April 7, 2010

Back Cover:
KEEPING IT TOGETHER
Brody Brown has always been responsible for others. After his parents’ death, he gave up a promising artistic career to care for his younger brother and sister. Now, with his siblings grown, Brody owns his own business, has a nice house, makes a nice living, and for the first time in years he’s on his own.

Elise Sorenson has come to Seattle with her young daughter to find peace. After years as a world-famous ballerina—(and just as many years in a marriage-gone-bad)—she’s looking for neither love nor attention. But she finds both in the handsome, honest man who befriends her with no strings attached.

More than friends, Brody and Elise discover in each other what they need—wild, physical passion without commitment. But it’ll take a shadow from Elise’s past to make them look beyond what they need—to what they truly desire.

It takes an accident, in which a speeding car hits Brody for neighbors Brody Brown and Elise Sorenson to make the first contact after noticing each other from afar ever since Elise moved to the neighborhood. The accident is the start of a tentative exploring of the feelings that are growing between them but before they can live happily ever after, there are some issues, mainly from Elise's past that need to be dealt with.

Brody is caring, responsible, sexy and masculine. He is alpha, but not overly so and he's a real family man. He loves his family and would do anything for the people he cares about. He is the epitome of a good guy with a bad boy exterior. He's big and tattooed and may look intimidating but he is so caring and...well, sweet. I have no other word for it, even if in the bedroom he is very clear and firm about what he wants. It was this last bit of him that made me fall hard for Brody. He is very vocal in what he wants and how he wants it. Since I really appreciate dirty talking sweet guys, Brody is very much a man after my own heart.

Elise is a woman with a difficult past but she has overcome it and is now trying to make a good life for herself and her daughter, Rennie (Irene). She is calm, attentive and direct and would walk through fire for her daughter. She has closed herself off from love and romance and decides that, with Brody, sex will have to do. She is not ready to put herself and Rennie in a vulnerable position with a man ever again.

As in LAID BARE, again in COMING UNDONE Lauren Dane doesn't shy away from heavy emotional subjects and again it's all about family. I loved the easy banter and the bond between Erin, Brody and Adrian. But the mother-daughter bond between Elise and her daughter and parents was also beautifully written. The close tight-knit family theme throughout the book showed that people who genuinely and truly care about them and support them surround Brody and Elise.

Slowly but intensely and effortlessly I was pulled deeper and deeper into a story that builds up gradually but is fast-paced nonetheless. Lauren Dane's fluent writing is contributes for a great deal to that because unperceived you read and read and want to keep reading until before you know it you are at the end of another great story by her hand. I loved the build-up of Brody and Elise's relationship. I took every step into it along with them. The slow and gradual build up was not only found in the romance but also in the plot. From the start you know there's something ominous surrounding Elise, something from her past. Throughout the first part of the book this is just touched briefly with small hints in Elise's POV and some dialogues and in the second part things are slowly revealed. One thing that I didn't like much in the plot was the way it was wrapped up. After the slow build, the wrap-up felt a bit rushed and brushed over, I was expecting a bit more conflict and fireworks there but it wasn't delivered to me.

To me COMING UNDONE, despite being intense and emotional, did not reach the level of intensity LAID BARE had. That book just rattled me and is still one of the favorite sexy contemporary books I've read. That being said COMING UNDONE still was a perfect combination of emotional and extremely hot writing. The sex scenes...wow, just wow. I know from other books by Lauren Dane that she is the goddess of the scorching hot love scenes but with COMING UNDONE she exceeded my already high expectations and she did it without anything other than two people, a man and a woman, wanting each other. No m/f/m, BDSM or other more bold and much used tropes within erotic romance. So even if I wasn't as blown away as I was with the first book of this series, COMING UNDONE, managed to keep me enthralled from start to finish because Lauren Dane is excellent at writing family bonds and dynamics and combine them with strong characters, heavy emotions and sizzling hot love scenes.

Brody, Elise and Rennie made the pages burn, made my heart melt and made me root for them and their relationship and now I am so ready for Cope to come and sweep me off my feet because the little mentions of him in COMING UNDONE weren't nearly enough to satisfy my craving for him and his story.

