Review: Vanilla on Top – CJ Ellison

Discover your inner bad girl, and set her free…

Heather Pierce is done being a wallflower, both personally and professionally. Desperate to live a different life for one night, she attends a speed dating event. Maybe here, anonymous unless she chooses otherwise, she can become someone new. When a man way out of her league sits across from her, Heather gathers her courage and takes charge of what she wants, secretly fearing he won’t desire the real person she’s desperate to hide.

Top acquisitions officer and international playboy Tony Carmine is about to close the biggest deal of his career. But then he meets Heather at a speed dating event…and discovers losing control may be exactly what he needs. Her blossoming sensuality occupies his every thought, consuming him with the need to possess the most intriguing lover he’s ever encountered—until he walks into the boardroom and sees Heather on the other side of the negotiating table.

Series:  Walk on the Wild Side #1
Release Date:  January 11, 2013
Publisher:  Entangled Publishing
Source:  Provided by Publisher
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

I wanted to love this book. I liked the premise, a girl who’s had bad luck with men stepping outside her comfort zone and taking control with a man. But as I read Heather and Tony’s story, I realized I didn’t really like Heather and couldn’t believe that a woman who would get walked on and had such fears as hers would make such a change and do some of the things that she did with Tony.

Don’t get me wrong, I though the patio scene during speed dating and he paddle scene at the office were great, but (in my opinion) they didn’t really fit in with the type of person Heather really was. She may have had fun doing those things, but given her insecurities and fears it just seemed too far fetched that she would do those things. And in the end, even though she enjoyed doing what she was doing, it wasn’t really her “inner dominatrix” that Tony wanted, but the woman with the insecurities and fears that she was trying to tamp down…with a little of the dominatrix sprinkled on top.

I did like Tony. He may have easily given over control at the beginning of the relationship to Heather, but his alpha male soon won out. However he did recognize that while he may want everyone in the world to know Heather was he, he was willing to let her do what she needed to do for the good of her career and take a backseat. I loved that he realized that Heather was what he was missing in his life and that was more important that high stakes takeovers and skads of money.

Even thought I didn’t love it like I wanted, it was still a good afternoon read with some really hot sex scenes.