Oh, Lauren Blakely... you've done it now. You've ruined me for all other hot book boyfriends. And, of course you did. I honestly didn't expect anything less.
Big Rock, by Lauren Blakely
Publish Date: January 6, 2016
Publisher: Lauren Blakely Books
Format: e-ARC, provided by Inkslinger PR
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Rating: 4.5 STARS
(Synopsis) It's not just the motion of the ocean, ladies. It's definitely the SIZE of the boat too.
And I've got both firing on all cylinders. In fact, I have ALL the right assets. Looks, brains, my own money, and a big cock.
You might think I'm an asshole. I sound like one, don’t I? I'm hot as sin, rich as heaven, smart as hell and hung like a horse.
Guess what? You haven't heard my story before. Sure, I might be a playboy, like the NY gossip rags call me. But I’m the playboy who’s actually a great guy. Which makes me one of a kind.
The only trouble is, my dad needs me to cool it for a bit. With conservative investors in town wanting to buy his flagship Fifth Avenue jewelry store, he needs me not only to zip it up, but to look the part of the committed guy. Fine. I can do this for Dad. After all, I’ve got him to thank for the family jewels. So I ask my best friend and business partner to be my fiancée for the next week. Charlotte’s up for it. She has her own reasons for saying yes to wearing this big rock.
And pretty soon all this playing pretend in public leads to no pretending whatsoever in the bedroom, because she just can’t fake the kind of toe-curling, window-shattering orgasmic cries she makes as I take her to new heights between the sheets.
But I can’t seem to fake that I might be feeling something real for her.
What the fuck have I gotten myself into with this…big rock?
Have I mentioned how much I love the friends to lovers trope? Even those that aren't as well done are better than just a plain old romance. Luckily, Lauren Blakely is at the helm of Big Rock, so This example is most definitely well done - it's full of humor and feels and such a fantastic romance, it gave me goosebumps.
You'll assume from the description that the narrator of our story, Simon Holiday, is a jack hole. I did. I was wrong. Simon is actually incredibly charming. He's very sweet, he's funny, he loves his family, and he has the best relationship with his best friend and business partner Charlotte. Simon may be all those things, but he is also a lover of women. Many, MANY women. Commitment is a four-letter word for him, but now due to a business deal for his family's jewelry store that must go through, Simon has to get engaged. And the only woman who can help him pull this off is Charlotte.
Simon and Charlotte have the cutest relationship. Their banter is hilarious. They obviously know each other extremely well and are quite fond of one another. They run a bar together, and have many stories and traditions from their years together. Simon has never thought of Charlotte that way... until he had to think of her that way. And, once that happened, he couldn't stop thinking about her that way.
Big Rock is told entirely from Simon's POV, which is part of the magic of the story. And, with the way Lauren Blakely weaves her story, we don't need anyone else's POV in order to know what they're thinking or how they're feelings. We can tell that Simon's father loves him very much and that they have a great relationship. We know that the man Simon's dad wants to see the jewelry store to is a special kind of asshole. And, we also know that Charlotte has loved Simon for a very long time.
Charlotte is frikkin brilliant. This is her golden opportunity to have Simon in the way she has always wanted him - even if it's for a limited time. So, she convinces him that, if she's going to play fake finance, she needs to make it believable. They should kiss - and do other things - so that the ruse is completely solid. And in doing so, she realizes that what she figured all along was true - they are amazing together.
Big Rock was a really quick and incredibly fun read. I laughed so much at Simon and his antics. There is no big sad story here - everyone has good relationships, no one dies, no one was abused as a child... there's no angst. No tears. Of course there's drama - there wouldn't be much of a story without that. But, it's very well contained and it doesn't overtake the story.
Big Rock is a standalone, so you get the whole story in one awesome package. And it IS awesome.
I do my best work in the bedroom. This is completely my domain. So it should be no big deal that she asked me to wait here. But something about being in Charlotte’s bedroom is wigging me out.
Mostly because there’s nearby nudity transpiring mere feet away.
She’s taking a shower, and no matter how you slice them, New York apartments are approximately thimble size. Let me spell this out—wet, naked, hot woman in a ten-foot radius.
Got it? Okay. Moving on.