Quotes:
He'd meant to slide into it, to take it slow and give her a sweet smooch. Instead, the moment her taste met his lips, a fire banked within him. He needed more and settled in, coaxing her mouth open, sliding his tongue along hers, only barely resisting his desire to cup one of her breasts, though his palm felt the phantom press of a wanton nipple

Something passed between them, addictive and sweet, sticky and heady, and like an addict, she wanted more.

She'd never imagined anyone saying such a thing to her. So raw and beautiful, honest and frankly sexual. It was invigorating to have someone want her like that. Thrilling. This man before her was hers in a sense, in her bed, wanting her in his life both in his bed and out of it. That was a powerful lure. To be wanted that way soothed some jagged spot inside she hadn't know was rubbing her raw until his presence eased it.

And just because I can't resist a bit of Cope
Cope flashed a smile, complete with a dimple. This guy was a real bad boy. His grin was pure sex and he knew it. It charmed her.
(*sigh* and *drool*)

Rating: 8.7 out of 10

6 comments:

Patti (@TheLoveJunkee) said...

I liked this book too, although sometimes Elise got on my nerves. Looking forward to Cope's book!

Lynette said...

Loved this book and I agree about the ending. It seemed a little to pat for me. That was my only complaint as well. I loved Erin and Brody. Unlike the charecters in many romance novels they felt like people you'd see walking down the street.

Janna said...

Very nice review! I have both books, unread, on my ereader. And I wonder why I haven't picked them up yet! I can see why you fell hard for Brody, he seems so yummy! And those quotes... wow! I definitely have to bump this series up to the top of my TBR :)

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

Okay Pearl.. I will admit.. that I very lightly skimmed over this review... I am holding out to read it on my own first.. but I have bookmarked this review to come back for when I do read it.. To see what you really thought.
But I wanted to stop by and show some love to ya!!!!
Hope all has been well my friend!

Leontine said...

You make me want to re-read Laid Bare & Coming Undone all over again Pearl *sigh* and I'm counting down alongside you for Cope. I'm more than ready to find out what Lauren Dane will dish out for his story :)

Tracy said...

Isn't Lauren Dane amazing. Her work is to die for, and I could literally just sit and home and do nothing but read her novels. I've been late to work more than once b/c of them! They are nothing short of fantastic. This Friday at 11:00 am she will be doing a live chat with BooksOnBoard (an audio/eBook company) that I am very much looking forward to! I have so so many questions.

Nice to meet you!

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Pearl
Netherlands
39, married to my real life romance hero, addicted to TV shows, reading romance novels and Twitter. I'm a chronic (e)book hoarder and my absolute favorite genres within romance fiction are contemporary romance and romantic suspense, but I don't shy away from historical, paranormal or erotic romance either. Even the occasional (urban) fantasy romance, futuristic and sci fi romance may make it to my Mount TBR. This is my corner of the world wide web where I let you know what books I'm hoarding, reading and reviewing.
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On My TBR Shelf

  • Unforgivable - Laura Griffin
  • Snapped - Laura Griffin
  • Darkness at Dawn - Elizabeth Jennings
  • Sizzle and Burn - Alexis Grant
  • No Mercy - Lori Armstrong
  • Animal Magnetism - Jill Shalvis
  • Crazy for Love - Victoria Dahl
  • Kink - Saskia Walker/Sasha White
  • So Sensitive - Anne Rainey
  • Dark Taste of Rapture - Gena Showalter
  • The Darkest Secret - Gena Showalter
  • Vampire in Atlantis - Alyssa Day
  • Vampire Dragon - Annette Blair
  • Captive Spirit - Anna Windsor
  • Chosen by Blood - Virna DePaul
  • Rebel - Zoe Archer
  • Stranger - Zoe Archer
  • A Taste of Desire - Beverley Kendall
  • Mistress by Midnight - Maggie Robinson
  • To Desire a Devil - Elizabeth Hoyt
  • To Tame a Dangerous Lord - Nicole Jordan

Digital TBR Next

  • Driven - Jayne Rylon (reread)
  • Shifting Gears - Jayne Rylon
  • Beg Me - Shiloh Walker
  • Tempt Me - Shiloh Walker
  • Jazz Baby - Lorelie Brown
  • Playboy Prankster - Pamela Britton
  • Just Like That - Erin Nicholas
  • Sweet Inspiration - Penny Watson
  • Breathe - Donna Alward
  • My Gigolo - Molly Burkhart
  • Scent of Persuason - Nikki Duncan

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