Review: Fun enemies to lovers story with great sexual tension and an underlying tenderness.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 17, 2014
First reviewed at Red Hot Books [...]I’ve found that the Brazen line of books can generally be relied on when I need a quick sexy read. I usually like to read them to break me out of a reading slump or when I only have a little time to read. This book lives up to the expectation.Lilly Grayson is not happy. She needs to get to Vermont ASAP because her friend and former boss, Hayden, is getting married to sexy Jace Jenning and Hayden demanded that Lilly be their wedding photographer. Unfortunately, a hurricane on the east coast has all the flights grounded. Jace comes to the rescue by sending his brother, Nate, to drive Lilly up to the wedding. Lilly may not like having to be in such close proximity to the jerk that used her for a one night stand, but she sees the opportunity to get some revenge.Nate Jennings is not happy. The last place in the world Nate wants to be is stuck for 15 hours in a car with the one woman who got him to feel again for one night last year, the one who currently hated his guts and the one who is apparently trying to push him to break his restraint. Their journey is full of non-stop verbal banter and a war of wills simmering with sexual tension.Nate is the classic tortured hero wallowing in survivors guilt from his time in the Marines. He self-medicates to try and quell the persistent voices in his head reminding him of his failures as a son, a brother and a soldier. Typically, he acts like an ass to cover his pain rather than be exposed like he felt the one night with Lilly.Lilly is no doormat. Although hurt by Nate’s casual dismissal of their passionate night, Lilly doesn’t let it drag her down. In fact, she throws it in Nate’s face every chance she gets. She’s determined to avoid becoming her mother chasing after any guy willing to throw some affection her way.I tend to almost always like couples that can hold their own bantering back and forth. It makes me think they have a brain in their head and I consider it lovely foreplay. Lilly and Nate might come off as hard, they both are surprisingly tender. When Nate finally opens up, Lilly is right there to give him a soft place to land. I’m disappointed that the story wasn’t able to really flesh out all of Nate’s issues (because there are many and they are heavy), but that’s due to the constraints of the publishing line.I recommend this story for a fun enemies to lovers story with great sexual tension and an underlying tenderness.Rating: C+*ARC provided by Entangled Publishing