I pick up a picture frame on her sky blue bureau of the dog her parents have. A fluffy brown summa dog—some of this, some of that. I’m going to focus on this mutt. Zero in on him. Look at his tail. Check out his ears. Yup, this picture is doing the trick. It is helping me not to linger on the naked woman and how well she kisses.
Or how much I liked it.
Why the fuck did I like it so much?
Of course you liked it, idiot. A pretty woman kisses you, and you’re straight—you’d be stupid not to like it. End of story. Doesn’t mean anything. Stop analyzing.
Especially since she just turned off the shower.
Maybe she forgot a towel. Maybe she’ll open the door a crack, and ask me to grab one for her.
I smack my forehead. Get it together, Holiday.
I set down the picture, draw a deep inhale and straighten my shoulders. The door creaks open. She steps out of the bathroom wearing only a white fluffy towel wrapped above her breasts.
“You might be wondering why I asked you to wait in my bedroom instead of the living room,” she says, in the most matter-of-fact tone.
I have no clue how she can be talking like we’re having a business transaction when droplets of water slide down her bare legs. But I’m a strong man. I can handle this. I’m not tempted at all by my best friend. Though my dick begs to differ, the traitorous prick.
“The thought crossed my mind,” I say, as I lean against the bureau, striking a casual pose.
“Because if you’re my fiancé, you need to be comfortable with me being naked,” she says with a crisp nod.
Shit, she’s going to do it. She’s going to drop the towel. She’s going to make us practice fucking. I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
Wait. No. I can’t fuck my best friend. I absolutely, positively, can’t screw Charlotte. Even if she tosses the towel on the floor and begs me to.
I lace my fingers together behind my back, linking these twitchy hands.
“Okay, so you’re getting naked,” I say, doing my best to imitate her cool-as-a-cucumber tone that is throwing me off big time.
“No. It’s the idea of me naked,” she corrects.
I give her a pointed look. “Seems to me it’s both the idea and the reality.”
“Fine, fine. They’re one and the same, and it’s part of the debrief.”
“Is this the exam portion?”
She walks past me, her arm brushing against mine before she yanks open the top drawer of the bureau. “Yes. This is the practical portion.”
“And this is because you somehow think we’re going to be required to be naked together in front of Mr. Offerman in order to pull this off? This isn’t like some feats-of-strength style fake engagement where we have to pass certain skill sets in an obstacle course. You know that, right?”
She nods, as she hunts around in the drawer. “I’m aware of that. I see this as more like the Newlywed game.”
“And in this version of the game we’re quizzed on how I get used to the idea of you naked and vice versa?”
Her breath hitches when I say that—vice versa.
I don’t know what to make of that small gasp, or if it means something about the idea of me au naturel.
She spins around, and holds up two pairs of panties, one in each hand. “Quick. Do you prefer it when your fiancée wears the black lace thong?” She waggles a scrap of silky-looking fabric that is so hot my face might be engulfed in flames right now because Charlotte owns that? “Or do you prefer her in the white side-string bikini?” She waves the white pair before my eyes, and all I can see is a tiny triangular patch of fabric that’s the slightest bit see-through.
Forget the flames. I am a fucking inferno right now knowing she owns this too. White panties that reveal pretty much everything.
Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with heat, heart, and humor, and she has had eight books on the New York Times Bestseller list and fifteen on the USA Today Bestseller list. Like the heroine in her novel, FAR TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family, laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs. She loves hearing from readers! Her bestselling series include Sinful Nights, Seductive Nights, No Regrets, Caught Up in Love, and Fighting Fire. She recently released SWEET SINFUL NIGHTS, the first novel in her new sexy romance series Sinful Nights that became an instant New York Times Bestseller. Her new adult forbidden romance, 21 Stolen Kisses, hit e-readers in May and landed on the USA Today Bestseller list. In January, she'll release BIG ROCK, a standalone contemporary romance sure to make you swoon. She also writes for young adults under the name Daisy Whitney. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, text BLAKELY + your email address to 678-249-3375 (please use the actual + sign).
Learn more about Lauren --> Website ** Facebook ** Twitter ** Newsletter ** Goodreads
No comments:
Post a Comment