and will get your heart racing for sure. I really enjoyed being able to read from Jude’s point of view. He’s so gentle yet…commanding. If you know, you know. I wasn’t fond of the timeline gaps; however, they served their purpose in the end. I do not recommend skipping the first book. I read Craving Candy before reading Midnight Muse and I think that might have been the primary cause of my confusion as more characters were introduced. A little heartbreak but so much love and joy amongst the character. Really looking forward to reading more from Rii.

[Kristin Lipponen · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO good. Once again Rii does it. I loved this book. It was just as amazing as the first book. Jude and Caroline are my absolute favorite couple. This book had a good storyline. I found myself smiling, laughing, crying, all the feels. The spicy scenes were great. Absolutely loved this whole book.

[Faiza BEGUM · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading Rii Finley and I have to say it’s a really good book.

As soon as I got my hands on this book I just dive into it right away. Caroline and Jude were together only to be separated again. But fate has another things stored for them. When they meet unexpectedly and was forced alongside each other everything change. Jude want her to look at him like before but Caroline so wound up and heart broken that she closed herself up.

Enjoyed this book well. Kept reading till the end.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review

This is book 2 and it meshed so well... following Caroline and Judes story

We started off in a preview before book 1, before Charli and Nikolai. On how Caroline and Jude meet then skips ahead and I loved how it flowed.

It is such a fun story but has depth and heartbreak

This book has a little of everything, its swoon worthy, spicy, good banter, anguish and joy, I was so engrossed init

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a 4 star read for me, and 4 chili peppers. The spicy scenes are open door, detailed and there are quite a few. I laughed and cried.

One of my favorite lines was “Well, Lovey, the car doesn’t drive itself, Sorry for interrupting your daydreams.”

I read Craving Candy without reading Midnight Muse. This story was following Caroline and Jude, a different couple than Midnight Muse. While I don’t think it’s necessary to read in order, but it would have provided depth to Nicky and Charli, as well as the relationships between some of the other side characters later in the book. I would personally recommend to read Midnight Muse first.

This book made me remember why I love contemporary romance. I had forgotten when I started Craving Candy that it was a second chance romance. Things were going great, everyone was happy, until they weren’t. This book covered some really challenging topics, like addiction, grief and mental health in a realistic way.

I think this book will be a hit for any contemporary romance fan. I also think it will resonate with any romance fan who has had a family member that suffers with addition issues. It may also resonate with people who have had friends or family members who have had to reintegrate into society after prison.

[Shellee · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶

Craving Candy was so much better than I had expected, and to be honest, I didn't know what to expect going in with Caroline's up beat and bubbly personality, but the book didn't disappoint. I was so engrossed from the very beginning. I believe I liked this book so much more than Midnight Muse, and I loved that book.

However, Craving Candy had so much in it. This book made me giddy, squirm, cry, laugh. I hated Veronica from the start. Always loved Caroline, and absolutely loved Jude. Spice level was perfect for this book. I also loved the name dynamic of song references.

Rii Finley really had me with this one. Thank you so much for letting me read this. It made me feel so much.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

🐕sexy second chance romance for animal lovers🐕

Craving Candy is the second book in the Lost and Found series, although the first book Midnight Muse takes place in the time jump in between chapter 12 and 13.
For me, this is the first series of its kind - where you can actually chose your reading order:
➡️read them in order of release
➡️read them in tandem, where you start with Craving Candy - switch to Midnight Muse - and finish with Craving Candy
➡️read them out of order (like I did!), as they are interconnected standalones with enough (but not too much!) details in either book so you don't get lost (get it 👀)

Crazy, I know! 🤪

If you choose the latter, just take the interwoven timeline into account. If you go in blind, it might be a bit tricky to follow. 🍥

What I loved:
📝the dedication If only the tentacle toy I dreamed up for *that* scene actually existed...
🎶the playlist at the beginning, with a spotify link
🖤the traditional dom MMC with a submissive FMC (I struggled with this in the first book, as the roles were reversed there)
🎶he sings her to sleep
🪱the nicknames between Nikolai (her cousin - MMC in book #1) and Caroline: Parasite vs Nerd
💕the Russian terms of endearment of Dad, I am a s*cker for solnyshka #swoon

aaaaaaaaand... I did a quick count: f*ck is mentioned 115 times 👀

What I struggled with:
These are all just related to my personal preference and do not reflect the story itself:
🍬the too sweet back story: them starting their own rescue center, don't get me wrong: I L.O.V.E. animals and have volunteered myself for years, but I like my romance a bith darker 😏)
🗣️the miscommunication trope

What you need to know:
📚interconnected standalone-ish
🫂dual POV
🌹opposites attract second chance romance
😇bad boy x good girl
💊Southern ex-con x curvy girl
🖤dom MMC x bratty FMC
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦found family
🤰accidental pregnancy
💔OW drama
❤️HEA

For the safety squad:
🌶️kinks: bondage, edging, degradation, dom/sub dynamics, exhibitionism
🦺triggers: explicit sexual content, talk of drug/alcohol abuse, implied cheating, death of a family member, health crises, unplanned pregnancy, discussion of sick animals