Title:  Driven
Author: K Bromberg
Publisher/Year: JKB Publishing 12/25/13
Length: 324 pages
Series:  Driven #1

Overview

Rylee Thomas is used to being in control. But she’s about to meet the one man that just might make her enjoy losing it…

I am the exception to the rule.

In a world full of willing women, I’m a challenge to the roguish and achingly handsome Colton Donavan. A man used to getting exactly what he wants in all aspects of life. He’s the reckless bad boy constantly skating that razor thin edge toward out of control, on and off of the track.

Colton crashes into my life like a tornado: sapping my control, testing my vulnerabilities beyond their limits, and unintentionally penetrating the protective wall around my healing heart. Tearing apart the world I rebuilt so carefully with structure, predictability, and discipline.

I can’t give him what he wants and he can’t give me what I need. But after a glimpse beneath his refined exterior into the dark secrets of his damaged soul, can I bring myself to walk away?

Our sexual chemistry is undeniable. Our individual need for complete control is irrefutable. But when our worlds collide, is the chemistry enough to bring us together or will our untold secrets and battle of wills force us apart?

My Thoughts

So i was on the hunt for a new series and the cover art on this one just got to me.  It’s odd cause i’m not usually into the whole thong/butt thing but it worked.  So what we have here is the first installment to what’s clearly a troubled romance between Colton and Rylee.

We meet Rylee on the night of a charity date auction that she’s set up for her company – one that helps ‘abandoned’ boys get back on their feet and counseling and all that.  These kids are troubled and clearly it has a strong pull on Rylee – so the thought of this auction, something that she’s so against is still something she’s willing to do – for the boys.

It’s at the auction that she meets Colton – not realizing who he is, either in relation to her company or to his fame – and they share an intense and immediate chemistry that results from her getting locked in a closet.  We see the passion and heat coming from them the moment they meet, but Rylee is very guarded after her fiance was killed and she keeps him at bay as much as she can.

Throughout this first installment, we get to see glimpses of the troubled past that colton had, yet we never quite get to the crux of it.  We know that he strongly relates to the cause of Rylee’s company since he himself is adopted, and Rylee knows that there’s more pain and torment to the story since he’s very haunted, yet she can’t quite get there with him since he’s so closed off.  As a result of that as well, he won’t allow himself to feel, to love and he gets off balance when he realizes that maybe what’s always worked in the past in terms of ‘relationships’ isn’t going to work here since he wants more but is obviously afraid.

As you read through this story – you want the best for them, you want to think that Rylee can help Colton as much as he can help her heal, but you know that it would be too easy.  Every time they take a step closer, there’s something to pull them apart, their own minds.  The other bit is that of course there’s another woman who wants Colton and is going to sabotage Rylee the entire way.

The cliffhanger at this first bit of the story is that just when you think that they’ve turned a corner, Colton’s admitted that he’s feeling more for her than for anyone else in the past and that it scares him, well, he ends up having a nightmare and throws her out.  So i guess the question is what is it going to take to get him to open up to her, and if it’s possible.  We know that the kids that Rylee cares for were the reason that they came together in the first place so i wonder if they will play a role in them getting back together if it’s in the cards.  I also wonder what Tawny is going to do with this whole situation – we know that she loves him and thinks that he’s going to end up with her, but of course he doesn’t feel the same.  So i’m curious and i’m thrilled that this series was published so long ago so i can just jump into book 2 today.  On that note – have a great weekend everyone and Happy Saturday!