Cela knows how to be good. She’s had a lifetime of practice. But on the night of her college graduation, she decides she’s earned one wild night before she has to move back home to her overprotective family. So when the hot neighbor she’s been quietly fantasizing about for a year suggests a game of Never Have I Ever, she’s ready. But what starts out as a simple game takes an unexpected turn. Because Ian Foster doesn’t play games he can’t win.

Foster knows his desires aren’t for the faint of heart, especially not for someone as sweet and innocent as his pretty neighbor. But when Cela shows up at his door with an invitation that surprises him, he can’t resist indulging. Cela has no idea what she’s in for. The secret dark side of this man’s need will both intrigue and terrify her. But Cela has a secret of her own—and a new game to see just how far they’re both willing to go, and how much they’re willing to risk by crossing every boundary of desire.

CHAPTER 1

“Andre, this isn’t a good time. Can I call you back?”

I did my best not to let my cell phone slip from between my ear and shoulder. Just don’t drop the tequila. I adjusted the enormous bottle my friend, Bailey, had given me as a graduation present from my right hand to beneath my left arm and tried to dig my keys out of my purse so I could open the main door to my apartment building.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to make it, Cela,” my older brother said, his guilt obviously trumping my request to call him later. “I got caught at an investigation site this morning. I thought I’d be able to get there in time, but we had a witness wanting to talk and….”

I cursed silently as my keys hit the pavement. I crouched down, doing my best not to flash my underwear to anyone who may be passing by. “Really, it’s fine. They called my name. I walked across the stage and got a piece of paper and a sash for being summa cum laude. Papá yelled my name like he was at a baseball game instead of a ceremony. Mamá cried. We all went to lunch at Rosario’s and then the two of them headed back to the airport. Not that interesting.”

My brother’s heavy sigh said everything. I almost felt guilty that he felt so guilty. “Before you move back home next month, we’re getting together to celebrate. My baby sister, the doctor. I’m so proud I could burst.”

I smiled. I did like the sound of that. Dr. Marcela Medina, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Seven years of exams and studying and clinics, but it was finally done. Now it was time to leave Dallas and head back home to Verde Pass and take up the slack in my dad’s practice.

That last part had my smile faltering a bit. I hooked my key ring with my finger and wobbled back to a stand. “That’s sounds great. But I really have to get going. I have my hands full and need to get through the door.”

“Cela, you know better than to carry too much. Parking lots at night are one of the most dangerous places for women. Are you holding your mace?” he asked, his voice going into that bossy cop tone I was all too familiar with.

“It’s in my hand,” I lied, trying to remember where I’d stowed the last little canister he’d given me—probably in my junk drawer. “But I don’t have a free hand to pull the door open.”

“All right,” he said, placated. “Congratulations again. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

The phone call ended but I didn’t have a way to take the phone off my ear, so I just shuffled forward in a sideways hunch, trying to juggle everything I was holding to get my key into the door. After two attempts, I got the lock turned and pressed my back against the glass door to push my way into the lobby.

As soon as I’d cleared the entrance and turned toward the stairs, male voices sounded behind me. Of course someone would show up right after I didn’t need help anymore. I peeked back to see who it was, Andre’s danger warnings still echoing in my head, but found something more distracting than criminals—my neighbors, Foster and Pike.

Foster stepped through the main door first and glanced my way. As usual, everything went melty inside me, his smile like a zap of heat to my system. Ridiculous. “Need some help, neighbor?”

I straightened, but forgot about my phone in the process. My brand new I-

Phone went sliding off my shoulder.

“Crap!” I lurched forward, trying to save it from its imminent demise, and accidentally dropped my plastic bag of Chinese takeout on the way.

“Whoa, there.” Pike, Foster’s roommate, was at my side in a second. His hand caught my elbow, saving me from losing the ginormous bottle of liquor along with my balance. But my phone clattered to the ground, the harsh sound mixing with the splat of my noodles hitting tile.

I winced, anticipating a broken screen. “Dammit.”

Foster bent down, his tie brushing the ground as he swept my phone off the floor. He peered at the screen, dark brows lowering over pale eyes, then he turned the phone toward me—the happy puppy screensaver staring back at me in tact. “All is well. Luckily, these things are built to take a licking.”

