Conflicted in the depth of her feelings for bad boy Gavin Kingsley, lonely librarian Emma Bell knows he’s all wrong for her—yet the heart wants what it wants.But if she gives into his dark, erotic desires will she lose herself completely? Passion, drama and suspense combine in the highly-anticipated conclusion to Emma Bell’s love affair with the alpha and enigmatic Kingsley brothers. Secrets will … brothers. Secrets will be exposed, sides will be chosen, and nothing will ever be the same.
This is book two in the series, following Dirty Little Secret.
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When these two finally get together for good, I let out a happy sigh. I enjoyed the drama as Emma and Gavin work through their issues, and watching them truly fall for each other once and for all was wonderfully romantic.
The way Gavin learns to give to Emma while still retaining his possessive ways was super hot, and the way Emma learns to submit completely while maintaining her true self was really well done.
The added danger from the scorned coworker added a bit of spice but overall that part was my least favorite. And I wish there was a better ending for Cooper, but I guess that’s what book 3 will be about 🙂 I hope he and Gavin can reconcile because I missed their banter and closeness in this book.
Overall a great read with some wonderfully steamy scenes and a perfect HEA.
The story between Emma and Gavin had been left on a precipice after book 1- and that made this storyline up in the air. Which brother would Emma go for- reliable, sweet Cooper? Or tantalizing Gavin?
Emma’s dilemma was hard to watch because when “the guy” waffles back and forth in his actions, you tell the girl she deserves better. But that deep-seated, fiery connection with Gavin turns out to be exactly what she deserves. Sometimes the heart truly does know best. Gavin was slow to realize the treasure he had in Emma, but once he did, that heart-stopping alpha came out and showed everyone what it means to go all-out for the girl. The development of character in the story was really Gavin’s- learning that his past does not define him and that he is worthy of and able to give love.
Audible has the four book series as a single set available for one credit. Plus, it’s Zachary Webber & Joe Arden (I wasn’t familiar with either female narrator.)
This first book (which I also gave 3 stars) ended in a cliffhanger, and I was hoping that the second half would elevate the characters and story a bit higher. Not so much. A solid book and a basically enjoyable story, but I doubt I’ll find myself listening to this over and over. There were these “mini crisis” that sort of popped up but were “poof” solved and it felt a little bit like maybe they could have dropped one or two of them and spent time developing the others into better storylines.
As always, Zachary Webber is amazing ~ but again I had the same issues with Megan Tusing coming off overly whiny at times I didn’t feel it was called for.
I’m also anxiously awaiting Cooper’s book and I think there’s something to be said for creating an intriguing secondary character.
You have to know what the say about the quiet ones?? The librarian is taken
with Gavin Kingsley. He is taken with her and the chase begins. A great book in the promise series by Kendall Ryan. I love all her books
After finishing DIRTY LITTLE SECRET I couldn’t wait to see how the Gavin/Emma/Cooper triangle would turn out. While DIRTY LITTLE PROMISE kept me interested, I wanted so much more out of it. That might not be fair, but this story had the potential to really pull on the heart strings and it went in a totally opposite direction than I thought/wanted it to. Even the two twists in the book were resolved so quickly, they held little impact. I’m ready to move on to Cooper’s book and to find out who turns him on his butt!
enjoyed it
Gavin wants her, but is secretly afraid of desiring her. Emma is a simple librarian living in a town home from her past. Who knows how they will end up: Heartbroken or everlasting love?
It was so nice having this book to come home to when we got back from Disney. It was a nice distraction from all that unpacking and laundry.
I love these books for several reasons and one of them being the brother’s relationship. I like watching Gavin and Cooper, they are probably my favorite thing about these books. Emma was a little more enjoyable in this book and I liked seeing her come into her own and choose one of them.
There was lots of steam and sexy times that Kendall is known for. Loved that! The book did read at a slower pace than the last one though. I just liked the faster pace of book one more than that.
My only issue with this was the ending. I feel it was wrapped up to neat and the ending was to epilogue – ish and not what I expected.
I’m excited for the next release in this series and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
This is book 2 of Gavin and Emma’s story and also the conclusion as Book 1 ends in a cliffhanger. I enjoyed this story as the plot was good and the interaction between these two worked well. I loved how things ended with their love story.
I mostly enjoyed the continuation/conclusion of Emma and Gavin’s story. Overall, I
find that I prefer Kendall’s standalone novels. Any story that was more than 1 book
long that I’ve read of her’s just feels stretched out.
