It’s safe to say that Sylvia Day is having a VERY good year.
So, a nice, cold, martini seems in order. One that goes down smooth, hits hard and fast, warms you down to your fingers and toes and makes your head spin. Welcome, my friends, to AFTERBURN.
The realization that Jax still affected me so strongly was a jagged pill to swallow. He’d only been part of my life for five short weeks two years ago. But now he was back. Walking into a deal I’d worked hard to close. And God, he was magnificent. His eyes were a brown so dark they were nearly black. Thickly lashed, they were relentless in their intensity. Had I really thought they were soft and warm? There was nothing soft about Jackson Rutledge. He was a hard and jaded man, cut from a ruthless cloth.
In that moment I understood how badly I wanted to unravel the mystery of Jax. Bad enough that I didn’t mind how much it was going to cost me…
Gianna is a good Brooklyn girl from a large, loving Italian family of restauranteurs. She knows her business well enough to score a job as an assistant to Lei Yeung, owner of Savor. Together they create high concept celebrity chef restaurants, the most recent of which has hit a snag with the reintroduction of Jackson Rutledge. Jax isn’t the one who got away…he’s the one who ran away.
It still made me angry that I’d jumped into bed with Jax. I’d known who he was, knew his reputation, yet I’d thought I was sophisticated enough to take him on. Worse, I’d deluded myself into thinking he cared. He lived in D.C.; I was in Vegas. For five weeks he’d flown out to see me every weekend and the occasional weekday. I’d told myself a guy as beautiful and sexy as Jax wouldn’t go through all that trouble and expense just to get laid. I hadn’t considered how rich he was. Rich enough to find it entertaining to jet cross-country for a piece of tail and cautious enough to find it convenient that his inappropriate mistress was far away from both the public eye and his family.
Jax is back for Gia and she’s not going to be fooled again.
“Don’t toy with me, Jax. It’s beneath you.”
“I want you beneath me.”
And…they’re off. Double plays and sabotage abound. It’s a great game of chess and our heroine is usually right in the thick of it. No shrinking violets or damsels in distress here. It’s a fast-paced tale and Gia and Jax are right in the center of a quickly darkening storm. Can he be trusted? Does she want to find out? Oh…it’s delicious.
It’s a cliffhanger, too. The next installment, AFTERSHOCK, is due out in November. Pick this up for a quick read this weekend and send summer out with a nice cool cocktail and some hot sex.
4.5 Stars
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