My brain got snagged on the work lick, and the back of my neck went hot. My lips parted, but words failed me. Great, imitate a gaping goldfish–that’s cute.

Pike cleared his throat, easing the tequila from my arms, and then crouched down near the open bag at my feet. He grabbed a noodle from the spilled box of Chinese food, tipped his head back and dropped it into his mouth, his eyes watching mine. “The lomein’s a loss, though.”

I swallowed hard, his gaze even more bad boy than the tattoos peeking out from his open collar. His pierced tongue snaked around the noodle. Look away. I forced my face upward, but then ended up focusing on Foster again. Say something. God, I was standing there like an idiot. This was why I always avoided these two like they were contagious. They made me go stupid.

Foster held out my phone, and I managed to take it, the slight brush of his fingers against mine hitting the reset button in my brain. I managed a feeble, “Thank you.”

Foster glanced at the mess on the floor. “I’m really sorry I said anything. I didn’t mean to distract you from your intricate juggling act.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been trying to carry everything at once. It’s been a long day, and I was hoping to save myself a second trip up the stairs.”

“The joys of a walk-up.” Pike grabbed a few napkins and started cleaning up the noodles at my feet like it was his mess to worry about.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” I lowered down to my knees. “I’ll take care of it.”

He grinned over at me, the mirror opposite of his roommate. Ian Foster was all suits and dark looks—a man who preferred to be called by his surname. Whereas, Pike didn’t seem to even have a last name. He was a drummer in some popular local band—jeans, a sex-on-the-mind-smile, and spiked, bleached hair his usual uniform. Not that I had studied either of them. Or listened to their escapades through the wall I shared with them. Not at all.

Keep telling yourself that, Cela.

Despite my protest, Pike helped me finish picking up the mess. “So what’s the big ass bottle of tequila for? No one could’ve had that bad of a day.”

I glanced over at the bottle I’d set on the floor, debating whether I could be trusted to have normal conversation with these two without sounding like I had a speech impediment. “I, uh, graduated today. It was a gift.”

“Oh, right on.”

“Congratulations, Cela,” Foster said. Just the sound of him saying my name in that smooth, dark voice had my stomach clenching. He was all southern refinement, but I didn’t miss the glimmer of a drawl underneath it all.

Ay diosmio. My body clamored to attention like an eager Labrador ready to be petted. Down, girl. These guys were way above my pay grade. I wasn’t dumb or delusional. I’d seen/spied on/secretly hated the women who’d passed through their apartment door—women who looked like they’d earned their doctorates in the art of seduction.

I hadn’t even reached the kindergarten level in that particular department.

“Thank you.”

“You were going to vet school at Dallas U, right?” Foster had tucked his hands in the pockets of his slacks, and though the question was casual, I had the distinct impression he was tense beneath that suit jacket.

Pike handed me a napkin for my hands and stood to toss the food into a nearby trash can.

I wiped off my hands and pushed myself to my feet, trying to do it as gracefully as possible in my restrictive skirt. “Yes, how’d you know that?”

“The scrubs you wear have the school insignia on them,” Foster said, as if it was totally normal that he’d looked at me that closely.

“Observant.” Especially considering I usually only managed a head-down, mumbled hey-how-are-ya exchange when we passed each other in the hallway. Secretly listening to one of your hot neighbors having sex had a way of making eye contact a bit uncomfortable the next day—particularly if said eavesdropper had used the soundtrack to fuel her own interlude with her battery-operated boyfriend.

Not that I had. Several times. Whatever.

Pike sidled up next to Foster—a motley pair if there ever was one. “So, doc, now that you’ve got no dinner and clearly too much liquor on your hands, why don’t you join us? We already have pizza on the way, and we can play a drinking game with the tequila. Do college kids still play Never Have I Ever? I was always good at that one.”

Kid? Is that what they saw me as? Neither of them could be that much older than I was. Though in terms of life experience, I had no doubt they trumped me a few times over.

