I think I've read too much BDSM (both good AND bad) to really get behind the premise of this book. I really liked Matt & Lucy, but Matt's "I like it rough, but that makes me bad" schtick is rather old. It's not like he's looking for a dungeon & someone to dress in head to toe latex... he just has strong dominant tendencies in bed & needs to figure out that doesn't make him bad. Lucy is a strong, self-aware female who knows what she wants. She can handle it. And she likes it... a lot.  But of course Matt's self-flagellation gets in the way. I guess I'd rather have seen him be a hard-core dom looking for a partner & coming to terms with his needs rather than what we saw in this story. I really liked Lucy a lot though, and when they did hit the sheets, there was some nice dirty-talk. Dialogue felt awkward in places & I guess I just didn't love this as much as I loved a couple of Bailey's previous books. 

This was by far my least favorite of Tessa Bailey's "Line of Duty" series. Or maybe my fever/flu has finally subsided enough for me to see clearly. IDK. From the outset, I really wanted to like Troy - he has the saddest backstory so I thought it would be interesting to see how Bailey would mesh that part of his past with the way she writes her typically dominant male protagonists. Unfortunately what I thought could be an interestingly sweet-but-alpha character turned out to be completely unbelievable for me. It was like a switch when he got into the bedroom & his brand of dirty-talk just didn't do it for me. Ruby didn't do much for me either, maybe it was the "busting the crime lord from her past" plot line that didn't interest me, or the continued bad choices she kept making, or maybe it was the fact that this was the third one of these I read in a row... I also realized that this was her second installment in the series and having read them out of order, this might account for the slightly stilted writing & choppy dialoge when compared to Officer Off Limits & Asking for Trouble. The rest of the series can easily be enjoyed without this one.

After the highly enjoyable Protecting What's His (cheesy titles, cheesy covers, sigh), I happily moved on to the next installment - and as it turns out thanks to the labeling on Amazon, I read these entirely out of order. Not that it mattered much at all, but after some confusion & double-checking I enjoyed the slight overlap of characters from the previous books, as well as the unique backstory given to each couple. Brent & Hayden were really enjoyable as a pairing - great banter, some nice humor, great chemistry, great dirty talk. Not as much insta-love as Protecting What's His, and the Stuart blackmail plot line was pretty flimsy (esp at the end) but all in all another fun read. Bailey writes excellent filthy talking characters, and Brent doesn't fail to disappoint. 

I think it may have been due to my fever/flu induced stupor that I loved nearly every smuttastic page of this, despite the insta-love between the characters & the poor choices made by Ginger, and the major alpha-male streak running a mile wide with Derek. All the things I'd normally be against just kind of went out the window when Derek started running his filthy mouth. I'd previously read Officer Off Limits & found some of her "outside the bedroom" dialogue ultra-cheesy. I was happy to find Tessa's writing much improved in this installment. Bailey's books are formulaic (aren't most adult romance titles?), but aside from that, her stories are smexy fun with some crazy hot - and creative - dirty talk. A highly enjoyable departure from the contemporary lit streak I'd been on.

Book - Baby Girl (Erik Ead Trilogy #1)
Author - Scott Hildreth
Publication Date - August 24, 2013
Type - Part of Series
Genre - Romance, Erotica
Rating - 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis
CAUTION: This is not a typical romance novel. It depicts people as they actually are, imperfect.

This is the first book in a series of three in the life of Erik Ead. Erik is a psychiatrist. He rides a motorcycle in a Motorcycle Club. He is tattooed. He is confident to the point of perceived arrogance.

Erik does not believe in love and he doesn’t live in a mansion -he rides a motorcycle in a MC. He does not have an airplane. Erik is extremely confident, real, and knows what he wants. He wants a woman to submit; with no commitment for love. Erik will settle for nothing less than owning Kelli.

Kelli is a college graduate scheduled to go to a university at the end of the summer. She meets Erik, who is older than she is. Immediately she is intrigued by him. Kelli has never been in a relationship at all. Kelli has spent her life being promiscuous, and using men for sex. Kelli, after meeting Erik, wants to do nothing but please him. Kelli doesn't quite understand why, and waits on Erik to explain to her why she is the way she is, and what to do next .

"Love isn't real. Love is what people say to you so they can keep fucking you. So they can keep your interest. I don't want lies. I want my ass slapped, my hair pulled, and treated like a little whore." – Kelli with an “I”

When these two begin to spend time together, things begin to change; personalities, interests, and the need for affection. What happens is something that must be experienced by the reader. This book is, again, not watered down. This book has tremendous depth to those that are looking to find it. It will, upon completion, allow you into the minds, hearts, and heads of people as they develop a D/s relationship.

Again, if you have always wondered about what a Dominant/submissive relationship is all about – less the airplanes, mansions, and billions, read Baby Girl. It’s real, it’s raw, and it’s got the hottest, steamiest real sex you can imagine.

Plan on being up all night

Review
I think this is one of the hardest reviews I have ever had to write. In one way I enjoyed the book but then underneath I had such a hard time connecting with Erik and Kelli. This was especially true in the beginning of the book but as time went on it got easier and easier to warm up to these two characters.

I normally like D/S relationships, but something was just off with Erik's arrogance and Kelli's "don't give a fuck" attitude. I understand why the author did this though and felt how the character development took place through the chapters. Each Erik and Kelli had to take a journey through their personalities in order for a true relationship to evolve between them.

Kelli is promiscuous and only uses guys for sex while Erik is a big bad MC guy who is the same as Kelli and doesn't believe in relationships or love. Their relationship at first is only based on lust and they can't seem to get enough of each other. As they continue through their journey, both of them realize that something is different about this "sexual" relationship and each have to deal with new feelings that are flooding their minds.

Wrap Up
The sex is steamy, the feelings are real and their journey is long - It comes to a point where Erik and Kelli are exactly what each other needs even though they never wanted it to begin with.