Skin Deep

by Marilyn Lee

Jake gets far more than he bargains for when he agrees to allow his sister-in-law to set him up on a blind date with one of her coworkers. Even though Bree bears little resemblance to his ideal woman, Jake soon finds himself unable to stop pursuing the full- figured enchantress. When Bree plays hard to get, Jake realizes he'll have to work hard to tame his ebony temptress before she turns the tables on him.

Genres: Interracial Romance, Romance, Erotica, Erotic Romance, Ebooks, Contemporary

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Marilyn lives, works, and writes on the East Coast of The US. In additional to thoroughly enjoying writing erotic romances in various genres, she enjoys roller-skating, spending time with her large, extended family, and rooting for all her favorite hometown sports teams. She's still celebrating the Philadelphia Phillies 2008 World Championship.

Her other interests include collecting Doc Savage pulp novels from the thirties and forties and collecting Marvel comics from the seventies and eighties (particularly Thor and The Avengers.) Her favorite TV shows are forensic shows, westerns (Gun smoke and Have Gun, Will Travel are particular favorites), and mysteries (Charlie Chan movies in particular). Her all time favorite mystery movie is probably Dead, Again. She’s seen nearly every vampire movie or television show ever made (Forever Knight and Count Yorga, Vampires are favorites. She thoroughly enjoys interacting with readers either through email or via her Yahoo web group.

To subscribe to Marilyn Lee’s Love Bytes, marilynlee-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Reviews

[PT · Rating 2 out of 5]

REVISED
This was my first Matilyn Lee book and I must admit that I was more than a little disappointed.
Frist off, this is erotica. I don't mind erotica, but I know a lot of people are put off by it, so consider yourself forewarned. The writing is interesting and the editing is better than average, which is pretty non-existent in the interracial genre.
My dislikes stems solely from the characters. The hero and heroine are just so unlikeable. The heroine seems...too stupid to live. She is easily manipulated by all the other characters in the book. I couldn't stand it.
That being said, I like her better than the hero. He is repellent. He sleeps with his brother's wife, nearly rapes the heroine, and has unprotected sex with more than one character. That's just not very heroic.
By the end, I really didn't care if they ended up together or not.

[Mspraise50 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my introduction to this author and I have been hooked every since. Loved this book. I love all her stories.

[Nile Princess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bree and Jake are very likeable in the beginning. Jake is set up on a blind date with Bree, and when she opens the door he realizes that she's not anyone he would look at twice on the street, or even once for that matter. Still, he goes along with it because he thinks his sister in law, Lea, is having a laugh at him and he wants to prove to her he's not shallow. His pursuit of Bree is very readable and it's fun because Bree sees him coming a mile away. The author explores their attraction to each other against their better judgement very well. And even Bree's repeated questions of 'why me?' and 'how long will you stay interested in me?' doesn't become too, too annoying. The issue with sex, however, does.

Exactly how many times can you lead a man on and then play coy before it gets downright nauseating? I didn't mind the first few times, but when she met Jake at the door in a teddy and then bailed because he had a look of caring in his eye, I wanted to throw something. The man is almost naked and rearing to go and she's 'not ready to have sex with him yet'. I was seeing red and I'm not even a guy. A woman is, of course, allowed to change her mind but we'd been down this road before, plus he stated his intentions, she buzzed him in from the lobby and CHANGED into the teddy...and then she wanted him to hold her. At that point, I couldn't read any further. It's always nice when authors of IR can write female characters that aren't weak, needy and wishy washy. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times and 120 pages of neediness was all I could take.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally don't like first-person POV stories where the author jumps from the hero to heroine but it worked for me here. Unlike most often, I actually really enjoyed this book though the book had severely critical reviews that made me second-guess reading it at all. Although it's crazy, not your everyday wrapped-up lovey-dovey romance, at least in my opinion, I loved the realism of it all. You don't normally see IR writers go into great depth about those selfish, stuck-up bastards that can't see past themselves to attempt to give someone that they see as lesser than themselves a chance. You don't normally see that silly chit who is so naive that she'll accept just about anything to keep said man. Yes, I've always read the sweet, reformed jerk that you naturally fall for without caring about their past. And the past silly chit wised-up to her old habits of accepting the wrong one. But, the still horrible jerk as a hero and still stupid-fool? No, I've never read that from an IR author. That is, until now. What I mainly liked about this book is the fact that Ms. Lee explored the realistic asshole, in very descriptive detail (hey, the jerk be thinking it, yet the authors never dare to share those truths), instead of glossing him over as is the norm for this genre. Same goes for the heroine. It was almost like I was reading Street Lit in a way. Which, by the way, I am not fond of at all but, still, it worked for me here. This wasn't my first book read by Ms. Lee. I've read 'In Blood and Worth Loving' and couldn't even finish it but now I think I'm going to go back and look at it in a new light. I think I can now handle a more realistic asshole hero and/or doormat heroine, whereas before I would have been checking out by the third page.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was the first one of her books that I read. Had me hooked!

