Bare
Devotion
The Bayou Bachelors #2
By Geri Krotow
Releasing 11th September, 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Lyrical Caress
Sweet
and sultry, hot and wild…that’s desire, Louisiana-style. And
there’s no one better to explore it with than one of the Bayou
Bachelors…
Returning to her
flooded New Orleans home to face Henry Boudreaux, the man she jilted
at the altar, is the hardest thing attorney Sonja Bosco has ever
done—even before she discovers she’s pregnant. Sonja backed out
of the marriage for Henry’s sake. He wants to be part of his
father’s law firm, and his parents will never approve of an
interracial marriage. Better to bruise his heart than ruin his life.
Henry can’t forgive
Sonja, and doubts that he can trust her again. But learning that
they’re going to be parents means there’s no avoiding each other.
Springtime on the bayou is already steamy enough…now they’re
living in the same small space while their damaged house is repaired.
And with each passing day they’re getting a little more honest. A
lot more real. And realizing that nothing—not even New Orleans at
Mardi Gras—glows brighter than the desire they’re trying to deny…
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In Bare Devotion (The Bayou Bachelors #2) by Geri Krotow, Sonja Bosco knows she needs to tell Henry Boudreaux that he's going to be a father, but it isn't easy to face him after she jilted him at the altar. Still, it's better to get it over with than let things stew and fester. Yet, when Henry discovers the truth for himself, will it bring him and Sonja closer together or was their relationship doomed from the beginning no matter how much they love each other?
Having really enjoyed the first book of this series and getting to know Sonja and Henry a little, I couldn't wait to read more about this couple and the reasons behind the heroine leaving him at the altar, and I've got to say that I loved this book from start to finish. Really, it was absolutely entertaining, fast-paced and had me reading quickly, determined to discover whether this couple would overcome all the obstacles keeping them apart including the hero's parents that think Sonja isn't good enough for their son and an ex making problems for the couple that leads to one of the main characters needing to defend themselves. Will the hero and heroine win the ensuing battles they face, especially when it comes to the ex determined to cause trouble?
The way this story started had me sympathizing with the hero and heroine, as Sonja has serious trust issues and it's understandable why she finds it hard to open up to the hero about what she's been feeling. Will he be able to accept her reason for abandoning him? Will the pair ever be able to fully open up to each other? However, it was from the moment the hero and heroine come face-to-face for the first time where this story really takes off, as things are awkward between them. Will they be able to work things out between them, especially when it's palpable they still love each other so much?
As for the dialogue, it was intense due to the main characters back stories and everything this couple go through on their journey to happy ever after that made me wonder if they'd ever find their way back to each other. Moreover, the heroine is resilient, courageous, hard-working, stubborn and I liked how determined she was to make things right with the hero because they're going to be parents and they -- at least -- need to be on friendly terms. While the hero, he's been through tough times and I could understand why he was determined to protect the heroine from his past. Then again, forewarned is forearmed. I also liked how determined the hero was to make things work with the heroine, even though he was hurt badly by her desertion on their wedding day and doesn't know if he'll ever be able to trust Sonja again. Yet, what I liked most of all about the hero is that he didn't give up on winning the heroine back, even though she gave him plenty of reasons to walk away for good because of her trust issues. Just because her dad was a jerk, it doesn't mean Henry will ever do her wrong.
Overall, Ms. Krotow has delivered a wonderful read in this book where the chemistry between this couple is every bit as strong as it was before everything went wrong between them; the romance was delightful and had me loving that these two find their way back to each other, even though the obstacles they face to be together aren't easy to overcome; and the ending had me loving that the heroine realizes how much she still loves Henry before she loses him for good. I would recommend Bare Devotion by Geri Krotow, if you enjoy second chance romances, the enemy to lovers trope or books by authors Peggy Jaeger, Tara Sheets, Annie Rains and Stefanie London.
Sonja bit into the almond
croissant with the hunger that had plagued her everyday of the past few weeks.
Like clockwork, her appetite returned late morning after the morning nausea passed.
She knew the exact night she’d
conceived the baby. Her body had felt ‘different’ after the lovemaking session
with Henry that had lasted the better part of a late winter night after they’d
won a particularly challenging case. At first she hadn’t been able to pinpoint
it and blamed her exhaustion on prenuptial jitters. The week before the wedding
her breasts swelled, her nipples became sensitive to the shower spray, and
she’d felt as though her period was about to start at any moment. But of course
it hadn’t. She’d known two days before the wedding for sure. Thank God she’d
only shared it with Poppy. If Henry had known she didn’t think she’d have been
able to walk away from marrying him as she had.