“Oh, no, that’s okay.” The refusal was automatic, long practiced. How many times had I turned down such offers—from guys, from friends? My parents had been so strict when I was younger that I almost didn’t know how to say yes even after living on my own the last few years. Studies first. Fun later. Yet, there never seemed to be any time for fun after the first one was finished.

“You sure? I don’t want you going to bed with no dinner because of us,” Foster said, frown lines marring that perfect mouth of his.

Going to bed and us was about all I heard. My father’s stern voice whispered in my ear. You don’t know these men. You’ll be all alone in their apartment. Medina women have more respect for themselves than that.

“Really, I’m fine. I had a big lunch,” I said, my smile brief, plastic. “But thanks.”

“Oh, come on,” Pike said, his tone cajoling. “We’ve been neighbors for what, two years? We should at least get to know a little about each other.”

Get to know each other? I knew that Foster was loud when he came—even if he was alone. Knew that Pike liked to laugh during sex. Knew the two men shared women. And the other sounds I’d heard over the last two years…the smacks, the commands, the erotic screams. My face went as hot as if I’d stuck my head in an oven.

“Y’all just want me for my tequila,” I said, attempting to deflect my derailing thoughts.

The corner of Pike’s mouth lifted. “Of course that’s not all we want you for.”

“Uh…” Oh, hell. Pictures flashed across my brain. Dirty, delicious pictures. I almost dropped my phone again. I had no idea what to do with my hands, my expression.

Foster put a hand on Pike’s shoulder. “The lady said no. I think we should let her go celebrate her graduation however she wants.”

“All right.” Pike’s face turned hang dog, but he handed me the tequila bottle. “If you change your mind, we’ve got big plans. Supreme pizza and a Star-Wars-themed porn marathon. The Empire Sucks C—”

Foster smacked the back of Pike’s head, and Pike ducked and laughed.

“Kidding. I mean, a Jane Austen marathon,” Pike corrected, his green-gold eyes solemn. “Pride and Pu—”

Foster was behind Pike, his hand clamping over his friend’s mouth in a flash. “I seriously can’t take him out. He’s like an untrained puppy. Maybe you can lend me a shock collar or something.”

Pike waggled his eyebrows, all playful wickedness.

I laughed, putting my hand to my too hot forehead, and turning toward the stairs. “Yeah, so, I’m going to go now.”

“Cela,” Foster said as I put my foot onto the first step.

I glanced back. “Yeah?”

His ice melt eyes flicked downward, his gaze alighting along the length of me before tracing their way upward again in a slow, unashamed perusal. “Promise you won’t go to bed hungry.”

I wet my lips, my skin suddenly feeling too tight to accommodate the blood pumping beneath it, and nodded.

But it was a lie.

I always went to bed hungry.

And it had nothing to do with a spilled dinner.

4 Stars

Never have I ever…

Broken the Rules.

Had a one-night stand.

Lived out a fantasy.

Slept with the hot neighbors I’ve been crushing on for a year.

Lost Control.

But I want to…

First of all, if you haven’t read any other books by this fantastic author, you’re seriously missing out. If you liked erotic BDSM romance than you really need to read her Loving on the Edge series. I first fell in love with this series when I stumbled onto the very first book, Crash into You and absolutely loved it. Not Until You was originally written as a serial spin off from that series, with the heroine being Cela, who is the younger sister of Andre (the hero from Melt into You). I knew right away that I wanted to read it, but my poor impatient self just couldn’t bring myself to read it one crumble at a time…so I waited for the full serial to be out and read it as a full book.

I was spellbound. Things like this did’t happen in my life. I didn’t allow them to. My world was safely constructed and populated with people who didn’t push my boundaries.

Marcela or Cela has been a good girl all her life, constantly feeling the pressure to be the obedient child while stuck under her father’s overbearing thumb. Now she’s finally achieved her goal of graduating veterinary school and is preparing to go back to the family nest to join her father’s practice. But before she does that, she wants to truly experience passion and life…and what’s a better way to do that then one sinfully sex night with her two incredibly sexy neighbors.

Now before you go getting any ideas, while this book does have a VERY hot MFM scene, it is NOT a MFM romance. It’s made clear from the very first encounter that the true passions burns the hottest between Cela and Foster.

