Virginal Kimber Edgington needs some rather unorthodox lessons fast – in the
art of ménage á trois! She is determined to prove to her long-time friend
and crush Jesse that she can handle his rock-star lifestyle and sexual
eccentricities and be the woman he needs. Who better to ask for help than a
man known for his preference to share his women with other men? Never mind
that she and Deke never quite got along when he worked for her father while
she was in her teens. With Deke’s cousin, the delicious Luc Traverson,
rounding out the threesome, she figures she can handle anything Deke throws
at her during her ‘training’ – especially when the sexy chef makes it clear
he is more than willing to accommodate her needs, with or without Deke’s
help…
Bodyguard Deke Trenton could barely stand to be around Kimber when she was a
teen-ager. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her – he liked her TOO much! But
she was jailbait for him and he knew it, prompting him to leave her father’s
employ before he found himself in more trouble than he knew what to do
with. Finding her literally on his doorstep all these years later was
unexpected enough, but he never could have imagined the grown-up Kimber
would come asking him to introduce her into the world of threesomes! His
body is more than willing to teach her everything she wants and more, but
once he has a taste of her considerable charms, his heart can’t seem to
accept the idea of letting her go when her tutoring is finished even though
his mind fights these new feelings every step of the way…
When an unseen menace threatens Kimber’s life, Deke and Luc pull out all the
stops to keep her safe and under their wing – and none of their lives will
ever be the same again!
Fans
of Shayla Black’s book Wicked Ties will be high as a kite when
they finally get their hands on their very own copy of its sequel,
Decadent, in October 2007! There is not a single person I have
spoken with who has read Wicked Ties and done anything but
loved it and I know the same will be true of this follow-up story.
We initially met one of our lead characters, Deke Trenton, in the first book
when he helped Jack and Morgan, going above and beyond the call of duty…
LOL! Black whets our appetite but good for more of this rogue’s story, and
she has not disappointed her readers with Decadent. While
intriguing and mischievous before, Deke turns out to be a very complex
character for whom nothing is superfluous – there are reasons for everything
he is today, and unraveling his multi-layered psyche proves as fascinating
as his numerous sexual exploits… Completely Alpha, brash, confused, and
wonderfully (dare I say it?) Decadent, Deke takes us on the
ride of our lives as he struggles to come to grips with what he thinks he
wants and what his heart demands. Deke is all at once maddening, sexy and
frustrating as all get out, but regardless of how mad he makes you
sometimes, you can’t help but love him. Fighting himself is difficult
enough, but fighting Kimber proves impossible – especially when his cousin
Luc aligns his loyalties with her in the battle for Deke’s love.
Deke
has more than met his match in heroine Kimber Edgington! Raised by three
military men – her father and two older brothers, she can take just about
anything Deke can dish out. She has handled men like him her entire life,
and refuses to be dissuaded by his reluctance to become involved with her.
Of course, she has a bit of her own personal confusion to work through first
– namely her relationship with the wayward rock star, Jesse. Having set her
sights on a goal, Kimber attacks her mission in a very military fashion –
with single-minded focus, and doesn’t realize the end game has changed until
it is too late… Or is it?
Luc Traverson balances out the ménage nicely with his smooth demeanor,
maneuvering Kimber and Deke deftly, with benefit to all concerned. He
provides the glue that binds the trio together, albeit precariously, but are
his machinations purely altruistic, or is there more to Luc than meets the
eye?
Sensitive readers
should be warned: this book is smoldering hot, and contains numerous ménage
á trois scenes, all M/F/M (no M/M is in this book). Of course, that is a
selling point for many of us! LOL I have to say, both Wicked Ties
and Decadent are enough to make you curious about things you
have never been curious about before, but the two together – WOW! I am
almost thankful for the wait between the two books’ releases – I’m afraid
I’d have had a nuclear meltdown if I had read them back to back! Who am I
kidding? If they’d both been released before I’d read the first, I wouldn’t
have stopped reading until I finished them both.
Avid fans of this author know that she writes as both Shelley Bradley and
Shayla Black, publishing her spicier novels under the Shayla Black moniker.
No matter which pen name she is using, this author can always be relied on
to spin a fascinating story with fully-fleshed characters that engage the
reader from page one, and keep you turning the page until you finish the
book! I know this book, like her others, kept me up way too late on a work
night, but once I started it I knew I could never sleep until the story
ended!
I look forward to many more stories in this series – between the first two
books alone, there are at least four or five characters I would dearly love
to see books for – and I have no doubt that each new book will spawn longing
for still more!
Brimming with the most tantalizing love scenes and two undeniably
mouth-watering heroes, Decadent is undoubtedly one of the
hottest books this year! But underneath it all, Shayla Black has nestled
one of the most touching stories of romantic love you will read this year.
Decadent will sweep you up and run you through a gamut of
emotions - frustration, desire, fear, love, and more – until it finally
leaves you ultimately satisfied.
Reviewed by Jennifer
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Decadent
Shayla Black
ISBN: 9780425217214
Berkley Trade/Berkley Heat
October 2, 2007
Erotica
Contemporary Romance
Trade Paperback
Rating:
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