Call On Me
Series: Loving On The Edge #8
Author: Roni Loren
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Oakley Easton wants two things: to be a good mom to her daughter and to ditch her less than ideal night job. Hooking up with bad boy drummer Pike Ryland? Not on the agenda. She needs a promotion. Not sex, tattoos and rock ’n’ roll.
Pike isn’t about to let Ms. Prim and Proper shut him down so easily, especially when he stumbles upon Oakley’s sexy night job. She’s only playing a role on those late night calls with strangers, but when he gets her on the line, all bets are off. He won’t stop until that sultry voice is calling his name for real.
But as they move from anonymous fantasies in the dark to the flesh-on-hot-flesh reality of the bedroom, the risk of falling in love becomes all too high. And the safe, quiet world that Oakley’s worked so hard to create is about to be exposed to the one person who could ruin it all.
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“Don’t tease me, mama. Tell me. In vivid detail preferably.”
She pressed her lips together, humor in her eyes, and looked toward the road. “You sound like one of my callers.”
“You’re dodging my question.”
She nodded. “A fair assessment.”
“How come?”
She glanced down, a self-deprecating smile tugging at her lips. “It’s silly, right? I talk sex for a living but when it comes to talking to you about it, I lock up like some awkward virgin. I had to fight it the first few times we talked on the phone. Now, in person, it’s coming back.”
He appreciated the honesty. “I get it. Everything’s easier when it’s a role. You talk sex as Sasha. But it’s just you here tonight. Same for me. It’s easier for me when I’m the drummer from Darkfall. But the only person you’ve got in this car with you is James Pike Ryland. So don’t feel awkward. We’re on even ground.”
She looked over at him. “Your name is James?”
“It was my father’s name. But my dad walked out when I was five and I started going by Pike since my mom said she couldn’t stand to hear his name in the house. I legally changed it when I joined the band to separate myself from my history, but for some reason, James still feels like my real name. It’s what my brother called me.”
She considered him. “So if I was in here with Pike Ryland, rockstar, how would it be different?”
He laughed. “We are not going to discuss that. You would hate him.”
She turned her body toward him, devious smile beaming. “Oh, no. We have to go there now. I think I got a glimpse of him the first time we met.”
He rubbed the back of his head. How had he gotten trapped in this corner? “Fuck, all right. I do what’s easy. I tell women what they want to hear. Most girls just want to know how hot they are, how great they look in whatever they’re wearing. It’s much more about them and the conquest of landing the band member than it is about me. I figured that out early on. Then it usually ends up with talk of who I know, where I’ve been, all that shit that makes me sound like a big deal.”
Oakley bit her lip like she was trying hard not to laugh.
“What?” he asked, grinning. “That shit totally works.”
“Oh, I have no doubt. I’m sure ten minutes of that and there’s no more talking because the girl’s head is bobbing in your lap. Frankly, I don’t know why you even bother talking. I mean, looking at you is enough. You probably could just unbutton your fly and point.”
His mouth kicked up at the corner. “Yeah? Would that have worked on you?”
“That would’ve gotten you a knee to the balls. And a thank you for showing me where to aim.”
He laughed.
She turned, peering out at the passing mileage signs. “Looking at you is no hardship. You know that. But talking to James Pike Ryland is what got me here. The other guy would’ve never had a chance.”
The gently spoken admission thumped him right in the chest. He focused on the road, trying not to show on his face how the words had affected him. “Thank you, Oakley.”
He would show the lovely Ms. Easton exactly why she wouldn’t be able to walk away from him after one night.
Because that was definitely not an option.
One taste was supposed to satisfy the craving. But Oakley was wasn’t cake, she was heroin. And he was fucking hooked.
Just a few short lines into this book and I was perfectly hooked and I knew I head another winner from Roni Loren on my hands. I’ve been a huge fan of this author since first discovering her Loving On The Edge series years ago. But I have to admit, not one of her other characters had intrigued me quite as much as Pike did when I first met him in Not Until You as the sexy drummer bad boy and Foster’s roommate (who also took part in a very scorching threesome until both Cala and Foster realized they’re meant for each other). I’ve been practically salivating for Pike’s book and HEA ever since. I mean, I ask you, who doesn’t love a tatted up rockstar drummer with a penchant for the kinky sex and dirty talk?
I knew his heroine will have to be something very special to catch his eye and boy was she. I knew I’d love Oakley from just the first chapter. Not often you meet a heroine that’s preparing cupcakes for her daughter while engaging in dirty talk as a sex line operator as her day job. I couldn’t help but giggle as she described the mundane experience of her “night job” while thinking about her chores. The woman had sass a mile long too.
Bad news: It still had destructive taste.
And like a recovering alcoholic, she knew to stay far, far away from that brand of temptation.
