Clara Black isn’t looking for love.Working by day as a therapist and by night as an exotic dancer, intimacy is not her greatest strength. But her guarded heart is thrown into confusion by the magnetic stranger who keeps showing up in unexpected places.Lucas Evans is everything she doesn’t trust. Oozing confidence and sex appeal, he leaves women scattered in his wake. Clara is determined to resist … scattered in his wake. Clara is determined to resist him.
But one gut-melting kiss and her resolve falters. And soon she’s falling for him, despite her reservations.
But she’s not the only one keeping secrets.
There’s a death that isn’t what is seems.
A meeting that wasn’t accidental.
Can Clara protect her heart in this gripping, sizzling standalone full of secrets, lust and lies?
.
*NB this book explores complex themes around mental health. It is written by a mental health clinician and has been described as “beautifully nuanced” with “the observation of the human psyche…written flawlessly in this dark yet twisted romance.”
more
This book is an intense, emotional and SEXY storyline that grabs you right from the start keeping you engrossed and on edge throughout the whole book!
Completely sensuous, wrought with emotion, and so well written that I absolutely could not put it down!
This steamy romance is a roller coaster ride that will make you hot, and even make you shed a few tears.
I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is the 3rd book I’ve read written by Fen Wilde; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I will definitely be reading more of her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the chemistry between the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
This novel provides such insight into mental illnesses, trauma, suicide and the effect of child abuse (be it sexual or psychological). The author does a great job weaving the complexities of the mind and the impact left from one’s traumatic childhood while also developing romance between the characters with unexpected twists to the plot.
While it was a heavy read with all the complex mental health issues it was also a sweet read about how love conquers all even internal conflicts.
I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I found this to be an intriguing read by this author. There are some dark themes in this romance as the author introduces the main characters, their past that has gotten them to where they now are. There is a lot of pain and heartache that all the characters have experienced that has left them both damaged emotionally and mentally. This plot delves in to the mysterious workings of relationships and how much damage they can do. There are some steamy scenes in this story but that is not the main focus of the book, at least not to me. It’s a very interesting story and well worth the time to read it but be warned as it is dark.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The start was really intriguing and got me reading.
There were some moments that I got confused but I liked it as a whole.
There were a lot of twists and turns and good chemistry.
It was a touching experience!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a great book by this author she did a great job of developing the characters and the storyline flowed smoothly. Topic and the definition chemistry between the couple kept me on the edge of my seat.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book was filled with mystery, intrigue, suspense, steamy scenes, and twists and turns. It delves deep into the human mind and human behavior. I felt the story started out a little slow and had parts that could have been not so drawn out. However, it was well written and kept me reading. Clara and Lucas had amazing chemistry, and I thought theywere good for each other. Overall, I enjoyed it and would give it 3.5 stars.
*I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. This is my honest review.*
I would have loved this book had it not been for Clara’s mental yo-yo extremes that we’re forced to endure just a little too much of.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Clara Black is an addictive character who I couldn’t get enough of. She’s intriguing. Lucas and her have such an interesting dynamic that together take us on a mind trip that is a bit dark but oh so captivating. I didn’t care about anything but finding out who was behind the letters.
The suspense and psychological game are going to keep you guessing and reading like a fiend. I received an ARC for an honest and voluntarily review.
This is deep and emotional and nerve wracking to read. You are caught from the beginning. No photos of childhood to remember but a picture of the death of your sibling. Dark. All the memories that swirl below the surface and that never show on your face. This story touches a part of you you think is hidden but comes out in small peaks. Everyone hides something.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
this semi-dark book is a real good book. the characters and the plot then a twist had me hooked so that I could not put it dodwn. I highly recommend this book to all.
This is one heck of a story. It is fascinating, intriguing, suspenseful and eye opening. This book kept me glued to each page from beginning to the end. There is so much drama, pain, shock, fear, abuse, self-forgiveness and the finding of love of self and of others. There are three major players in this story. Aaron: whose pain filled life is being written about from his journals because his mother, Maureen, told his older brother Lucas, that he was dead. Lucas: he has buried his pain, disappointments, abuse under a façade he shows everyone. He has never had a serious relationship. He hits it and quits it. He has never connected to anyone until Clara. He is a successful businessman. He owns his own security company and has thirty acres prime land in the country that he uses for training horses for competition. He has buyers from all over the world who see the horses during a race. While reading Aaron’s journals, he hires a P.I. to track down the therapist that Aaron writes to. He needs to blame someone for what happened to his brother and he wants to blame his therapist, Clara Black. Clara: She is a very interesting character. She is a psychotherapist by day and a successful stripper by night. She had a painful abusive childhood and she never told anyone what was happening during the time that it happened and never told anyone later in her life. She fears intimacy and relationships in general. She keeps her two worlds separated. This book delves into the lives of Aaron, Lucas and Clara and to a small extend Maureen, Aaron and Lucas’ mother. It goes into their relationships with each other and their relationship with themselves. This is a must read and I highly recommend it.
Close is the story of Clara and Lucas. Clara is a psychotherapist by day and a gentlemen’s club stripper by night. Lucas is a wealthy self-made man, specializing in security and horse showjumping. They meet one night at Clara’s strip club. She engages in a lap dance with Lucas, and she finds herself sexually attracted to him in a way that she normally does not feel for her other strip club clients. Throughout the story, they play a bit of a “cat and mouse” game with their attraction to each other, as both of them harbor difficult pasts. They must learn to overcome those struggles in order to be together.
I really struggled with this story. I think Fen Wilde means well. As a writer with a specialty in psychology, she seeks to infuse this into her stories. However, the psychotherapy of this book overwhelms the story. It makes it difficult to connect emotionally with the characters. Additionally, I was not a fan of Lucas. I don’t like when a hero and heroine of a romance meet and make any type of connection, and they turn around and connect physically with other people. I know this is possible in the real world, but in the land of fiction, it always makes me uncomfortable. Lucas does this quite often until he finally recognizes he is using sex to numb himself from his feelings for Clara. It does not quite sit well within this story. There is an interesting plot twist, but it lacks the plot punch it deserves because the psychotherapy of the book overwhelms its reader.
Overall, there is a lot of potential for this book. If you are interested in the psychology of relationships, eating disorders, and deflection, then you’ll like this book. However, if you want a simple story between a man and a woman, you will need to wade through a heavy text to find it here.
Clara is a therapist by day and a stripper by night. She makes good money by stripping but that’s not really why she continues to dance. She gets a high off knowing that her clients are attracted to her, want her. Yeah she’s got issues, what good therapist doesn’t? Then one night at the club she meets a client whom she’s inordinately attracted to. When she sees him while out with a friend, it sparks a hot journey between the two.
Lucas may not be exactly on the up and up, though, and there are letters written to Clara that scream of a stalker. Who is this letter-writer in relation to Clara and how does he fit in with the rest of the story? Does he fit in with Lucas?
I found Close to be interesting and pretty steamy. I like the suspense of trying to determined who the letter writer is. And I thought Lucas and Clara’s chemistry seriously sexy. I can’t say I particularly liked Clara or her obvious issues, but I did find myself liking Lucas for the most part. My actual rating is 3.5 stars rounded down mostly because I didn’t really connect to Clara. But still, Close is well-written and suspenseful so 3.5 stars seems fair.