Ravinder Raja never saw himself as a jealous person, but when his best friend, Alfred, begins preparations to get married, Ravinder can’t help feeling alone. While kicking his best-man duties into high gear, he finds a job in India working as the PR rep for a wounded security company. He just wants is to get away from all things ‘wedding’ until he has to face the music. He never expected Thaddeus Mastersons and the way his body will betray him when it comes to the sexy ex-hacker.
Thaddeus Masterson got into some serious trouble when he was young. But now, reformed and fresh off working with the FBI, he’s decided to go back into business for himself—legally. When a friend’s company is brought to its knees by hackers, Thaddeus reluctantly packs his stuff and jets off to India. It’s the last place he expects to find love. But as they say, love always finds a way.
The second in the Intoxication series, you can see my thoughts on the first here
Ravinder was a bit of a surprise in this story. He seemed a little more free and open in the first book, even as a side character, but in this story he was despondent, stuffy, and a little too high strung. This was somewhat explained by his feelings towards the Wedding, but it felt like part of his personality as well. He seemed to be combative, and I didn’t quite understand his reaction to Thaddeus when they first met, nor was it adequately explained.
Thaddeus was a nice addition to this cast of characters. I liked him. I thought he was a sweetheart, looking for something long term and meaningful. I actually liked that this was mentioned; Thaddeus was not a man who had casual sex, but attached meaning to it beyond bumping uglies. This is rarely communicated in erotic novels, and I wanted to pay homage to this tidbit.
Moving along, the storyline worked well, and I liked that the setting moved out of the USA and landed in India. A little more of the cultural experience would have been nice. I’m from Australia, and India is far away, so it’s unlikely I’ll ever make it over there (unless my job requests it for training - one can hope) so reading a little more about it would have been fun.
While Ravinder appeared standoffish towards Thaddeus in the beginning, he sure let go during sex. That worked well for me. The screaming bossy bottom I mentioned in my review of book 1? It sort of happened in Book 2 (almost - yay!). The erotica was sexy, and I enjoyed reading Ravinder drop his guard and let Thaddeus see him emotionally exposed. This was a big draw for me in the story.
Some questions regarding Ravinder’s background were not answered for me. Especially the cultural aspect. His parents were a big question mark, and I’m not sure I completely understand the dynamics between them and Ravinder. He was using his new job as a step in the direction of finding out more about where he was from, but the scene was short, and I wasn’t sure what the point was.
Generally speaking, this story wasn’t an award winner, but it was enjoyable. It was a bit two-dimensional, and sometimes flat. There were some holes in the plot, and I wasn’t overly impressed with the ending, but as a light read, it passed.
Recommended for those who enjoy contemporary erotic-romance set in a country other than USA.
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