Fairest Of All Book Reviews

I’m so glad that Marissa Carmel gave readers Strip Me Bare before Ryan Pierce’s backstory in Stripped From Me. If I would have read the prequel first, I would have been a blubbering mess waiting to see how Ryan and Alana’s story ended. But, I did want to understand how it all went to hell between them and what Ryan was thinking as he watched everything he worked so hard for fall apart.

Through Ryan’s point of view, readers learn about his home life with his alcoholic mother and bi-polar twin brother. He’s the only thing keeping them together, and each time he cleans up their messes and bails them out with money, the cycle only continues. Ryan feels bound to his family; he’ll never turn his back on them, which is exactly what causes his life to turn to shit.

Alana Remington came into Ryan’s life when he needed her most. She took care of him, and no one had ever done that for him before. What started out as causal turned into love quickly, and Ryan thought that his life was finally turning around, but in an instant, it was all stripped away. He gave up his girl, his freedom, and his future because his “bleeding heart” couldn’t tell his mother no.

Fast forward three years and Ryan’s a free man again – but only in the physical sense. His heart and his mind are still with Alana, but prison changes a man, and Ryan has definitely felt prison’s effects. He’s angry, bitter, and tortured, and so he turns to a life that gives him the physical relief that he needs, but still, nothing changes…no matter what he does, he can’t forget Alana and what he could have had with her. But being Jack the Stripper might end up getting him everything he wants and needs…readers will have to check out Strip Me Bare to see how it all plays out.

Ryan’s story is not an easy one to read. He’s this amazing person who goes out of his way to help those he loves, and they do nothing in return. I wanted to grab both his mother and brother and throat punch them. Ryan’s mom always made him feel inferior, but he tried to never hold that against her. He fought like hell to make a better life for all of them, and they just wasted his hard work on alcohol and drugs.  When Ryan makes the choice to protect his brother and leaves the love of his life without as much as a word, I couldn’t wrap my brain around that, but the more I thought about it, it made sense to me because that’s the kind of man he is. He doesn’t know how to do anything else but love. It definitely doesn’t work out the way he wants it to, but if given the choice again, I’m not sure if he would choose differently because that’s what makes him who he is.

 Stripped From You is an emotional journey through the beginning of Ryan and Alana’s love story as well as the actions and choices that occurred to separate them. In his point of view, Ryan is stripped down to his rawest form – all of his fears, worries, and insecurities are revealed, and readers can’t help but empathize with him and wish his circumstances were different.

A complimentary copy of the book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

4 poison apples

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course not, I just met you.”

“Then how about giving me the benefit of the doubt?”

She raises an eyebrow at me, and before I give her a chance to respond I slam the shot then pull her face to mine. And as my mouth covers hers, heat rapidly spreads through my body. She’s momentarily stunned. Her body is rigid against me, but then she relaxes, parts her lips and lets the tart liquid slide into her mouth.

I can’t believe I just did that.

I can’t believe she just let me.

After she swallows, she lets her lips linger, sucking up the taste of the sweet shot, causing my nervous system to shift into hyper-drive. We break apart slowly, but I refuse to let go of the nape of her neck. She just stares up at me with these enthralling eyes I know I’ll never be able to resist.

“Do you always break the rules?” she asks.

“No, not usually, but you seem to make me want to do crazy things.”

“Was that crazy?”

“Let’s do it again and find out.”

I lick my lower lip, tasting the sweet remnants of her lip gloss before I drop another shot. I pause for just a beat before lean down and press my mouth back to hers and let the alcohol flow between us. I flick my tongue against her teeth right before I pull away. I shouldn’t like this so much, but I do. I like the way she looks, the way she feels, they way she smells. There’s something about her, something ventilating; like she oxygenates the atmosphere.

I catch the cool beats to a song I recognize pumping though the air. “Do you want to dance?” I ask her.

“You can dance?”

“There’s only one thing I can do better.” I smirk.

Alana cocks her eye brow suggestively.

“Draw.” I fire back. “The only thing I can do better is draw. Dirty girl.” I tease as I grab her hand and lead her out to the dance floor knowing Mac will look after our drinks.

Once we find a comfortable spot, I start to move to the smooth rhythm, leaving a little room between us so it doesn’t feel like I’m forcing myself on her. Drake sings coolly about hot love and affection as we move in sync to the beat, our bodies brushing and grazing as the music plays on, then finally coming together in a comfortable unison. I wrap one hand around her waist as I roll my hips into hers, pressing our bodies as close as they can possibly get. Alana runs her hands up my chest and hooks her arms lightly around my neck keeping tempo with the music. She moves lithely against me, inducing my heart, thoughts, and pulse to race. Fuck, I’m drowning in want for this girl. I slide my hands up under her shirt and caress the smooth, soft skin of her lower back as she nuzzles her face into my neck, her warm breath skating across my collarbone, making me instantly hard.

Damn.

She lifts her head and meets my stare, which I know is filled with lust and unrepentantly wanton. She bites her lower lip, our bodies still jiving to the slow seductive music. In a brazen move, I slip my hand up the back of her bare thigh and cup her ass cheek under the hem of her short shorts. She gasps as I work my fingers against her, massaging the fleshy part of her bottom. I’m absolutely aching being this close to her, touching her, stroking her, grinding against her.

“Are you sure drawing is the only thing you can do better?” she pants in my ear.

 

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