Love in Lingerie
This was pure sweet and spicy contemporary romance a la signature “Alessandra Torre” (because… you know. There’s always a *slight* twist). 😉 And I say “slight”, because this isn’t one of her thriller jaw-droppers, BUT it was sweet and romantically angsty, nonetheless.
It kept me reading, had me connected, and I read with a silly grin on my face the entire time. Easy, breezy and fun. Nothing too serious and detrimental, but eye-opening, and enlightening in its own… erotic way.
I went in blind. Didn’t even glance at the blurb, because I know I love this author’s writing, her voice… her storytelling. In fact, I STILL haven’t read the blurb, but I have a feeling if I had, I may not have been as excited ’cause this one was sure a tamer version of what I’m used to by this author.
Featuring a more common, but much-loved romance trope (the millionaire, dominant boss, and his new sexy-yet-smart employee), I might have shied away from this, opting for a more dramatic sounding read. But in the grand scheme of things? This one rounded out wonderfully, with the humor, the dialogue, the internal thought processes, and the incredible slow burn. The budding friendship, the building trust, and the brilliant partnership gave this one that complete feel,
I’m just now learning to leap when he offers his hand. Because that’s how he is. He doesn’t ask you to risk, unless he is taking that journey alongside you. If I fail, he fails.
…as both main characters tried to keep their distance from each other, and continued on living their own personal lives, while… pining. 😉
Despite my slight aversion to these more… “gentle-on-me” romance themes, this one reminded me why a good ol’ contemporary romance love story can still hit the spot! I was not only invested in these characters, but I was also invested in their plight. In what they were setting out to accomplish. And I was stressing,
We are behind schedule, not just for today, but for this month. I shot for twenty-two new pieces, and I’m kicking myself in the ass for it. Something that seemed possible two months ago turned difficult one month ago, and now appears to be pretty-f**king-impossible. I glance back at the model and fight the urge to scream at her to hurry up.
…and cheering along with them all!
“They doubled their last order. They loved your designs.”
Marks Lingerie is on its way back.
So what’s it about?
Now… right off the bat, I have to admit to y’all that I couldn’t remember their names for this review. I know them as “Him” and “Her” (LOL!!! That’s how each chapter starts to let us know what POV we’re in). So it took me awhile to track down their names. Not even the blurb could help me with that! GAH!!!
Okay, so:
Trey Marks may have come from the “wrong side of the tracks” but with his street smarts and… whatever else, he is now a… umm… “self-made” millionaire (there are rumors of “things”), but anyway. 😉 He’s started a highly respected, recognized, high-end fashion lingerie company, that is now… failing.
So he brings in Kate. She’s been successful at a sort of “White House Black Market” type fashion company for years, and she’s ready for a change. She knows the ropes, she has ideas, and she can cut his extra expenses in half! And while the sexual tension between them is undeniable, she’s got her life and plans in motion (a loving boyfriend to boot!), and messing with this known “playboy” is not a part of her vision. Although those “visions” sure do intrude at times. 😉
Soon we will get married, and I will have his babies, and we will live out the rest of our lives in orderly, organized, and well-prepared fashion. All that aside, I can’t control myself from stealing one moment, one literal second, and enjoying the beauty that is my boss.
Boy do they play well. Er… WORK well. 😉 In fact, while they both do their best to repress their attraction to each other (other than the few times that were SURE-FIRE sexual harassment issues… had she chosen to call those in), their friendship, and workmanship together supersedes it all.
I can do this. I can be the cool girl, the friend who doesn’t care that her friend, her boss, is devastatingly attracted to her. I can roll my eyes at his slutty antics and go off and marry a different Prince Charming. We can build this company, be friends, and I can have smoking hot sex and babies who have nothing to do with Trey Marks.
I can have it all. I can. I will.
And so their story is told, in all of its sweet (and sometimes angsty) glory.
My only few personal hiccups are:
1.) That we get a “character-light” version of who they are (their pasts, and what made them who they are today). He’s the self-made millionaire bad boy from a more unsteady upbringing and she’s “Miss Steady and Safe” to a T, from an upper middle class life with a certain ease, and comfortable (albeit maybe boring) love life. But we don’t get much more than that info in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, we aren’t as subjected to their “old” life (and traumas) as I would have liked (considering how important as they seemed to be). Why were we told that kind of information, if it wasn’t to be a big part of the plot? Had this book been longer, I bet we could have been directed into much more personal intensity and introspection. And I mean this, more for HIM (there could have been some BIG-time story there), than for her.
And…
2.) This story would have had more impact (on ME) had it been completely from her POV. This was written in both POV’s equally and didn’t give me as much of a tummy-ache/butterflies-in-the-stomach angst feel, because I… knew. I knew what both were thinking, doing, hoping for… intending. And for that (as in most dual POV books), it still has the romance and steam, but for me, not as much intensity and connection and potential distress, in THAT way.
So…
4 stars! <— Oh… I have a feeling there will be some BIG 5-star loving for this book. For those of you that love the sweet romance, with a little angsty secret, ride. 😉 But you guys know me… I like a little more stomache-ache with my love stories. LOL!!!!!
P.S. Thank you to the author for sending me this review copy!! 😀
Loved this book and I agree with your review Marsye for the most part. I agree more details/history would have made the story even better. At the end of the book the author does address this and the “balance between what was needed for the story, and what would have bogged it down and that she is second guessing her deletions.” She does offer a link to the deleted scenes. Unfortunately, this link is not active yet.
I have to disagree about the dual pov’s. Usually I only like the h pov, but I think with his pov it endeared me to the H and his inner thinking so that he didn’t come across as just a philandering, male-whore, sexual harassing-boss. 🙂