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A review by lvlewis
Allure by Nina Lane
4.0
If you are able to read Arouse and Allure together, this would be my suggestion, and as you proceed with my review, do so with caution because there be spoilers in them there words below!
It's so very nice to read a book about two grown and sexy people who are married and there's no game playing or series of events contrived to get them together. Apparently, in Arouse, the first book, Liv and Dean's marriage is stretched almost to the breaking point by real conflict that many couples face. The first book ended in somewhat of a cliffhanger because you just know from Dean's reaction to the previous "pregnancy scare" the news Liv shared might not be welcome.
Allure is author Nina Lane's sophomore offering, which is constructed a bit differently than the first book with alternate points of view, sandwiched between flashbacks, much like book one. While writing books preach against the flashback, somehow, I found this worked largely do to the construct of the story. There were only a couple times that flashbacks interrupted something current which I thought could probably have waited for a more opportune time.
The relationship between these two is much stronger than they each agonize over in their heads, and like most stories where you as the reader knows more than the characters, I often found myself muttering to the characters to talk to each other about their fears, their concerns, their hurts real and perceived, for goodness' sake!
Allure picks up where Arouse left off. Liv has shared with Dean that she is, in fact, pregnant despite the scare they experienced previously and they pulled away from each other emotionally. Liv from Dean because she misinterprets his reaction to the pregnancy scare and seeks friendship, solace-something in the friendship with her cooking instructor. Dean draws from his work as a Medieval History expert and Professor at King's College. The pregnancy, even as a happy event, exacerbates the pressure that has already been brought to bear on their relationship.
After a steamy opening scene between the couple, Judge Robert West, Dean's father has a heart attack, necessitating an impromptu visit to Dean's childhood home in California. The dysfunctional lot which is Dean's family give Liv either the cold shoulder or indifference.
As they work to heal the rift in their marriage from events that occurred in book one, they dive headlong into family and work drama unlike anything they endured in book one. Liv's pregnancy and her new resolve to make herself into someone who is more respected than loved by her husband, she reveals to Dean a woman who isn't as fragile as he originally believed. Dean's attempts to temper his protectiveness and assuage his guilt, continue to cause problems, and a new problem on Dean's job tests them both in ways they could never have imagined. There's no dangling cliffhanger at the end, but the reader still comes away wanting to read the next book, because you realize they still have some issues they need to resolve.
As is Nina's style, the writing is crisp, intelligent, and very sexy. As only an erotic romance can be, it is equal parts entertaining and titillating.
I give Allure four out of five stars!
It's so very nice to read a book about two grown and sexy people who are married and there's no game playing or series of events contrived to get them together. Apparently, in Arouse, the first book, Liv and Dean's marriage is stretched almost to the breaking point by real conflict that many couples face. The first book ended in somewhat of a cliffhanger because you just know from Dean's reaction to the previous "pregnancy scare" the news Liv shared might not be welcome.
Allure is author Nina Lane's sophomore offering, which is constructed a bit differently than the first book with alternate points of view, sandwiched between flashbacks, much like book one. While writing books preach against the flashback, somehow, I found this worked largely do to the construct of the story. There were only a couple times that flashbacks interrupted something current which I thought could probably have waited for a more opportune time.
The relationship between these two is much stronger than they each agonize over in their heads, and like most stories where you as the reader knows more than the characters, I often found myself muttering to the characters to talk to each other about their fears, their concerns, their hurts real and perceived, for goodness' sake!
Allure picks up where Arouse left off. Liv has shared with Dean that she is, in fact, pregnant despite the scare they experienced previously and they pulled away from each other emotionally. Liv from Dean because she misinterprets his reaction to the pregnancy scare and seeks friendship, solace-something in the friendship with her cooking instructor. Dean draws from his work as a Medieval History expert and Professor at King's College. The pregnancy, even as a happy event, exacerbates the pressure that has already been brought to bear on their relationship.
After a steamy opening scene between the couple, Judge Robert West, Dean's father has a heart attack, necessitating an impromptu visit to Dean's childhood home in California. The dysfunctional lot which is Dean's family give Liv either the cold shoulder or indifference.
As they work to heal the rift in their marriage from events that occurred in book one, they dive headlong into family and work drama unlike anything they endured in book one. Liv's pregnancy and her new resolve to make herself into someone who is more respected than loved by her husband, she reveals to Dean a woman who isn't as fragile as he originally believed. Dean's attempts to temper his protectiveness and assuage his guilt, continue to cause problems, and a new problem on Dean's job tests them both in ways they could never have imagined. There's no dangling cliffhanger at the end, but the reader still comes away wanting to read the next book, because you realize they still have some issues they need to resolve.
As is Nina's style, the writing is crisp, intelligent, and very sexy. As only an erotic romance can be, it is equal parts entertaining and titillating.
I give Allure four out of five stars!