Hailey: He owns the coffee shop, so I need to stop fantasizing that he comes here to see me. In fact, he’s never spoken to me other than to order his coffee. I just can’t get over the way he sits in the corner of the shop a couple of times a week slowly sipping his hot, black coffee and staring at me with intent. Why? I don’t know. I should be concerned that he’s like a lion stalking his prey, but all I can think of is stalk me, please.
James: I watch her every chance I get. When the time’s right, she will be mine. With every smile she tosses at a male customer, the angrier I get. Buying the shop, installing extra cameras, and visiting twice a week does nothing to calm the need to claim her for my own. She’s going to think I’m crazy, but really, I’m determined.
Hailey fled her home life three years ago, knowing in order to survive with was her only choice. At twenty, she's tired of looking over her shoulder and dealing with her roommate. Her one bright spot is James, a one time customer at the coffee shop where she works that has since bought the place.
James has been obsessed with Hailey since the second he saw her. He may be an extremely busy man due to his successful company, but he's made time to see Hailey, even if it's only to watch her from afar.
One day when Hailey is running late, she literally bumps into James, but as always due to his actions, believes yet again he isn't impressed with her in any way.
James is tired of waiting. It's time to make Hailey his and starts the process, the first step being to hire her as his personal assistant, getting her away from the creepy manager at the coffee shop.
Though leery, Hailey is done with the way her supervisor stares at her and dealing with her roommate's boyfriend. When James offers her a job, and informs her that means living with him, she agrees.
It isn't long before James and Hailey are a couple and ready to start on their forever, but first, Hailey's past must be dealt with once and for all.
One- click now and follow along as a couple meant to be together meet and fall in love.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.**
This was a sweet and cute novella. James is a stalker and obsessed with the love of his life Hailey. Heroine is a virgin and hero celibate. Safe read. Nice epilogue with 3 kids.
MEH or the BAD: Almost-DNF at 35% but decided to quickly skim this predictable book & skipped the couple pages at the end where some action-suspense re: H & his dad's attempt to prosecuate h's stepfather's attempt to prostitute h 3 years ago. At 35%, unbelievable &/or stupid plot that independent & mouthy 23yo virgin waitress h would immediately leave her needed-waitress job for a vague live-in-PA job with H just because imposing & often-glaring-new-coffeeshop-owner 30yo stranger H (who she'd never had a conversation with before) said so & move in his house the same day without any questions. When before this job offer/demand, she thought that he didn't like her & was looking for a reason to fire her because of the way he kept staring at her while she was waitressing. She also looked stupid for not putting up a fight or questioning H for standing outside her bathroom while she took a bath before she started working for him later that same day. Or later that evening, when her new boss H drew a bath for her. There was no plot- or character-transition to explain her stupidity or character inconsistency, since she was supposedly this street-smart survivor who was able to escape her stepfather's plot to auction her off as a prostitute 3 years ago and live independently since by working for as a waitress. Inconsistent characterization of h at 1st showing her as tough/street-smart/frequently cussing and then later she acts clueless/innocent/dependent on H without questioning him & his stalking her the last 6 months since they 1st met. As far as H's character, all we know is that he's rich, is close to his twin bro & parents, and is obsessed with h.
Meh writing with lots of talk about H obsessed with & stalking h but lacking the emo & non-verbal tension. Meh sexual chemistry. Average detailed sex scenes. Emotionally-dry with H talking about but no accompanying emotion or romantic feel. Lacking believable romance but saved by dual epilogues that show them 1-yr later married with twin boys & 22-years later with 3 kids & still hot for each other.
Sexual History: No mention of h's dating or sex history except that she ran away from home because her stepdad was planning on prostituting her 3 years ago & that she was a virgin with H at 23yo. H had been celibate for years & no mention of any past GFs or lovers. Only that he'd insta-loved/lusted h since he 1st saw her 6 months ago & then started planning on making her his forever by stalking her via buying the coffeeshop she worked at 4 months ago & installing security cams to watch her there as well as by her apartment.
Yeah, so this was a little bit UNEXPECTEDLY boring for me. I think C.M. Steele needs to start writing longer novels like she used to in the past. This novella was OK but it felt a bit rushed. The conflict with the heroine's stepfather was settled ( conveniently ) off page and the insta-love didn't awe me as it usually does. I also didn't enjoy the split focus on the H's twin brother and his wife. Their antics seemed to detract from my enjoyment of this story itself. I did prefer the H to the heroine though. She did get on my nerves a little. The epilogue was nice and it helped to raise my rating for the novella. I really look forward to C.M. Steele's future novels/novellas because I've been a fan of her writing for a long time.
