Helen Hardt

This is a deeply emotional romance that had a lasting impact on me. Tessa, who is struggling to recover from a traumatic past, is paired with billionaire Benjamin Black to plan their best friends' parties in Jamaica. Despite her emotional numbness, she feels a stirring attraction to Ben, who treats her with unmatched gentleness and respect. Their connection grows as Ben's protectiveness helps Tessa regain her strength, even as they both confront their haunting pasts. The novel beautifully show more explores love's power to heal, though it includes sensitive themes like sexual assault and PTSD. Helen Hardt's storytelling made me feel every moment of Tessa and Ben's journey. I highly recommend this read for those who appreciate heartfelt, intense romance. show less

Well, here we are, seven books deep in what was originally billed as a trilogy with no real end in sight. There's at least one other book on the horizon, and since Marj hasn't received her romance just yet, there will likely be more in the series. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this series goes for at LEAST ten books. Nothing like milking this dry cow for those last few drops, I suppose.

There are some series that are so bad that they're actually somewhat engrossing reads. This series, show more however, isn't like that. This book in particular was more of the "I can't believe how bad this book is, and I kind of want to quit reading it because it's SO BAD, but yet the morbid side of me wants to keep forcing myself to read it just to see how badly it ends because I am quite sure it is going to be beyond a trainwreck by the last page." And guess what, the morbid side of me was right, because honestly? This book is probably the worst in the entire series, and the series, in general, has been abysmal.

Now it's Ryan's turn to fall into instalove, because his two older brothers have found their true instaloves and we can't allow Ryan to be a bachelor, right? Throw him together with Ruby, a detective in Junction (or, in this series, Grand Junction, because even though nearly everyone in the book is a local or at least local enough, NO ONE has picked up on the fact that locals virtually never say "Grand Junction." But I've harped on this in my past six reviews, so let's move on, shall we?) and the daughter of one of Talon's abductors who is also, in true bad soap opera form, the ex-boyfriend and attempted murderer of Jade's mother AND the rapist who either made Ruby's cousin and Melanie's client commit suicide or killed her - that isn't exactly clear just yet.

So Ruby has a lot of issues, considering that her father is a bad dude. And her father also attempted to rape her when she was fifteen but didn't succeed. She has kind of closeted herself away from the world; she's thirty-two years old, but she's never been in a relationship and hasn't even been kissed. She thinks she's absolutely, hideously ugly even though everyone around her tells her just how hot and gorgeous she is, but they must be WRONG for...I don't know why. But they're WRONG, damn it, because no woman in this world is allowed to have anything remotely resembling self esteem - and this blatantly manifests repeatedly, because all of the female side characters (Jade, Melanie, and Marj in particular) constantly tell Ruby that she is LIKE OMG SO MUCH HOTTER THAN THEY ARE even though, according to the prior books, they're all smoking hot women themselves. But, like I said, women aren't allowed to have any self-confidence in these books, so in order to give a woman a compliment, these women must tear themselves down and say how not hot they are. Insert major eye roll here.

Anyway, Ruby and Melanie are sort-of acquaintances (although not particularly close), so when it comes time for Melanie's whirlwind marriage to Jonah Steel (who is such an asshole - thankfully he played little role in this book), she...asks Ruby to come with them to Jamaica to witness the double wedding (Talon and Jade are also getting married) and offers to pay for Ruby's entire trip and stay because...ummm...yeah, I don't know either. Melanie does seem pretty lonely, though, as she has virtually no friends and no social relationships outside of the Steel circle. Whatever. Anyway, Ruby is a good little girl and says that she can afford her own damned trip, thank you very much, which just shows how special and great she is.

Ruby details that she's never been on vacation ever - she is thirty-two. I find this highly unlikely; I am not a police officer, but even at my job (health care), to prevent burn out, my hospital has a policy that you MUST take at least a week's worth of vacation every fifty-two weeks. But apparently Ruby's supervisors don't see her working so hard that she literally eats, breathes, and sleeps her job - and in her "free time" she's busy tracking down her scumbag father. That's okay, though, because Ruby is extra special and good and she doesn't have to worry about such things as burn out and being drained because she has an endless reserve of energy on her side.

