New Release Review! FALLING UNDER YOU by Laurelin Page (Fixed series #4.5; a 1001 Dark Nights novella)

FALLING UNDER YOU, a standalone novella brought to you by 1001 Dark Nights, is a delicious glimpse back into the world of Laurelin Paige’s bestselling erotic contemporary romance Fixed Trilogy Series! Grab your copy of this hot novella today!

About FALLING UNDER YOU:

Norma Anders has always prided herself on her intelligence and determination. She climbed out of poverty, put herself through school and is now a chief financial advisor at Pierce Industries. She’s certainly a woman who won’t be topped. Not in business anyway.

But she’s pretty sure she’d like to be topped in the bedroom.

Unfortunately most men see independence and ambition in a woman and they run. Even her dominant boss, Hudson Pierce has turned down her advances, leaving her to fear that she will never find the lover she’s longing for.

Then the most unlikely candidate steps up. Boyd, her much-too-young and oh-so-hot assistant surprises her one night with bold suggestions and an authoritative demeanor he’s never shown her in the office.

It’s a bad idea…such a deliciously bad idea…but when Boyd takes the reins and leads her to sensual bliss she’s never known, the headstrong Norma can’t help but fall under his command.

Excerpt:

I pushed the door open and stepped onto the rooftop, grateful for the empty landscape if not for the hot, muggy night. Escape. That’s what this was. A much-needed escape.

I walked over to the railing and looked down at the street below, but my attention was still on the scene I’d just left. The awkward, horribly embarrassing scene. I groaned out loud. I could still see the look on Hudson’s face when I’d cornered him in the hallway and kissed him. Could still hear the disdain in his voice as he’d pushed me away and said, “You don’t want what I have to give, Norma. Trust me.”

But I did want what he had to give. At least, I was pretty sure I did. After the disappointing series of men I’d dated who’d failed to satisfy me in the bedroom, I’d realized I craved a lover with the confident, powerful strength of a man like Hudson Pierce. A man who controlled and had authority over me in every way possible. I’d thought that he would be the one guy who could handle that I was a smart, successful woman without letting it intimidate him. As his chief financial advisor, I’d been his right hand “man” for years. Couldn’t I also be the perfect companion elsewhere? The potential of the power couple we could make was scary and thrilling all at once.

Apparently, he didn’t have the same vision.

My flaws ran through my mind like bullet points on a PowerPoint presentation.

Too old (thirty-four, which was only a digit off from thirty-five)

Too serious (how else did a woman get to where I was in the business world?)

Too independent (I didn’t depend on anyone for anything, though I’d prefer the real deal to my seven-inch battery-operated boyfriend)

Too…not blond (the most frequent hair color of the women I’d seen on Hudson’s arm)

I groaned again. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What the hell had I been thinking? Obviously, I hadn’t been. I couldn’t even blame my behavior on being drunk—though there was plenty of alcohol at the event downstairs, I’d touched nothing but water all evening. The party was meant to be a celebration. Pierce Industries had just closed its highest earning year ever, and I was a key player in that success. Silly me for thinking that a better way to celebrate would be to announce my infatuation with my boss instead of raising a toast like everyone else.

God, Monday was going to suck. How could I face Hudson without turning beet red with shame ever again?

Review:

I liked the powerful woman in the business world/powerful (younger) man in the bedroom dynamic–it was different, and it worked here. Their scenes were truly something else–definitely NSFW! (Not really SF reading while you’re sitting and waiting for your daughter to get her hair done for prom either, but what can you do? ;)) I liked that they were able (once Norma got over the first-day-after awkwardness) to separate work and fun and keep their spheres of power separate…mostly. Frankly, I’m amazed they were able to keep everything under wraps as long as they did–2 1/2 years; impressive!

Since this is a novella, the author makes up for the shorter format by skipping periods of time between chapters–it’s more like a highlight reel of their relationship, with somevery detailed scenes thrown in there from each time period highlighted. Probably if you’ve read the rest of the Fixed series and already know Norma and Boyd, this won’t be a huge deal–even though I hadn’t read the other books, it didn’t bother me all that much. I still felt like we saw enough to get the gist of their relationship and understand where they were each coming from. It would have been nice to have all the blanks filled in with a longer story, but it wasn’t strictly necessary.

This was my first book from this author, but probably not my last!

Rating: 4 stars / B

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

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About Laurelin Paige:

USA Today and New York Times Bestselling Author Laurelin Paige is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio. She is represented by Rebecca Friedman.
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