***** Unrelated side note that didn't affect my rating for the novella:
At the start of the novella, the heroine wakes up and goes to work without showering or washing her private parts. She did mention having a shower the night before, but where I come from we are told to ALWAYS shower before leaving the house. The heroine should have known how vital is it to wash the "P":
The premise: sounded good, but the story itself was blah, especially with the h being a nineteen year old virgin - an over-used, tired trope. I was expecting something different... better. The writing: blah. While I generally like a character's inner dialogue, the stuff here wasn't good. Quit reading at 35%.
C.M. Steele keeps writing these alpha males who make the pages sizzle and I just love it. Her latest is case in point- James Black is 30 years old and he is a successful business man who owns a very successful multi-billion dollar freighting company that he started back when he was in college. The moment he walked into a coffee shop where Hailey worked, he knew she was his and only his. She was his soulmate and he had to have her. He doesn’t want to scare her off so he starts making plans and his first order of business is to buy the coffee shop. Hailey is 20 years old and she ran away from Oregon three years ago as soon as she learned her stepdad planned on selling her and she ended up in Chicago. She is a introvert, stays to herself and has a crush on Mr. Black, the man who is her boss even though she thinks he doesn’t care for her at all. Things change the moment she comes into work wet from the rain….James and Hailey have this intense chemistry and work very well together. I love this steamy, hot read. My only little issue is the ending seemed rushed and I would have liked to find out what happened toward the end of the book. There were some things let open ended. Will they be followed up or was this something just let up to our imagination? Other than that, Loved James and Hailey’s super steamy , erotic read!!!
My Rating: 4.6 stars ***** “I received an advanced copy of this book from the author at no cost to me."
A man who buys a coffee shop because he wants the woman as his own!
C.M. Steele gets your attention quick with this instalove romance! "Stalk Me Please" kept me guessing exactly how far would the hero/ stalker, James Black go to get the heroine/ barista, Hailey in his life! Hailey had a huge crush on the new owner of the coffee shop but little did she know that so did the owner have a huge crush on her as well. James was a cunning businessman who came by the coffee shop twice-a-week to just look at her... he never said a word... he just stared at her. One morning, Hailey's oversleeps and was running late for work due to her roommate's houseparty. She manages to get caught in the rain and bumps into Black's driver, Henderson and before that day is out, not only does she have a new job as James's personal assistant but oh so much more.
Read this one! It was just so sexy-sweet with a bossy, handsome man who goes after what he wants and can never take NO as an answer!
I love Heros who are stalkers lol this one was light on the stalker side lol
James is a sweet growly alpha who fell in love with Hailey a girl who works at a coffee shop he bought to keep a eye on her when he comes in to drink. As for Hailey she wonders why he comes in and just looks at her and one day he's tired of watching and makes up a excuse to have her work for him as his personal assistant. Lol and does nothing oh this man I love him.
They have tiny problems with Hailey past but it was kinda glossed over and just Mentions near the end. Kinda wish it was shown more.
No ow/om drama, no cheating, slight secondary character, tiny drama, Virgin gal and no manwhore
Recommend-yes Cover-⭐⭐⭐ Heat level-🌶🌶🌶
Slowinsta Older/younger couple 30H/21h Pinning No condom Safe Hea Epilogue
I liked the story well enough, but it felt a bit rushed. I know it is a short story, but other novellas still make an effort at writing a good story and cleaning out the characters. I especially felt that we didn't get too much insight into her family. She mentioned running away from her mother, but didn't give any other info - was her mother neglectful? Indifferent? Abusive? And aside from knowing her stepfather was into human trafficking, did he abuse her? Did he get to force himself on her? And the whole thing with Mr. white was all weird. Did the stepfather sell her to him? And if was so quickly and nearly wrapped up at the end.
I love a stalker romance, so I’m in. And over the top, crazy, obsessed alpha male vibes and not a manwhore? Uhhhh, yessss please! And a sweet virgin heroine to tame the beast? I’m all in.
And that’s why I read this one. It had all of those elements. The writing was a bit rough in spots, there were definite places that could’ve done with an editor, but I still got my stalker-alpha-claims-his-virgin fix, so I’m not gonna complain. I think the story of how the heroine is running away from her family could’ve been fleshed out more, but, oh well.
Safe. Hero’s past isn’t mentioned at all, but he comes off celibate. Heroine is a virgin and belongs only to the hero. No others, no cheating or abuse of any kind. HEA with epilogue decades out.
"I’m obsessed with you plain and simple. From the first time I met you, I wanted to know more.”