But, even though Ruby has NEVER been on vacation and, in fact, has never even left Colorado EVER (please, if she's living in Junction she's literally less than thirty minutes from the Utah border - the author expects me to believe that extreme fitness junkie Ruby has NEVER gone to Moab for a day? She's never gone up to Flaming Gorge? I mean, granted, Colorado is AMAZING and the western slope is gorgeous, but even I like to get out of the state once in a while), she somehow MAGICALLY has a valid passport that is just waiting for her to use it! So she gets to go to Jamaica with no problem, even though Melanie only gives Ruby a few days' notice before the trip is planned - and Ruby also MAGICALLY has no problem getting that time off from her job, even though she has NEVER taken a vacation before! Yeah, okay, that is totally what happens in the real world.

So, anyway, she's the odd duck out on this trip (everyone else is family or about to become family), and she tends to gravitate towards Ryan Steel (side note: I believe that I have been calling them "Steele" before this book LOL) because he is also single. And built like a Greek god, although he doesn't work out, just works on their ranch, which is supposedly to miraculously keep you lean (it can, for sure, but I've definitely met some less-than-lean ranchers on the western slope, as well). And in spite of thinking herself as "mousy" and not hot, Ruby has no problems stripping it all off on the nude beach without much thought. Ryan shows that he's such an incredibly gentleman by ordering food for Ruby even though he doesn't know her (and orders something she doesn't like) and kissing her without asking if she's okay with it, even though a few minutes before she had literally rushed out of a restaurant to put some distance between them - but hey, she dug it, of course.

Oh there be some rage beneath this spoiler cut, so be prepared, all ye who choose to enter. But before Ryan decides that he wants Ruby, he meets Juliet on the nude side of the resort. Juliet expresses her interest in Ryan, but Ryan tells Juliet that she's too young for him (that may be a first - I don't think I've ever read a book where a male lead says that to a female character before) and he's not interested. But Juliet, damn her, is persistent. She approaches Ryan at a restaurant AND dares to say hello to him when she runs into him (accidentally!) elsewhere at the resort.

So, for her "crime" of being a would-be romantic rival for Ryan's affection, Juliet is kidnapped from the resort, and it is believed that she fell prey to a human smuggling ring and she's probably off somewhere being beaten and starved and raped to learn submission, only to be sold off as a sex slave.

Wow. Way to go from zero to sixty without any warning there, author.

But it's even worse, in my opinion, because this isn't enough. Repeatedly, as in well over a dozen times, Juliet is called "stupid" or "not smart" because she "chose" to go with some strangers off resort property, and so, in some way, she "deserved" what happened to her for being "young" and "stupid" and "reckless" and "irresponsible." Meanwhile, Ruby, WHO LITERALLY HERSELF HAS GONE TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY WITH A BUNCH OF NEAR STRANGERS (the Steels and their partners/friends), is praised for being so "smart" and "responsible" because she felt that it was a bad idea for Juliet to leave with those guys (although she did precious little to stop Juliet from going with them). Ruby, who is so paralyzed with fear that she is scared shitless around men, is being praised for her "caution." It's not caution. It's an unhealthy view of half the population. But that's what women are supposed to have, apparently. UGH. Fuck this shit. Fuck double standards for men and women. Fuck praising someone who is incapacitated with fear of men as being "smart." Fuck blaming victims for what happens to them. Fuck all of this bullshit.

Then, to further drive home that most strange men (except for the Steels and their ilk, apparently) are rapists or would-be rapists, Ruby decides to finally let go a bit and dance with a guy. But the guy she dances with isn't Ryan Steel, so obviously this is a HORRIBLE mistake on her part. This point is driven home by the fact that the dude BITES her (whatttttt?) and pretty much tries to rape her on the dance floor. Yeah, that...makes very little sense. But, okay, there are bad eggs out there. Moving on. But you know what else makes very little sense? Ruby, who works out like the devil is chasing her down, who is admittedly in much better shape than Ryan Steel, who is a POLICE OFFICER and has, I presume, taken down some fleeing subjects at some point in her career (especially since this fictionalized "Grand Junction" apparently rivals Skid Row), is suddenly HELPLESS and overwhelmed and requires Ryan Steel to save her from the creep's pawing.

WHAT.

