Blurb:  Real-estate tycoon Hunter Buchanan has a dark past that’s left him scarred and living as a recluse on his family’s palatial estate. Hunter is ready to give up on love—until he spots an enigmatic red-haired beauty and comes up with an elaborate scheme to meet her.

Gretchen Petty is in need of a paycheck—and a change. So when a job opportunity in an upstate New York mansion pops up she accepts. And while she can overlook the oddities of her new job, she can’t ignore her new boss’s delectable body—or his barely leashed temper.

Hunter’s afraid his plan might be unraveling before it’s truly begun, but Gretchen is about to show him that life can be full of surprises…

I really enjoyed this one. It’s sexy and fun, with a tortured hero and a heroine who teases and cares and is so sexy herself. My top ten reasons (and yes, there are a few explicit quotes below)

1. Hunter is a VIRGIN billionaire with massive scarring (from falling out of a boat and hitting a propeller – zomg!)  on his face and chest and is missing a finger. (My god, do I even need to continue???)

2. The heroine, Gretchen, a ghost writer, is super cute and witty and says “I’d rather have a man who isn’t in love with his own reflection than on who needs hair products or designer labels.” (HELLO! A man is waiting for you who hates the way he looks!)

3. Hunter lives in a castle. No really – a full-fledged Victorian style castle with a butler that has a major ‘tude.

“I didn’t realize I was going to be living a frickin’ Hogwarts! I- “

The massive wooden front door opened, and a tall, then man with a bald head and long neck stepped out of the house. Gretchen looked at him with keen interest. He wore a small plaid bow tie and a tweed jacket with patches in the elbows. Fascinating.

4. Hunter is all stalkery and super awkward – he had seen Gretchen previously and knew he needed to really get to know her. So he buys some old letters from an estate and pretends they are from his castle, and asks (demands) that she write about them. He also demands she live at his house as she completes the project. It’s all very stalker, creepy but sexy in that romance book way.

5. Gretchen accidentally walks in on Hunter after he gets out of the shower and she honestly doesn’t feel that embarrassed by it.

He was utterly naked, his skin gleaming with wet drops from his shower. His legs were tanned and shadowed from the wet hair clinging to them, and his legs were thick with cords of muscle. Nice, wet cords of glorious muscle. A tattoo traced across one bicep.

He was hung too, Gretchen didn’t mind noticing. HIs cock lay semi-erect against his thigh, as if he’d recently pleasured himself.

And of course during this time is when she notices how scarred he is, something he is deeply ashamed of. So when he all of a sudden notices she is standing there:

“Get the fuck out of here,” he roared. One hand went in front of his face, shielding it from her gaze. (OH Hunter. *sobs*)

6. Gretchen does her best to make Hunter feel more comfortable around her, especially since he is embarrassed about her seeing him naked.

“Are you drunk?” he asked abruptly.

“No,” she said, drawing out that one syllable. Okay, so the pajamas weren’t making the best first – um, second – impression. “I’m friendly. I saw you out here and wanted to talk.”

His face darkened into a scowl, the scars at the corner of his mouth twisting his entire face into an ugly grimace. He turned away. “I have nothing to say to you.”

So this wasn’t going well. When he began to stalk away at a pace more rapid that she could sustain in her oversized borrowed boots, she panicked. “Your penis! she called out. “I saw it!”

7. So in MORE of an effort to make him feel better, she comes up with this plan.

“Hunter?”

“Hmmm?” He seemed distracted, almost dazed.

She reached for the loose collar of her robe and pulled it open. Stepping back, she flashed him her breasts.

He stared, frozen in place.

“Now we’re even,” she told him lightly. “The field is leveled. Enjoy your meeting tonight.”

And she closed her robe and sauntered back into her room, grinning the entire time.

8. Hunter has a huge greenhouse where he grows a ton of roses. Each day, even before he meets her in person, he leaves a rose on her desk. So romantic.

She wasn’t quite sure what the roses meant. Just a polite gesture from a lonely man? She liked to think otherwise. Maybe he was as quietly fascinated with her as she was with him. There was something about Hunter that called to her. His sharp mind? His flawless physique? His scarred face and tortured eyes? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t get him out of her head. He was so different from all the other men she’d ever met. He fascinated her.

9. He is SO much a virgin, he can barely stand it when Gretchen becomes very forward and offers him her body.

“I’ve never…I don’t…”

“That’s all right, Hunter.”

“It’s not,” he said roughly, reaching out and daring to touch a lock of her hair that was tickling his chest. It was soft and silky, and his mind immediately filled with images of her hair sliding all over him, her naked body following. His cock reared, and he bit his lip to keep from spilling with need. “It’s…not…..okay.”

(An out of control, rearing cock! Will it ever be tamed?)

10. Have I mentioned that I love Gretchen? Hunter has a huge mirror in his office that faces his desk.

“Why the mirror?” she whispered.

He tilted the phone away from his mouth so only she could hear his response. “ So I never forget who – and what I am.”

“That’s depressing,” she told him, and then rolled her eyes when he shushed her. “You know who does that? Emo people.”

But this mirror has other functions! Like playing a part in dirty, dirty sex on his desk.

His hand anchored on her shoulder, the other on her hip, and then he was slamming into her over and over again, his thrusts wild and undisciplined. She was being taken by a  man out of control.

It was glorious. She’d never been fucked so hard.

Every time he pounded into her an involuntary groan of pleasure escaped her throat.  She was so close and he hadn’t even touched her clit. “Oh, God, Hunter, keep fucking me.”

“So…damn….naughty,” he told her between rough thrusts. “You’re such a fucking tease, Gretchen.”

“I am,” she moaned. “I like teasing you.” You like it, too.”

And bonus 11. And finally…

I don’t find you ugly, Hunter. No one who knew you could. Her voice was achingly soft. “If anything, I’m grateful that you have these scars, because they saved you for me – for this moment in time. And that’s selfish of me, isn’t it? And yet I can’t help but feel that way.”

This is book two in a series about six billionaire friends. They can be read as stand alones (I read the first book and enjoyed, but not as much as this one) Book three just released last week.

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