“I’m completely under his power. He’s controlling my body, possibly my mind, and what’s terrifying is how he’s affecting my heart."
THE TERMS: Part One by Ruby Rowe is a SINFULLY DELICIOUS, guilty pleasure read with twist after mind blowing twist!!!!! This bewitching book consumed me from start to finish. It broke my heart. Made me smile. Cry. Swoon. Shiver in delight. And caught me totally off guard!!!!
Fact. I went in blind thinking I was getting one kind of story but it morphed into something entirely different. This story, which went far beyond the typical enemies to lovers revenge tale, features a rich and powerful computer hacker, Ellis Burke, who blackmails the down on her luck Camilla Rose into moving into his lavish mansion with his three year old nephew, and forces her to be his sexual submissive to extract payment for keeping his dearly departed brother's child a secret.
“Your son is going to be raised as a Burke.”
He blames her in part for Tony's untimely death and wants to punish her mightily for her sins but never expected that his sweet Rose and her precious little boy would breach his lonely existence and tilt his world on its axis. So while this book delivered three-fold on the steamy eroticism, the edge of your seat drama and bristling intensity, what I WASN’T prepared for was the underlying depth, spellbinding mystique and stunning emotional layers that were woven so masterfully into the fabric of this beautifully profound love story.
Ruby Rowe is a PHENOMENAL writer, with a refreshingly unique voice and this combustible tale truly exceeded Every. Single. Expectation.. I relish stories like THE TERMS that explore the transformative power of love and constantly keep you guessing with your heart lodged in your throat until the very end. The tension was so palpable at times I literally held my breath from the sheer anxiety!!! This was a very visceral read for me and the FEELS were unrelenting. I was so enraptured, in fact, that I caught myself clinging to every spoken and unspoken word, analyzing every subtle gesture, found myself reveling in every soul-scorching kiss, each longing glance, each velvet caress!! The high voltage chemistry between Camilla and Ellis was absolutely ELECTRIFYING and their steamy BDSM power exchanges were titillating, smoldering hot and breathtakingly tender.
"This kiss is Patrón on the rocks, rimmed with the thickest salt. His tongue’s the lime, and in a hot second, I’m drunk from arousal, wishing I were naked so I could feel his slick-with-sweat body slide over mine."
These characters were incredibly multi-faceted, and even when they said or did things that were questionable, I always adored them. Sighhhhh!!! I love me a rich, powerful, ANGRY alpha who is a heady combo of rough-edged ruthlessness and gentle chivalry. Ellis is all that and more. He is ruggedly handsome to the point of unnerving. Tall and intimidating. Broodingly sexy. Demanding and manipulative. In essence, a man you'd NEVER want to cross. He is also tormented by bizarre, unsettling dreams of a woman in red that rock him to the core. But he also has a soft, sensitive side, is exceedingly generous and exquisitely kind, doting and noble. And the dour dude even has a wicked sense of humor that we see rare, delicious glimpses of. And his nurturing also extends to his adorably precocious nephew. Speaking of little Liam...he is TOO CUTE FOR WORDS!!...and the family bonding scenes between him, Camilla and “Boss” added a level of refreshing sweetness and buoyancy to this emotionally explosive tale.
And Camilla, a washed-up dancer turned bartender struggling to make ends meet as an out of wedlock mother, is a fascinating mix of contradictions. She is an incredibly loving and attentive momma, proud and strong-willed, but she is also withholding dangerous secrets and may be less innocent than she appears. Camilla has always been attracted to the dangerous men, the villains, and although a part of her is repulsed at the notion of being forced into being Ellis's submissive, another part of her is fiercely aroused by his raw, primal domination of her body. It's like a strike to a match, igniting her dormant sexual desires, tapping into her darkest, most FORBIDDEN cravings.
“I’m going to pleasure your body and inflict pain on you until you’re splintered down to your soul. Stripped bare and kneeling at my feet, you’ll beg me not to stop. To never let you go.”
Before long, Ellis’s wish to possess her mind, body and soul is coming true. But at what cost when love enters the equation?
As we all know, every successful Dom/Sub relationship is based on a solid foundation of trust, which these two are in short supply of. Both of these characters are terribly conflicted, and as the story progresses and fragments of their unsettling dreams and haunting memories come into focus, it adds even more strife to their stormy union, as does the unfolding mystery surrounding the death of Ellis's brother. As the drama reaches a shattering crescendo, entrenching us even deeper into a tangled web of love and deceit, dominance and submission, fate and destiny, the future of this beleaguered couple is more perilous than ever!! Will the iron clad terms of their arrangement be renegotiated to their mutual satisfaction?? Or does this tumultuous liaison have an expiration date?
Gah!!! THAT ENDING!!! Curse you, Ms. Rowe, for leaving me hanging!!!!! This cliffy, which I must say was crafted with pitch-perfect precision, was equal parts brilliant and torturous! Now I am going to have to suffer along with everyone else, counting down the days until "THE TERMS: Part Two hits our kindles!!!!!
5 Passionate and Provocative Stars!!!