Title: Devil's Kiss (Sunset Cove Series #2)
Author: Ella Frank
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Release Date: MAY 24, 2016
AMAZON US - http://amzn.to/1U7lseW
AMAZON Universal - myBook.to/devilskiss
AMAZON US - http://amzn.to/1U7lseW
AMAZON Universal - myBook.to/devilskiss
Blurb
Ends up mattering the most?
Derek Pearson likes to think he’s an easygoing guy. Uncomplicated, upfront, and unapologetic with what he wants. His what you see is what you get attitude is on prominent display for anyone who cares to look, and his foul mouth is right there to back it up should you miss the point.
However, what you see isn’t always what you get, and only a select few have ever glimpsed the real man under the brash exterior.
Among them? Professor Jordan Devaney. Complicated, high-maintenance, and vibrant, he’s Derek’s opposite in every way. From the moment they saw each other, a love-hate relationship began.
But what happens when one person wants more?
DEVIL’S KISS
Ella Frank
Copyright © 2016 Ella Frank
* * * *
THE CALL
Present Day
DEREK PEARSON PUSHED open the door of Leighton, Finley & Associates, and stepped out on the paved sidewalk. It was the first day of August, and if the sweltering Floridian sun was any indication, today was going to be hotter than hell’s waiting room.As he strolled toward the curb, he pulled a pack of Marlboros from the pocket of his shorts and flipped open the top. He needed a fucking cigarette after watching Daniel Finley and his damn professor get all sappy and shit. That was gonna get old real quick if he had to stomach their nauseating displays of I love yous longer than the fifteen minutes he’d been in there. But he’d known he had to make an appearance sooner or later; otherwise Danny boy would’ve shown up asking questions. Questions he wasn’t ready to answer.
There’d been a reason he hadn’t come around to see Finn when he first moved back from Chicago two months ago, but it wasn’t something he was in the mood to talk about yet, even if he was one of the two people on the planet who would get all the shit he’d been dealing with.
Yeah… He just wasn’t ready to go there.
With a smoke between his lips, he lit up, then shoved the pack back in his shorts. He was so damn antsy lately, and for that he could thank his brother, Alan.
He walked around to the side of his Jeep and pulled open the door. After climbing inside, he grabbed his cell phone and stared at the dark screen, contemplating his next move.
Am I really planning to do this?
Fuck, it seemed that he was, even when he knew better.
If he did this, it would be nothing more than a Band-Aid over the real problem. A shot to numb the more painful issues he was dealing with right now. He would be slipping back into a pattern he had pulled himself out of. An addiction he’d broken free from. But he was also aware that if he didn’t do it, the alternative would be to spiral out of control, and solitude was no longer helping his fucked-up nerves.
He brought the phone to his ear and waited. The phone rang and rang, and fucking rang, until he was close to hanging up—and then it connected.
“You free?” were the only two words out of his mouth. He waited, not caring to pursue small talk. That wasn’t what this was about. All he cared about in that moment was getting what he needed.
When an affirmative came through the phone, he hung up, tossed it on the dashboard, and brought the Jeep to life. As he sped across town, he white-knuckled the steering wheel and didn’t allow himself to think about the consequences of what he was about to do.
It took him less than ten minutes to pull into the underground parking garage of The Palisades and take the elevator up to where his drug of choice waited for him. He glanced up into the camera in the corner of his metallic confines and stared boldly into the face of the one who was waiting at the other end of this ride.
Yeah, he was about to fall off the fucking wagon big time. Was about to slide back into the one place he promised himself he wouldn’t go again. Yet as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, there was no denying this was exactly what he wanted.
“I have thirty minutes,” were the words that greeted him.
Derek walked off the elevator and over to the naked man waiting for him. He took the haughty chin between his thumb and forefinger and promised in a voice thick with arousal, “I only need ten. Take me to your room, Jordan. Time’s a wasting.”
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Bella's Review: 4.5 StarsI LOVE Ella Frank's writing. Her Temptation series is one of my all time favorite M/M series. Logan and Tate hold a special place in my heart.
