As I have come to read more and more Harlequin Presents book then after review said books, I have come to realize that the books that really become favorites or which I have loved the most are all associated with the feels I have while reading it. I guess it could be said of all people when dealing with what floats someone’s boat for one book but not the other then an opposite reaction from a completely person on the same books because reading is a subjective thing based on someone reading experience or just what they are feeling, which makes it really hard to go by reviews only in determined whether you will love a book or not because everyone is different. It’s all about personal taste, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that so when asked to review a book it is not based on anything aside from the reader. It doesn’t mean a book is bad or not, but it’s just what the person feels while reading that particular book and opinions can vary from person to person.
For me I tend to know what books give me the feels and what authors are usually responsible for providing said feels. So I tend to stick to the same authors over and over again, and sometimes I love that particular book and sometimes I don’t, though nine out of ten my favorite authors book I usually love. I do try new authors from time to time too, and I give them a chance, but as I said I gravitate towards the same author because they give me the feels with the tried and true method. I don’t know what the magic formula is but it just works for me. There are times that I am surprised by book and they really just blow me away from both my favorite authors and new ones too.
What’s my point with this long observation in this review and especially concerning this book. My point was that I loved every single moment of this Dani Collins book, and that doesn’t surprise me because she’s one of my favorite authors, and I really can’t go wrong with her, but for some reason while I was reading and getting all the feels that I love to get, I could see other people being not so impressed or overwhelmed by it like I was. It was the first time in my reading experience that I ever thought of other people’s reaction to what people would think about this book. Luckily it didn’t take my own enjoyment away from the story, but it was the first time that it came into my head, and I thought I share hence the above two paragraphs explaining it. So, I just wanted to point that out. And jus know that just because I had certain feels associated, doesn’t mean that you will or you won’t. This is just my perspective of how I felt while reading this book.
On to the review portion of this entry, like I said I really loved this book because it did give me a lot of feels. Not just swoony ones, but tearful ones, happy ones, joyous, heartbreaking ones just to name a few. This story just was a whole roller coaster of ride from the very beginning until the end. There was just so much emotional goodness that I almost couldn’t stand it. It was amazing and just filled me up with all the goodness inside that I love reading from so much. This book demonstrated why I loved reading so much because it was very much not just words on a page but an experience that I went right along with the characters on their journey for love, and it was fantastic. That’s all I want from my reading life, and I wish I got that every time I picked up a book. And this one gave me all that and more.
My taste run to this Harlequin Presents stories that have a lot of angst, tension, and pain, which this one had in spades. I love when misunderstandings occur and its up to the job of the characters to overcome these misconceptions once they got to know said character and learn the truth so they could get their happily ever after in the end. Even if they kind of a jerk about it especially those alpha males out there, but I know there are moments where they shine and more make up for the atrocious behavior. I just love those types of stories because there so much to them that just brings all the rawness and goodness to the table that usually brings around an intense attraction between them.
With this particular story Dante has been blackballing Cami for years because he believed her father stole from him and wanted to punish her because of that. He doesn’t trust her or anyone to do with her family, blaming the entire family for his family’s downfall. So, he sent to make her life hell even going so far as not giving her the job that she was hired for once he took over the company, leaving her with nothing, which just left her hollow and broken like so many times in her past where things have been taken again and again from her. It was a blow, but he doesn’t want to hear anything else about it, but he didn’t count on the sparks that flew between them, which was beyond hot.
In what Dani Collins did was really brilliant because with both Cami and Dante they were both attracted to each other even though they knew they shouldn’t be, and Dani Collins went into detailed descriptions of what attracted Cami to Dante, and vice versa, and it was so much more than just physical, though that was a big part of it. It was a pull. A connection that neither one of them could define they just knew it was there. And I felt that pull in the writing and just that intense attraction between them. The need. The wanting. That all consuming thing that neither could reason with, and I was really impressed with it. I was sucked into their attraction just like they were, and I could feel it especially on his end when he was taking in her attributes and just getting more and more drawn in by her. And that’s rare thing that I get pulled into their attraction right along with them and feel it with them. I understood it perfectly well. Usually I know they have chemistry and can feel their connection, but not pull into with them. It was an experience and just made me all the more invested in their romance all the more.