[Chin]

It’s 2022 & I found this book in the flea market so I just bought it on a whim & let me tell you if it’s one book I regret reading it’s this one right here‼️ like wtf! Jake is a dumpster human who deserves nothing good in life aka Lea ( his cheating ex/sis-in -law). I should’ve stopped reading when he called women bitches but no my curiosity had to get the best of me. The 2nd time I should’ve stopped is when he had sex with his sis in law right before his date with Bree but nope I continued reading because I just couldn’t see how this man can get an HEA. I felt so sorry that Bree couldn’t see his internal monologue about her not being pretty of beautiful & that she needed to lose some weight but lusted after her breast & ass. Ugh I felt so sorry for her especially when he literally raped her ( though it’s downplayed in the book because he didn’t penetrate her ) but she literally told him no many times &tried to push him off her but he still used her to jerk himself off. To make matters worse ( not saying this is worse than rape obvi) but everytime she would reject his sexual advances she automatically becomes a bitch and then he either goes on this rampage to fuck his sis in law or wants to go and pick up some random woman to fuck. And I’m pressuring her into not using a condom during sex and it was only about a week ago since he raw dogged his sis in law. I just couldn’t get over all this to even read the rest of the book without judgement when his behavior towards Bree kind of improved. And Bree 🙄 ugh she just got on my nerves throughout the book with the way she acted I can’t stand women who say they’re done with someone then turn around and go back with them. She was just so undisciplined & unprincipled. And her continuing to fuck him without birth control or std testing & ending up pregnant after 5 weeks and then at the first sign of trouble she jumps on a plane and goes to see her ex ugh she’s so wishy washy ugh I can’t . There are too many dumpster fire instances in this book to list them all and add the many editing errors & you literally have 🚮

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was.....interesting. It was like a train wreck I couldn’t put down. I really wanted to see how it came together at the end. However the hero was so extremely aggravating with him constantly not finding but finding the heroine attractive. He was also having unprotected sex with a bunch of different ppl in the book. Let’s not even talk about the crazy train wreck bitch that was Lea. Anyways the heroine was very confusing. I really wanted to like her but she was so indecisive knowing full and well she was stringing the hero along with her indecisiveness. This was not what I was expecting at all.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a surprise

You know what you are getting with reading the first page or two. This is a purely entertaining story. Thankfully not like a reality show entertaining but close to it. I like that the heroine is not self depreciating, just realistic. The hero, I wanted to do kick a time or two but overall still endearing.

[Kimchi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok this is a reread and I have to say this whole love triangle is the same that went on in her other books the only difference is the vampire in the other . The way jake became mad at every turn was childish and got on my nerves. And Bree was a bit weak willed if you ask me . Also the comforting a friend instead of being with your woman was done in another book that she wrote (nice girls do) . Just seemslike she took different parts and threw them together.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the blurb from this book and that is what initially drew me in. It was wonderfully written by Marilyn Lee. She always come through with hot intimacy and a genuine love story. I really enjoyed that Jake thinks he has it all figured out when it comes to women and then Bree comes along and messes him up. What they survive what love has to offer?

[Elise-Pinterest+Goodreads=The Perfect Book Boyfriend · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not particularly like this book. As another reader stated, I have problems with the guy refusing to use a condom and her accepting that, with the fact that he continuously points out that she is unattractive to him, and the ending in general with the sister-in-law. I have read erotica before and I think the sex scenes are even poorly written.

[raeneysa · Rating 3 out of 5]

one word to describe this book scandal that female villain really was disreputable I though about discontinued to read this book. but lucky i want to see how the heroine manage to survive,personally I know i couldn't put up with the hero but how she did it is beyond me.far as the hero i'm not even going to go there about him.

[Pam Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

POV thing didn't work for me. not one of her best IMO

[Evadney Narcis]

This shows that love come all different color and sizes, and we should judge people for it.

[Genney Blass · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 This book was interesting, Jake really was a Alpha Male. Lea was a mega Bitch. But Bree had to many hang ups.

[Bianca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have given it more stars if there weren't so many errors. But other then that I somewhat enjoyed it. It was a nice, quick read that I finish in one day.

[nonashla james · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

it was good I love the story I want to slap lea every chance I got I love how Ms Lee stories