Review: Provoke Me
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 29, 2011
I discovered Cari Quinn when I won one of her books in a contest. After reading that book, Ex Appeal, I knew I needed to read more. Cari Quinn is genius at writing hot, steamy sex scenes. With each book that I read, I go in thinking, "there's no way she can top the last one." And every time I am wrong, wrong, wrong!We met Kelly in book one, Reveal Me, where her friend Alana drags her to a sex club called Kink. In Provoke Me, Kelly works at a bookstore called the Book Nook. She loves her job and has the serious hots for her boss, Spencer Galvin. Spence has mixed with business with pleasure in the past and it came back and bit him in his ass. Lesson learned, he has a strict rule of not getting sexually involved with anyone he works with. It proves hard to stick to his own policy because Spence is equally attracted to Kelly. It isn't until Spence and Kelly run into each other at Kink that Spence throw his rules out the window and gives in to his attraction to Kelly.Spence is a tough man to crack. He is very controlled and guarded. It took a long time for me to warm up to him. Other than their love of the book store and their physical attraction, I couldn't understand why Kelly kept coming back for more when Spence clearly was trying to push her away. Kelly wasn't in denial about the type of man that Spence is but whenever there was a small crack in Spence's stoic veneer, he immediately closed it back up and in the process, hurting Kelly.Spence and Kelly are on fire when they are together. Even though Kink isn't Kelly's scene, she's not afraid to try new things. At one point, I felt that she was going to Kink and participating in sexual activities there in order to please Spence. And maybe to prove that she is more than good enough to be with him and can go toe-to-toe with him sexually. I felt that she wasn't all the way comfortable with the exhibitionism and sexual activity that she participated in at Kink.Provoke Me is a very hot, very sexy, very steamy read. I had issues with Spence throughout the book but he redeemed himself at the end (like all good heroes do). Even though there's a lot of sex in Provoke Me, it does not deter from the overall story. Spence and Kelly are both stumbling through the relationship, making mistakes and hurting each (although Spence does most of the hurting). Kelly wants to take a chance on making the relationship work. Spence is afraid to let Kelly in and let go of his controlled demeanor.I highly recommend Provoke Me and every book that Cari Quinn has written. If you're in the mood for a great story with lots of sexy goodness, I suggest you check it out.B+