4.5 SCORCHING HOT STARS!
"Everything of yours belongs to me. Even your pleasure...and your pain.”
Wowwwww!! I absolutely loved TEMPORARY by Alexx Andria. This is the second book I have read by this author, and while this billionaire bad boy romance is not dark and gritty like PAYBACK was, it is just as addictive!
This is a spoiler free review but in essence this is a scandalous indecent proposal tale about dashing billionaire Gage Donnelly who saunters into Jimmy’s Tavern one night and can't keep his electric baby blues off of scrappy cocktail waitress Mari Jones. He wants to buy her a drink but she isn’t into gorgeous stalker types so she shoots him down. But he is a man on a mission and rents out the bar the following night to get that aforementioned drink. Mr. Enigmatic Stranger’s overbearing tactics both thrill and intimidate her but then he ups his game by making a nearly flat broke and practically homeless Mari a tempting offer she can't possibly refuse--a huge sum of money for a wild night of no-holds-barred sex with him.
"From this moment forward, until I release you…you are mine. Understand? Your body is mine to explore, touch and pleasure."
The catch? The arrangement is temporary. She will be his plaything for one night and one night only and she is forbidden to "catch feelings for him.” Sounds easy peasy right? Um… think again...because even though Mari has been burned in love by her lecherous ex, Landon, who wiped out her bank account AND is suing her for custody of her cat she finds herself hopelessly hooked on him after one toe-curling kiss. And there is something about the handsome, brooding billionaire that is eerily familiar which pulls at her heart and soul. She wants to unravel his secrets, and get to the bottom of why he is so closed off emotionally about his personal life yet is so hot blooded in the bedroom and so darn gentlemanly and sweet toward her. But rules are rules and by the time the night is through she might be walking away a whole lot richer but without her heart intact!
Oh My! TEMPORARY sucker punched me in the best possible way. Though on paper this may seem like a typical “one illicit night with the billionaire” trope it is SO. MUCH. MORE!! There’s so much heat and passion and emotional angst and tenderness it made my heart soar! I was swept up immediately into this fast-paced story and felt the insta-lust between Mari and her man of mystery down to my marrow. Gage is ohhhhhh so delicious! Hot, filthy rich, arrogant, aloof, bossy, domineering, and so, so broken inside. One moment you want him to ravish him, the next you want to kiss all his emotional boo-boos away.
And Mari, a small-town Cali girl whose dreams of striking it out on her own in the Big Apple have been an abysmal failure, is the perfect girl for him. She definitely gives as good as she gets and keeps Gage on his toes!! I LOVE her spirit and feistiness, her caustic wit and acerbic self-depreciating humor, her sweetness and loyalty, and most of all, her humongous heart! She too is emotionally guarded, for good reason, but if there is one person who could make her lower her walls its Gage.
"I was a card-carrying cynic but in my secret heart of hearts, I still wanted to believe in love.”
My heart exalted and shattered for both these characters. I could not get enough of their lightning chemistry, their warmth and charm and humor, and there is fiery push-pull between them throughout. Mostly due to the fact that Gage bears horrible emotional scars. His past is riddled with so much sorrow and regret, and he feels unworthy of love, but our girl never gives up on her man whose sinfully sexy smirks and dirty domination turns her into a pile of mush. More than anything she wants to ease his pain and soothe his wounds but she has her own baggage. Did she want to take on his, too?
Ms. Andria is a master storyteller…she sucks you in with her engaging prose, delightful banter, torrid sensuality and deeply emotional tone. I definitely felt all the feels with this book….tickly butterflies, shivers, chills, heart palpitations…and all that jazz! The book is beautifully paced and there is a perfect balance of passion, pathos, humor and drama to keep you a captive audience!
The only thing that perhaps would have made this book even more stellar was if it was narrated in dual POV—I am a sucker for the male perspective and Alexx Andria writes a kick butt hero POV. But my theory is that the author took this approach to keep the reader in the dark about the hero’s past, which she accomplished quite well. And for the record, when the shocking truth comes out in an EXPLOSIVE showdown, brace yourself for an emotional battle zone that will decimate your heart and have you reaching for the tissues! So when all is said and done, no real complaints from my end!
Bottom line: If you have a hankering for a steamy bad boy billionaire romance that's chock full of juicy drama, blazing hot interludes, shocking secrets, heart throbbing emotion, delectable twists and turns, and a sigh worthy HEA, then add TEMPORARY to your TBR pronto!