Oakley is a young single mom that’s focusing on making ends meet for her and her daughter. She works two jobs so that she can give her autistic daughter everything. Men are definitely not on her to-do list; especially too gorgeous for their own good rockstars.
“You really have to ask?”
“Yeah. I’m asking. What did I do to you? Well, besides make you think really impure thoughts at work. Because let’s face it, that totally happened. It may be happening right now.
Oakley has a history with music and fame, one that burned her and she’s not looking for a trip down memory lane. When a special project at her job forces to her work with Pike, his incessant charm begins to slowly chip away at all her reserves until she finally finds herself giving in. But Oakley knows it can never be anything more than just sex….incredibly hot, possessive, make you scream because it’s so good sex.
Pike is a bad boy you’ll fall for right away. There’s always this undercurrent of vulnerability to him that flashes behind his devil-may-care attitude. When all the pieces of his past begin to click together, your heart will absolutely break for him and everything that he’s been through. While Pike thinks that all he wants is between Oakley’s thighs, he soon begins to realize that what he wants most of all is inside her heart. Oakley is not so easy with her turnaround, however. Her history with men and especially men in the music business is one that left some deep rooted scars. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t soon find herself falling deeper and deeper under Pike’s appeal.
This book was a little bit different from the rest of the series in where The Ranch wasn’t a large part of the sex, if at all. Pike may be a rockstar in bed and out, but he’s not a man that recognizes himself as a Dom or anything else. He likes what he likes and he doesn’t label it. He likes a bite of pain in his sex and he likes a little bondage, but he’s not above letting the woman take control either. While he’s definitely NOT vanilla, the romance between him and Oakley didn’t have a very big BDSM element. So if you’re a reader that doesn’t enjoy much BDSM, you’d definitely enjoy this book.
I absolutely adored Pike. He was a beast in the sack but an absolute sweetheart with Oakley and her daughter. He just had this perfect balance of sweet and badass. And of course I loved the way he gets Oakley out of her shell and straight to the dark and kinky side.
I don’t think there was anything I didn’t enjoy about this book. It was sizzling hot and with a fantastic story that was perfectly paced. The sex was scorching but it never took away from the romance, only added to it. It’s not often you find an author that finds that perfect balance of erotic but without overwhelming it with sex.
Fans of this series will absolutely love Pike and Oakley. And if you haven’t read this series, it’s one I highly recommend. You can easily read this as a standalone, though you’d enjoy it more if you read it in order. There’s some cameos here that I loved hearing more about. I can’t wait for more in this series. It seems like it only keeps getting better and better.
Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. Though she’ll forever be a New Orleans girl at heart, she now lives in Dallas with her husband and son.
If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rockstars, er, rock concerts. Yeah, that’s it. She is the National Bestselling Author of The Loving on the Edge series from Berkley Heat.
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It’s been over a week since I read Toxic and it’s taken me this long to be able to sum my feelings and clear my head enough to rate it. If I can describe this book for you in one word, it would be exhausting. I was absolutely emotionally spent when I finished it. I spent a good 40% of it feeling like I want to rip my hair out. And this is coming from a self-professed angst whore, mind you.
But then here’s the thing; I liked it. Even though the constant back and forth between Phoebe and Jeremy left me feeling like they’re going to give me whiplash, I still liked it and gobbled it up like the angst starved junky that I am. Was it delicious? Heck no! I thought I may choke on it. But god help me, I still liked it. My favorite trope is the second chance romance and Toxic delivers it in spades.
While both Phoebe and Jeremy know they may be toxic together, they can’t stay away from each other. Their chemistry practically crackles in electricity. There’s one thing that’s certain, Kim Karr can write some scorching sex scenes. But the lies between them are like poison that won’t leave. Much as they try to purge it from their relationship it remains that one toxic factor that brews the way for mistrust and mistakes. I think it would be safe to say that neither of these characters are perfect, far from it in fact. These two fuck up so many times it made me want to throttle them and chuck my kindle at the wall. It was rage inducing.
There’s a wealth of secondary characters that were introduced that added to the story in a very significant way. Maybe that’s what helped dilute the angst between Jeremy and Phoebe? It made the book evolve like a movie in front of my eyes and it made me really connect to the characters’ lives. I’m not sure I’d be able to say the same thing if this happened in any other book, but in this one it just worked.
If you’re looking for a book that will enrage you and enrapture you all in one, Toxic is that. It’s a make you want to rip your hair out while still rooting for the characters kind of second chance romance. It was far from perfect, but yet it worked. It may not be for everyone, but if you’re a reader that enjoys your angst in rage inducing proportions while getting an unforgettable second chance romance, Toxic is definitely a must read.
They may not know each other, but that would change. Soon. She was his. That may scare the shit out of her, but not him. The minute she touched him their fate was sealed.
