Title:  Rush
Author: Maya Banks
Publisher/Year: Penguin Group  2/5/13
Length:  416 pages
Series: The Breathless Trilogy #1

Overview 

Gabe, Jace, and Ash: three of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the country. They’re accustomed to getting anything they want. Anything at all. For Gabe, it’s making one particular fantasy come true with a woman who was forbidden fruit. Now she’s ripe for the picking…

When Gabe Hamilton saw Mia Crestwell walk into the ballroom for his hotel’s grand opening, he knew he was going to hell for what he had planned. After all, Mia is his best friend’s little sister. Except she’s not so little anymore. And Gabe has waited a long time to act on his desires.

Gabe has starred in Mia’s fantasies more than once, ever since she was a teenager with a huge crush on her brother’s best friend. So what if Gabe’s fourteen years older? Mia knows he’s way out of her league, but her attraction has only grown stronger with time. She’s an adult now, and there’s no reason not to act on her most secret desires.

As Gabe pulls her into his provocative world, she realizes there’s a lot she doesn’t know about him or how exacting his demands can be. Their relationship is intense and obsessive, but as they cross the line from secret sexual odyssey to something deeper, their affair runs the risk of being exposed—and vulnerable to a betrayal far more intimate than either expected.

My Thoughts

after all the dystopian ‘doom and gloom’ / love triangle YA stuff, i felt like i had to find something a bit racier to entertain me for a Sunday night.  I’m a sucker for good cover art, and well, that’s kind of how i stumbled upon Rush by Maya Banks.  Suffice it to say, i’m a bit beat this AM cause i was up until 330 reading this book – i just couldn’t put it down and that makes for a very happy reader.

So, along the lines of 50 Shades, and Bared to You, we’re introduced to Gabe, who’s a VERY SUCCESSFUL and very sexy billionaire who’s got his issues with women and relationships.  He’s a hotelier and partners with Jace and Ash who are on even playing fields with each other.  all successful, all sexy and all have their fair share of women hanging around.

During the opening we also meet Mia who happens to be Jace’s little sister – yet we don’t meet her in that context.  She’s alone at the opening of one of the guys’ hotels and she’s looking for Jace, but Gabe comes to her rescue.

We learn through their brief glimpses into their minds that they’ve each had a fixation on the other for some time, Mia since she was 16 and met Gabe and Gabe – well it’s been a while now, but he hasn’t be able to take action on that until now – when he’s realized that it’s worth it enough to risk everything.

so…Gabe draws Mia in, and takes her to places that she’s only dreamed about.  Upon their first real discussion, Mia’s presented with a contract laying out the rules and guidelines for their ‘relationship’.  what you have to like here is that she’s a mix of the mains in the books i noted above.  she’s a bit naive like ana from 50 shades, yet she stands her ground on things that are important to her like Eva from Bared to you.

this story takes us on a bit of a roller coaster starting from the point when Gabe ‘hires’ Mia to work for his as his PA – kind of as a cover so that Jace has reason to believe that they all spend so much time together, but partly because of his desire for easy access.

Issues in Gabe’s past come up to haunt him and cause problems – his parents divorce, his ex-wife, and because of his actions on one occasion, a contractor who wants to stir up trouble.

All in all, a GREAT 358 page book that i was able to read through in a matter of hours.  Now i just have to track down Fever (and/or hope that it’s out soon since i think that maybe it’s not out until April).