Ruby is hardly a princess needing to be rescued, and yet that is exactly how the author treats her. Fuck that shit. Ruby graduated top at the police academy and is pretty much a badass (or would be, if a decent author had this character in his/her hands). But all of that melts away and she must become a wilting violet who needs to be rescued by the guy she's crushing on. WHY? I mean, I do understand that sometimes guys are just physically stronger than women, but I do NOT buy it in this instance. It was just weak storytelling.

So apparently all of this bullshit made Ruby hot for Ryan, and the sexytimes followed shortly. The sex was, as I have come to expect from this author, hilariously awful. Their first time is in the decidedly unsexy setting of a cabana at the resort. This cabana, which was shielded on all four sides but has an open roof (yeah, that sounds great for a tropical climate - Jamaica has two rainy months and gets a fair amount of showers outside of those months - it IS the tropics after all) and a bed, is surrounded by other cabanas of similar construction. Those other cabanas are presumably filled with other couples who are also having sexytimes, but they're ridiculously quiet about it. Ryan and Ruby, on the other hand, are less than quiet in their amorous romp. That just kind of grosses me out a bit, to tell the truth. Okay, maybe some people like the "thrill" of having sex near other couples who are having sex, and as long as everyone is consenting, whatever. But for Ruby, who is so shy that she freaks out all of the time about sex, I just can't see her wanting her first time to be like this at all. Not to mention, especially with an open roof, sand. Oh sand, the enemy of sexytimes. Everyone seems to think sex on a beach is so romantic. I have found it, from personal experience, not quite so. Perhaps it would be better as a man. But if you get sand in certain areas as a woman? Not so great.

Anyway, they do such sexy things as "smashing" their mouths against one another, with Ryan "poking [his] tongue in her ear," until Ruby finally allows him to see her "most secret place" that no other man has ever seen. These are all real phrases, by the way. Ruby sounds painfully like a child in this sequence, and considering the subject matter of these books (child rape plays a heavy role for a few different characters) and the fact that Ryan marvels at Ruby's childlike innocence at least once, it just left me feeling all sorts of icky. Want to know what else squicked me about this couple? Ryan is OBSESSED with whether Ruby's father raped her or not, to the point that he finally does ask. I mean, it's one thing for a partner to be concerned about issues that affect the other partner, but it was never really portrayed as that - it was like Ryan had a morbid curiosity about Ruby's past, including all things sexual, and it came across as, well, quite gross, to be honest.

And Ruby has her very first orgasm. I shit you not. I know she's a virgin, but...she's also thirty-two years old. I mean, really? Yes, I know there are some people who do not find sex attractive in the slightest or may not masturbate for various reasons, and there is no shame in this - but Ruby was never portrayed as this. In fact, she spends a great deal of her inner musings time thinking about sex. And I really find it hard to believe that, at least once, she didn't have a lazy afternoon in her twenties or something where she was like, "hmmm, I wonder what this is all about?" Or hasn't she ever gotten drunk or high (come on, it's Colorado) and just explored her body? She's never been turned on enough by whatever floats her boat to let her fingers do some walking? Apparently not.

It really feels like the women in these books have no sexuality of their own; it can only be ignited and expressed with the Steel brothers. Sure, Jade and Melanie weren't virgins, but they too kept stating how their boyfriends made them feel like they had "never felt before" and Melanie, a fucking DOCTOR (psychiatrist), didn't seem to understand how her body really worked. And that is just not good. Why should women be made to feel ashamed of their bodies, like their bodies are some dirty object that they absolutely mustn't touch? It's almost as if female bodies in these books are just made for male usage, and this is wrong on SO MANY FUCKING LEVELS. Ruby even says at one point that since she didn't think she would be interested in men for real life sexytimes, she'd never had an orgasm. You don't need to be sexually active with another person in order to be "allowed" to have an orgasm!

Plus, especially in Ruby's case, it makes her come across as even more childlike, and I've already established that there is more than enough of that bullshit to make me feel decidedly uncomfortable.

The second time they have sex, which includes penis-in-vagina penetration this time around, is just as bad. Ruby describes Ryan's penis as feeling like a knife inside of her. Umm ouch. That does not sound good. I know that losing your virginity can, at times, be painful, but I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to feel like being knifed. Then again, Ryan is described as being ridiculously huge (just as his brothers are), which is yet another eyeroll for me. Thankfully, I have little experience in heterosexual sex, but if I was as virginal of mind and body as Ruby is in these books, the sexytimes in these books would send me running for the hills. I'd never let anyone, male or female or other, near my vagina if I thought sex was like it's described in these books, LOL.

