Year of the Category Review: Amorous Liaisons by Sarah Mayberry

Max Laurent has always wanted Maddy Green. But he let her go once before rather than stand between her and her dreams. Now she’s on his Paris doorstep, needing a place to stay. She’s just as hot and he wants her just as much. How can he resist seducing her?

When Maddy’s world falls apart, it’s only natural that she turns to Max for support. But fall into his bed? Never…until one steamy night, that is. And having had a taste of him, she’s hungry for more. Then she has the chance to resume her career, although it means leaving him. Can she throw away the best sex—and the best friend—she’s ever had?

Maddy is a prima ballerina. She has worked her way to the top and is on a road that she loves when a knee injury and the resulting surgery slow her down. Now the dance company’s doctor says that she’s done dancing and the owner of the company agrees and let’s her go. Maddy is extremely upset and is anxious to seek out one of her friends who can make her feel better. When she thinks of that person she thinks of ex-dancer Max who was always able to make her feel better. She hasn’t seen him in 8 years but what does that matter? She hops a plane from Sydney, Australia straight to Paris, France and hardly stops to pack a bag. When she knocks on Max’s door he’s more than a little shocked.

Max was also on his way to a fabulous dance career himself when he gave it all up to take care of his father who was ill. His father recently died and now he’s following another of his dreams – of being a sculptor. Way back when (10 years before) Max had been madly in love with Maddy. The pain of leaving her and getting over his feelings were horrible. Now Maddy’s on his doorstep and he’s realizing that he never really stopped loving Maddy, he just pushed his feelings down into himself where they didn’t hurt so much.
Maddy is not dealing with not being a ballerina so well. She’s having problems with her emotions which was completely understandable. She didn’t know what to do with herself or her life. She talks Max into letting her model for his sculptures when his regular model cancels even though she has to model in the nude. Max tries his best to act comfortable and not attack Maddy while she’s modeling but barely restrains himself. After the first session Max has to hit a cold shower immediately only that doesn’t do the trick. Maddy catches him in the shower jacking off and is suddenly seeing Max more in the “hot man” light rather than the “friend” light. Sexual relationship ensues.
I have to say that I really liked Max in this book. He was an upstanding guy who did what he needed to do when his father took ill. It wasn’t what he planned to do with his life but he did it and did it well and with love. Even with his sister, who has a child with Autism, he is there for her when she needs him. He’s very patient with Maddy. He more or less knows what she’s going through since he had to give up dance so many years before and tries to be there for her without coddling her.Maddy took some getting used to. She was very wrapped up in herself but I tried to see things from her point of view. She had lost the biggest thing in her life and didn’t know how to go on. But it seemed that she was set to go in one direction and then she’d change her mind and go another. After a bit I was rolling my eyes at her. I couldn’t quite say that I enjoyed her character until near the very end of the book.The story I wasn’t too much of a fan of. As much as I liked Max it was 2 adults who had no clue how to communicate with each other unless it was as friends or having sex. When it came to a loving relationship I’m not sure they knew what to say to each other. They couldn’t speak their feelings but yet at one point one couldn’t understand why the other didn’t know how they felt. It’s that whole, woman expects man to just know how she’s feeling. And yeah, as far as I know, that never really works out. Some men just have to be told. It was frustrating to read for me.
This was my first Mayberry book and though I wasn’t completely thrilled with the story itself I really enjoyed Mayberry’s writing. It was easy to read and I never felt like I wanted to put the book down or just move on to the next chapter. Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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