Title: Fever
Author: Maya Banks
Publisher/Year: Penguin Group (USA), 4/2/13
Length: 416 pages
Series: The Breathless Trilogy #2
the slightly awaited 2nd installment in the Breathless Trilogy has arrived and i have to admit that i was waiting to see what was next for the 3 sexiest men in the city. Knowing that we had Gabe’s story all wrapped up in Rush, next on the docket was Jace…mia’s brother.
so we open into the engagement party for Gabe and Mia where everyone’s excited for the happy couple that managed to sort things out in book 2, meaning that we get to see what the future lies with the other 2 boys who everyone knows are majorly into threesomes. So true to form, Ash notices that Jace is checking out a particularly attractive woman who happens to be working at the party and makes his intentions known. this is how we meet Bethany. She’s working for the caterer and upon meeting Ash and Jace who are polar opposites, decides to take them up on their offer for a threesome mostly because it means that she’ll have somewhere warm to stay that night. see the thing with Bethany is that she’s homeless and she’s been on the streets for about 4 years now trying to survive.
Unlike all other encounters that Ash and Jace have shared, Jace finds himself very possessive of Bethany and doesn’t really want to share her with Ash. throughout the fun that night, he is very particular about what he’ll allow Ash to do and doesn’t want to even share her.
That begins the torrent romance that they begin and we get to see a harder/dominating side to Jace which is a nice little kink. Of course though, things are never cut and dry. while Jace is trying to give Bethany everything in the world (a place to stay, food, clothes the works), Bethany has a ‘brother’ that has been on the streets with her and he’s managed to get himself involved in some less than savory things that some how manage to keep Bethany entwined.
So this is a story of a developing relationship and romance that’s new for both (jace has never been a one woman guy and never been in love) and bethany hasn’t had anything her entire life. Bethany’s brother Jack is a wild card and there’s just so much that can go wrong.
all in all not a ‘bad’ story – but what i always get frustrated with is when we’re given a glimpse into a character that’s clearly a dom, and in this case Jace even goes as far to say that he wants a ‘slave’ – a full submissive in and out of bed – but we don’t really get into too many scenes with him in that role. he does a little basic paddle work or spanking, some tying up and all that, but really the best sex scenes are just some less than vanilla things, nothing really BDSM. i think that the book could have pushed a little farther given that there’s a lot of set up to Jace being all dark and dangerous.
regardless – i’m looking forward to August when Burn, the final book in the trilogy comes out.