Also, Ryan and Ruby decide that they don't need to use protection. Ruby is a virgin, Ryan says he's clean (didn't Juliet just get lambasted for "choosing" to trust a near stranger? Apparently it's absolutely FINE that Ruby "chooses" to believe Ryan, a near stranger, when he says that he's clean), and Ruby takes birth control pills, so, hell, let's torch safe sex! Ruby's just lucky that she didn't bring back another vacation souvenir, like herpes.

All of this happens in like two or three days, by the way - Ruby literally goes from "terrified of all men" to "I'm ready for all of this" in around forty-eight hours. I just don't see this as realistic, especially since Ruby has spent over half of her life being petrified when it comes to men. But the Steels all appear to have magical dicks.

Also, Ruby keeps talking about the emptiness inside of her and how it needs to be filled. At first I thought the author was trying to be metaphorical about it - the emptiness in her soul, for example. Nope. Ruby literally meant that her empty vagina needed to be physically filled. Oh lord.

But it's all okay! Because even though they barely know one another and they've been "together"
for only a few days, they're falling in love with one another already! Ahh, yes, there's the ridiculous instalove that populates the pages of the other books in the series!

And then the book shifts abruptly, because the author needs to pick up the tangled strings of all these plots that she has been milking for six books now, so it's time for Ruby and Ryan to leave Jamaica and spend time on the mystery that should have been "solved" at least three books ago.

In spite of the Steels barely knowing Ruby, they decide to enlist her aid in finding out if Ryan is their full brother or not, because Wendy, the woman who is completely out of touch with reality, is claiming that Ryan is her son. And instead of being adults and telling Ryan that he might have a different mother, his siblings and sisters-in-law decide to just sneak around and test his hair with Wendy's hair behind his back. Because, you know, why ask your adult brother about his opinion? Maybe he doesn't want to know if Wendy is his mother or not. And they get Ruby involved in their scheming, rather than ask Ryan like a bunch of mature adults. Why am I not surprised?

Of course it turns out that Wendy is his mother, because we need yet another "twist" in this ridiculous plot. Although the last book pretty much gave away the fact that Ryan probably wasn't Jonah and Talon's full-blooded brother, so I'm not sure why this is supposed to be a surprise.

This brings me to another point. Ruby is placed so high on a pedestal of virtue and morality that we common sluts who dare to enjoy sex can never hope to achieve her sainthood. Ryan even mentions that he's falling in instalove with Ruby partially because of her integrity. Except...she really doesn't have much integrity, especially when it comes to her job. At the very beginning of the book, Ruby mentions in her inner dialogue that she has tried to bribe Larry Wade, the Steels' uncle and one of Talon's rapists, with "conjugal visits" if he'd talk. Umm, Colorado doesn't allow conjugal visits; how, exactly, does Ruby think this is going to happen? And where, exactly, is she going to find a woman for him? Is she going to hire a prostitute from the "seedy side" of Junction? (LOLOL forever at imagining Ruby doing this) Besides, you can't hire a prostitute for a conjugal visit even in those states that allow such visits; you have to be married.

Much like Jade, who used her position as prosecutor to get her boyfriend off on assault charges (conflict of interest much?), Ruby isn't above using her badge for her own purposes. She and the Steels bribe a lab tech who works for the police to come in on the weekend and, using equipment that does not belong to him, test Ryan's hair for a DNA match. This could get him AND Ruby fired, but no one seems to care. Ruby also uses her badge to see Wendy, who is in an asylum, even though she has no official reason to talk to her. But hey, the rules don't apply for the Steels, because they're so rich. Or something. Am I the only person to find this terrifying and not sexy?

Ryan, like his brothers, also has a tendency towards abuse. He feels that he has a need to punish Ruby for lying to him. Wait. He has no right to "punish" Ruby for ANYTHING, and I find it HIGHLY disturbing that he would ever think this is okay. Worst of all, Ruby goes right along with it! All aboard the "unhealthy relationships" train of fail! The author seems incapable of distinguishing between BDSM and abuse.