Poor Cami, no matter what she did, she just couldn’t do anything to prove to Dante that she was trustworthy and was doing everything in her power to prove that. She even tried to make up for her father’s wrong doings by paying restitution herself even though she was living basically pay check to pay check and basically taking care of her brother’s needs, and my heart broke for her every time she opened herself up to Dante and was slapped down again because he didn’t believe her. She showed an incredible amount of vulnerability to him even though he kept salting the wound. She was drawn to him and wanted him to like her because she was starting to fall for him. Now as much as she showed that vulnerable side to him more often than not, she did have this incredible strength to her too. With all that happened in her life she had to be strong and she kept pushing and pushing until she survived. I liked that she stood up to him and basically gave him a taste of his own medicine, showing she wasn’t easy to handle. She would fight and fight him even if it was useless to fight.
As for Dante, as much of a jerk that he was and refused to listen time and time again, I loved him. I might wanted to shake him at times, but there was never a time where I actively hated him. I understood why he was doing what he was doing even if it wasn’t always right, but I saw other sides of his personality that did make me totally swoon. Other readers might not agree hence the point I made above, but for me it worked. He had this sweet side and showed it in little ways to show that he did in fact care for Cami even if he wouldn’t admit it. I loved he was devoted to him family especially with his grandmother where his most tender of side came out on display. I loved that even though he acted not so nicely to Cami especially in the beginning that once he got to know her, his feelings came more on the caring and protective side, and even though he only admitted it to himself at least he admitted it. He would not be vulnerable in front of her so he put up that jerky front but what laid beneath the surface was beautiful. I could tell that he was smitten with Cami almost from the beginning, and again it wasn’t always physical. There was that pulse and connection between them which was beautifully on display. But I really felt with Dante, that he genuinely wanted closeness with her and to be as close as could with her, and he was in multiple ways and times, but he got to know her as well, and he really liked what he saw.
Their romance was pretty terrific too. There were a lot of romantic moments and gestures between them that just swept me away. There were a lot of sweet moments. There was the skiing scene then the talk right after that at the lodge where she put down her walls for him and showed him who she truly was. There were just little gestures here and there that were very sweet and showed how much they were coming to care about her.
Now the love scenes were as romantic as they were steamy. They had some of the sexiest scenes that I have read in quite awhile. There was a lot of steam going on. There was the fashion show Cami gave Dante was so full of foreplay and lot of anticipation then they later full blown love scene had the blood racing. There was just so much fused in that one moment that I could barely stand it. It was beautiful and sexy in one token. It was a very well written scene., and it was pretty darn incredible as was the first time scene. Just how it started was really freaking brilliant and definitely amped it up by a hundred degrees. It started from the steamy hot tub to the bedroom, and it was beyond scorching yet it was a beautiful scene between two people who wanted to be close to one another without any layers in between, and that was what happened. All inhibitions were shed to engage not only in pleasure but that ultimate connection. It was very intense and mind blowing and so satisfying after waiting all that time for it. I knew they were going to be explosive together, but I didn’t know how explosive until it happened. It was so good. OMG. Loved it.
Also there was a little bit of mystery going on in this book surrounding the events of the past and what was believed to be true wasn’t so it was figuring out what the truth actually was, and I absolutely loved that. It just added even more layers and flair to the story. It was an intriguing element for sure and did keep me guessing because I figured it could go one of two ways and I was right. So that kept me on my toes as well and really engaged me more into the story, though I was just engaged with the romance between Dante and Cami romance. This just brought another dimension to it.
I could probably go on and on about this book for days of why it consumed me, and why I just loved it so much but I fear I am going to run out of space. I loved it. It was just brilliant and gave me all the feels that I wanted to feel while reading an emotional and intense romance with many ups and downs along the way. It was amazing. The characters were the biggest selling factor to this story because I loved them and how they reacted with one another. They had this intense connection that I loved seeing them explore all while with the backdrop of this misunderstandings floating in the background, and it was so good. There was a lot of good angst. There was tension between them. There was romance. There was connection between them. It just had a little bit of everything, and that was amazing. This is what Dani Collins is known for and I love that and I love her, and that’s why she’s an auto buy author me. She just knows how to create this really emotional and angst love stories just my flavor. I will be reading this book again for sure sometime in the future.
Highly recommend for all Dani Collins fans out there as well as Presents fans and just fans of really intense, angsty love stories.