The memory of leaving her soulmate
at the altar made the pastry feel heavy in her stomach and she paused, closing
her eyes and breathing in and out slowly to ward off a wave of nausea. Anytime
she remembered their wedding day she felt sick all over again.
“Is it that good?” Her eyes flew open at the sexy baritone that only a few
weeks ago had coaxed an orgasm out of her as he spoke dirty words into her ear
while he moved over her, inside her, again and again.
“It’s delicious.” She put the croissant down on a napkin, next to
her stack of files. Henry’s gaze dared her to look away and she never backed
down from anyone, so she stared back. A quick flash of disgust shadowed his
face before Henry looked away and sat in the seat opposite her, reaching over
for his files. Usually they sat together, ready to work until whenever it took
to get the day’s items checked off. It wasn’t going to get easy, ever, to know
he thought so little of her. Knowing she deserved it for something he didn’t
even know about yet—the baby—made it worse.
“I imagine you need time to go over these.” A deft verbal pitch
to see how she’d react. Would she go high, admit she should have been back in
the office last week, or go low and blame him for her staying away, or ignore
it? “Alesia sent me the files last week. I’ve read through them all.”
He had to be playing her—Alesia
told Henry everything. He’d know she’d had copies to analyze. Their roundtrip
tickets to Bali had gone unused, so it wasn’t as if she’d been out of the
country and unable to do any work.
“Any concerns?” He kept his face low, focused on the paperwork,
but she saw the blood vessel just above his collar, pulsing in rhythm to his
heartbeat. Whenever Henry was agitated that was his tell. She used to like to
lick it right before he came. Heat erupted between her legs and made her squirm.
Apparently her guilt over not telling him about the baby wasn’t the only
reaction she couldn’t shake. She clasped her legs together under the heavy
mahogany table, grateful Henry didn’t have x-ray vision.
“No, nothing to speak of.” Her voice was low and throaty and she
wished she’d tendered her resignation. It would be so much easier, especially
now when every damned hormone in her body was setting off emotions she didn’t
even know she was capable of. But a deft noncompete clause she’d signed when
his father had hired her prevented her from going out on her own just yet.
Brilliant blue eyes watched her
with usual alertness. “You sure about that, Sonja? You’re acting like
something’s not sitting right with you.”
“It’s just this.” She motioned very slighting between them, using
her finger. “Awkward with a capital ‘A,’ am I right? We didn’t talk about it as
much as we probably should have this morning.”
Of course dearest Deidre’s
appearance had shut down any chance of the conversation they needed to have in private.
The curiosity in his eyes turned to frosted crystal.
“Let’s get it out on the table, then.” He splayed both hands on
the dark polished surface, and she wondered if he’d forgotten about the time
they’d both arrived to work early, too early. They’d ended up here, naked, in
under five minutes. Did he see her naked body as she’d knelt on all fours,
waiting for him to take her?
“There is nothing here. Whatever we shared was wiped out when you
decided to ignore my attempt to explain my actions to you.”
“Wait a min—”
“No, hold up.” He shot down her attempt to interrupt him with a
flick of his hand. “You made your choice. And you’ve decided to continue on at
this firm. We both need to raise the funds to get the house rehabbed well
enough to sell. Fine, I get it. But don’t think for one minute that there is
anything other than our working relationship at stake. We’ve always enjoyed
that, correct? And I’m willing to work with you, until the day you decide to
leave the firm. Because, let’s face it, I’m not going anywhere. This is my
family firm. You, you’ll go out on your own or take a better offer elsewhere.
That’s okay. Until then I expect the best you have to offer, and for you to
kindly refrain from referring to what we shared. It’s over.”
Sonja stared at the man who’d hung
the moon for her and only saw the stamp of Boudreaux on his expression. The
same look his father had when she’d told him to take the money and referral
he’d offered her to quit when she and Henry announced their engagement and
shove them up his tight white racist ass. He’d never fire her, not as a black
woman in his otherwise very white, very male firm. And regardless of his racist
views, Sonja brought in a lot of business for their firm that they’d otherwise
never catch. She’d expected Henry’s father to give her a hard time, but not so
much Henry. She’d been a fool.
“Our professional relationship never had anything to do with our
personal life. Why should it now?”
Henry didn’t respond but instead
glared at her. He may as well have thrown a machete at her for how his silent
gesture pained her.
The door clicked open and Alesia
entered with trays of lunch food, followed by two clients and Rick, the firm’s
other NOLA attorney. As she and Henry stood to greet them she eyed her
almost-husband. Her ex-fiancé. The man who’d broken her heart.
Henry was tall and professional
looking, whether dressed in a classic suit as he was now or in cargo shorts and
a t-shirt like yesterday. He’d been born to inherit his father’s firm, a
lawyer’s mind part of his gene pool. And until their wedding weekend, she
hadn’t seen that he’d also inherited the insatiable need to make everything
appear perfect. Hence the pristine wedding they’d almost gone through with.
Henry wasn’t a people pleaser
though, especially not to his parents. He’d bucked their sensibilities and
desires by choosing to marry her, a black woman from a bayou family. Henry had
never seen her as anything other than the woman he’d decided to marry. She
believed that. What Henry had refused to see, however, was that his father was
never going to leave the firm to Henry as long as Sonja was his wife. The firm
was going to be dissolved and all of his father’s money given to charity,
eschewing being generous to either of his sons. Henry’s younger sister, a social
worker, was in the naval reserves and somewhere overseas, so she wasn’t even on
the family radar. She hadn’t gone to law school; neither had Henry’s younger
brother Brandon. It wasn’t about the money, which was significant, but about
family legacy. Henry was the man to change it, to turn the law firm into a
contemporary, relevant part of the community, serving diverse clients and
causes. He saw that corporate law didn’t have to mean serving the same good ol’
boys his father had.
But Henry would never have the
chance to improve upon his family legacy if she were around. The younger
siblings had gotten the hell away from the family dynasty. But not Henry. Henry
needed to be part of his father’s legacy in a way the other two didn’t. Because
Sonja saw this, saw the need in the man she loved so desperately, she’d had no
choice but to back out of their marriage. She’d do anything for Henry’s
happiness, and Henry would never be happy without knowing he’d made a
difference in what his father had began. He’d never forgive her for leaving him
the way she did and that was all right. Sonja didn’t want Henry’s forgiveness.
She’d wanted his love, understanding and trust, but her expectations had been
too much.
Henry didn’t have it to give.
And as she watched him, the one
man she’d ever pinned all her hopes on, she had to face the cold hard truth.
She was as unworthy of trust as Henry.
Other Books of this series:
There’s
nowhere hotter than the South, especially with three men who know how
to make the good times roll. But one of the Bayou Bachelors is about
to meet his match...
New
York City stylist Poppy Kaminsky knows that image is everything,
which is why she’s so devastated when hers is trashed on social
media—after a very public meltdown over her cheating fiancé. Her
best friend’s New Orleans society wedding gives her the chance hide
out and lick her wounds...
Brandon
Boudreaux is in no mood to party. His multi-million dollar sailboat
business is in danger of sinking thanks to his partner’s sudden
disappearance—with the company’s funds. And when he rolls up to
his estranged brother’s pre-wedding bash in an airboat, a
cold-as-ice friend of the bride looks at him like he’s so much
swamp trash.
The
last person Poppy should get involved with is the bad boy of the
Boudreaux family. But they have more in common than she could ever
imagine—and the steamy, sultry New Orleans nights are about to show
her how fun letting loose can be…
“New
Orleans serves as a strong supporting character in Fully
Dressed as
Krotow gives an inside view on the sights, sounds, and tastes of the
bayou.” —RT
Book Reviews
Geri
Krotow is the award winning author of more than thirteen
contemporary and romantic suspense novels (with a couple of WWII
subplots thrown in!). While still unpublished Geri received the
Daphne du Maurier Award for Romantic Suspense in Category Romance
Fiction. Her 2007 Harlequin Everlasting debut A Rendezvous to
Remember earned several awards, including the Yellow Rose of Texas
Award for Excellence.
Prior to writing, Geri
served for nine years as a Naval Intelligence Officer. Geri served as
the Aviation/Anti-Submarine Warfare Intelligence officer for a P-3C
squadron during which time she deployed to South America, Europe, and
Greenland. She was the first female Intel officer on the East Coast
to earn Naval Aviation Observer Wings. Geri also did a tour in the
war on drugs, working with several different government and law
enforcement agencies. Geri is grateful to be settled in south central
Pennsylvania with her husband.
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