I wasn’t blown away by this. Don’t shoot me! Everyone that I know that read this loved it, but I just couldn’t get myself to love it. I felt it dragged in some places and some things were quite predictable.
Dirty Little Promise picks up where Dirty Little Secret left off after Emma finds about Gavin’s past relationship. She’s shocked and doesn’t know whether to listen to him or just walk away.
” I needed answers. Part of me wished I didn’t, wished I could just move on and forget Gavin Kingsley ever existed. But that wasn’t possible. ”
This was a couple who on paper, wouldn’t work at all. He needs dominance and she was in an abusive relationship before. But the story worked and I liked them together.
Well I liked Emma okay, but the star of this book was Gavin for me.
I really enjoyed the honesty from Gavin. He didn’t beat around the bush or lie to Emma about the details of what happened with Ashley. He came off genuine in his feeling for Emma.
“Because the truth was, Emma owned me. She meant more to me than my company, more than my own life. ”
Will I continue reading this series? I will because I can’t wait to read about Cooper!
Dirty Little Promise is the second book in the Forbidden Desires series. Dirty Little Secret had left us with a cliffhanger. Gavin Kingsley’s secret had been exposed, at least in part. The second book reveals the truth behind Gavin Kingsley secrets and Emma’s ultimate decision.
There’s a lot going on in book two. Emma Bell has to make a decision between Gavin and Cooper. She has to decide if she can move forward with Gavin after he reveals the truth about his past. Emma is also in danger. Someone is out to hurt her. Gavin and Cooper’s relationship is strained and causes a rift between brothers. The Kingsley brother’s company is in jeopardy because of an employee and also because of incident from Gavin’s past. Emma’s parents are also thrown into the mix. Plus there’s a third brother who I felt got lost somewhere in all of this. I liked that the story is fast paced but I felt that there were too many subplots. The story became to complicated. Overall I liked the main plot of the story. Gavin being the darker, controlling brother who takes a crazy chance and in the end finds his light. 4 Stars
Kendell Ryan never fails me
This was a great ride with Gavin and Emma .. i love how at the end Gavin comes more to terms to love Emma and don’t fight his feeling anymore.. he understands that he doesn’t have anything to do with what happened in his past… it is also nice to see, how Emma grew up a lot from book one, as in this book she is more bold in what she wants and needs.. he is not that afraid of Gavin like on the 1st book… things get a little complicated when someone tries to sabotage Emma’s and Gavin’s relationship, things will lead them to believe her past is trying to mess up with her present and future.. in this book Gavin has to take care of her as someone is trying to harm Emma.. it could be his ex? who knows ..
This story has become very dear and one of my favorites for sure.. and lets not mention the audiobook version with Zachary Webber.. you can imagine his sexy voice on Gavin …
Past secrets and a love triangle involving two brothers. Kendall Ryan’s Dirty Little Promise continues the story of Gavin and Emma. And Cooper. This is the second book in the Forbidden Desires series and needs to be read after book one, Dirty Little Secret.
Emma Bell has fallen for two of the Kingsley brothers. The gentle and loving Cooper, and the intense and explosive Gavin. Secrets from the past have come out and now she must make a choice. It’s not as easy as you would think.
Emma has just learned Gavin’s secret concerning his ex. With her past she has trouble believing that things won’t end up down that same road. Then there is Cooper. His love for her is sweet and what she should want. She knows that he is the logical choice, but her heart keeps circling back to Gavin.
Gavin knew his secret would have consequences but he wants Emma. As he tries to win her back, they discover that someone isn’t too keen on Emma and is trying to keep them apart. Not to mention the situations involving his family and the business begin to spiral out of control and Emma is in danger of being brought down with them. He should push her away but finds himself pulling her closer. His need to protect her from an outside threat proves greater than the threat he believes himself to be.
This book starts off right where book one ends, so you need to read it first. Gavin is even more dominant and sexy this time around. I didn’t think it was possible but let me tell you it most definitely is! He really let his inner alpha out to play and it was hot as h***. Poor Emma having to choose between two Kingsley brothers. I feel bad for her, but not really if you know what I mean. She has a tough choice to make especially after learning Gavin’s secret.
The storyline is passionate and thrilling, there is an added suspense that wasn’t there in the first book, not completely anyway. The combination of twists and turns plus the combustible sex equals one HOT read! Four stars. I cannot wait to read Cooper’s story.
Loved it. Great read!
