Holding Her Close by Lexi Ryan

Title: Holding Her Close

Series: Mended Hearts #2

Author: Lexi Ryan

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date:  January 19, 2016 Information: Stand-Alone Novel

HOLD YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE...AND YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER.

She's everything he detests about Hollywood.

After spending my entire acting career being cast as the airhead, I finally have the serious role I've been dying for, and I screw it all up during a four martini dinner with my ex. Now, thanks to the morality clause in my contract, I might lose the role of a lifetime. My only hope is to convince the media (and my eccentrically conservative director) that I've entered a committed relationship. But when I use my brother's costume party to launch Operation Fake Fiancé, I end up in front of the camera with the wrong guy, leaving my reputation—and the fate of my career—at his mercy. Any other guy I could sweet talk into playing the supporting role I need, but not Officer Cade Watts. Not the man who hates everything about me. Not the man who would most revel in seeing me fail.

He's everything she needs.

I don't care how good it felt to have her in my arms. I don't care that I can't close my eyes without remembering the way she tastes or the sound of her moan. I want nothing to do with Janelle Crane. Her scheme to fake an engagement to save her own career is exactly the kind of manipulative Hollywood crap I left LA to escape. But when her fan mail turns threatening and the tragedies befalling her former co-stars seem to be anything but coincidence, everything changes. Now I don't just want to play the part of Janelle's fake fiancé, I demand it. I won't let my jaded heart cost me another case. I may not trust Janelle but I do care, and the only way I know she's safe is if I'm holding her close.

We all know image means everything in LA, right? Since we all agree on that, we can sort of understand the pressure that Janelle must always feel. We can definitely understand her heartbreak upon discovering her husband, Tom, was cheating on her, then divorced her and married the other woman, Bella. Then said other woman is basically living your life...including your friendships with your so called best friends, Courtney and Jo.

Even with everything her husband put her through Janelle still loved him and when faced with the chance to have her supposedly soon to be single ex-husband, a happy and drunk Janelle, kisses him. Of course, things are never that easy, especially in LA. Now Janelle is labeled the home wrecker, even though as Janelle says "he was her husband first." You can feel how much pain she's still in and how much she wishes it was all a bad dream. Unfortunately, it's not and now the role she worked so hard for is being threatened because her "scandal" is too much for the film.

Tada, Matthew Hailey, the image repairman that Janelle vowed to never use, to the rescue. His plan? Janelle needs a boyfriend, a pretty serious one, and to make everyone believe that kiss the world witnessed was all a mistake in a drunken moment. So Matt has cameras at the ready when Janelle meets her "boyfriend," who'll be dressed as Batman to her Catwoman, at a party and they lay one heck of a kiss on each other. Phew, image saved, hot kiss shared, it's been a productive night, happy endings will abound...until Janelle sees another Batman, the one she was supposed to be with. What's a girl to do? Well if you're Janelle, you make a hasty retreat and hope it can be salvaged, even though you can't stop thinking about that kiss.

Cade, aka the mistaken Batman and local police officer Janelle has lusted over a few times, is reeling from the chemistry filled kiss he just experienced and refuses to let his Catwoman get away. A hot night ensues and Cade leaves his number, hoping to get to know her better. Well, that is until morning when he learns about Janelle and her serious boyfriend, him. Uh oh, this is not going to go well. Cade is very jaded regarding Janelle's career and honestly, he has a very good reason. Unbeknownst to him, Cara, his live-in girlfriend, the woman he was all set to propose to, was using him to rebuild her image, and guess who's idea it was? Yeah, Matt, the same one Janelle is working with now. Plot twist! Granted this happened a little while ago, but Cade still feels the pain of being used and automatically assumes all actresses are that way. (*side note - Cade and Cara were never going to work. Their names both start with C. You can't merge them into anything cutesy sounding. LOL)