You want to play this game, angel, and know what I’m really like? Want to see what you think is such a little issue? Because I’ve had a real bad day, and there’s nothing I’d like more right now than to fuck that notion right out of you.

Foster was absolute perfection. He was also a breath of fresh air since he was (are you sitting down for this) a dom that actually WANTED a relationship and a commitment of having a sub. That’s not to say that he doesn’t have issues, because he had those aplenty. Guilt from a tragedy from his past, fear of the woman he wants not wanting his particular brand of dominance. He falls hard and fast for Cela (though no insta-love found here), but he’s afraid that she’s just sowing her wild oats with him.

It was the perfect moment.
With the perfect woman.
And for just those few minutes, as they rolled over and curled into each other, he let himself imagine that it wouldn’t be temporary. That’d he’d found that girl.

Cela develops feelings for Foster but she’s afraid of being weak or getting out from one man’s thumb and right under another. She struggles with her submissive nature and questions their relationship.

I really enjoyed this book, but I also felt that it was a little dragged out at parts. I found myself skimming through parts of the book since my interest would wane. But this wasn’t frequent and didn’t last long.

My only other quibble is Foster’s constant use of the “angel” endearment. It drove me a little batty. I understand that was his “thing” for her, but switching it up at times wouldn’t have hurt. It was used 153 times. And I’m a reader that tends to nitpick, so you can tell my dilemma here.

But nonetheless, the book was still highly entertaining, the romance was sizzling, and even considering my 2 quibbles I did still really like it.

There is also a bonus novella included here, So Into You. Which was a nice little addition to the book. I loved getting Bret’s story since she really intrigued me in Cela and Foster’s book.

If you’re wondering if you can read this without having read the other books in the series? Absolutely. Though if you’ve read Melt into You, you’ll appreciate the appearance of Andre, Jace and Evan in this one. However, it can easily be read as a standalone.

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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Sometimes before we fall . . . we fly.

One dark moment was all it took to turn twenty-four-year-old Dominic Kinkaide’s world black. On the night of his high school graduation, a single incident changed him forever, and he became a hardened man-famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured inside. Now all he cares about is losing himself in the roles that he plays.

At twenty-three years old, Jacey Vincent doesn’t realize how much her father’s indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn’t one specific moment that wrecks a person, but an absence of moments. She tries to find acceptance in the arms of men to fill the void-a plan that has worked just fine for her, until she meets Dominic.

When jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, the combination of his secrets and her issues turns their attraction into the perfect storm. It could change their lives for good-if it doesn’t tear them both apart . . .

“Are you feeling warm yet?”

I watch his lips as he speaks the words, husky and low. His lips are full, yet manly and suddenly I ache to lean over and press mine to his, to touch them in any way that I can.

But I don’t.

Because I’m not a girl who gets used. Not anymore.

“No, not at all.”

But Dominic takes that as a challenge. He’s not used to hearing the word no and he’s not about to start now. I see that in his dark eyes a scant moment before he dips his head and consumes my mouth.

I say consume, instead of kiss, because that’s what he does.

He consumes me.

His lips are fiery and hot and he kisses me with a fierceness that touches a secret part of me; moist, hot, firm, sexy. I want to inhale him, to suck him down. I vaguely feel his hands on my back, his warmth emanating through my clothes, his hardness pushing into my softness.

I’m breathless when he pulls away.

“What about now?”

For the life of me, I’m afraid to answer that. Instead I pull away, just a bit, just enough that there is some space between us, but I can still absorb his warmth. As my teeth chatter, both from the cold and from the sudden absence of his lips, I answer.

“I’m good.”

He laughs, a husky, low, naughty sound.

“Oh, I’m sure of that.”

And just like that, I’m drawn back in . . . in toward his sexy smile, his arrogant gaze, and his knowing smirk. He’s bad for me. Very bad for me. I’ve got to remember that.

He will decimate you, I tell myself.

But my problem is, every time I look into his dark eyes and see the mysterious things that lurk there, I forget that. I forget everything that is supposed to matter.

Dominic is trouble. And I don’t need any more trouble in my life. I’m turning over a new leaf and I’m making good choices. Dominic Kinkaide is a bad, bad choice.

