Judith’s review of Cake by Lauren Dane
She won’t be satisfied with just one bite…
Art student-slash-bike messenger Wren Davis pursues what she wants. And what she wants now is Gregori Ivanov, rock star of the Seattle art scene. With his tattoos, piercings and sensual sneer, Gregori is the ultimate bad boy. Wren’s gotten to know the man beneath the body art, too—and it only makes her crave him more.
But Gregori loves women like he loves cake and champagne—intensely, but only for the moment. And after Wren experiences just how scorching sex with Gregori is, she’s determined to show him that just one taste won’t be enough.
This novella is brought to us through a collaboration between Cosmopolitan Magazine and Harlequin publishing. And when I saw the author’s name on this piece I was on it like white on rice. I’ve never met a story by Lauren Dane that I didn’t like and this one is no exception.
I think most of us know people who have constructed a fairly hefty emotional wall around themselves for various reasons. The hero in this piece has been used and abused personally and professionally because he is famous and rich and handsome. The people he has trusted most in the past have been the people who have disappointed him the most. And now there is a young artist who is certainly not making ends meet with her art and who works for a messenger service, a young woman who slowly but surely penetrates Gregori’s emotional walls as she sees him and not his fame and fortune.
This is a story about the nature of true friendship. It is about the validity of being who you really are and being able to see the authenticity in others, a quality that Wren brings to the friendship and ultimately to the relationship that grows between her and Gregori. It is also a story that highlights the determination of one young woman to change the perspective of a man who has become jaded and whose personal life is a true emotional desolation. Somehow Wren brings that genuine kindness and caring into his life, the kind he had become convinced didn’t exist for him.
This read is short and to the point and is as hot as advertised. Yet it has a truly compelling message about what it means to be connected beyond the one night stand kind of temporary involvement that had become the norm for this very talented man. It won’t take up very much time but it is the kind of read that will be fun and entertaining. It’s worth the time to enjoy.
I give it a rating of 3.75 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Cosmo Red Hot Reads from Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
I liked this one,but I missed the I could have done with more – just like when I have cake!