It started off as a
battle of wits. Me: the ordinary girl with a big mouth against Him: the sexy
bastard with a big...ego.
I thought I’d hit
the jackpot when I was upgraded to first class on my flight to London.
That is until HE sat down next to
me. Gabriel Scott: handsome as sin, cold as ice. Nothing and no one gets to
him. Ever. He’s a legend in his own right, the manager of the biggest rock band
in the world, and an arrogant ass who looks down his nose at me.
I thought I’d give him hell for one,
long flight. I didn’t expect to like him. I didn’t expect to want him. But the
biggest surprise? He wants me too. Only in a way I didn’t see coming.
If I accept his proposal, I leave
myself open to falling for the one man I can’t manage. But I’m tempted to say
yes. Because the real man beneath those perfect suits and that cool façade just
might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I just might be the
only one who can melt the ice around his heart.
Let the battle begin…
My Review
I received an advanced copy of this book with the promise of an honest review.
(me, after finishing this book)
I love me a sexy Brit. But give me an uptight, sexy Brit that finally lets loose and SWEET BABY JESUS. Gabriel freaking Scott. Talk about a surprise!!
Gabriel and Sophie meet on a flight to London. He boards the plane thinking he has two whole seats to himself, but then he sees Sophie sitting in one of those seats. He quickly realizes that he is not going to get the quiet flight he was hoping for and he's very unhappy. He gives her the nickname Chatty Girl and he becomes her Sunshine and the rest, as they say, is history. A lot happens on that flight and I won't go into it because it is so good and you must experience it for yourself, but the most important thing is that that flight is the starting point for all things Sunshine and Chatty Girl.
UGH! I LOVED THEM SO MUCH. Gabriel definitely met his match with Sophie. The man has reasons for being the uptight, serious guy he is today. He had a shitty upbringing, but luckily for him he met the Kill John guys while away at boarding school and they became not only his friends, but also his family. He's now their manager and is extremely successful. Things seem to be going great, but then he meets Sophie and he realizes just how not okay he was. His world gets tilted on it's axis and pretty much everyone around him notices the effect Sophie has on him. She knocks down those walls he has built up over the years and with her help, starts to feel again. Of course he doesn't like it at first, but when it comes to Sophie he is helpless and to be honest it's just best that he let her take over.
And Sophie. This woman is definitely one of my favorite ladies I've read in a long time. She is a bad ass woman. She's learned from her mistakes in the past and just wants to move forward. I loved how she handled Gabriel and all of his moods and never let him get away with anything. She was excactly what he needed and she came to him at a time when he needed her the most.
The banter in this book! I am a huge fan banter. Banter between friends. Banter between enemies. Banter between family members. Banter between lovers. I love it all. And what Sophie and Gabriel had was some intense foreplay disguised as banter, which in my opinion, is the best kind of banter. These two are HOT HOT HOT. When Gabriel finally gives in and lets loose...WOW. I found myself needing a cold shower more than once.
This book is one of the best I've read this year. I loved EVERYTHING about it. The storyline never dragged and there were a few small twists in the plot that I never saw coming. One even actually made me quite jealous of Sophie. I mean talk about an offer you can't refuse. In this book we also get to know more about the guys in Kill John and now I can't wait to get the rest of the series!
EXCERPT
In all this time, I had yet to see Gabriel without a shirt. He hides his body like a pious Victorian, never letting me see anything other than him fully dressed and polished. Now I know why. Had he let me get a glimpse, I might never have been able to form a coherent thought around him.
This man’s chest is a work of art. It’s every fantasy I’ve had about a man’s body made real. I don’t even know how that’s possible, but I’m not about to complain. God, he looks touchable. Olive skin, tight little brownish nipples, a smattering of dark chest hair over the most incredibly honed—
“You’re staring.” His tone is dry.
“Yes, I am.” I drag my eyes up and find his expression bemused.
A thick brow lifts. I try to mimic the look and fail when both of my brows lift as one. His lips twitch in amusement.
He shifts his weight, causing his abs to clench. Good Lord. He’s not some overdeveloped gym worshiper, just solid and strong, that perfect balance between defined musculature and healthy male—
“You’re still staring, Sophie.”
“You think it’s easy looking away from all this splendor?” I ask his belly button, licking my lips when he huffs out a laugh and just a little bit more of his lower abs are revealed, slanting toward the thick bulge of his cock, which is lamentably hidden behind his slacks.
“You’re impossible,” he mutters, though there is humor in his voice. He strolls farther into the room and then practically kills me when he sits in one of the low-slung armchairs. That body, sprawled out on display, those thick, long thighs braced as if to take me in his lap—it’s too much.
I want to straddle him and lick my way from the hollow of his throat to the tip of his cock.
He eyes me as if he knows what I’m thinking, and the air thickens. So many things we left unsaid. I’m remembering his lips now, surprisingly soft, but strong with purpose.
From the way his lids lower, I wonder if he’s remembering things as well. But he doesn’t move. Tension glides over his body and snakes around the room. I feel it in my throat and down my spine. We’re closing up again, retreating.
Slowly, I toe off my shoes and set my gear down, never breaking eye contact. “I was being completely honest,” I tell him. “I see you like this and I want to stare forever.”
He snorts, shaking his head even as he rests his temple on his knuckles. “What do you mean ‘like this’?”
“Undone.”
He tenses. It does lovely things to that chest. I focus on his face, mainly to maintain some semblance of decorum.
“You think this is me undone?” he asks quietly.
“It’s a start.” I reach for my camera bag. “Will you let me photograph you?”
There is safety to be found with the camera between us. A way for both of us to hide until we’re comfortable around each other again.
“You’re serious?”
“You sound surprised.” Holding my camera, I sit in the sofa opposite him. “Don’t tell me no one has asked to take your picture before.”
“They’ve asked. I never saw the point.” He shrugs. “I’m not the story.”
You’re my story. You always were.
“This is just for me,” I say instead. “No one else.”
His shrewd gaze pins me. “Why do you want this?”
So I can have a bit of you forever. “Pictures capture moments in time. I want this one—when you finally let me see a sliver of the man behind the clothes.”
His nostrils flare on an indrawn breath, and he slowly lets it out. When he speaks, his voice is a rasp. “Take the pictures.”
Kristen Callihan is an author because there is nothing else she’d rather be. She is a three-time RITA nominee and winner of two RT Reviewer’s Choice awards. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal, as well as being awarded top picks by many reviewers. Her debut book FIRELIGHT received RT Magazine’s Seal of Excellence, was named a best book of the year by Library Journal , best book of Spring 2012 by Publisher’s Weekly, and was named the best romance book of 2012 by ALA RUSA. When she is not writing, she is reading.
