Belle’s story begins in the captivating fourth installment of the New York Times bestselling series. I made myself a promise: No men. No romance. No waiting around for a prince that’s not going to come. Because some girls don’t get happily ever afters. Some girls only get broken hearts. Which is exactly why I should stay away from him. He’s vile. He’s arrogant. He’s controlling. And I don’t trust him. But some men get into your blood-under your skin. Some men you just can’t get enough of. Some men you just crave.

My Thoughts

Well if you didn’t get enough in the main series with Alexandra and Clara, you know that there’s so much more that could be done with Belle, Clara’s roommate.  We last knew that Belle had been cheated on by her fiance Phillip and she was now starting a new chapter in her life – trying to move on.  She’s now in a different situation though cause she has no job, and Phillip had provided her with financial support which she no longer has.  So this is the story of how she begins to stand on her own two feet.

That of course takes us to the law offices of Smith Price – a man who is looking for a personal assistant.  Somehow Belle manages to land that job, and she’s in way over her head since from the second they meet, there’s an electricity between them, so much heat and tension that it’s palpable.  (and very different than what we had in the first bits of this series).

So the journey that we go on is one that’s heated, intense and quite complicated.  Our author keeps things very close to the vest in the sense that we really dont know what we’re getting into – we don’t know what Price’s background is aside from that fact that it’s shrouded in mystery and danger.  Belle knows this but still manages to get ensnared in all that is him.

We see a variety of folks come into the story that want to hurt both of them, and we see that one in particular, the man who gave Price his start is really after him for something or another.  We don’t yet know what the end game is for either but we know that it’s not good.  Add in Georgia, Price’s pseudo sister and Hammond’s ‘daughter’ and we learn that there’s definitely a bit of twisted ness going on.

Top that all off, we get a glimpse into the Alpha male that Price is – his need for control, dominance and submission.  we learn of Velvet, a BDSM club that he’s involved in and yet we don’t know what the extent of all that is.

Where we are left at the end is a place where we totally expect to be – Price is trying to protect Belle at all costs and that means that their relationship has to change and not in a good way.  soo…onto the next!