Reading Challenges:

At the powerhouse law firm of Knight & Payne, winning comes first and ethics a distant second. Leary Michaels uses her female charms to daze opponents, and it’s always worked well—until now. On her most personal case yet, she finds herself going up against a defense attorney just as skilled, shameless, and seductive as she is.

Reeve Holloway has never met a woman as sure of her own sexuality, or as ruthless in wielding it, as Leary is. But he won’t be toyed with. What Leary starts, he’ll finish—in the courtroom, the bedroom, or any-damn-place he wants. The sex is uninhibited, electrifying, and absolutely against the rules. Reeve’s job is to ruin Leary’s case…even if it destroys her in the process and costs him the woman he’s come to love.

Who knew legal-talk could be so hot? Friction has a lot of depth, characters I really enjoyed, and a case that made my heart lurch for the plaintiff.

My Friction review:

I didn’t really know what to expect when I picked up Friction, apart from the fact that I usually love Ms. Bennett’s writing, and thought I’d enjoy this story of hers as well. And I sure did enjoy it! It’s a fast-paced story, with a female lead who knows what she wants, and who is definitely willing to do what it takes to get that. Leary was both very smart and in touch with her feminine side. Using her sex appeal to further her clients’ agenda did not bother her, and because she was a lawyer fighting against big corporations, it was very easy to cheer her on!

Reeve was a great character, too, and it’s easy to see that Friction was as much about the two main characters being from opposite sides of a legal battle as it was about the tension and friction that occurred between them in their personal time. While some of Leary’s actions were quite outrageous, it was also empowering to see her not afraid of using her femininity in order to further her case. She didn’t cross any lines that shouldn’t be crossed, but she was very good at dancing the line, and that made me laugh out loud more than once!

At first, Reeve didn’t know what hit him, but when he did, he knew that Leary was much more than the opposing legal counsel, and while he agreed to have a no-strings-attached relationship with her, he really wanted more. Fast paced, very hot, and filled with legal details that felt realistic (and no, I have no idea if they were or not!) Friction was a great read that managed to show character development in a natural way while the story unfolded. Now I know I have to read all of Bennett’s Legal books – if there is both hotness and difficult cases to enjoy, I’m all in.

Written in first person point of view, present tense, Friction has chapters from both Leary’s and Reeve’s perspectives, which made it easy to get to know them both.

Some of my favorite Friction quotes:

“Mr Chico Taco?”
“My dog,” he says as he searches for his key ring to unlock the door. “He’s a little, um… exuberant.”
As Reeve slides the key home, I start to ask what type of dog, but the big, booming bark that comes form the other side of the door stops me in my tracks. I’m pretty sure it’s not a dog, but a T. rex on the other side.