Possession (Explicitly Yours Book 1)

Good story. Great characters and it was refreshing to read a story where the girl was real. She has an attitude and flaws and she is t a size 2 virgin all sweet and innocent.
Loved it. I will definitely be reading the next one.

A friend, Brittany (owner of Brittany’s Book Blog) messaged me and basically told me I didn’t have an option and I had to check out a series she had just read and LOVED. I think our friendship would have been over if I didn’t agree. ;) I was in the middle of a book but I promised her I would check it out. The series was Night Fever by Jessica Hawkins. The book description looked interesting and I had a strong recommendation for it so soon after I jumped in.

Night Fever (Book 1) had me torn. There were facets of the storyline I wasn’t 100% sold on but I found myself loving the characters, the chemistry, and the draw. I was somewhat confused about my feelings for the story but knew I had to keep going in the serial. I am writing this review as I have already kept going with the story and I can tell you that with this mentioned confusion over book 1… I got what I was looking for as I kept reading.

This is a story about people having to make tuff decisions that they never dreamed they would make. It is about how people react to the abundance of money and lack of much money at all. We see how people treat each other when faced with difficult decisions; and just who and what can change loyalty, trust, and love. With Night Fever you don’t get the full picture of all the mystery and secrets awaiting still to come and as an avid romance reader I felt a little off kilter during reading as the theme of love was not the prevailing aspect within the story. But it is there; sometimes hidden and sometimes misguided.

Lola is a tuff; take no prisoners type of woman. She’s strong and confident and isn’t one to shy away from verbalizing her thoughts or opinions. She’s grown up poor without a whole lot of love and affection. She makes some “wrong” turns in her youth and a guy helps her to turn her life around. She feels indebted to him for it. That guy (Johnny) is now her boyfriend of nine years and they live a life talking about and wanting more for their life without a whole lot of change to make anything happen. They are faced with choices when a man walks into their life and offers an unorthodox arrangement that could change their whole life. A change this big so fast is a lot for people who basically just did a whole lot of talking about change before.

Beau is an intense and wealthy businessman who got to be where he is today from hard work and determination. Once the man of the house from a family with little monetary means and now a man with more power and money than most will ever see in a lifetime. He’s got secrets, wealth, power, charm, and painstakingly good looks on his side. Beau comes into Lola and Johnny’s life and turns everything upside down. He is calculated and manipulative when it comes to getting what he wants. Typically Beau is the leading man that doesn’t really do it for me. But there was something about him that set him apart from the typical overbearing, take what they please alpha men. He easily wormed his way into me heart and I found myself loving him despite him not being my normal book boyfriend type.

Beau and Lola come together by an arrangement. I wasn’t all too sure how I would feel about that but with their chemistry and his intensity my doubts were quieted. However, I had hoped once the two were alone… discussion and thought of the arrangement would fall to the waist side. That wasn’t what happened though and it was this part of the story that brought upon my confusing feelings of the book. I wanted the spark between them to make all the other stuff go away at least while they were alone together. I guess that’s not entirely realistic though and I understood why Lola hid behind the idea of their arrangement.

The sex scenes in Night Fever are intense! They may also be some of the best writing of sex scenes I have come across in the romance genre. The description of the acts, the mood it sets, the acts themselves, the chemistry between characters, the kink factor… everything is all put together in a perfect package leaving the reader panting with the mental images created in their mind. Coming from a blogger and avid page-turner of a lot of romance novels this is a bold statement from me and I SO stand by it.

I asked a friend to read over this review before I published it and without telling her what I was rating it and asked her to tell me what she thought my opinion of the book was from these words I have written. She said to me, “It sounds like you’re on the fence and haven’t yet decided whether you actually love it or not.” This is why I wanted to have her look over it first because I didn’t want to shy anyone away from reading this serial because it is true I was a little on the fence after Night Fever but now I am beyond book 1 and I am intrigued and LOVING it. I haven’t finished the entire set yet so I it’s still to be determined whether I will still be singing Jessica’s praises at the end but so far I will definitely say this is a book you should take a chance on if it is outside your box. It was outside of mine and even with my tendency to condemn the controlling man there was something about these characters that said, “You HAVE to keep reading!” An ‘if you build it’ type thing…Well I’m HERE and thus far enjoying my mysterious, secret filled, bomb-dropping ride. I’m just hoping for an HEA at the end.