I'm on another CM Steele re-read marathon. Just can't get enough of her words. This story is about James and Hailey. Obsessed and devoted is the perfect way to describe James. This stalker/obsessed story hits the spot every time I read it. -virgin h, no details about H's past -dual POV -no cheating or abuse -no om/ow drama -great epilogues at 1 and 22 years I can't imagine any insta-lovers or safe readers not having read this yet but if you haven't, please grab.
I am a big fan of CM Steele but this book was just ok for me. It was just way to quick for me. I would have liked it so much more if it was more in depth, especially the part about her family. It was a good, quick, sweet and sexy read!
Hailey and James dang near broke my kindle! I absolutely love love loved this over the top alpha and his girl! I am looking forward to reading about Dean and Nancy and even the parents! Where can I get a stalker like that?!?
I want James to stalk me too 😂 A sweet short safe Romance , the H is possessive , obsessive and smitten with the h 🙈 and she is smitten with him too , Hot sex and one year and 22 years epilogue was so cute with their kids 👍 loved it
This was a very sweet and cute novella with minimal conflicts. I liked the characters. P.S.: Please disregard reality while reading this sweet, erotic, and HEA novella.
Just going to say right off the bat that I wouldn't mind having a man like James stalking me, unbeknownst to me of course ;), making sure that I was safe and glaring at every man, staking his claim without words, especially those who made me feel uncomfortable; he did that with Hailey, by the way :)
I loved this story so much and I can't wait to read Nancy & Dean's (who's James's twin brother) story; it sounds like its going to be fun and feisty, going along with Nancy's personality in this story, she gave Dean a run for his money, not that he minded since they're married and expecting their first child <3 :)
Going back to James and Hailey's story, I loved their chemistry. You could tell these two were made for each other in every way. James is a dominant alpha who's very, very possessive of his woman and Hailey may be a virgin, innocent but she's definitely not a doormat either and she's also feisty too so this makes for awesome, hot and steamy intimate scenes; I especially like the phone call scene between these two, phew it was HOT ;) and somehow it was funny at the same time too, at least for me, but I do have a twisted sense of humor :)
Now, let's get more serious for a quick minute... Hailey has been through a lot in her young age, but she's a survivor. Her mother was a horrible human being; no matter what you're feeling concerning the person, even if he's your husband, Hailey's stepfather, you always choose your child's safety first, always put your child's well being first but she didn't. Did I forget to mention to say that Hailey's stepfather had nefarious intentions with her that made her run away at 17 (3 years have gone by since then) and he's a disgusting pig. She always was on the lookout and always in fear of being found but still, she continued to go forward in her life as young as she was. I don't think I would have the strength to go through everything she did and still have that sweet and sassy personality intact.
I bet Hailey never imagined she would become the obsession and treasure of a very wealthy man, who's completely in love with her, who goes every day to the coffee shop she works at, even going as far as buying it, unbeknownst to her. For some people, this may seem insane but I liked James's OTT possessiveness and protectiveness towards his Hailey :) He never did anything to hurt her, his mission was to protect her from anything/anyone who dared to make a move on her and he did <3
When these two got together, jeez louise, it was HOT, dominant, emotional and intense. James loved her intensely and a lot ;) and Hailey loved every moment too ;)
C.M. Steele did an amazing job, as always, with writing James & Hailey's story <3
I also loved seeing that Dean (James's twin) is the same caveman as his brother towards his woman, Nancy :) (also his wife and baby mama) and I can't wait to read their story next :) Super excited! :)
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book from C.M. Steele. I love it when the guy is so into the girl he becomes a little crazy and obsessed. James Black is 30 years old he owns a successful, multi-billion dollar freighting company that he started his first year of college. As soon as he walked into the coffee shop and saw Hailey working there he new he’d found his soulmate. He doesn’t want to scare her off so he starts making plans his first step is to buy the coffee shop. Jodi is 20 years old, she left Oregon three years ago as soon as she learned her stepdad planned on selling her and she ended up in Chicago. She doesn’t like her creepy manager at the coffee shop but she does fantasize about James, the new owner. She thinks James doesn’t like her she has no clue that the reason he has a scowl on his face is because he can’t stand other men looking at her. Will Hailey still want James when she finds out how obsessed and possessive he is of her ? You better believe it ! Would love to read about James’ twin brother, Dean and his wife, Nancy.
The moment James saw Hailey he knew she would be his. He took his time watching her, buying the coffee shop she worked at and waited for his moment.
Hailey didn't know why James watched her but one day he made his move and she wasn't sure about his claim that she was his but he left her with no doubt with that indeed she was.
Fun quickie, a lot of chemistry between Hailey and James. Instalove quicky.
This was such a good read. Super super fast, but no drama... no nonsense... just a great mood-boosting read. I really did enjoy it, especially after some longer/darker/more dramatic reads.