KISSED
Standalone
Genre: Erotic, Contemporary Romance
Author: Elizabeth Finn
Release Date: May 23, 2016

Reputation is everything, a fact Keegan Lauri knows all too well. A political PR strategist by trade, he makes his living creating and protecting the image of men, protecting them from women like Gabrielle Kitrick. She’s a threat to every man who falls for her. Beautiful, innocent, young, and available … for a price… Gabe is the shiny little trophy men of power seem to desire. But possessing her is a risk, a risk Keegan is responsible for removing from his client’s life.

He’s not above manipulating her for his own professional gain. He’s not even above seducing her and enjoying every second of it. But he finds out quickly her looks are a façade, and the more he comes to know Gabe, the more difficult it becomes to ignore her humanity. Because behind her beauty and crimson-lipped smile lies a young woman fighting for a better future, a future his very involvement with her jeopardizes.

When Keegan’s professional responsibilities threaten to expose her, will he choose to do his job or protect the young woman he’s become so attached to?

AMAZON

So how much then?”
“How much…?”
“For your lips.”
“They’re not for sale.”

If there’s one thing I know when I pick up a new book by Elizabeth Finn, it’s that angst and a punch straight to the feels is guaranteed. There’s a damn good reason why she’s become my go-to when I’m craving an addicting combination of angst and feelings and she’ll deliver on the promise 100% of the time. Reading the synopsis I knew I was in for one heck of a read and I was not wrong. It’s everything I hoped it would be; seductive, emotional, angsty and hot enough to burn.

Keegan Lauri is ruthless when it comes to his job as a political PR strategist. He will do whatever it takes, even if it requires playing dirty. When he realizes that his new “assignment” happens to have a weakness in the form of the stunning woman that shows up on his arm to a political function, he knows he needs to get rid of her by any means necessary. What he doesn’t expect is to be lured in by her beauty and intriguing vulnerability himself…

Don’t worry. I won’t tell your secrets,” I whisper.
“You ARE the secret,” she whispered back.

Gabrielle Kitrick may be my favorite heroine I’ve read of Finn’s in a while. She’s this endearing combination of vulnerability and strength. The way that the author unveils all her layers though each chapter only serves to connect you to her even more. She may be a high priced escort, but she has a damn good reason for doing what she does. She’s not one of those in your face with her sexuality heroines, yet she doesn’t exactly berate herself about it either. When the devastatingly handsome Keegan shows up instead of her ‘client’ and propositions her for a night, the pull between them is too strong for her to refuse and so she gives in.

You want me to kiss it and make it feel better again, all those feelings you have bottled up inside, torturing you? Our lips sure do know how to make it disappear, don’t they?

What begins is a dangerous push and pull between two people that have everything to lose and yet chose to loose themselves in each other. The chemistry between them is undeniable and you can practically feel the electric current that crackles between them. The fact that you’re basically reading the book just waiting for the other shoe to drop makes it for one absolutely unputdownable read.

You know that something will go wrong, but you don’t know when or how. And that particular weight is a shadow over each and every one of their stolen interactions.

He leaned down, kissing my shoulder and then up to my ear. “Use me,” he whispered. ” I know you need to.”

The one thing that this author knows how to do amazingly well is give her characters an incredible amount of depth and you certainly feel that with both Keegan and Gabe. Keegan is a wonderfully multi-layered character. He may be ruthless when it comes to his job and he may not be able to control some of the insults that fly out of his mouth in the heat of the moment, but there’s also something so incredibly vulnerable about him too. The way that these emotions of his get unveiled is utterly delicious. With each new chapter brings an added depth to him and you can’t help but fall for him even though you know that he just may be Gabe’s ultimate demise…

They can’t hurt me. They can’t make some cruel off-the-cuff remark like you and cut me to the bone. The don’t get to make me cry. They can’t truly touch any part of me that really matters. You”- it came out on a rush of breath, trailing into nothing for a moment- “hurt.”

This is a story that kept me glued to the pages from beginning to finish. While I knew what was coming, it still managed to pack in a few surprises with the way everything took place. I believe the point is that the reader ultimately knows what would happen and spend the entirety of the book with their heart in their throat waiting for that other shoe to drop. Finn manages to wrangle quite a few emotions in the process making this not only one sizzling read but something beyond your typical escort book. The pacing is perfection, the characters are phenomenally developed and the story itself is purely addicting. If you haven’t read anything by this author yet, I highly suggest you start with this one. I guarantee you that you’ll be hooked. Elizabeth’s brand of angst just works for me and she seriously outdid herself with Kissed. I can’t wait what else she has in store for us with her future releases.

I’d entered her life too thoughtlessly, too callously, too selfishly, and try as I might to undo that, I’d just never succeeded.