I liked this book a lot, but I was expecting something different based on the cover and the reviews. I was expecting an erotica novel with a tortured hero with an awful past, and what I got was a very steamy novel (but not on the erotica levels of hotness) and a tortured hero with an awful past (but not the levels of awful that some reviews let me to believe). And this is all I’m saying about the hero’s backstory because that’s the big mystery/revelation and I’m not ruining that.
John Murphy, the hero, is a YA writer/illustrator who just moved to a new house and instantly feels attracted to his new neighbor, pastry chef Livvy. They decide to act on the attraction and enter a no strings attached sexual relationship. The thing is, that even though they start the relationship as a temporary fling, they also develop feelings for each other. The Problem is that he doesn’t do commitment and is full of secrets, some of them quite bad if his nightmares are any indication. The rest of the book is about how they deal with that, the feelings, the past and each other. Parallel to this we get parts of the book Jon is currently working on, and is this story within a story, that sheds the most light on his troubled past.
John Murphy, the hero, is a YA writer/illustrator who just moved to a new house and instantly feels attracted to his new neighbor, pastry chef Livvy. They decide to act on the attraction and enter a no strings attached sexual relationship. The thing is, that even though they start the relationship as a temporary fling, they also develop feelings for each other. The Problem is that he doesn’t do commitment and is full of secrets, some of them quite bad if his nightmares are any indication. The rest of the book is about how they deal with that, the feelings, the past and each other. Parallel to this we get parts of the book Jon is currently working on, and is this story within a story, that sheds the most light on his troubled past.
As you can probably see, this book is all about John, Livvy was likeable and great for him, but what kept me interested was him, he was dark, wounded, edgy, hardworking, creative, he could write, he could draw, he was sex on a stick, basically he had all the things necessary to be tall, dark and handsome, and it was perfectly executed by Inez as to not be a caricature of a perfect man, he was real and he was drool worthy.
Was this a perfect book? No, as I told you, maybe it needed more balance between the protagonists, there were some things that happened between them that I didn't like, Livvy does something that you can see from a mile long is going to cause trouble and I can’t believe she didn't know it, and because of that John behaves like an ass. I believe there were enough issues between them to cause conflict and the book didn’t need the added element of an external conflict to cause more drama, to me this was more of a way to force them to work things out, and I would have loved for them to get there by themselves without any help. The big revelation was bad, but not as bad as I was expecting -although this is totally up to the reader I have read worse and that’s probably why I wasn’t that shocked-. It was a bit predictable as well, but given the amount of clues that we get, I think it was on purpose.
The other think that was a bit weird for me was the story within the story, John is supposed to write YA fiction but the characters seemed to me more like kids cartoons, the main one was a bat and his name was Jondi, they were supposed to be these dark books, but they really weren’t, well, maybe they keep getting darker and darker, like Harry Potter.
My recommendation is that if you like tormented heroes, you should go right now and get this book because it’s perfect for you and if you are a fan of romance in general, then you should also buy it. The sex is hot, but it’s not meaningless sex just to fill the pages or the sex scenes quota.
Inez Kelley is a new author to me, and I wouldn’t have bought this one if not for the great reviews, thus I’m adding to that pile because this book is worth the money. Is interesting, is hot, it kept me on my seat and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I now have a new author on my TBR pile.
Review by Brie
Grade: 4
Sensuality: McSteamy
Synopsis:
John Murphy is tormented by nightmares. A bestselling young-adult author, he writes the ultimate fantasy: stories where good always triumphs. He knows better. His past has shown him the worst in people—and in himself. When he moves next door to the sexy, vibrant Livvy—a woman completely unlike his usual one-night stands—he's driven to explore every curve of her delicious body.Pastry chef Livvy knows that giving in to the temptation that is John Murphy won't lead to anything permanent, but she deserves a passionate summer fling. John discovers she's as sweet as the confections she bakes while Livvy slowly unravels his secrets. But what will happen when she uncovers them all?Sweet as Sin
by Inez KelleyCarina Press. January 31, 2011
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