Does anyone believe the indecent proposal ever happens without lives being effected? Lola is a beautiful, tough young woman whose life is passing her by as she is a barmaid at a dive, washed up, has been LA bar. Beau is a gorgeous, rich, alone business man that has very little life outside of working. They meet each other outside the dive bar she works as he was coming to entertain potential clients. Johnny, Lola's boyfriend who aspires to be nothing more than what he is, has no drive to do more than live paycheck to paycheck also works at the dive bar. Johnny encourages Lola to flirt with Beau so he will come back to the bar, mention the bar to his rich and powerful friends. At the end if that night Beau makes a proposal; one night with Lola for a large sum of money. For the next two weeks Johnny and Lola are snipping, quiet, moody with each other. The bar owner has the bar up for sale; if they don't buy it they are looking at starting all over again and financially they cannot do that; they can barely make it as is. The decision being made sunset to sunrise with Beau, a stranger for a large sum of money. See his the night goes. I am curious how Johnny and Lola continue their relationship knowing Johnny did nothing to stop her, no alternatives. Johnny didn't even ask what she would do with the money and in all honesty Lola didn't make the decision for herself; she made the decision to make Johnny happy, to give him something he would never chase on his own and to hold their relationship together but, will it hold the relationship together or destroy it? I am going to keep reaching to find out but, I have a feeling I know where this us going. I recommend this series, enjoy.

This was a great, quick read. I very much enjoyed the story, and the characters. I gave 4 stars because the story isn't as original as I was hoping, but still great.

I would also like to add this is the first book I've read by this author, and am very anxious to read others.

A friend, Brittany (owner of Brittany’s Book Blog) messaged me and basically told me I didn’t have an option and I had to check out a series she had just read and LOVED. I think our friendship would have been over if I didn’t agree. ;) I was in the middle of a book but I promised her I would check it out. The series was Night Fever by Jessica Hawkins. The book description looked interesting and I had a strong recommendation for it so soon after I jumped in.

Night Fever (Book 1) had me torn. There were facets of the storyline I wasn’t 100% sold on but I found myself loving the characters, the chemistry, and the draw. I was somewhat confused about my feelings for the story but knew I had to keep going in the serial. I am writing this review as I have already kept going with the story and I can tell you that with this mentioned confusion over book 1… I got what I was looking for as I kept reading.

This is a story about people having to make tuff decisions that they never dreamed they would make. It is about how people react to the abundance of money and lack of much money at all. We see how people treat each other when faced with difficult decisions; and just who and what can change loyalty, trust, and love. With Night Fever you don’t get the full picture of all the mystery and secrets awaiting still to come and as an avid romance reader I felt a little off kilter during reading as the theme of love was not the prevailing aspect within the story. But it is there; sometimes hidden and sometimes misguided.

Lola is a tuff; take no prisoners type of woman. She’s strong and confident and isn’t one to shy away from verbalizing her thoughts or opinions. She’s grown up poor without a whole lot of love and affection. She makes some “wrong” turns in her youth and a guy helps her to turn her life around. She feels indebted to him for it. That guy (Johnny) is now her boyfriend of nine years and they live a life talking about and wanting more for their life without a whole lot of change to make anything happen. They are faced with choices when a man walks into their life and offers an unorthodox arrangement that could change their whole life. A change this big so fast is a lot for people who basically just did a whole lot of talking about change before.

Beau is an intense and wealthy businessman who got to be where he is today from hard work and determination. Once the man of the house from a family with little monetary means and now a man with more power and money than most will ever see in a lifetime. He’s got secrets, wealth, power, charm, and painstakingly good looks on his side. Beau comes into Lola and Johnny’s life and turns everything upside down. He is calculated and manipulative when it comes to getting what he wants. Typically Beau is the leading man that doesn’t really do it for me. But there was something about him that set him apart from the typical overbearing, take what they please alpha men. He easily wormed his way into me heart and I found myself loving him despite him not being my normal book boyfriend type.

Beau and Lola come together by an arrangement. I wasn’t all too sure how I would feel about that but with their chemistry and his intensity my doubts were quieted. However, I had hoped once the two were alone… discussion and thought of the arrangement would fall to the waist side. That wasn’t what happened though and it was this part of the story that brought upon my confusing feelings of the book. I wanted the spark between them to make all the other stuff go away at least while they were alone together. I guess that’s not entirely realistic though and I understood why Lola hid behind the idea of their arrangement.

The sex scenes in Night Fever are intense! They may also be some of the best writing of sex scenes I have come across in the romance genre. The description of the acts, the mood it sets, the acts themselves, the chemistry between characters, the kink factor… everything is all put together in a perfect package leaving the reader panting with the mental images created in their mind. Coming from a blogger and avid page-turner of a lot of romance novels this is a bold statement from me and I SO stand by it.

