Title: The Deep End
Author: AM Hartnett
Publisher/Year: HaperCollins Publishing 7/31/14
Length: 200
Series: Carried Away Series #1

Overview

No one has seen Jacques Taureau in the flesh since a traumatic attack left him scarred inside and out. But there is a man behind every myth and even stone can become fire again.A passionate erotic romance perfect for fans of Sylvia Day. Book 1 in the Carried Away series.“Mr. Taureau, is there anything I can do for you?”For years, the Taureau-Werner building has been Grace’s playground. Hot men in suits have provided her with one sinful diversion after another without ever having to leave the thirteenth floor.Grace thinks her secret indulgences are safe, until one late night alone in the office, a call comes through from billionaire recluse: Jacques Alain Taureau. And in Taureau’s lonely world, Grace meets a prince with no intention of escaping his secretive retreat by the sea.

My Thoughts

So, i’m not sure what to think of this first installment of the series, especially since what i gather from the synopsis of book 2, there are new characters in the next one.  Anyhow, what we have here is a new take on Beauty and the Beast, with Jacques being the Beast, although he’s the vastly successful CEO and owner of a number of companies.  He was attacked and nearly killed by a drugged ex girlfriend, and since then, he’s kept to himself hidden in his home in the woods in Canada.

Its only after ‘watching’ Grace at work at one of his companies that he’s thought that maybe he’s found his next ‘beauty’.  She’s clearly not unaware of her own sexuality, given that she has a routine for finding her conquests in the office from various men that come through for meetings (she works for the president so she’s got a lot of access), and we see that each of her conquests is just that – nothing more than a toy/plaything and nothing that she wants more from.

It’s one night after a teleconference with Jacques Taureau and Grace is cleaning up the room that he dials back in and flips Grace’s world over.  He’s been watching EVERYTHING that she’s been doing in the office and instead of firing her, they begin their own relationship or sorts, since it’s always via phone or video.  never in person.

We only see the frustration build after this goes on for few weeks, that Grace wants something ‘more’ and that’s not something that Jacques can give.  He does something unexpected and brings her into his world, and that’s where things heat up.

As expected, from here for a majority of the book, we get some great chemistry, and pretty decent scening, but the ‘issue’ that i have with this is that it wasn’t that hot to read.  I don’t know what it was, but while you can clearly see that these 2 are into each other, i didn’t get the same sense of passion and over whelming desire than i usually get.

While we delve deeper into all that they try with one another (they both love their toys), we get to see Grace start to pick more and more at Jacques past in the hopes that she’ll get him to open up since he’s got these major walls down.  In my opinion, it’s a bad idea since it means that she’ll either end up leaving his home, or she’ll get kicked out.  It’s only what we start to get towards the very end that makes you sit up a bit more to read.  The dynamic between the 2 changes quite a bit and the uncertainty for what it means for Grace’s ‘job’ and her personal life perk you up.

So, all in all, average, but i have an ARC of the 2nd book in the series, so perhaps i’ll keep reading and see if maybe the next one refines some of what’s missing and it gets better.