Friday, July 1, 2011

Review: Provoke Me by Cari Quinn


Title: Provoke Me
Author: Cari Quinn 
Genre: Erotica
Series: Unveiled #2
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Number of Pages: N/A E Book 
Source: Sent to me from the author




Sometimes extreme provocation can lead to exactly what you need…Attracted.
Kelly's focus is the bookstore she manages. Sex is relegated to a list of candidates on her PDA. Only one man pushes all her buttons―her boss.Fascinated. Spencer is determined to fight his desire for Kelly. For years they’ve bumped heads over the store they both love. But there's more than one reason their getting together is complicated.
 Provoked. When Kelly and Spencer unexpectedly meet up at a sex club, all the rules go out the window. Suddenly there’s only way this match of wills can end―naked, preferably all night long. In this battle for sexual supremacy, there are two winners—and two losers when their stubbornness leads to the very thing each dreads most. (goodreads.com)

I know the cover isn't much too look at, but trust me-if you are looking for a hot and steamy read then look no further then Cari Quinn's books. This is the third novella I've read by her, and it's by far my favorite.  This takes place in the same time period as Reveal Me does, only instead of Alana's Point of View, we get Kelly's-whom we met in Reveal Me. In that short, hot novella Alana meets up with an old friend and totally abandons Kelley at the club. She feels badly about it, but we never really learn what happened to Kelly that night.  Well, what happened is the story of Provoke Me.

Kelly works in a bookstore, loves her job and isn't nearly as wild as her friend Alana is. She gets talked into going to this nightclub Kink-where literally anything goes. On one level, it's just a nightclub and on another it's pretty much lets have sex anywhere we want club. The last person Kelley expects to run into at Kink is her boss, Spencer. He's just as surprised to see Kelly there. The chemistry between them sparks. Kelly doesn't really expect to see Spencer at work the next day, because he's a regional manager, and rarely there. However he is there, and she's not sure how to react to him. Spencer is super attracted to her, but is hesitant to pursue her because he's her boss.


What happens next is just sizzling chemistry.  Now, the we shouldn't be together because of (Insert
reason here) has been done a lot, and sometimes it doesn't always work. With Kelly and Spencer it totally works, and I love how both want to be in control and have a hard time giving that control up. When they meet up again at Kink (both go again because they are hoping to run into each other) there are some really hawt sex scenes, and there's even a menage.  I thought I'd have a hard time getting into the story because they hook up at a racy nightclub-but I didn't. The story just works, and there is a lot of story that doesn't include the nightclub or sex.

Spencer is just so darn hot. I usually have a really hard time liking male love interests in contemporary romance because they aren't well, as ego-centric as their counterparts are in Urban Fantasy. (Yes, I know I have book boyfriend issues!) However, I just loved Spencer. He was tough, had some issues but came through at the end. Kelly was great because she didn't take any crap from Spencer and knew what she wanted. The two were just great fun together!  At the end of the book we meet Adam, Spencer's brother who I'm hoping will be in the next book in the series, because something tells me he'll be just as likable as his brother is. :)


Curran  Crush Meter: Medium 
Barrons Hero Hotness Meter: High 
Finn Sidekick Meter; low (I just really had issues with Kellys BFF, Alana.) 
Ethan/Merit Sizzle Meter: High