His Alone by Alexa Riley Review
5 Smooches!
Synopsis
Ryan Justice may be her boss, but nothing will stop him from making her his. USA TODAY and #1 ebook bestselling author Alexa Riley entices with a brand-new, full-length novel.
She thinks I’m perfect. A good boss, a good man. She thinks that I play by the rules.
She has no idea who I truly am. Why I’m really here.
Paige Turner is trying to outrun her past, but there it is, tossed back in her face anytime she manages to get two steps ahead.
She has no idea what a man like me will do to get what he wants.
Her need for Ryan got in the way of revenge, took her off course. Redirected her focus. Before she knew it, he’d made his way into her life. Into her heart.
I’m dirtier than she knows. She thinks I’m good to the core, but she doesn’t know the things I’ve done. The things I would do for her.
True love doesn’t let secrets as big as these stay buried. And when the truth about Paige’s father is finally exposed, Ryan will do anything to fix everything. Paige has always been his and his alone.
Review
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Alexa Riley and the smutty insta-love novellas about over-the-top alpha males obsessed with claiming the virgins of their dreams that this author duo is known for. When they announced last year that they were trying their hand in the full-length novel medium with two—TWO!—books, I swooned. Literally. Right there in my chair, phone in hand, reading the Facebook post, I swooned. I mean, hello!! Two glorious, full-length books filled to the brim with all of that possessive alpha getting his woman goodness? Yes, please. Now. Right now. #GrabbyHands #GimmeGimme
I truly had no expectations going into the first book, Everything for Her. I wondered if they could pull it off, and I prayed hard to the bibliophile smut gods that they would. My prayers were answered because not only could they pull it off, they did it well. I loved that book, and as a reader, as a fan of theirs, as a lover of the smut genre in general, I cheered in celebration that they bridged the gap from novella to full-length so successfully. I was left happy, sated and very much anticipating The Captain and Paige’s story. So, when His Alone hit my Kindle, it was literally a ‘drop everything and read this right now’ moment. This time, though, I had high hopes. I already knew they could rock a full length (*snorts*), and I was so excited to see where they’d take it. They didn’t let me down. I loved the story, I loved Captain, I loved Captain and Paige together, and I was very impressed. I really hate to pigeon-hole an author, I swear to you I do. But it’s hard in the case of Alexa Riley, who are so well known for their smutty little novellas—something they do incredibly well, especially when one considers the fact that theirs are the gold standard by which this sub-genre is measured. So, it thrills me to no end to be able to honestly tell a fellow reader that their full-length novels are longer, (ahem) meatier, more in-depth versions of those quick escapism stories that they do so well and we gobble up voraciously.
They clearly took their experiences from Everything for Her and put them to use in this book. I’ll quantify that by saying that, by far, His Alone is the most plot-driven book I’ve ever read by Alexa Riley, and I’ve read them all. I was genuinely impressed by the richness of the plot here. It was suspenseful, it was interesting and exciting, it was detailed and cultivated. It grabbed my attention and held it throughout the story. All of the alpha obsessed with his woman awesomeness is here, and it’s as hot and sexy as I expect an Alexa Riley story to be. There was witty banter and even some well executed humor, too. Everything readers love about and hope for from an Alexa Riley story is in there and done well, there is just much more of it here. But it was the actual plot—the non-relationship-building portion of story playing out around the couple—that was what had me sitting up to take notice. Their novellas are absolutely a shot of smutty awesomeness, but they are generally lacking in a real story beyond the couple’s (brief) chase and (immediate) coming together. That is not at all the case in His Alone.
“…you are the beginning and end of my life. Don’t make me live a life without you. Because I won’t survive. Without you, there is no me. You have been my everything and I swear you’re all I know anymore…”
The Captain and Paige’s story was everything I hoped—and more than I anticipated—it would be. Sweet, romantic, sexy and full of that Alexa Riley brand of alpha fixation that their readers have come to crave insatiably. Paige tried so hard to be tough, but Captain saw right through her stoic shell to the woman who just wanted to be loved, and he gave that to her and so much more. Their love story had all the makings of Alexa Riley smutastic magic, but there was much more of it and it was intermingled within a serious plot that kept me tapping my Kindle’s screen furiously. With two fantastic full length novels under their belts, I hope that in addition to their deliciously naughty novellas, we’ll see more novel length offerings from them in the future. His Alone by Alexa Riley gets five smooches from me!
~ Danielle Palumbo
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