4 I-Hate-Cliffies - Stars

Trigger warning: rape 

Holy crap. I'm so mad right now. I can't even.

Why oh why does this have to end of a cliffhanger?

Sela was raped when she was 16. That's also when she lost her virginity so it is safe to say that her attitude towards sex isn't healthy. She has never had a deep fulfilling relationship. Sometimes she has a friend with benefits, the benefit being that they make her feel normal despite knowing that nothing is normal about the way she feels about men and sex. She's broken in a way I think only women can understand. And she is set to get revenge for what was done to her.

Beck is an IT wizard and part-owner of The Sugar Bowl, a dating website with the purpose of Sugar Daddies finding Sugar Babies. He is gorgeous (of course) and doesn't do relationships. He has a Sugar Bowl of women if he needs a quick fuck. His partner Jonathon Townsend - JT - is one of the guys who raped Sela - Beck knows that something is off with his longtime friend but he doesn't even begin to understand how evil, depraved and vicious his "friend" is.

When Sela and Beck meet there is instant chemistry - Beck, ever the charmer, woos her into his bed making it clear that this would be only a one night stand. Sela has an ulterior motive though. She wants to sink her nails into Beck in order to get intel on JT. During their first night together Beck sees something in Sela that doesn't fit the confident woman he thinks she is and he is intrigued. The next day he shows up at her appartment with an agreement to enter a "sugarship" (what a terrible name...). Sela moves in with him sensing her chance to get information on Jonathon. As time passes, spent with Beck, she falls for him and realizes that, maybe, she shouldn't screw up her growing relationship with her man.

Beck and Sela's chemistry was off the charts and there is a lot of sexy times. Sawyer Bennett knows how to write lovable characters and except for that one moment I loved Beck hard. I expect that there will be LOTS of groveling on his part in the next book. I adored how he made Sela feel after all that pain in her life.

Sela was such a beautifully broken woman, I rooted for her all the way. The cliffhanger left me brokenhearted. I also have an inkling what's going to happen. Highlight to see spoiler:

Beck's sister Caroline has a daughter with brown eyes. He mentions that the father isn't in the picture and that Caroline doesn't even know him. Could it be that JT also raped Beck's sister?

Jonathon was such a snake. He is so despicable I wanted to have him in front of me to kick his shins hard. The scene in the limo with Sela and him left me panting in anger.

This is not the usual Sawyer Bennett story, it's much darker yet I loved the hell out of it. She really is my go-to author if I'm hungover from another book...although this time, I'm slightly hungover from this one.


ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept via Netgally