Illusions — we all create them.
For some it’s to project an impressive image to a prospective employer; for others it’s to attract the eye of another.
My illusion is a bit more…complicated.
Years in the making, my secret has the potential to bite me in the ass. And not in the way I typically enjoy. Sex.
As women, we’re judged for reveling in the same carnal pleasures that men do, but I’ve never been shy about my voracious appetite.
Now, I’m under no illusions that I’ll find love with any of my one night stands.
After all, I have one rule — no repeats — but it’s a rule that’s becoming harder to follow since Evan James came back into my life.
Did I say back into my life?My name is Reagan Spencer, and you may think you know me, but…
How well do we really know anyone?
“Walk with me?” Evan asked.
She gave him a small smile and nodded. “Sure.”
Pushing off the rail, she fell in step with him as they walked along the river’s edge.
“I’d be scared of what you’d see if you looked at me through your lens,” he admitted.
“You shouldn’t.”
Evan scoffed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t imagine there’s much good there…”
“You’d be surprised at what I see.”
That comment had him coming to a standstill. “Would I?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” he said, and started walking again. “Tell me what you see.”
Reagan slid her thumbs down the straps of her camera and cocked her head, looking him over.
“I see a successful man. One who dresses well, even on a Saturday morning. So that would indicate to me that he takes pride in his appearance. Maybe cares about what others think also. The fact that you were leaving a therapist’s office makes me think you’re a man with some issues, but also a man who is willing to work through them. Again, that comes back to pride. You seem to be able to swallow yours when need be.”
Evan’s brow furrowed, but he said nothing as she continued.
“You also have a certain…air about you. It’s in the way you move. You’re confident, but at the same time, when you flash that smile, the arrogance disappears, and you look like the boy you used to be.”
The smile under discussion appeared, and Evan asked, “How do you know what kind of boy I used to be?”
“Hey? This is my story,” Reagan reminded him before he continued asking questions she wasn’t willing to answer.
“Oh, my apologies, I somehow thought it involved me.”
“It does, but you’re on the outside listening, so shh. You asked, remember?”
With a serious face, he nodded. “You would be right.”
“Okay. Now I lost my train of thought.”
Evan chuckled. “Well, it’s probably for the best that you didn’t mention any of my unappealing attributes.”
“Speaking of…” she said, and turned to walk backward, facing him. “How did the therapy session go today?”
“Really great. There was an orgy, a sampling of sex toys, and a dessert buffet afterward. Very satisfying.”
“It wasn’t any one event. It was the high off the power I got from my job, it was being in an unhealthy relationship…my grandparents passing…the worry about following in my parents’ footsteps. The further things spiraled out of my control, the more I craved that control in other parts of my life. Well, a very specific part of my life.”
He glanced over at her before continuing. “Obviously that’s the condensed version, but…I think it helps. Knowing those things and hopefully being able to stop them in the future.”
“But the urge isn’t gone?”
The look in his eyes was haunted as he replied, “No. No, it isn’t gone.”
Within the stirrings of lust she felt every time even his name was mentioned, there was the twinge of something more…something dangerous, and the more she felt herself falling, the more she couldn’t stop herself.
A Desperate Man: Volume 1 introduced us to Evan James, a man deep in the throws of his addiction. A man that’s hit his rock bottom and is now trying to find his way out. Ella and Brooke spared no detail in their introduction of Evan and you certainly get a taste of the man that he is, the man that was, and the man that he desperately wants to find again. A man that has a one night stand with a mysterious gorgeous blonde that turns out to be more. A man that soon realizes that his addiction has now twisted into something else, something different, something more to do with her.
In this book, you get to get to know her, Reagan Spencer, a woman with plenty of her own secrets. Volume 2 is told exclusively in Reagan’s POV and many of the missing puzzle pieces that you may have had in Volume 1 will all begin to cleverly click together.
“I’m having a very strong feeling right now.”
“Well, you should make sure to tell that to the first young lady you sit down with.”
“If she’s a lady, I’m thinking she won’t appreciate that particular feeling.”
“The what does that make me?”
“That makes you fucking dangerous.”
What I really appreciated about this book was the additional depth it added to the story of Evan and Reagan. If you though that it was just a story of a man that has a sex addiction who meets a woman that tempts him to be something better, think again. It’s so much more than that. The authors certainly add a few twists your way that has the plot thickening that much more. I can definitely tell you I did not see any of it coming, but it makes me only that much more anxious for the final installment of this series.
Reagan was a true mystery in the previous book. You really don’t know much about her aside from the fact that her sexual appetite is almost as voracious as Evan’s. She’s no blushing ingenue and she owns her sexuality and makes no excuses about it. Here you’ll get to know the reasoning behind a lot of her actions and let me just tell you…you will not see any of it coming…or at least I didn’t.
While the first 30% of the book was a bit slower paced, when the secrets began to unravel and be revealed, I was thoroughly sucked in. The continuing sexual chemistry between her and Evan certainly didn’t hurt matters either.
I really enjoyed the banter between them here, and the exchanges with the coffee cups was so fun to read too.
If you were unsure of how you felt about Evan in the previous book, I can assure you that you will absolutely fall for him here.
I really can’t wait to see where the final installment brings these two, especially with that ending.
About Brooke
You could say Brooke Blaine was a book-a-holic from the time she knew how to read; she used to tell her mother that curling up with one at 4 a.m. before elementary school was her ‘quiet time.’ Not much has changed except for the espresso I.V. pump she now carries around and the size of her onesie pajamas. Her first solo novel, a romantic comedy, is due out in early 2015, but first, she thought she’d write a raunchy story with her best friend that would scar her conservative southern family for life. If you’d like to get in touch with her, she’s easy to find – just keep an ear out for the Rick Astley ringtone that’s dominated her cell phone for ten years.
Instagram: @brookeblaine1
About Ella
Ella Frank is a #1 Amazon Bestselling Author. She writes both contemporary and erotic fiction and is best known for her Exquisite Series, and Temptation Series. The minute she began her love affair with reading, she became and avid supporter of the romance genre and has never looked back. Ella is Australian born and bred but currently resides in Houston, Texas with her husband.
Don’t miss A Desperate Man: Volume 1, on sale for just $.99 for a LIMITED TIME ONLY!
You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”