This is actually the longest book rant I've ever had; I had to cut it down to make it fit! show less

Good lord, is this series EVER going to end? It started out as a trilogy, and then became a double trilogy, and now it's going to be at least eight books. And we ALL know that the author isn't going to give up once Ryan's story has been told, because obvious Marj is going to have to have her OWN books too (and it's clear as day that she's trying to set up Marj with Bryce), so this "trilogy" is likely going to have at least ten books in it before we're done. I had better stock up on alcohol show more now, because like a moron, I agreed to buddy read these books with a friend (back when it was still a "trilogy"), and I'm stuck. :|

On the one hand, this book is slightly better than some of the others in the series, because there is actually ACTION and a PLOT in this book. Sort of. The big "mystery" that has apparently hooked a lot of readers (not me...I am beyond all hope and enjoyment when it comes to these books, and I only continue due to keeping a promise and some perverse sense of amusement that I get from reading bad fiction, apparently) has a few twists and turns, but I can't say that any of them were SURPRISING to me. I saw the development with Wendy coming a mile away. At least a mile. Perhaps ten miles.

But whatever gains this book made in the plot department are lost in the shoddy writing and the general ridiculousness that is this series.

Apparently this book is supposed to be "erotica," but it manages to contain some of the least sexy scenes that I have EVER read, and I have read some really god-awful sex scenes in my day. Jonah and Melanie are supposed to be seasoned adults - Jonah is either 37 or 38 (I can't remember and I honestly don't care enough to look it up) and Melanie is 40 years old. And here are some of the "sexy" things they say:

Melanie (as she ponders anal sex with, keeping to the old romance trope, the ridiculously-hung man in her life): "Would I ever accommodate it...there?" ("It" is his penis, and "there" is her ass, in case you aren't fluent with hilariously bad internal monologue.)

Jonah: "I had only begun to show her the pleasures I could give her down there." (Are you fucking kidding me?!?! Mr. Oh-I-Am-So-Experienced calling a woman's genitals "down there?" Who even talks like that? I can honestly say that I haven't since I was in high school - and I certainly can't imagine saying it NOW. Jonah and I are theoretically around the same age, but his maturity is...lacking, shall we say.)

Their middle-school-esque chatter doesn't end there, however. Having barely known Melanie for two months, TOPS, Jonah declares that, if she leaves him, he will "never love another woman." As in, ever. Are you fucking kidding me? Does anyone find this sexy or attractive at all? Because I don't. I find it pathetic and kind of manipulative, to be honest.

Look, nearly all of us suffer a huge heartbreak in our lives. Lord knows, I had my heart broken into a billion tiny pieces by a girl many years ago, and part of me still loves her and always will. But it's not romantic in the slightest, at least in my opinion, to say you'll never love again. I feel that if someone comes along who is amazing, I will definitely fall in love again - and I knew the girl who broke my heart a LOT longer than two months. Two months?!?! And that's being generous - it might be even less than that. You don't know someone in two months - Jonah doesn't even know a thing about Melanie's past, and he admits as much. That isn't love, sweet cheeks.

Melanie is just as bad, though. She falls pregnant with Jonah's child, suffering none of the expected infertility problems that might be expected for a woman her age who has never been pregnant. And she's sad and upset that he doesn't instantly propose marriage. Even more hilariously, they aren't even sure that she IS pregnant, either, because she has yet to take a pregnancy test, and she just assumes because her period is like one or two days late that she's pregnant. LOLZ. Who DOESN'T have a cycle that is late by a day or two now and then?

Except then he does propose marriage, so, uhh, everything is okay again, I guess?

Getting married solely because you're pregnant is a really, really bad idea. Any and all strains on your relationship pre-baby will still be there - except magnified, because you have this tiny little human who depends on you for sustenance and you aren't sleeping much because said tiny little human cries. A lot. And I really hate the trope of a woman falling pregnant and then getting married because it is, apparently, just the thing to do. No. Do not want. Especially when these two people BARELY know one another - and do NOT have a healthy relationship at all.

