Friday, March 28, 2014

Review: Just One Night by Lauren Layne

Just One Night (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #3)

Publication Date: March 11th 2014 by Loveswept
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

About the book:

In Lauren Layne’s sizzling Sex, Love & Stiletto series, New York’s hottest “sexpert” has been living a lie—and it’s up to one man to keep her honest…all night long.

Riley McKenna knows sex—good sex, bad sex, kinky sex…Her articles in Stiletto magazine are consistently the publication’s most scandalous—and the most read. But Riley has a secret…all that sexy talk? Not an ounce of it comes from personal experience. Her own bedroom escapades are more limited than even her best friends know. When her editor requests that all columnists write something more personal for Stiletto’s anniversary issue, Riley turns to the one man she’s always been able to count on and calls in the favor of a lifetime.

Sam Compton would do anything for Riley McKenna. Anything except be her experimental sex toy. He refuses her request. At least until she tells him that it’ll either be him or she’ll go to someone else. And that, Sam can’t accept. Reluctantly he agrees to her terms—one night of completely meaningless sex in the name of research. Riley thinks she’s prepared for what awaits her in Sam’s bed. After ten years of writing about sex, actually doing it shouldn’t be that different, right? So wrong. What starts as “one time only” becomes “just one more time.” And then one more. And before they know it, Riley and Sam learn first-hand that when it comes to love, there’s no such thing as just one night.

My Thoughts:
Lauren Layne is one of my favorite contemporary romance writers, not because what she’s writing is so original, let’s face it, it’s hard to be original in this category, but because she writes romance with a flair that sets her stories above the rest.  After the Kiss is my favorite of the Sex, Love & Stiletto series but Just One Night is a close second.  One big reason for that is because Riley and Sam have a history.  Years of longing from afar lent a gut wrenching quality to their situation that made it oh-so-much sweeter when these two finally figured things out!

Riley McKenna is the “sex expert” of Stiletto Magazine but no one knows that she has little experience in that department; a secret that she keeps closely guarded.  With a new assignment to write about an actual personal account, Riley has nothing to go on, but she has one man in mind to change that: Sam.  The man she’s always wanted but has never managed to snag.

Little does she know that Sam yearns for her, too, but he feels Riley is off limits.  He doesn’t feel good enough for her, his mother has made that abundantly clear for years.  But Sam can’t help himself when Riley makes an offer he can’t refuse; it’s just one night after all. Famous last words!

We’ve met both Riley and Sam in the previous novels and I they had back and forth drama that made it obvious they both had it bad for each other so I was excited to read their story.  Sam has been best friends with Riley’s brother for years.  He’s sort of a surrogate member of her family, but Riley’s feelings for him are anything but familial. She’s had a huge crush on him and has had to bear the hurt of watching him carrying on with other women through the years.  Ouch! They always seem to skate the line between flirting and friendship and Riley longs for more:

She did this to herself every damn time, holding on to hope that she and Sam would actually cross that line between bickering and flirting, curiosity and jealousy. Between friends and lovers. But it had been a decade. Sam had had a freaking decade to stake his claim. He hadn’t. He wouldn’t.

Poor Riley. Poor Sam. Fortunately for Riley she has her girls Julie, Grace and Emma at her back, the other writers for Stiletto magazine and her closest friends. With their help she manages to make a one night stand play out into much more.  Sam never knew what hit him, but he needed some major plotting to wake him up, and I loved the strategy!   

Just One Night had fiery hot scenes, but as with the other books, they were done with class. Riley and Sam’s journey had rocks and bumps, but there were doses of clever humor to keep it lighthearted and fun. But best of all we get the satisfaction of seeing two people finally get what they’ve desperately wanted for years: each other!  *sigh*

I hope this isn’t the end to the Sex, Love & Stiletto series because Emma HAS to have her story!  Until then I’ll be over here tapping my foot patiently and waiting, Lauren Layne! 

4.5 Suns






The Love, Sex & Stiletto Series (click on title for link to Goodreads):



After the Kiss (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #1)  Love the One You're With (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #2)  Just One Night (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #3)


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