Series: Untitled, #1
Published by St. Martin's Griffin Publication Date: December 29th 2015
Pages: 384
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When Emily Wayborn goes home to visit her mom while on hiatus from her hit TV show, she receives a voicemail from her former best friend, Amber. Though the two were once notorious party girls, they haven't spoken in years. Although the message might sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily recognizes, a word they always used to get out of sticky situations during their wild days. And what's more chilling than the voicemail: it turns out that Amber has gone missing.
Determined to track down her friend, Emily follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady dealings and play boy reputation. Now, in order to find Amber, Emily must seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and discover the whereabouts of her friend. But as she finds herself more entangled with him, she finds she's drawn to Reeve for more than just his connection to Amber, despite her growing fear that he may be the enemy. When she's forced to choose where her loyalty lies, how will she decide between saving Amber and saving her heart?
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
A side of Laurelin that we have never seen before. Twisted, dark, mysterious and oh so sexy.
Though it started off slowly and a little confusing for me. I would read a chapter and put it down because it did not grab my attention. It was like this for a day. Then BOOM! I started getting hooked by chapter 6.
Reeve is not like any of Laurelinβs previous heroes. He is dark, dangerous and surrounded by a shroud of mystery. Is he good? Is he bad? Is he good at being bad? Or is he bad at being good?
Emily is just looking for answers. Her childhood friend Amber is missing and she was last known as Reeves girlfriend. This is where I was confused. The first chapter had Emily receiving a phone message from Amber giving a safe word that she was in danger. Then all of sudden Emily is trying to seduce Reeve. There was no introduction to how she came to that conclusion, I didnβt even know who Reeve was. He just showed up.
Emily and Amber were quite a team growing up. Seducing older men to keep and take care of them. Then something happened where they were no longer friends and each when their own way. Not having any contact with each other until Emily gets her message. I didnβt know why Emily went to look for her since they were no longer friends but having kept reading I found out why.
Emily and Reeve are both twisted and dark. Emily doesnβt know her limits and doesnβt want to. Reeve wants to push her because that is what he needs. There were times I wanted to throw my kindle because Emily just was so compromising to Reeve. But then as the book went on I realized that these two characters were made for each other, and I found myself rooting for them. Even in the darkness of it all.
In classic Laurelin fashion there a classic cliffhanger. So hang on to your hats and hope that next book comes out quick.
REEVE IS HERE! Β
Meet Reeve & Emily in First Touch by Laurelin Paige! This highly anticipated release is NOW LIVE! Β
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Excerpt
βTell me something,β he said, overtly switching gears. βWhatβs with you and Chris Blakely?β
Heβd been watching me at the Expo, then. Before heβd come outside after me.
His question about Chris was spoken casually, but it was purposeful. A more naΓ―ve woman might have missed it, but I was too experienced with men like him. He wanted me to know that I was in his sightline. That this was what it meant to be part of his life. That he would monitor me, if he felt like it; heβd rule me. And he expected me to submit.
I couldnβt decide if that freaked me out or thrilled me.
So I played coy. βHeβs an actor. Weβve worked together on occasion. I guess weβre friends.β
I walked into the kitchen and got a glass from the cupboard. Chewing my lip, I filled it with filtered water from the sink and debated full disclosure regarding Chrisβ¦It was a long shot, but since I hoped to contact Chris for more information about Missy at some point, I decided the less I said the better.
I drank some of my water then set the glass down and leaned across the counter to watch Reeve. His fingers trailed across the spines. I couldnβt see the exact books, so I tried to think what was there. My Katherine Hepburn autobiography. My copy of Rebecca.
He stopped and pulled one from the shelf then flipped through it lazily. This one I recognized from the cover. PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, one of my coffee table books. I collected them and had so many that most lived on my bookshelf rather than on my coffee table. This particular book was a printing of blog posts that shared secrets anonymously. Parts of it read like my diary, and Iβd marked several pages with Post-it notes so I could easily come back to them. Reading it had always felt comforting.
Seeing it in Reeveβs hands, though, wasnβt comforting. He flipped through the pages, stopping on the ones Iβd tagged. Chuckling at some. Growing somber at others. At one, he lifted his head toward me and nodded slightly as if confirming what heβd just thought, what heβd just read.
I ran through several confessions I knew by heart, trying to imagine which it had beenβ
βAgain and again. Used.β
βIβm more scared of court than I was when he almost killed me.β
βI would do absolutely anything in the whole world if I thought it would make her happy.β
Whichever ones he was reading, any of themβall of themβwere private. Too private for him to know spoke to me. Yet, I didnβt stop him. I let him sink one layer deeper under my skin.
It was bad enough that he was in my apartmentβin an apartment that I paid for myself. His presence reminded me of a time when everything I owned had been given to me by men. The things I had now, though small in number and worth, were all mine.
Trying to distract myself from the anxiety Reeveβs invasion caused, I asked, βWhy do you want to know about Chris anyway? Do you want me to fix you up? Heβs got a fiancΓ©, you know.β
Reeve shot me a glare. βCute.β
He put the book back on my shelf and moved toward me. When he reached the counter, he said, βChris doesnβt look at you like he has a fiancΓ©.β
Ah. Iβd forgotten Reeve was a jealous man. Or Iβd underestimated the depth of his envy. Strangely, it was a fairly common trait of the kind of men Iβd involved myself with in the past, the kind of men who had everything. I knew how to pander to them, knew what to say to put their insecurities to rest. No one could ever be man enough to compare with you, Iβd say. It might have been what Reeve was looking for in regards to Chris.
But I couldnβt bring myself to give it to him. βA lot of men donβt look at me like they have a fiancΓ©.β
Reeve leaned across the opposite side of the counter so we were face-to-face. βI donβt like that.β
Jealousy was generally boring, yet, on Reeve, it was fascinating. And, I suspected, dangerous. βYou donβt? What are you going to do about it? Lock me up and never let me out in public?β
βI have some nice secluded resorts I think youβd like. My island properties are so beautiful youβll forget youβre in a prison.β
He flashed his dimple. It was subtle, only noticeable when he smiled in a certain way, the way he was smiling now. And his eyesβ¦Iβd thought they were blue, but now I saw green flecks. They caught in the light. They caught me in them, made me feel warm. Made me feel trapped.
I stood up straight, distancing myself without moving away. βLook at you. Acting as if you have some claim to me. I think I already blew you off the other night.β
βLook at you, acting as if Iβm a person that you blow off. I think I already warned you about me.β He was teasing as Iβd been. But he wasnβt all at the same time.
My heart skipped a beat. βAnother threat?β
βIf you want it to be.β He looked at me like he had earlierβthat intent way that saw through me, into me. Saw all my dark parts.
In a way, he was showing me his darkness as well.
My lip quivered, but I wasnβt scared. Well, not scared enough. βI do.β
His eyes sparked, and with that simple phrase, we entered into an agreement. He would have me. He would fuck me. He would bring me into his world.
And in return Iβd let him break me.
Last Kiss (Book Two) A First and Last Novel
Releases June 14th, 2016
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