Finley - the first book in the Sunset Cove series, missed the mark a bit for me. The timeline - flashbacks from 7 years previous to present tense - made it difficult for me to understand the connection between Brantley and Finn. It felt a bit disjointed and left me wondering why Finn would just leave his home for 7 ENTIRE years and just come home when Brantley beckoned him to come home.
Devil's Kiss overlaps with the events in Finley. However, I really enjoyed the timeline in this book so much better. Ella Frank puts us right in the frying pan with the opening scene - but then, she starts at the beginning. And follows through until we get to present day. I enjoyed this book so much more.
Things I loved about this book.
~ The writing. Ella Frank can write sexual tension like no other. I mean. WHEW. I was just DYING for Derek and Jordan to finally get together.
~ Teacher/student.... It starts with Derek in one of Jordan's classes - and that whole forbidden aspect just gets my blood boiling.
~ Derek. Derek is muscular, tattooed and brooding. His father has been abusive towards him since his mother left at the age of 12, taking out his aggression on Derek with insults and with his fists. When he discovered Derek was gay, he made no secret of how much that disgusted him. Derek's brother Alan was no source of solace. And other than his best friend, Finn, Derek really had no one. I just wanted to jump into the book and hug him and protect him. Gah. Derek just pulled at my heart.
~ Jordan. He is bold, flamboyant, arrogant and rich. And he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. He graduated from high school young, got his college degree young, and is one of the youngest college professors. Life has come easy for Jordan and he had a bit of a difficult time keeping his feet planted in the real world. One of his professors challenged him saying, "Find what makes you work the hardest, and dare yourself to make a difference." That struck a chord with Jordan and he decided to teach.
~ Chemistry. Seriously, I can't say it enough. Derek and Jordan, while an unlikely match, have scorching hot chemistry. But Ella Frank tortures us with a slow burn. Gah. I really couldn't stand it.
~ Alternating POV. My favorite way to read a book.
What I didn't like about the book:
~ I don't quite understand why Jordan didn't want a relationship with Derek once he graduated from college. I didn't connect with Jordan's POV and his reasons as much as I did with Derek.
~ Push/pull. I know everything can't be sunsets and roses, but Derek and Jordan had SO many fights. I couldn't have done with a couple less.
Bottom line: this book made me feel everything. I couldn't help but fall in love with Derek and I loved the connection between Derek and Jordan. Highly recommend, but start with Finley.
Scratch that - start with the Temptation series if you haven't already read that!
He could hear the blood rushing around his head, and when his eyes met Derek's, Jordan knew he'd grossly miscalculated this moment. This was so much more than acting on something they'd been tiptoeing around for years. This... this was everything.
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Finley (Sunset Cove Series #1)AMAZON US | AMAZON Universal
It's time to come home, Finn. It’s been seven years since Daniel Finley left his hometown in Florida for the hustle and bustle of Chicago’s city life. Since then, he’s worked hard for his position at the prestigious law firm Leighton & Associates, even when it’s caused distance and isolation from his family and friends. But that’s all about to change. On his thirtieth birthday, he receives the one thing he never dared hope for. Something that was promised to him years earlier—a note. One simple sentence from the man he’s never been able to forget. Six words will forever change the course of their lives. Brantley Hayes has it all. Or so he thinks. When he first made the decision to take a job down in Florida, his family thought he was crazy. But, after years of living in the quiet beach town, he finally feels a sense of community. He’s surrounded himself with friends who are like family, has a job he loves, and owns a spectacular beachfront property that is his sanctuary. Yet he still feels unfulfilled, as if a piece of the puzzle is missing, and he knows exactly which piece it is. On an impulse, he follows through with a promise he made years earlier. A promise to call home the one he sent away. Nothing is as simple as it seems. After years of separation, the former lovers are reunited, but Brantley wasn’t expecting to encounter the high walls now guarding Daniel’s heart. Daniel may not be the same person he was when he left, but he knows that the first step to healing is the note in his hand.
About Ella Frank
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Books by Ella Frank
Sunset Cove Series
Temptation Series
The Exquisite Series
Masters Among Monsters
Standalones
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