The author decides to go into BDSM, or whatever she thinks BDSM is. Apparently, in the author's world, BDSM is something that the Dominant (who is almost always a man in het erotica) wants and the Submissive (almost always a woman in het erotica) kind of just accepts. Melanie, the Submissive in this "relationship," has a lot of anxiety and fears about entering into this kind of sexual relationship with Jonah, but she does it anyway. Why? Because she "had pledged [her] life to him" and he "needed" it because he was suffering from emotional pain. Or something. He doesn't take her feelings or needs into account; he pretty much says he NEEDS this and she gives whatever he needs to him, even though she is definitely afraid that "things...might go farther than [she] was ready for." But because she loves him, she submits.

This isn't healthy, and anyone who argues that it is can kindly GTFO.

Look, in the right setting, I like to read BDSM (almost always between two or more female characters, for reasons, and not just because I'm queer). It can be hot when a woman chooses to submit herself to someone else. But it's not hot when a woman is afraid of being hurt - sexually, physically, and emotionally - but submits because she feels like she must to make her partner happy. And that is exactly what is happening here. And even though Melanie swears up and down that she just KNOWS that Jonah won't hurt her, he does. He rushes anal sex with her to the point that she literally SCREAMS when he enters her.

Look, anal can be...difficult. Some people, both men and women, don't enjoy it - and that is fine. But unless you're into pain (which Melanie isn't), it shouldn't hurt to the point that you are SCREAMING during the act (it was not an "oh god yessssssssss" scream, but a "this fucking HURTS" scream, by the way). And he doesn't even care that she's obviously not digging this - he just tells her to relax. As if she really has a choice at this point - she's completely at his mercy, and she might SAY that she just "knows" that he'll stop if she asks him to, but I really don't think he would at this point, because he's a self-centered asshole.

tl;dr: The sex was a whole bunch of NOPE NOPE NOPE in my book.

Also, why do random characters who really do nothing to add to the quality of the book (limited as it is) pop up for no reason?

And why does Jonah act as if prison guards will commit all sorts of crimes for a few hundred bucks? Yeah, some prison guards will - just like in any career, there are always some who are willing to bend the law for their profit. But the majority of prison guards, I would argue, are doing a job. They're drawing a paycheck. They aren't sadistic; they don't want to see people suffer. And Jonah just comes across as if he expects any and every prison guard in the joint holding Larry will do anything he asks for a couple of hundred bucks. It's insulting, really.

I just...ugh, I'm done. I just can't. I can feel brain cells committing suicide as I write this review. show less

Damn it, I have been roped into this series against my will and I can't think of a way to get out of reading every single shitty book this author pumps out without hurting a friend's feelings. Sigh.

And so, for the fourth installment in this ridiculous series, we have now switched to Jonah and Melanie, both of whom were introduced in the previous three books. The shift was a bit jarring, but I was glad to get out of Talon's head in particular, as well as Jade's. Surely this book, featuring show more Jonah (who seemed more level-headed than Talon) and Melanie (who seemed much more mature than Jade) won't be as shitty as the prior three, right?

Wrong. Because even though the author has theoretically switched characters, Jonah is almost EXACTLY like Talon, and Melanie is almost EXACTLY like Jade.

First off, one of my pet peeves is how the author has obviously NEVER been to (Grand) Junction; if she has, she defintely didnt pay any attention. She actually said that there was a skid row in Junction! SKID ROW! Dude, Junction has its problems - there is illegal drug use and the associated problems that come with it. It has some homeless people (a lot of them are temporary, young adults hitching across the country and hitting up "the west"). But I cannot imagine a SKID ROW, or even an area so freaking shady that there is a plethora of "bums" who will either beat up a Steel brother who wants to be hit (Jonah) or a Steel brother who wants to "defend" himself after someone tries to pick his pocket (Talon). I get that this mythical seedy side of Junction is a driving factor in this series, but if you're going to make a town so bad, you should probably just make up a name for a fictional setting (Snow Creek, for example, is not a real place).

Once again, the Steel brother (Jonah this time around) equates being "dominant" with being a grade A asshole. Even after Melanie tells him that she doesn't want to see him anymore, he keeps showing up - I call this stalking. And he WILL NOT take no for an answer, because he just KNOWS that she secretly wants to say yes. Fuck you, Jonah Steel, and anyone else who doesn't think that a woman can make up her own mind about what she wants or desires. While Jonah and Melanie are having shitty sex (to be honest, I skipped through most of the sex scenes, because they are SO FUCKING BAD in this series - more on that later), he slaps her ass. Melanie, who is forty years old and yet as shy and retiring as an eighteen year old virgin (more on THAT later, as well), has never been slapped around during sex and doesn't know if she likes it or not, so she tells him that she doesn't particularly care for it and to not do it. He gets pissed! Jonah was about to perform oral sex on her, but since she doesn't mesh 100% with his sexual desires, he just flops on his back and seems to lose all interest in Melanie until she gives him a blowjob. Ick (for his attitude, not necessarily the blowjob, although as a lesbian myself - double ick!).

