Take Me

Romance is not my usual genre but this book blew me away - I loved it - it had it all! Heart-fluttering romance, steamy sex, self-realization and family ties, complete with the allure of Tuscany. And now nice to have a real-life, size 16 main character!

TAKE ME is well written - it captured me from the first page and I was driven to keep reading as long as I could without putting it down. The strong character development helped me connect with each character so intensely that I felt like each event was happening to me in my own life. It was very easy to get drawn deeply into the book until the very end, which, I might add, was wonderful.

What a fantastic read on so many levels!

Take Me is an erotic romance story of redemption between plus-sized plain Jane, Lilly Ellis, and playboy architect Travis. Lilly is best friends with Travis' twin brother, Luke, but Travis has always had her heart. Travis stopped paying attention to Lilly twenty years ago after his parents died, because she brought out his softer side. The story started out choppy and annoying when Luke advises Lilly to play a game on his twin to teach him a lesson. (After starring in her sister's fashion show, Lilly reveals an super seductive side and beds Travis. Every one is convinced that Travis took advantage of Lilly hence Luke's cruel prank. What he Luke didn't realize is that once he had a taste of Lilly, Travis wouldn't be able to ignore Lilly show more ever again. Despite some stalkerish qualities, Travis is really a good guy under all his protective emotional armor and his character arc is believable. Lilly, on the other hand, is a character we can sympathize with until two-thirds through the book when her insensitivity makes her appear neurotic.

There are sex scenes a plenty. They are steamy and Lilly & Travis burn up the pages. Once the lovers venture to Italy, I'm sucked completely into the story and there was no turning back even when Lilly made annoying decisions. If you want a book where a plus-size heroine is worshiped but not fetishized, Take Me is a good choice. show less

My first book by Bella Andre was [b:The Look of Love|11757975|The Look of Love (The Sullivans, #1)|Bella Andre|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342881061s/11757975.jpg|16708410], the first in the Sullivan series. I didn't enjoy it that much (I'm not a huge fan of love at first sight stories so that turned me off) and I nearly decided to stop reading the series. I'm glad that I didn't because I've really enjoyed the later books and have read a few of her others, namely The Bad Boys of Football series and have also enjoyed them.

Take Me had all the great makings of a book and it was so close to coming together but just fell apart at the end.

When I finished the book, I felt like a lot of things where left open. Lily's "game of desire" is never show more acknowledged by Travis and I was left wondering if it would change his feelings because he is essentially played throughout the book but never confronts it. I would have liked to have that brought up in the ending that what we got.

The ending felt rushed. I could have used a few extra pages instead of the little final climax we get. I find that's one thing Bella Andre does in her books is have a small plot that is mentioned before the romance plot and then just throw it out on the last 10 pages of the novel to conclude it. She did it in [b:Game for Anything|2433831|Game for Anything (Bad Boys of Football, #1)|Bella Andre|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348838579s/2433831.jpg|2441019] too.

I tagged this book with "annoying heroine" and I think that might not be entirely fair to Lily because for the most part she was an entertaining character. I really liked her until the last little climax when she just started to irritate me. I felt like her issue had already been resolved and she just kept droning on about it.

Of the two in this series, this one is the best. Take that as you will but [b:Love Me|12691|Marley and Me Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog|John Grogan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1308858322s/12691.jpg|14961] felt more like an extended epilogue to this one that really had no plot.

The good side is, it's a quick read and if you want a cute romantic story then you will enjoy it. At first the book reminded me a lot of a Meg Cabot novel with the way the plot was set up just more erotica based than Meg Cabot's novels so if you are looking for a sexier read, this might be the one for you.

(More book series reviews here: http://seriesousbookreviews.wordpress.com/) show less

This book surprised me. I really did not expect much, but this is a perfect summer read. As a matter a fact, you can read it any time, colorful descriptions of Tuscany will transfer you to the sunny Italy... where Travis will learn to love & Lily will learn to love herself..

I really enjoyed this story. I can relate and appreciate a heroine that needs to overcome her insecurities and learn to be comfortable with herself before she can fully love another.

Loved it. I don't normally read erotica or romantica. It was a pleasant surprise. I liked the characters and how they evolved. Nice description of places too.

Insecure chubby heroine and plenty of angst. Ignore the skinny cover model. (3.5 stars)