Book Review – Arouse (Spiral of Bliss Book #1) – Nina Lane

This is going on my best of 2013 list…no doubt!

“One day I’m going to touch you in a thousand different ways and show you how to touch me.”

You all know how much I loved Nina Lane’s ‘The Erotic dark‘ – one of my favorites! I already considered her on top of her game when it comes to dark erotica, and then I read Arouse… This.Woman.Is.Brilliant! This book is so different from The Erotic dark it could have been written by two different authors. To Erotic dark’s darkness there is Arouse’s beauty…sweetness…love.

Undergraduate Olivia Winter is on exchange at the University of Winsconsin-Madison, where she meets the Professor of Medieval Studies, Dean West. Olivia has had a tough life; since she was young, she’s craved stability and strength. One look at Dean and she knows she’s found it.

He was big. Not bulky and heavy, but tall with broad shoulders, long legs, and that air of self-control that made him seem in total command. The wind flattened his shirt over his muscular chest, and I had a sudden image of folding myself against that chest and feeling his arms close around me. Safe. Protected.

Dean loves how Olivia looks at him. Like he could do anything, be anything. He’s never had that, always had to prove himself. But then here comes Olivia, so beautiful, clearly tortured, yet the way she looks at him convinces him he can take care of her.

“Liv,” he said, his voice rough with tenderness, “you don’t have to be afraid”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ll slay monsters for you.”

The book is written in the present; Dean and Olivia are happily married. However we get flashes of the past, of how they met. They both need something from the other, and they both get it. However things start to spiral out of control. Secrets, betrayal, questions… all lead to the realization that this perfect couple might not be so perfect after all.

I’m not sure I can explain how beautiful this book is. I feel like most books in this genre explore the start of a relationship and then we get to the HEA. Nina Lane does it backwards. We get to see this young married couple, just when the problems begin. We are taken back to when they first met, realize how much they need each other, understand why they need each other.

They are thoroughly tested. One thing after the other. And though it was so sad to read, you could still see their love for each other shining through. This one really touched me. I read and re-read scenes (no, not just the steamy ones)… This is erotic romance at it’s best. So angsty, so beautiful… I sighed and swooned and fell in love with this couple.

As for the steamy scenes… wow! Nina Lane knows how to write STEAMY scenes! Incredibly hot! I felt the chemistry between Dean and Olivia and more than that, their love…and lust… was palpable.

We get what some might call a cliffhanger but it’s not… not really… just a continuation of a love story that I just can’t wait to read. I’m really rooting for their happiness… I identify with them both so much its insane… so yes…I need them happy.

Sigh, I could read only Nina Lane’s books all year and be completely sated.

5 stars!

Amazon: Arouse by Nina lane