Look, but don’t touch…

Leyla Karimi can’t keep her eyes off the hunky guy living in the house behind her. How could any woman resist ogling Dr. Mason Barrett, especially when he makes it so easy by parading around in his skin and skivvies?

If it was only their age difference, she would have made a move a long time ago. Except Mason is more than a neighbor. He’s her baby brother’s oldest friend. It’s not like they can have a casual fling and walk away in the morning.

Mason’s been doing a little lusting—okay a lot—for quite some time. When he catches Leyla peeking, it’s a sure sign she could finally be ready to heat up his nights with loving. One taste of her lips, though, and he doesn’t want a “little” of anything. He wants it all.

Unwilling to jeopardize a lifetime of friendship for a one-night stand, Leyla is reluctant to throw caution to the wind. When he’s kissing her senseless, though, it’s hard to remember all the reasons why she should hold back…

Warning: Contains a hot hero who doesn’t mind baring it all in the name of love, a heroine who doesn’t settle for less, a sweet romance, steamy sex in a car and more good lovin’ in bed.

Leyla Karimi is the manager of a lingerie store. She’s witty, straightforward and has a warm, caring personality. Though true to her beliefs and morals, when at ease she owns her sexuality in a confident way.

Mason Barrett is a resident at the hospital. He’s easygoing, and though he is a laid-back kind of guy, sexually he pulls off just the right amount of dominance and confidence to make him utterly drool-worthy.

Both Leyla and Mason are passionate and have a great sense of humor. They are characters that won my heart from the moment they stepped on the pages and they’re a perfect match for each other. I was very glad that Alisha Rai didn’t allow the characters to linger in the best-friend's-sister, brother's-best-friend, we-can't-do-this phase and they went for it. Also loved how she worked out the angry brother angle. I definitely can't wait to read how Sasha is going to be brought to his knees by love.

There were very few secondary characters. The only one that stuck with me was Sasha, who is Leyla’s baby brother and Mason’s best friend (and the hero of book 2: VEILED SEDUCTION). Frankly, I did not miss any secondary characters, as VEILED DESIRE was clearly a story where the stage was reserved for Leyla and Mason and the development of their romantic relationship.

Alisha Rai’s writing style is easy and fluent. Her love scenes are explicit yet not crude and all through the story a humorous tone can be detected, which I loved. This first taste of her writing definitely left me wanting more and I was happy I had VEILED SEDUCTION waiting to be read immediately after I finished this one.

VEILED DESIRE is one scorching hot little novella! In a mere 79 pages Alisha Rai pens down a surprisingly well rounded story with characters that were fleshed out perfectly. It was both sizzling hot and wonderfully sweet. There are no real conflicts other than maybe the initial hesitance in Leyla to start something with Mason because she is a few years older than he is (just 4 years) and he’s her brothers best friend. There are no plots, just a lovely story of two people falling in love and lust and making it work for all parties involved.

Quote:
Mentally, Leyla snorted. If she was finding him cooking breakfast erotic, she really hoped she didn't have to watch him do laundry or something. She might pass out.

8.5 out of 10

Even the best-laid seductions can go awry.

Beneath Dr. Maira Khan’s reserved exterior, her heart beats triple-time for only one man: Sasha Karimi. For two years she’s waited patiently for the handsome police lieutenant to wake up and see her as more than a buddy. When he’s injured in the line of duty, though, she realizes time is too precious to waste. Ditching her scrubs—and her shyness—she cooks up her very first seduction.

Sasha’s had a hell of a week. Thanks to the national media, amorous women are pouring out of the woodwork, all wanting a piece of America’s newest “hero”. The biggest disappointment? Maira seems to have contracted the same case of mass hysteria. Betrayed, he pushes her away—but not before he samples a taste of her luscious mouth and body.

It works. Maira retreats, mortified and ashamed. And Sasha realizes he’s just driven away the perfect woman. Now all he needs is a foolproof plan to win her back, starting with a proper courtship—and restraining his lust. Except once Maira glimpses the man behind the uniform, she sets out to show him that pure need has its own ideas about what’s proper…

Warning: Contains a brilliant heroine who knows how to take matters into her own hands, a sexy hero who knows how to win his woman, an awesome full-body massage, a tender romance and sizzling bedroom (and kitchen) shenanigans.

Maira Kahn has loved Sasha Karimi for 2 years but doesn't admit to it until he's seriously injured in a shootout on the job and lands in her ER. When she finally decides to act on her feelings for him, he thinks she's just out to seduce the newly crowned hero, like all of the other women who've come knocking on his door with indecent proposals, and decides to cut all contact with her. But Sasha can't forget her and soon starts to wonder if sending her on her merry way was the smart thing to do.

Maira is an emergency department physician at the same hospital where Mason (hero book 1: VEILED DESIRE) works. She’s cool, calm and intelligent with an incredibly witty sense of humor. She’s also sweet, a bit reserved, almost shy, and very pragmatic.

Sasha is the brother of Leyla (heroine, book 1) and he’s a police officer. Next to being a good guy who is loyal and caring, he’s also dedicated, fun loving and stubborn to the point of hard-headedness. I had a taste of his temper in VEILED DESIRE and was immediately curious to see what kind of woman was going to handle and tame the fiery Sasha. Sasha is a hard nut to crack with his stubbornness and trying to do the thinking for Maira. After Maira sets him straight however, he turns into this adorable romantic man with a sexual confidence that melted the pages!

In VEILED SEDUCTION there were a few more secondary characters than in VEILED DESIRE. I loved the look into Leyla and Mason’s life. Since the end of their book they have married and have an eighteen-month-old daughter Ash (Sasha). It was fun seeing them back and I loved the role they had in Sasha's story. The hotness of this book just went up another notch with an unexpected bonus Leyla and Mason scene!

Two other characters that caught my attention were Maira’s mom, a little pushy whirlwind of a woman who couldn’t be fooled, and Sasha’s colleague, Keiran Harrison. I was ecstatic to learn that the next book in this series will be centered around him as even the small glimpse of him in this one definitely sparked my interest.

I loved this second book in the Veiled series! Alisha Rai writes vivid, likeable characters and her knack for hot sexy time scenes is uncanny! VEILED SEDUCTION is another great friends-to-lovers story and an amazing novella with characters that are perfectly developed. It’s character-driven and emotional and the talented Alisha Rai is one of those rare authors who can write novellas that make me forget they are short. At the end of both these novellas I was thoroughly pleased and satisfied with the stories and their closures while most of the time when I read novellas I am left wanting. Kudos to Ms. Rai for that!

Quote:
She twisted the faucet off and turned around. And promptly swallowed her tongue. Sasha needed to give a warning and pass out oxygen masks before he went around taking his shirt off.

She moved to get up and pull the covers back, but was stopped by the low growl of Sasha's voice. My, but that sound did funny things to her stomach. "Don't bother. The only thing covering you is going to be me"

8.3 out of 10