I know that whenever I pick up a book by Courtney Cole I am in for one dark and angsty emotional roller coaster ride. Book 2 in the series, If You Leave continues to be one of my favorite books this year. That being said, I was hesitant to pick this one since I wanted to throttle Jacey in that book. I’m not even exaggerating. I hated her. I was pretty sure that there would need to be a miracle for me to develop any semblance of like toward her. So why was I still anticipating this book? Because I couldn’t wait to see what kind of magic Courtney had in store to endear us to Jacey as the heroine.

So did I like it? Did Courtney Cole manage to do the impossible and actually get me to like Jacey?

For those that have read this series before, you know exactly what you are in for. Though I felt that Dom was possibly the darkest and most intense of the previous two books.

For those that have never read this series, Beautifully Broken is a light, easy, and fluffy read with perfect heroes and sweet heroines…
HA!

Had you going there for a second though, didn’t I?

No, there is nothing light, fluffy, or easy about this book. This is a story about 2 flawed people that start of on a rocky relationship that will either put them back together again or shatter them once and for all.

To say that Dominic was fucked up would probably be one hell of an understatement. You know the second you meet him that this is a man that is hiding some very dark demons beneath his sexy as sin exterior.

Dom learned early in life that the only thing that’s guaranteed in life is betrayal and pain. So he doesn’t let anyone in. He wears a facade that’s so well constructed even he has trouble recalling who he once was.

My problem is that I’m stuck in limbo… I don’t want to remember and I don’t want to forget. If I remember, it hurts like hell. But if I forget, it might happen again.

He hides beneath meaningless hookups, nameless women, his work, and alcohol. In short? He’s a jaded asshole. But can you really blame the guy? He’s a famous actor that women pretty much throw themselves at.

Jacey struggles with demons of her own. After a stupid lack in judgement causes a devastating outcome she is determined to turn her life around and be a better, more responsible person. But then she crosses paths with Dominic fucking Kinkaide. She can’t help but feel attracted to the sexy movie star.

But before long the undeniable attraction between them leads to something much more. But can Jacey break through the impenetrable emotional armor that Dom hides behind, without getting broken in the process?

He’s dangerous to me. Because even though this is supposed to be fun, temporary, and lighthearted, I can feel myself getting pulled in. I feel myself getting getting attached and I can’t do that. That wasn’t supposed to be part of this.

But Dom knows that the secrets he has he will never be able to get over. They’ve broken him, and they can only hurt anyone that gets close enough to even attempt to reach them.

Jacey, I’m not good. I’m the opposite of good. Have you ever wondered if people are monsters inside, down where no one can see? Because I don’t have to wonder. I know that I am.

There was the intricate back and forth dance of ‘I want you’ but ‘I can’t’, followed by ‘I want you’ but ‘I shouldn’t’. Which after a little while left me feeling a little bit like

It got to be a bit much, even for an angst whore like me. I wanted Jacey to be a little more harder at times and say no to Dom and not give in as easily as she seemed to. But then little by little we began getting more intimate glimpses of the man that Dom tries so hard to keep hidden.

What are you afraid of, Dominic? Really? What are you afraid of?”
“Everything.”

I thought that I was heading toward a 3.5 star read in the first half of the book. But then BAM! At 75 percent all hell starts to break loose and I was glued to my kindle wanting to find out what happens. I was an emotional and ugly crying mess. Of all the things I thought that Dominic was living with, I didn’t see that one coming. But then as if that wasn’t enough, Courtney Cole went and threw in a mother of all twists…

IT.WAS.GUT.WRENCHING.

The last 25% brought the book up to a 4 star book for me. It was THAT good.

Dominic and Jacey relationship was filled with many bumps. It was emotional, it was devastating, it was also steamy as hell.

I was a little taken aback by a certain event in the epilogue, though. I’m not sure why, but it just seemed a little out of place in this series for me. I can’t say it was either bad or good, just weird…I guess?

If you like angtsy, steamy, and emotional NA romance books, definitely give this series a shot. Although each book can be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading the entire series in order.

Courtney Cole is a New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author who lives near Lake Michigan with her family.  

She’s always working on her next project… or staring dreamily out her office window.

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