The difference here is that Janelle didn't know any of that, innocently kissed Cade thinking he was her date and aware of everything, and seems to have acquired a stalker. Wait, that last part isn't so different from Cara's situation. (You'll see what I mean.) Cade, upon learning Janelle is in trouble, quickly follows her to LA and happens upon her ex-husband, Tom, trying to convince Janelle how much she means to him and that he truly is leaving Bella. Janelle is tired of having him mess with her heart though and Cade can see her genuine pain and understands it. So being the hero he is, he steps in as her serious boyfriend, saving the day, and all the while he'll be able to stay close by to keep her safe. Now they need to figure out who's harassing her, assaulting women she was once best friends with, keep her safe, figure out where she stands with Tom, and figure out exactly what their relationship to each other is. Yes, that's a lot, but we all know they'll learn everything before the end of the book, right? Well, now it's time for the seriously epic plot twist, see Janelle has an epiphany regarding her feelings for Tom and the depth of her feelings for Cade, and Cade believes Janelle used him.

If only Cade would believe in her and their love, instead of blindly following the evidence that makes it seem like Janelle set everything up and was never actually in danger. Unfortunately, Cade is still looking through those jaded glasses and assumes Janelle played him and is guilty. *Darn you Cara for causing that.*

Will Cade realize the truth before he loses Janelle forever? How will Janelle prove her innocence? Will she forgive Cade? Even if all that works out, where will they live? Cade hates everything LA related. Does he love Janelle enough to live in that world again, especially knowing their love is true and nothing like anything either of them have experienced before? Will Matt's form of help actually save the day for once?

I highly recommend this book. I loved the premise of this story and the fact that Cade had an instant distrust of Janelle, not her as an individual per se, however his distrust for her profession casts a shadow over everything Janelle related, but he still couldn't fight his attraction to her. The plot was well thought out and kept the reader guessing. I did figure out one part of that puzzle, but didn't piece everything together until closer to the end. Considering how much I read, that says a lot. On a side note, Janelle's brother, Nate, and his wife, Hanna, do have their own separate story, in parts, that was released prior to this one, which I have not read and I honestly had no problem following this story without it.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

HOLDING HER CLOSE, 2016 © by Lexi Ryan

“Why are you so angry with me?” I link my hands behind his neck. “You’re always so angry with me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Rising onto my toes, I position my mouth by his ear. “No one’s going to believe you’re my boyfriend if you hold me like you’re afraid you might catch something.”

One second we’re standing there, barely moving on the dance floor. The next, he’s spinning me around, and I’m trapped between his body and the wall. He has one hand at my neck, the other at my waist, one thick thigh between my legs.

“You wanna know why I’m angry?” He presses closer. My already-short skirt hikes higher up my hips, and I’m treated to the delicious pressure of his thigh pressing into the lace of my panties. “Maybe because you’re reckless. Selfish. Immature. Maybe because for the last three hours you’ve been boozing it up with your buddies while I was picturing you bound and helpless to some obsessive maniac.”

Before I can reply, his mouth is on mine. This isn’t like the seductive kisses we shared on our first night together, and it lacks the tenderness of the kiss he gave me at the station. This kiss matches his mood. It’s hot and angry. Demanding and possessive. This is the kiss of a man who very well could throw his woman over his shoulder and drag her home. The kiss of a man whose woman would relish such treatment.

I shouldn’t be that woman. I shouldn’t even pretend to be her. But should has nothing to do with the way I open my mouth and slip my tongue inside to taste him. Should has nothing to do with me shifting my stance, lifting one knee to give his thigh better access to my aching center. When Cade touches me, should goes out the window and is replaced by must.

I must pull him closer. I must learn how his neck tastes. I must dissolve into his kiss until the world disappears. Then even must falls away and I am nothing but this ache where need becomes pleasure and pleasure becomes need. He called me reckless, and right now I am. With him, that’s what I become.

When he tears his mouth from mine, I gasp at the loss.

“Is that better?” he asks, rubbing his face against my neck and marking me with his stubble. “If I hold you like this.” The hand at my waist slides down until he’s cupping my ass. “Touch you like this.” The hand on my neck dips to skim the tops of my breasts. “Would that be enough?” He opens his mouth against my neck and sucks. Hard. “What’s it going to take to get you to listen to me?”

New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance novelist Lexi Ryan is a former college English professor turned full-time writer. She lives in rural Indiana with her husband and two children. When not writing, she can be found enjoying yoga, reading copiously, hanging out with her family, and thanking her lucky stars.

 

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