I’m so glad I didn’t have long to wait before getting the conclusion of Gavin’s and Emma’s tumultuous romance, especially after that cliffhanger from book one.
We get more of those hot Kingsley brothers, only now the tension between them is rapidly approaching nuclear levels. Factor in a scandal involving the company, add a bit of unrequited love and threats against someone and you’ve got the recipe for an implosion.
With Gavin finally telling Emma what happened with his last relationship, things between them have become strained. It’s not until a family dinner that Emma is finally forced to make a decision, even though making that decision is difficult. We also get to see a softer side to Gavin (if you can believe it!) although that side doesn’t make an appearance that much; he’s still the same dominant, controlling Gavin we fell in love with in book one.
A few twists throughout the story, but I love the way things wrapped up for Gavin and Emma; the first epilogue was sweet, but the second epilogue kind of broke my heart, and because of that I can’t wait to get Cooper’s and Quinn’s stories.
Dirty Little Promise is the wickedly seductive conclusion to the Forbidden Desires duet, and a story that no reader should miss! When we last left this trio of characters, Emma Bell had a tough decision to make about the Kingsley brother’s, and had learned a deep dark secret that Gavin wasn’t forthright about…so it fell in the hands of his brother Cooper to tell. Which not only turns Emma’s relationship with Gavin upside down, but it also makes her decision of choosing one brother to love even harder. She cares for both of them for very different reasons, and knows she needs to pick one to save their relationship, and put an end to their brotherly rift. But her head and heart are in a constant tug o’war with one another, and she still needs answers to the many questions she has…
So far this new series from Ms. Ryan has started off with a seriously sexy bang, and I cannot not wait to see what she has in store for us next, the Kingsley brothers had me feeling the heat in the first two installments and I have a feeling that things will just continue to get hotter from here!! This duet had me completely captivated from start to finish, it was packed with lots of gut-wrenching emotion, lots of ultra steamy naughty times, and lots of little secrets that will keep you questioning things until the end! Highly recommend this duet, the Kingsley brother’s will pull you into their posh little world and have you never wanting to leave!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title.
3.5 stars–DIRTY LITTLE PROMISE is the second installment in Kendall Ryan’s contemporary, adult FORBIDDEN DESIRES erotic, romance series. This is the continuing story of successful businessmen Gavin Kingsley, his brother Cooper, and thirty year old librarian Emma Bell’s story line. DIRTY LITTLE PROMISE should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up immediately upon the events of book one DIRTY LITTLE SECRET.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Gavin and Emma) DIRTY LITTLE PROMISE is the continuing story of billionaire businessman Gavin Kingsley, and librarian Emma Bell. At the end of book one DIRTY LITTLE SECRET Cooper Kingsley inadvertently revealed his brother’s secret-a secret about his past that our heroine struggled to understand and accept. Both Cooper and his brother Gavin are attracted to Emma; and Emma is attracted to the brothers in return but Emma’s gravitation towards Gavin is stronger; their chemistry hotter; their need for one another almost a co-dependent relationship. But someone has targeted our story line heroine; threats that have become personal and physical. The brothers’ relationship begins to deteriorate as Emma and Gavin’s bond continues to strengthen over time. Gavin’s past is revealed; a stalker threatens our heroine’s life; and Cooper’s acceptance of Emma’s love for Gavin is fraught with heartbreaking sorrow and remorse.
Throughout the story the threats against Emma intensify; the danger is aggressive and ugly but the identity of the perpetrator is unknown although I easily deduced the guilt party from the outset. I struggled with the quick resolution to the discovery and reveal of said ‘guilty party’, as well as the lack of details surrounding the consequences, and the characters’ acceptance of the who, how and why.
We are re-introduced to Gavin’s brothers-Cooper and Quinn- two brothers who, along with Gavin, own and operate a successful business that caters to the rich and famous; Gavin’s PA Alyssa; hiring office manager Sonja, as well as Emma’s parents Mr. &Mrs. Bell, and Bethany, Emma’s co-worker and friend.
Once again, I struggled with the perceived lack of the palpable sexual energy between Emma and Gavin. Their attraction to one another seemed perfunctory, forced and almost apathetic. Gavin’s brother Cooper showed more emotion; his attraction to Emma was raw and heartbreaking. I am looking forward to Cooper’s story line, and his happily ever after in book three TORRID LITTLE AFFAIR (December 2017)
There are moments of drama and suspense; betrayal and revenge; forgiveness and love. Choices will be made that will affect the future. The premise is engaging; the characters are flawed; the romance is passionate.