Nina is a young woman with many fears – elevators, subways, many confined spaces – but she’s determined to go to nursing school in New York anyway.
Moving in with an old childhood friend, Ryan, and his girlfriend Tarah, she finds that their third roommate is the excessively attractive Jake. Jake is also an engineer and a whiz at Nina’s least favorite subject, math, so he offers her tutoring in exchange for a deal; if she doesn’t get an A on her tests, she has to confront one of her fears. Their relationship quickly deepens into both close friendship and passionate love – but he’s got a secret life she doesn’t know about, and it could jeopardize everything they’re building. Can Nina ever forgive him when she learns the truth? Can they work out a way to be together?
This is an electrically passionate love story, with a great deal of sexual tension. Jake manages to be totally masculine while at the same time demonstrating a very tender, warmhearted and gentle personality. Nina’s fears (and their source) are vividly described, giving the reader a sense of her panic, and allowing us to appreciate the courage it takes for her to overcome them, even with Jake’s loving help.
Their romance grows naturally, their connection developing naturally from initial attraction to real love, with a solid friendship rooting it. The sex scenes are intense and sensual, and the spaces in between are, if anything, even more charged. However, the book isn’t without its bright, light touches, either (the champagne party in the elevator, for example), which provide a bit of comic relief.
Occasionally the story veers towards the melodramatic, sometimes going a bit over the edge. (Jake’s poetry is a particular offender here – frankly, he ought to stick to the origami bats.) In the last chapter, too, another sudden emotional conflict is introduced, most of which has been taking place offstage between the previous chapter and that one, which feels a bit gratuitous.
If you’re after emotional tenderness that’s sweet without requiring an insulin shot, spiced with a substantial quality of erotic heat, this is a good book for you.
Reviewed by Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader