Review & Giveaway: ONE NIGHT OF SCANDAL by Elle Kennedy

Title: One Night of Scandal (After Hours #2)
Author: Elle Kennedy
Release Date: September 8, 2014 (Entangled Publishing)
Genre: Contemporary, romance, adult fiction
Source: bought eBook
Buy Links: Amazon US | B & N | Entangled

A sexy category romance from Entangled’s Brazen imprint…

The wrong man never felt so right…

Ex-fighter Reed Miller has been secretly lusting over his best friend’s girl for months, but he refuses to jeopardize a friendship over a woman—especially one who doesn’t like him all that much. Now that Darcy’s on the market again, it’s even more imperative to stick to his strict hands-off policy. But the sizzling attraction between them is too powerful to ignore, and once he’s had a taste of her…all bets are off.

Darcy Grant is tired of walking the straight and narrow path. She’s on the hunt for passion, and there’s no denying Reed is just the man to give it to her. Although she has no interest in dating a bad boy, and certainly not her ex’s best friend, it’s impossible not to melt beneath Reed’s skillful touch. Now it’s just a matter of setting a few ground rules—and hoping her rule-breaking, sweet-talking bad boy agrees to follow them. But if she lets Reed into her bed, does she stand a chance of keeping him out of her heart?

Why did I want to read this book?

I actually read this before I read book 1 because I was so into the set-up of unrequited, pining, sort-of forbidden love.

What worked for me?

As I’ve mentioned above, I am so in love with the set-up of the story. You have Reed, who’s found himself attracted to Darcy even when she was then unavailable and practically ignored her when she was still with AJ, one of Reed’s best friend. But then Darcy suddenly becomes available after her break-up and Reed… just couldn’t resist the pull of his attraction and his feelings anymore. I just love the tension that whole environment creates. And gosh, if you meet Reed, the next thing you’ll know you’re a puddle of goo, either from his sexiness or from his sweetness (although he will deny the latter).

Darcy’s a great character and I can understand why Reed is just falling and falling into her. She’s smart, straight-forward, bubbly and fun to be with. But I like her even more because of how she eventually starts to open her eyes and her heart to Reed, the true Reed, the kindhearted, loyal, and hard-working Reed.

Oh my, I totally felt for Reed in some parts of the story. His past is something that he can’t erase but he’s tried his hardest, given his best to change for the better and he did, he succeeded. But I just felt for him those times he doesn’t seem to recognize or accept that he had succeeded in turning into a good, decent, amazing person.

And complementing the emotional engagement I had with both characters, let me just highlight how sexy and hot these two are together. I mean there’s sizzling and burning hot and then there’s Reed and Darcy. Seriously! *fans self*

What did not work for me?

There were just a couple of minor minuses for me but when it comes to Elle Kennedy, these are just super small, minute minuses, which doesn’t take away from my over-all adoration of the book. There were just some parts in the plot that I felt were a little predictable and plot devices that have already been used many other times in many other books. But having said that, there’s still magic in those when it’s Elle Kennedy who’s writing them.

My over-all take on it?

You guys do not want to miss Reed and Darcy’s story! Emotionally engaging and yes, so very, very sexy! Reed’s words will probably melt not just your clothes but your very bones.

My rating:

A USA Today bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a BA in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!

Elle loves to hear from her readers. Visit her website http://www.ellekennedy.com or sign up for her newsletter to receive updates about upcoming books and exclusive excerpts. You can also find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter (@ElleKennedy).

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