Dare to Resist by Laura Kaye
Released: May 12, 2014
Contemporary Romance
Entangled Publishing
Reviewed by Sheena
Blurb: Trapped and tempted, this battle of wills rages all night long…
Kady Dresco and Colton Brooks click on a level that defies logic. There are only two problems. One, he’s her older brother’s irritating best friend, and two, they’re bidding on the same military security services contract.
When the competition heats up, Colton is torn between wanting to strangle Kady (and her annoying brilliance) and kissing her into submission. Which is a bad idea for a million reasons, because Kady’s submission is exactly what he craves. Being trapped in a tiny motel room with the object of his darkest fantasies will require every ounce of his restraint.
Kady doesn’t want his restraint, but Colton knows better. She deserves love, marriage, and a white picket fence—three things Colton can’t give her. But her proximity and the memory of their steamy near-miss three years ago slowly destroys his resolve. And he’s not sure how much longer he can keep his hands off…or his heart closed.
A monsoon in the middle of the desert is the catalyst for an erotic showdown three years in the making. During a highly competitive contract pitch meeting, we meet Kady Dresco. She is a brilliant, petite, dark haired beauty of a woman. Oh, and she is the best. As a matter of fact, she declares herself “the best” so frequently that I soon found myself wondering why, in fact, was she so pleased with herself? It is never a good start when you disengage from the heroine by page seven.
In the midst of reading (more) about how Kady is just the best, we meet Colton Brooks; sexy, quiet and clocks in at just above the requisite level of brooding and bossiness
“She’d always known he was bossy and sometimes controlling, but she never would’ve guessed in a million years that this man lay beneath the surface of the one she’d known all these years.”
These two are clearly drawn to one another and the three years they spent apart did nothing to douse their spark…and I think I am supposed to care. I don’t. This was my problem throughout the story. The characters fell flat to me. I did not root for Kady to win the contract or Colton’s heart and boy does she want victory over both. I didn’t care that Colton, with his misplaced and high-handed “I know what is best for you” actions only drew Kady to him more. I didn’t even care when fate, cloaked in a surprise storm stranded them together and she predictably shimmied out of her wet garments and wore his shirt that was too big on her. I live for moments when heroines don the shirts of their men that are too big on them! But no, I felt no real connection or investment to the pair. I often found myself wondering- what’s up with her big brother – maybe that is where the action is. *Shrug*
This was a miss for me, though I did find amusement when Colton discovers, in a most charming manner, that Kady enjoys reading more than just complicated computer algorithms in her spare time:
“…He found her laptop case flat on the floor…revealing a paperback with a dark-red cover. He flipped it over and froze.
The image made him immediately hard. Or maybe it was that Kady owned a book with a cover that depicted a heavily muscled man holding a woman trapped against a wall….the woman’s expression was part pain, part pleasure, and the man’s was harsh, unforgiving. The book was called Into the Dark.
What. The. Fuck.
Colton’s heart was a pounding sledgehammer in his chest. Why did Kady have this? Why was she reading this? Colton scanned his gaze over the words.
Holy shit.
He needed more light. And some privacy.
The sexy times are aplenty, the sexual tension is adequately steamy and there is plenty of possessiveness and protectiveness to mollify your typical romance aficionado.
Unfortunately, this novella never fully delivered for me. I think I almost liked it. I kept hoping that the story would finally hit the gas and rev up, only to find that it just keeps sputtering around until the saccharine sweet ending. There were glimpses of the author’s voice that I rather liked, but in this book, the interesting moments were just too far and few in-between for me to really latch on.
If you are partial to a breezy, quick romantic read, I challenge you to… Dare to Resist…
(hehehehe….)
Rating: C
I was actually more intrigued by the excerpt from Kady’s book. Any idea if it is a shout out to a real book and if so, what book it is?
It took me a while to hunt it down in my archives, but I definitely felt like I’d read that book somewhere! Finally found it :) I’m pretty sure the author was referencing “Willing Victim” by Cara McKenna.