Title: Take my Dare
Author: J Kenner
Publisher/Year: Martini & Olive 11/8/16
Length: 113 Pages
Series: Stark International #4
Overview
New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner returns to the smoking hot, emotionally compelling world of the Stark International trilogy that features Jackson Steele, a strong-willed man who goes after what he wants, and Sylvia Brooks, a disciplined woman who’s hard to get—and exactly who Jackson needs…
I’ve never been happier than I am with Jackson Steele. But I should know better than anyone that happiness always comes at a price …
My life with Jackson is nothing short of perfection. He is my love, my husband, the one man in all the world who makes me feel alive and whole. Our careers are on track. Our family is growing. And the ghosts of our past have been vanquished – or so I believed.
When a wonderful night of sensuality and passion following a masquerade ball turns dark with the news that haunting, horrible photographs of me have surfaced, my old fears and insecurities threaten to knock me down, and it is only within Jackson’s arms that I find the strength to endure.
But even Jackson’s protection may not be able to save us, because I know my husband well. And he will do whatever it takes—even if it means risking himself—in order to protect our family…
My Thoughts
I’m a huge fan of all things related to this series, be it the stories about Damien and Nikki or those that we get now about Sylvia and Jackson. There’s so much great stuff going on with these stories, both with the exciting plot lines and twists as well as the hot passion that’s shared between each of the couples.
In this novella we get a peak into the life of Jackson and Syl now that they are parents and are moving on with their lives beyond all the stress that finally allowed them to be together. If you remember back, we know that Syl’s dad went to jail for killing Reed – the man who abused Syl all those years ago and took pictures of her in compromising positions – but mind you i believe she was a minor so anyone who went to release them would be doing themselves a world of hurt. Regardless, there was that bit and then the fact that Jackson has a daughter (Ronnie) who’s now living with them along with their new little baby boy. So as you can imagine, their life is very different and as all new parents wonder, how do you keep the passion and spark alive.
These two really have no trouble in that department. They were combustible before and even more so now. When it’s the night of a costume ball, we see that the challenge has been thrown down – Syl has been dared to dress up and disguise herself so well that Jackson has an hour to locate her in the throngs of people otherwise Syl wins. She goes to great lengths with the help of her friend Cass and while i think that it’s quite impressive how well she does, you know that these Stark men have a sixth sense with their women and you know she’s going to lose.
That’s only a part of what makes this story great – since you know that if he does catch her, there’s going to be some amazing sceneing, likely at the party and at home, but there’s another subplot that we get. her father is released from jail so it’s a matter of some how blending that world with her own now, and figuring out if she’s able to forgive him for all that he did, and making sure he can experience her family. The other bit of this story is that those pictures that were supposed to die along with Reed have somehow resurfaced, along with a woman that Syl fired, and that means that all that she worked to hide may come out and all that her father went to jail for in the murder may come out as well. Not ideal at all, and i think that we’re going to see how that all plays out since the ending isn’t necessarily what we expected.
On that note – i can’t wait to see what’s next in this series since i read that there will be another installment in the Damien and Nikki bits of the series – which of course is always hot and steamy since he’s Dominant with a capital D. Have a great day all!