Title: Breaking Out
Author:  Lydia Michaels
Publisher/Year:  Penguin USA 11/19/13
Length: 300 Pages
Series: The Surrender Trilogy #2

Overview

Second in the darkly compelling, sexually-charged contemporary romance trilogy, in which two men vie for the mind, body, and heart of a woman who may never give in to their wishes—or her own…

Evelyn “Scout” Keats has left behind her painful past of surviving on the streets, and is now living in the luxurious penthouse master suite of Hotel Patras with her lover, billionaire Lucian Patras. But what she doesn’t know is the price Lucien paid for her freedom.

To protect Scout’s life, Lucian cut a deal with a dangerous man from her past, Parker Hughes. He swore to stay away from her for thirty days, even though he knows Parker will be fighting to keep them apart for good and take Scout as his own.

Yet neither man realizes that Scout is not about to be used as a prize or a bargaining chip for any man’s power play—and she falls back on her hard-earned self-respect and courage to show both men that the only person she truly needs is herself.

But Lucien has other plans…

My Thoughts

WOW!  so, i’m really enjoying this series so far in case you hadn’t noticed.  Not only is it steamy and romantic, you really have to wonder about the twists that are coming.  In the first installment, we meet Evelyn/Scout when she’s working as a maid at the prestigious Patras hotel when she encounters Lucien, the owner who makes her an offer she cannot refuse.  To be taken from homelessness and despair into a world of security with a roof over her head, clothes, food, and all just at the price of herself.  Being his company.  As we got to know this duo a bit more in book 1, we saw that there was much more there than just a deal, and this is what takes us into book 2.

There’s a fair bit of role playing that makes things really interesting at the onset – we see fantasies coming to life, and a sense of realism, it’s not all heated passion that we get, it’s adventure and romance and the thrill of things which kept me entertained.

In this 2nd installment, things definitely become more challenging for them, and Evenlyn isn’t sure what she’s able to give of herself because of the trust issues that she has from her mother.  This story takes us on the journey of Lucien trying to show Evenlyn how strong she is, but being patient with her in the skills that she wants to develop, all the while, allowing his love for her to grow and becoming vocal about it.  The issue here though is that while Evelyn appreciates that, she’s not able to tell him how she feels.  she shows it, but doesn’t say it, and it becomes a bit of a wall between them.

At the same time, Parker, Evelyn’s best friend from the streets comes back around and really wants to make a play for her affection.  His deal that he’s struck with Lucien (from back in book 1, as a reminder that in order for Parker to tell Lucien where Evelyn was, he had to give Parker a job and then give him a chance at wooing Evelyn).  Lucien was banking on that time not coming for quite some time, so that he can build the security that he has with Evelyn and convince her that there’s no one else for her.

As we saw in book 1, Parker and Slade cross paths and since we know there’s been a falling out with Lucien and Slade over Evelyn, it’s not surprising that Parker has been helped by Slade and is now able to take full advantage of the deal.

the question is – what will happen now right?

Lucien’s made a big gesture to Evelyn in the hopes that it’ll secure his place in her life and vice versa, it back fires a bit unexpectedly and Evelyn runs to Parker.  Lucien fears that his world is coming tumbling down now, ends up flying to Paris to see his father whom he has no relationship with because of his own indiscretions and all in all you have a huge mess.

Where we’re left off in book 2 is quite the edge of a cliff – we’re at a turning point where it’s a matter of pride, love and friendship that makes things the most complicated, and you have to wonder how paths are going to cross again.

Personally though, i’m most intrigued by what Slade’s doing and what his motivation is.  I wonder what the story is there and i have my inklings about it.  I’m also curious why Parker is the way that he is and what he plans to do with it.  We get his back story a bit more, but still…i’m left wondering.

I really enjoy though how Lucien’s character is written.  He’s not afraid to be emotional and show how he feels which we don’t often see.  We see him lose control of things, go into a tail spin but it all comes from a great place.  He has this sensuality that he shares with Evelyn that’s amazing.

I’ve just got my hands on book 3 the finale in the series and i can’t wait to see how they get to the end point, and hopefully my intuitions are correct on how things will pan out.  Enjoy!