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Review

3.5 sexy yet slightly annoying stars

I can see why there are so many mixed reviews for this book – some love it, others hate it – and I can certainly see both sides of that argument. While on one hand it is an intense love story between a ‘normal’ girl with a horrific trauma in her past, and a deeply damaged but highly-sexed millionaire playboy, there are also elements of excessive cheesiness and overly dramatic fluff that kept me from REALLY loving it. But I didn’t take it too seriously, and was able to enjoy it for the escapist ‘romantic’ smut that it was.

Rylee is intelligent, kind and has a huge heart. She has overcome a traumatic past, is fully in control of her life, and spends her time trying to improve the lives of others – and she is highly successful at it.

Colton Donavan – “Rogue. Rebel. Reckless.” The man is an overly-confident, arrogant, sex-crazed slut. The son of Hollywood royalty, he is a highly successful race car driver and has a deep-seated need for control. Everything is always on his terms – including his casual ‘relationships’ with women. And from the moment he sets eyes on Rylee, he knows that he wants her, sets about claiming her, and within two minutes of meeting he has her up against the wall and panting for him. The man clearly has charisma!

Rylee is a sensible girl who has steered clear of men for two years, she is initially powerless against Colton, but soon uncovers his manwhoring playboy nature, and becomes instantly antagonistic towards him. What follows is a game of cat and mouse with Colton over-confidently pursuing Rylee while she pushes him away. And he is not shy in telling her what he wants with some epically obsessive and possessive insta-lust going on.

“Let’s get something straight,” he leans in, inches from my mouth, the gleam in his eyes warning me I’ve gone too far. “If I want you, I can and will have you, at anytime and in anyplace, sweetheart.”

“Once I fuck you, Rylee – it’s official, you’re mine and only mine.”

Colton manages to infiltrate Rylee’s life, showing up with his sexy smirk and sexual come-ons at every available opportunity, and before too long she is powerless to resist him.

The ‘dating’ part of their relationship is really sweet, with lots of romantic moments in between the smutty declarations. But it’s the insane chemistry between them that really gets the relationship going, and whoa! Colton is hotter than all hell, and together they steam it up big time! The kissing, the touching and, of course, the actual sex is all prolonged and very descriptive.

Romantically, there is a bit of back and forth between them with lots of mixed messages, but in between all of the hotness, you can see something deeper developing as they open up to each other and although Colton continually pushes Rylee away, he does manage enough little glimpses into his true feelings to keep romance lovers satisfied.

“I don’t know what I want … But whatever this is, I know I want it with you, Rylee.”

I really like these two together. I like Colton’s reactions to what was happening between him and Rylee. He is clearly struggling with the intensity of his feelings and his need to keep things under control. But it’s the softer side of him that I really liked. The small reveals about his backstory ties in nicely with the part he plays with Rylee’s work, and I really enjoyed that part of the story.

I also like the way that Rylee opens herself up to Colton after the tragedy that she has endured. She was afraid of getting involved with him, but she acknowledged what she was feeling, she dealt with it, and she was brave enough to take a chance and follow her heart, and I really admire her for that. There is a lot of time spent in her head as she analyse everything that is happening between them – her feelings, his possible feelings, as well as his actions and reactions to everything. But with all of the confusion about what is actually happening between them, I could understand it. Plus, with the story told in just her POV, I get that we need some sort of insight into what Colton may be feeling.

Overall, I really liked the story but I did find aspects of it to be really cheesy.

I’m not sure if they were supposed to be sexy or funny or whether or not I was supposed to roll my eyes, but their early flirtations are full of cringe-worthy one liners.

“You sure are full of yourself, aren’t you, Ace?”
He cocks his head and looks at me. “I can arrange that it be you who’s full of me instead, if you’d like?”

GROAN!

And then there were the racing metaphors which actually just made me laugh at the ridiculousness.

“Don’t worry, Colton, you crossed the finish line and took the checkered flag … I’m just throwing the caution out there before I can be black flagged.”

Double GROAN!

But my irritation was short lived, and I found myself able to get swept up in the rest of the story.

Channelling aspects of Fifty Shades and Crossfire, don’t expect anything earthshatteringly original in this book, but it is nevertheless an enjoyable, sexy romp with a bit of angst and it suited my reading mood perfectly. I have been told that things only get better from here, and I am looking forward to continuing on with the series.

3.5 stars.