I am enjoying the arc of Kay's realizing first that Lucy is perhaps not just a sociopath, but also may be a dangerous sociopath; and Kay's exploration of how badly she spoiled Lucy and indulged Lucy's narcissism.

Kay has avoided fully acknowledging these glaring dangers with the belief that Lucy is, when it comes to her loved ones, a weapon pointing outwards from their wagon circle. But now, Kay is facing the fact that isn't true.

She has also avoided facing head-on the fact that Lucy's ravens have and will come to roost. Every selfish, dangerous thing she has done, every emotionally or physically violent act, every careless relationship...and every time Kay has fixed it all for her (special treatment in the Quantico dorms, for example)... consequences are and have been coming due all along.

coming this autumn: no. 24, Chaos

25y.o heroine becomes the new housekeeper of the house of 35y.o master statesman Hero.

Hero hasn't left his bedroom since after his wife died about 10 months ago. The rest of the household staff are astonished at heroine's boldness in challenging him to step out of his room. She is secretly motivated to do so due to her desire to search for papers in his possession that would give her the freedom she's been seeking for the past 8 years. Their consequent affair ends as soon as he discovers her deceit. How does he learn to trust her again? What can their romance mean to his future political career?

I don't give many 5-star ratings and I haven't liked all of Duran's books. But this book deserves a 5-star. The writing is smooth and crisp, making tangible what's being described. It's emotionally engaging, bringing humor, angst, sadness, suspense, and hope. Sexual chemistry developed more as the story unfolded. The romance unfolded gradually and greatly intensified from 50% of the book.** The greatest strength of the book, though, is Hero and heroine's characterization. We experienced their character growth throughout their secret romance. They (especially Hero) became stronger and more mature people at the end, guaranteeing an HEA(happy ever after) future for these 2.

Highly recommended.

**A more detailed review with SPOILERS is on my blog. Click here.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

25y.o. film-director secretary feels very uncomfortable working with new novelist Hero, who was her deceased boyfriend's best friend.

His novel is loosely based on their previous love triangle and paints her in a very bad light. He's out for revenge and she understands his bitterness and tries to keep things professional only between them. But his goading and her still-strong feelings for him make it impossible. How can they reconcile their embroiled past to have another chance at love?

I don't like love triangles but I do like Lamb's writing. So I stuck with it knowing that there'll be some surprises and a HEA(happy ever after) ending. There's a secret affair heaped on a secret affair. A romance over another romance. There's cheating and some other surprises.** It may sound complicated but Lamb told it in a way that flowed and made sense. The question of “what happens next?” kept me on my toes. And the intense emotions between Hero and heroine kept my interest. I like heroine's character growth the most and the lack of satisfying closure for all their years of bitterness/resentment/guilt/blame/revenge, the least. Sexual chemistry was dynamic. Sex scenes were mostly generalized.

Moderately recommended.

**A more detailed review with SPOILERS is on my blog. Click here.

25y.o. veterinary student makes 32y.o.ex-polo player Hero sign a contract about him loaning her $10 million in exchange for 1 night of sex so he can't renege on it.

Desperation made her approach him for a loan since she only had 5 more days to buy the horse farm her deceased mother grew up in. As distasteful sex is for her, heroine agrees to ruthless businessman Hero's sex proposal. He wants vengeance for her seductive deception, which caused him to get booted out of the farm and end his flourishing polo career 8 years ago. But spending time together now changes both their previous views of each other. And confirming that their strong attraction in the past is still very much alive now. When heroine finds out about Hero's plan to buy out the farm from under her, her feelings for him is undermined. How can he win her trust back?

I enjoyed this Conder book. Strong characterization, great sexual tension, tender but hot sex scenes, and emotionally engaging. Hero and heroine start out with negative views about each other, based on their past history 8 years ago. The distant trajectory of where their views and feelings for each other were steadily closed as  the book unfolded. We saw them change as they realized certain things about themselves and each other. They grew closer as they shared their fears and motives and understood each other more. It was interesting to see Hero soften up to heroine as he found out the truth about really happened in the past.** His sensitivity to her sexual problems endeared him to me even more. I loved how he got her and did his best to make her feel loved and supported. It was a good character & romance journey.

Highly recommended.

**SPOILERS regarding the truth about their past are on my other blog ... http://movesme.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-most-expensive-lie-of-all-michelle-conder.html

22y.o. paralegal gets another unexpected kiss from 26y.o. firefighter Hero 4 years later.

She's working to do an inventory at his family orchard but he's tempting her to break through her set life with him. But he makes it clear that anything between them is only temporary. Their affair though produces more than just fun and pleasure. The both sense it but Hero still won't let her in. What will it take to do so? And is it enough to make him make a commitment to her?

My 1st Leighton book and I liked it. It was emotionally evoking and had good characterization. It had its funny, sexy, and poignant moments. I felt like I got to know Hero and heroine pretty well from their alternating POV(point of view). They're both strong and caring people who were fine with who they were yet were realizing that some things were missing in their life. Especially when their affair ended. Hero was good at hiding his brokenness but it became clear that knowing about his past wasn't enough.** They both had to take risks to go after what they wanted from each other. And they were rewarded for them. I liked that it took some time for them to assess things, making their decisions seem more sound. I have a good feeling about their HEA(happy ever after).

Recommended.

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

**A more detailed review with SPOILERS is on my other blog ... http://movesme.blogspot.com/2014/03/some-like-it-wild-m-leighton.html