DEVIL’S KISS
Series: Sunset Cove #2
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Author: Ella Frank
Release Date: May 24, 2016
What do you do when the one you least expect to matter…
Ends up mattering the most?
Derek Pearson likes to think he’s an easygoing guy. Uncomplicated, upfront, and unapologetic with what he wants. His what you see is what you get attitude is on prominent display for anyone who cares to look, and his foul mouth is right there to back it up should you miss the point.
However, what you see isn’t always what you get, and only a select few have ever glimpsed the real man under the brash exterior.
Among them? Professor Jordan Devaney. Complicated, high-maintenance, and vibrant, he’s Derek’s opposite in every way. From the moment they saw each other, a love-hate relationship began.
But what happens when one person wants more?
DEVIL’S KISS
Ella Frank
Copyright © 2016 Ella Frank
* * * *
THE CALL
Present Day
DEREK PEARSON PUSHED open the door of Leighton, Finley & Associates, and stepped out on the paved sidewalk. It was the first day of August, and if the sweltering Floridian sun was any indication, today was going to be hotter than hell’s waiting room.
As he strolled toward the curb, he pulled a pack of Marlboros from the pocket of his shorts and flipped open the top. He needed a fucking cigarette after watching Daniel Finley and his damn professor get all sappy and shit. That was gonna get old real quick if he had to stomach their nauseating displays of I love yous longer than the fifteen minutes he’d been in there. But he’d known he had to make an appearance sooner or later; otherwise Danny boy would’ve shown up asking questions. Questions he wasn’t ready to answer.
There’d been a reason he hadn’t come around to see Finn when he first moved back from Chicago two months ago, but it wasn’t something he was in the mood to talk about yet, even if he was one of the two people on the planet who would get all the shit he’d been dealing with.
Yeah… He just wasn’t ready to go there.
With a smoke between his lips, he lit up, then shoved the pack back in his shorts. He was so damn antsy lately, and for that he could thank his brother, Alan.
He walked around to the side of his Jeep and pulled open the door. After climbing inside, he grabbed his cell phone and stared at the dark screen, contemplating his next move.
Am I really planning to do this?
Fuck, it seemed that he was, even when he knew better.
If he did this, it would be nothing more than a Band-Aid over the real problem. A shot to numb the more painful issues he was dealing with right now. He would be slipping back into a pattern he had pulled himself out of. An addiction he’d broken free from. But he was also aware that if he didn’t do it, the alternative would be to spiral out of control, and solitude was no longer helping his fucked-up nerves.
He brought the phone to his ear and waited. The phone rang and rang, and fucking rang, until he was close to hanging up—and then it connected.
“You free?” were the only two words out of his mouth. He waited, not caring to pursue small talk. That wasn’t what this was about. All he cared about in that moment was getting what he needed.
When an affirmative came through the phone, he hung up, tossed it on the dashboard, and brought the Jeep to life. As he sped across town, he white-knuckled the steering wheel and didn’t allow himself to think about the consequences of what he was about to do.
It took him less than ten minutes to pull into the underground parking garage of The Palisades and take the elevator up to where his drug of choice waited for him. He glanced up into the camera in the corner of his metallic confines and stared boldly into the face of the one who was waiting at the other end of this ride.
Yeah, he was about to fall off the fucking wagon big time. Was about to slide back into the one place he promised himself he wouldn’t go again. Yet as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, there was no denying this was exactly what he wanted.
“I have thirty minutes,” were the words that greeted him.
Derek walked off the elevator and over to the naked man waiting for him. He took the haughty chin between his thumb and forefinger and promised in a voice thick with arousal, “I only need ten. Take me to your room, Jordan. Time’s a wasting.”
Most days he was convinced that Jordan was the devil. A beautiful seduction put in his path to offer salvation at the cost of one thing- his soul.
If there’s one thing that Miss Ella Frank can write, it’s a smokin’ hot MM romance. No, truly. The woman may be a genre chameleon, but there’s just something about her MM that hits me just right…in both ovaries. True story.
Ever since I read Finley, I’ve been itching to get my hands on Derek and Posh Spice aka Jordan’s story. The hate lust vibes were strong with these two in the previous book. So much so, that you just knew something big must have happened between them to make it so. And I for one was ready to part with an ovary to find out what that something was. What? I never said patience was a virtue of mine.
For those of you that are used to mainstream MM, this will be a touch different. Jordan Devaney is an incredibly endearing character, but an ‘alpha’ alpha he is not. He’s charismatic, a touch flamboyant, fun loving and just one of those characters that leaps off of the pages at you. I adored him. He’s the perfect balance to Derek’s uber brooding, tatted and tortured alpha ways. And boy are you in for a surprise when it comes to how things play out between them…in bed and out.
The relationship between them is a slow burn and begins just around the time of Finn and Brantley’s, when Derek is in college and Jordan happens to be his new professor; spanning 11 years. And while there’s a touch of similarity there between the two books, that’s where it also ends. Because while Finn and Brantley begin seeing each other then, Derek and Jordan do not. Their “relationship” may start then, but they don’t give into the pull between them until Derek is graduated. This is also where the book began to lose me. The time jumps tend to be a hit or miss for me, and in the case here, it was a bit of a miss. It left me feelings like parts of the story were missing. A chapter would end and then it would jump to two years later and picks up there where the other chapter left off. While I can understand that Derek and Jordan could go 2 years without seeing or interacting with each other, I’m not sure if the time jumps worked to an advantage in order to build on their relationship. I felt like I was missing chunks of the story; left wondering what else took place during those years. Did they not see each other at all? Did they date other people? Did they think about each other? I would have rather if perhaps they just meet during Derek’s college years and then start their relationship in present day. As it was, all the time jumps through the 11 years just didn’t do much for me.
“You’re welcome. But I haven’t done anything.”
“You answered. That’s everything to someone with nothing.”
I fell hard for Derek’s character. It’s impossible not to. Everything about the man worked for me. Alas, as much as I loved Jordan’s humorous 180 to Derek’s brooding, he was a source of frustration for me for a good chunk of the book. While Derek’s character was extremely multi layered, I didn’t feel that I had enough about Jordan to make me understand some of the decisions he made when it came to their relationship. He was the one that kept Derek at arm’s length (romantically) for much of the book, and I felt like there was no good reason why for me to connect to it. When Derek was still in college, sure. But then later? It just fell flat for me. I needed a better reason…especially after their first night together.
Ella Frank is a true talent and she can spin one hell of a story. I have a feeling that most will enjoy this wonderful romance. While it may not have been the 5 star that Finley was for me, it was still a highly enjoyable read. I did love these two characters even if they did frustrate me to the point of hair pulling at times. Ella has created a fantastic wold with her Sunset Cove series and I hope she’ll continue with more books. There’s a certain someone introduced in this book that I’m already craving a book for. Ultimately, Devil’s Kiss was an enjoyable read that although didn’t quite tick all of my boxes for me, I’d still enthusiastically recommend to any lovers of steamy MM romance.
DON’T MISS FINLEY, BOOK 1 IN THE SUNSET COVE SERIES
GOODREADS | AMAZON
Ella Frank is the author of the #1 Bestselling Temptation series, including Try, Take, and Trust. Her Exquisite series has been praised as “scorching hot!” and “enticingly sexy!”
A life-long fan of the romance genre, Ella writes contemporary and erotic fiction and lives with her husband in Portland, OR. You can reach her on the web at www.ellafrank.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ella.frank.author
Some of her favorite authors include Tiffany Reisz, Kresley Cole, Riley Hart, J.R. Ward, Erika Wilde, Gena Showalter, and Carly Philips.
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