I asked a friend to read over this review before I published it and without telling her what I was rating it and asked her to tell me what she thought my opinion of the book was from these words I have written. She said to me, “It sounds like you’re on the fence and haven’t yet decided whether you actually love it or not.” This is why I wanted to have her look over it first because I didn’t want to shy anyone away from reading this serial because it is true I was a little on the fence after Night Fever but now I am beyond book 1 and I am intrigued and LOVING it. I haven’t finished the entire set yet so I it’s still to be determined whether I will still be singing Jessica’s praises at the end but so far I will definitely say this is a book you should take a chance on if it is outside your box. It was outside of mine and even with my tendency to condemn the controlling man there was something about these characters that said, “You HAVE to keep reading!” An ‘if you build it’ type thing…Well I’m HERE and thus far enjoying my mysterious, secret filled, bomb-dropping ride. I’m just hoping for an HEA at the end.

Does anyone believe the indecent proposal ever happens without lives being effected? Lola is a beautiful, tough young woman whose life is passing her by as she is a barmaid at a dive, washed up, has been LA bar. Beau is a gorgeous, rich, alone business man that has very little life outside of working. They meet each other outside the dive bar she works as he was coming to entertain potential clients. Johnny, Lola's boyfriend who aspires to be nothing more than what he is, has no drive to do more than live paycheck to paycheck also works at the dive bar. Johnny encourages Lola to flirt with Beau so he will come back to the bar, mention the bar to his rich and powerful friends. At the end if that night Beau makes a proposal; one night with Lola for a large sum of money. For the next two weeks Johnny and Lola are snipping, quiet, moody with each other. The bar owner has the bar up for sale; if they don't buy it they are looking at starting all over again and financially they cannot do that; they can barely make it as is. The decision being made sunset to sunrise with Beau, a stranger for a large sum of money. See his the night goes. I am curious how Johnny and Lola continue their relationship knowing Johnny did nothing to stop her, no alternatives. Johnny didn't even ask what she would do with the money and in all honesty Lola didn't make the decision for herself; she made the decision to make Johnny happy, to give him something he would never chase on his own and to hold their relationship together but, will it hold the relationship together or destroy it? I am going to keep reaching to find out but, I have a feeling I know where this us going. I recommend this series, enjoy.

This was a great, quick read. I very much enjoyed the story, and the characters. I gave 4 stars because the story isn't as original as I was hoping, but still great.

I would also like to add this is the first book I've read by this author, and am very anxious to read others.

For either party. When Lola meets Beau they're captivated by each other, but she has Johnny a manager/bartender she's been with since she was 18 or so and she's not yet thirty, Johnny saved her so she feels guilty for her reaction to Beau. Johnny is the hardworking man that doesn't like change, he's worked in the same bar since she met him and he would continue to work there, but the bar doesn't even break even on the busy nights. The owner wants out, Johnny knows the bar, but he won't be kept on by the new owner. So when Beau makes an offer for one night with Lola for $500,000 it sounds like a dream come true, but when you put a price on a person it involves more than dollars and cents or the future you think you can buy for the person you supposedly love. For Johnny Lola is safety, she's a constant in his life, taking care of him, he "loves" her but it's more likely the security and constant predictability that he loves rather than Lola. For Lola Johnny saved her from herself, so she owes him. At least she feels like she does, but is what might have been worth what will be when he doesn't stop to ask, "what do you want?"

Jessica Hawkins writing is engrossing, captivating, intelligent, and it plays out like a movie in my head. It's so rare that a book can truly transport you and make you forget your surroundings, but that's how brilliant Jessica's writing is. It doesn't matter the plot or characters, pretty much: Jessica writes it, I'll read it. This time, the book transported me to the Sunset Strip, and her descriptions made me feel as if I was on the set of some Film Noir with the neon lights and run down bar. Night Fever made me uncomfortable in several spots, and I wondered how it would turn around and make me feel by the end. I trusted in what Jessica was writing, and by the end of it, I was questioning so many morals and things in life and how far I would go. One of the things I like about her authentic storytelling is that, even when characters are doing bad things, she humanizes them and finds ways to make you empathize or understand them. I love books that make me think and feel, even when that feeling is slightly uncomfortable. And Jessica made me feel all the feelings.

The beginning went by fairly quickly but getting into the middle it dragged and lost my attention. I started and finished another book before coming back to this but ending made it worth it for me. This was overall just an okay read but I will look into the sequel.