But never fear! In his mental ramblings, Jonah tells himself that Melanie, who told him that she didn't want him to slap her in bed (not on her face, just her ass and breast), will LEARN to like it. He'll make her learn to like it!

FUCK
YOU
VERY
MUCH

And that is how a man who is "dominant" is supposed to act, which makes me think that the author (who has already proven that she does not have a grasp on basic human anatomy) has absolutely NO FUCKING CLUE about D/s.

And let's get on to Melanie, who as I mentioned (beneath the previous spoiler cut) is forty years old and yet is as blushing and retiring as a teenaged virgin. Look, it's okay to be vanilla. It's fine. But Melanie, who has had sex with multiple men, including one night stands (which makes me think that she's not so "vanilla" after all), seems to be completely clueless about her own body - AND SHE'S A FUCKING DOCTOR, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! She doesn't seem to know what she does or doesn't like during sex (and the one time she tells Jonah she doesn't like something, he turns into a petulant child), and she doesn't seem to be very active in their sexual relationship. And it's okay to be a passive partner - if that is what you want to be. But I never got the feeling that that is what Melanie WANTED - she was just stuck in this loop where she HAD to be passive, she HAD to be ignorant of her own body, and she HAD to just let Jonah do whatever the fuck he wanted to her and hope that he cared enough to get her off in the process.

I mean, I'm closer to forty than I am to thirty, and I am light years ahead of this woman when it comes to sexuality, even though she's older than I am. And like I said - nothing wrong with being vanilla, nothing wrong with being passive - IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT. But I really can't believe that Melanie hasn't gotten a vibrator at some point in her life and discovered what BOB (or BOG) can do for her. Her sexual immaturnity is just painful to read. Painful.

And speaking of Melanie's body, every time she talks about it, she keeps putting herself down. She isn't stacked. She's too lean and athletic. She's a perfect size six, but she's just average. GIVE IT A FUCKING REST. She has what is considered a "perfect" body by American standards, and every time someone tries to compliment her, she just tears herself a new one. I FUCKING HATE THIS TROPE IN ROMANCE! It's like a woman HAS to look good in a typical romance book, but she's not allowed to think that she does indeed look good. This trope almost literally makes me vomit at times, and this is one of those times.

Melanie sounds more like a whiny thirteen year old than a forty year old woman.

And speaking of tropes that I hate, I got some more up my sleeve! I also hate the "this is the best sex I've ever had so it must be love" trope, which gets heavy play in both Jonah/Melanie and Talon/Jade. Sex does not equal love! You can have great sex with someone you don't love and not-so-great sex with someone you do love! Sometimes the shittiest sex you'll have is with someone you love, and that's okay!

Also, super sick of the "he's got a huuuuuuge dick so this is the greatest sex I've ever had" trope. As a lesbian who has never had sex with a man willingly, I don't get the appeal in het (and often gay) romances with the big dick thing. Personally, sleeping with someone who is wielding a baseball bat between his legs sounds unattractive on multiple levels. And if the guy doesn't know how to use said baseball bat, it sounds even MORE "do not want" to me.

And like I already admitted, I skimmed through the sex scenes, because I knew if they were anything like the ones between Talon and Jade (which they totally were), they would be god-awful. Melanie, like Jade, has the rare "ruby red" nipples and labia. WTF. Has the author ever looked at a woman naked before? I have slept with several woman, and never ONCE have I found ruby red nipples or labia, haha.

Finally, allow myself to declare my disgust for the cliffhanger ending, which I KNEW would be coming because the author is incapable of wrapping any storylines up at all, apparently. Cliffhangers like that make me think that the author believes that the story isn't strong enough to draw readers back, so she has to "pull them in" with a cliffhanger - and that is lazy storytelling. show less