A bad boy wrapped in a sexy, muscled, grown-up package might be worth a little risk…
Molly Webster has always followed the rules. After an ugly scandal tore apart her childhood and made her the focus of the media's harsh spotlight, she vowed to live an ordinary life. No fame. No impropriety. No pain. Then she meets Zachary Fox, a tattooed bad boy rocker with a voice like whiskey and sin, and a touch that could become an addiction.
A one-night stand with the hottest rock star on the planet, that's all it was meant to be…
Fox promises scorching heat and dangerous pleasure, coaxing Molly to extend their one-night stand into a one-month fling. After that, he'll be gone forever, his life never again intersecting with her own. Sex and sin and sensual indulgence, all with an expiration date. No ties, no regrets. Too late, Molly realizes it isn't only her body that's become addicted to Fox, but her heart…
Guys, I love Nalini Singh. It was reading her wonderful book Angel's Blood (first book in one my all time favorite series, The Guild Hunters) that probably first launched me on the crazy, deranged path of loving romance. I have tracked down and read every single thing the woman ever published (even her early career harlequins and guys, I really really hate harlequins). I mark my calender every March and October, which is when her books are generally published. If she told me to jump off a cliff, I can't tell you that I wouldn't at least consider it.
So when I learned that she was coming out with a series of contemporary books, about a group of rock stars no less, I was through the moon. In fact, I made a sound I have since dubbed Pterodactyl Gasping which is exclusively made during moments of geek-related excitement.
I'll probably never be able to write my standard Good/Bad/Romance review on Nalini's books, simply because I love them too much. So forgive the following, which might be a tad rambling and unfocused. Slight spoilers to follow.
Don't let the cover fool you. This is not a romance novel. It is a fairy tale. Yes, a fairy tale stuffed beginning to end with off-the-wall sexual encounters, but a fairy tale nonetheless. From the Lust At First Sight, to InstaSex, to Bad Boys With Hearts of Gold, to Sex Prodigy Virgins, to One Night Stands That Stretch Into Relationships - everything in this book is straight out of a modern day, Sex and the City-esque fairy tale. Complete with a White Knight on a Steed. Except the White Knight is a Naughty Yet Somehow Monogamous Rock Star and the Steed is his Katrillions of Dollars.
Normally these are things that at best would have me rolling my eyes and at worst would have me give up on the book all together. For example, there is a part of the book where the hero literally sweeps the heroine away from her safe, normal, humdrum life and into his world of celebrities and penthouses. This is a plot decision that elsewhere might have had me throw a book against a wall at the sheer ridiculousness of it. In the hands of a lesser writer, I probably would have. But Nalini Singh is such a gifted wordsmith that somehow you look past all the cliche (and there is a lot of it) to focus on the charm and chemistry (there are bundles of these as well, to my endless delight). The electric charge between Fox and Molly practically sparked off my e-reader, and I can forgive a lot when that kind of chemistry exists in a story.
I would like to talk a bit about the Sexytimes. This book is basically nothing but Sexytimes. It is much more in the Erotica vein than any of her previous books but I must say I like it. A lot. It takes a gift to have Sexytimes that flirt onto the edges of bondage and other such things but never once gets creepy or awkward in the writing of them. Nalini Singh has that gift in spades.
Another gift she possesses is to introduce side characters and leave us desperate for their books (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, ILLIUM) and she does not disappoint here. The future stories that are hinted at for Kit/Noah and Charlotte/T-Rex in particular have me chomping at the bit for future books to come (pun intended).
Are the characters and plot a little been there, done that? Yes. However, overall this modern day fairy tale of an experience is an enchanting and fun read. Through sheer force of her considerable talent Nalini Singh has made this a book not to be missed. I highly recommend it, as well as everything else the woman has ever written, and give it an 8 out of 10.
Review by Renegade Katherine
9/11/2014
You can purchase the book here if you've ever indulged in Rock Star Fantasies, Librarian Fantasies, or Rock Star Librarian Fantasies.