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Review
A smart and super sexy romance written entirely from the male POV with great characters, a bit of darkness, and an absolutely beautiful love story.
3.5 stars
For someone like me, lust can be a dangerous emotion. Lust leads to want. Want leads to need. A need that leads to the undeniable struggle inside of me to resist what I truly desire.
What I truly crave.
Callum Alexander is a popular and highly successful architect – the golden boy of San Francisco, his charm and sex appeal has made him a very reluctant focus of the tabloids. But his public face is just that – a mask that he puts on to conceal the darkness that he hides inside. Apart from his best friend and business partner, Grant, Callum has never opened up to anybody about the dark desires that plague him, which is why he has been content to keep his involvement with women to short, dirty, unemotional hookups, that way he can avoid exploring the fantasy which thrills, terrifies and disgusts him. But all of that changes when he meets Lucia, a woman who is his match in every way.
Strong and confident, she holds nothing of herself back. She knows what she wants and she isn’t afraid to go after it. She challenges Callum like no other woman, and she makes it perfectly clear that she wants whatever he is willing to give her, and OMG, I love her!
“My place or yours?” I ask, as I open the passenger door to let her in.
“Such a gentleman. I wonder what it would take to make you let go?” she asks with a grin.
“I’ve proven that in certain circumstances, I’m not always so dignified.”
She leans toward me and gives me a sly, sexy smile. “Maybe I want to see how far I can push you, Cal.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking for, Luce,” I caution.
My warning goes unheeded. “Maybe I do. Maybe you haven’t realized that I can take whatever you’ve got to give.”
Callum and Lucia’s early flirtations are suggestive, sexy, intelligent and dripping with chemistry. It’s obvious that they want each other, and neither of them hide it. Things between them progress very quickly and their sexual tension translates effortlessly into the bedroom (or up against the wall, on the patio, or the floor just inside the front door… wherever) and HOT DAMN! These two together are on fire, and the intensity of their connection is unlike anything either of them have experienced, startling them both as Lucia draws something out in Callum, encouraging him to drop his mask, and Callum wants nothing more than to be real with her.
“We’re behind closed doors … if you want me to be someone I’m not, I can do that. But with you, I want to be myself. I want to not think and just go with it.”
… “Whatever happens here, Callum, stays between us. Nobody else. It’s you and me. No expectations, no promises. Just you and me…”
Their all-consuming lust soon develops into an actual relationship as Callum and Lucia fall hard for each other, and like the rest of their time together, they are open and unrestrained in expressing their feelings and saying it like it is.
“Together … we ride this wave and take whatever comes.”
“I love you … I’m holding on and never letting go.”
I love this romance! It’s functional and honest, with no stupid behaviour or game playing. Callum and Lucia are great together, their passion is explosive, and they are there for each other in a way that Callum has never experienced before.
“You’re the first woman who I’ve wanted to accept every part of me.”
Her hand covers mine, slowly easing my hand higher on her leg. “I already do, Cal. You’re the one who needs to accept that.”
But Callum is still hiding the darkest part of himself. And while he is falling blissfully in love, the business that he has put his heart and soul into is under threat, and with a doggedly determined gossip columnist willing to do anything for a scoop on the reclusive architect and his new love, he is under pressure like never before. Callum soon finds himself on a downward spiral that triggers his darkest desires and he soon finds himself hitting rock bottom in a way that could destroy everything he holds dear.
The very life I’ve built for myself…everything I’ve ever done now waits in purgatory, all caused by a lack of focus at a time when my most concentrated attention was needed. If I lose her because of this, it’ll be nothing less than what I deserve.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, I loved their relationship, and I love the way they dealt with everything they were faced with. Callum’s fear of his darkness and his terror of hurting his loved ones because of it is a big part of who he is and how he has lived his life, and I was eagerly awaiting the big reveal. Although when the big moment comes, I must say, I honestly thought it was a little underwhelming…
If you’re a frequent reader of erotic romance, it’s not that unusual, and I’ve read books where this particular thing has been explored before with a lot less fanfare. The drama that Callum creates over it seemed like overkill – especially considering the amount of drama going on outside of the relationship. I actually think the secondary storylines are a bit OTT, but even that all takes a back seat to Callum’s fear of his ‘life-altering’ secret come out.Having said that though, I do like the sense of intensity that Harvey creates throughout the book – it builds well, and although some events were predictable, I liked the way the story played out. And I think that the fact that this book is written entirely from Callum’s POV adds a lot to the story. We know exactly what he is thinking and feeling at all times, and though Lucia is completely honest with him, there is that sense of the unknown about the final barrier between them that we experience right alongside him, and that makes him even more relatable, and I really liked that.
Overall, this was a good read. Sexy and romantic, with a little bit of an edge, I enjoyed getting lost in the story, and I’m hoping there’s going to be a follow up book featuring Grant, because he is an absolute scene stealer, and I’d love to see him meet his romantic match.
I really enjoyed it – 3.5 stars.