Review: Lauren Layne writes sexual tension and long-buried feelings so beautifully
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 2, 2014
The story in a nutshell…Riley McKenna is one of the celebrated writers of the Stiletto magazine, especially because her column deals with a topic that is most-sought after by readers no matter the gender. And it was such a genius idea for Lauren Layne to make Riley such a successful writer of such a column when in fact she’s been carrying a secret that can ruin her career, i.e., that she’s not so much an expert as she appears to be. When the anniversary issue of their magazine forces Riley to look a little deeper into herself and requires her to make an article that is more personalized than the usual, she decided that she will experience what’s she’s been writing about. The only problem, there seems to be only one person she has in mind to approach and she doubts he will be as accommodating as say, the guys she’s used to dating.Sam Compton grew up with two families. The first, being raised by a single mother who never did care much about her son as she did herself and the second, growing up as a sort of adopted son of his best friend’s parents, with whom he has shared much of his growing up days and maintains a close relationship until now. Never mind the fact that he has been attracted to his best friend’s younger sister since the first time he saw her or the fact that from that first day, his best friend was able to extract a vow from him never to touch her. And true to his word, he never did. And so when Riley comes up to him with the craziest idea he has ever heard but would actually be his wildest dream come true if he ever admitted it to himself, he did the only thing he thought was right and turned her down.I’m going to leave the plot up to that because these two people’s journey is so much more fun if you read it.What worked for me?I love their conversation. I love their back stories, which would be a spoiler if I give out any hints of it here. I love those quiet little moments between the two of them because you get that feeling of so much history behind them, so much emotions have already been building up inside of them, that you know that an action is not simply that single action but one that has been fortified by solid, concrete events in the past. The same goes for the words they exchange.I really like Riley as our female protagonist. She’s feisty and confident, funny and sweet. She’s the type of woman that go gets what she wants although one might question why it has not been this way with the only man she seemed to want more than anything. But I understand that her reluctance, even her insecurity is born more out of fear of being hurt and rejected than of anything else. And that feeling, I totally get and understand. But it was still gratifying to watch when she finally decides to throw the gauntlet and do something to get them to move forward beyond whatever it was that was just sitting there between the two of them. And boy, did Sam not see what was hitting him.Sam is just swoon-worthy. He fights and he fights whatever he’s feeling for Riley and he suffers because of it, it was very transparent. But you know also know that he really, really cares for her as a person, as a friend, and has reasons behind his action, or in this instance, inaction. But you know something’s got to give, between Riley’s full force attack and Sam’s thread-thin self-restraint. Add to this, he has other issues as well: his less than stellar mother whose bitterness in life she extends to her only son, and his start-up brewery business, the one for which he left his promising career in finance and haven’t really opened for real business yet. He has much to prove not only to others, not only to Riley, but to himself and let’s just say it takes a lot to be the man he wants to be.These two together is just off the charts. Their quick banter, their sizzling chemistry, their obvious (but for them less than obvious) compatibility, and their having so much fun just spending time together will really take the readers for a great ride. There was a bit of lag (just a little bit) towards the end but it was completely understandable from the point of view of the story development. Of course, as a reader, I would want them to just be done with their issues and get together but at the same time, I get what Lauren Layne was trying to point out here; that these issues don’t just magically disappear just because you wish them to. They need to be worked out and feelings have to be sorted out. So in the end, it was still great.What didn’t work for me?This book is almost perfection to me. There are just a few tiny hiccups in the story where I found myself thinking that things have become a bit repetitive. It wasn’t as tight as I would have wanted it to be, a description I will still attribute to LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH, probably due to that whole ‘should-I, will-I” back and forth dilemma especially on Sam’s side, but it was still tight nonetheless. This is like for only two to three times and it didn’t stop me from enjoying this book or from giving this my book rating.My over-all take on it?This is the third book in her Stiletto series and can I just say I really, really love reading it. You know that happy feeling you get when you’re reading a really good book that has all the elements that you look for in a book? That’s how I felt about reading this latest installment of the series.The best friend’s younger sister-older brother’s best friend set-up is one of my favorite tropes in romance and Lauren Layne really did a great job developing this storyline. The whole forbidden quality to their feelings, the emotional and sexual tension that was off the charts, the expanse of their history together, all mixed with that funny yet sexy charming writing from the author makes this an A-reading for me.Don’t miss out on this series.Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from the author/publisher in exchange  for an honest review. Yes, these are my honest and personal thoughts on this book.