![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00037]](http://redcheeksreads.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/23203738-192x300.jpg)
4.5 Smooches!
Synopsis
After another painful breakup, Laney Temple finally understands that love is a fairytale and sex rarely comes with a happy ending. She’s too busy for it right now anyway–she has a business to run, art to create, and candy to crush. Eventually she’ll be ready to switch from her plastic-or-silicon lover to a flesh-and-blood one. But before that happens, she needs to be sure she won’t feel any of those annoying emotions that make her heart do things it wasn’t meant to do…
Like break
Carson Bennett is completely upfront about what he wants, and it has nothing to do with Laney’s heart. Her lips? Hell yeah. Other parts of her body? You better f*cking believe it. But her heart? Nope, not even a little. Until it does…a lot. But having feelings for someone isn’t allowed. It’s the kind of thing you’re supposed to push down deep and cover up with one-night stands, sarcasm, and booze…
Like secrets
Two people want the same thing–a commitment to nothing more than great sex in a bunch of different positions. Simple. Enjoyable. A win-win. Problem is, those two people have families and fears and pain that spill into every moment of their lives, control what they do and who they are. And if either Carson or Laney can’t free themselves from the past, they’ll both be pulled under by it.
*** Darker Water is a stand-alone contemporary romance that does not end in a cliffhanger.
Review
After Laney’s latest ‘prince’ turns out to be a lying, cheating frog she decides to give up on men and love altogether as she no longer believes it truly exists. When the sexy and funny Carson tells her he wants her in a purely physical, let’s-just-have-lots-of-sex way Laney reconsiders her ban on men if she can just have a purely physical relationship with Carson. And considering both are suffering from pasts that mean neither want the commitment, they both think they have the perfect solution. Until that pesky thing called emotions starts rearing its head…
“Princes didn’t exist, happy endings never happened, love was all make-believe.”
What a breath of fresh air this story was. It was a romance, like a modern day fairytale with huge amounts of laughter thrown in. I really enjoyed it and loved Carson and Laney’s story. I laughed and smiled continuously, I raged when these two couldn’t work it out, I cried when I heard Carson’s past and I cheered when they would both moved in a way that meant they could possibly end up together.
Carson was amazing!! He wasn’t only so bloody sexy and a guy that knew what to say to get a girl all hot and bothered but he was absolutely hilarious as well and his and Laney’s banter together just made this story! I loved how honest he was, even if it was a harsh truth sometimes and how upfront he was with Laney. And I was devastated when we found out his past and was shouting at my kindle when he thought he would turn into a monster just like the men in his past were.
“Seriously. I’m a complete asshole who only cares about what he can get from someone. Take you, for example. I saw you sitting here alone, no ring, great body. And thought, ‘I want to fuck her.’ And yeah, those were the exact words that went through my head.”
Laney was a women we could all relate to I think. We’ve all been there, kissed a lot of frogs and sometimes lost hope that we won’t find the man we could spend the rest of our lives with. But Laney never truly gave up and went about it in such a great way that meant she ended up having lots of sex with Carson (who I definitely wouldn’t say no to). She was just as hilarious and gave it back to Carson just as good as he gave it. She was brave and strong when she admitted to feelings that she knew could mean the end of things with them and she was a woman who truly deserves her happily ever after.
“It’s just a warning—if you turn out to be more than just a selfish bastard, you should expect to be castrated.”
I loved how the story starts and end with the “Once Upon A Time” sections, I thought they opened and concluded the story really well and the authors imagination for all the jokes and banter between the two leads means I would love to meet her!! The writing was brilliant, the plot line was great; it was funny and beautiful and sad and hot and exciting, everything that a modern day fairytale needs. And I now look forward to reading the others in the series about all the other characters we met.
“Shit, I wanted all of it. Maybe it was her damage that made her so interesting, I didn’t know. That I enjoyed talking to her was an unexpected perk. But my rules were my rules, and I wouldn’t—couldn’t—break them for anyone.”
Bethany
BUY IT NOW
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00037]](http://redcheeksreads.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/23203738.jpg)
1 comments
Bethany, I’m up for a meeting any time, although I’m TOTALLY boring in real life. 😉 Thanks for such a great review!
Lauren