KKB Sensuality Rating: Torrid

Well it’s been a while since I felt moved enough to want to write a review, but here I am all excited about a book, that wasn’t filled with thrills and spills, yet still managed to stimulate my reader senses.

I downloaded Bella Andre’s Let Me Be The One: The Sullivans, Book 6 a couple of days ago, and I finished reading it last night (even though I had to be up really early this morning).

I rather like Bella Andre’s books, I’m a fan. I’ve read every Sullivan book prior to Let Me Be The One, and they’ve all been pretty good, some obviously better than others. You guys should check her out, if you haven’t already.

Here’s the blurb from Ms Andre’s website:

In LET ME BE THE ONE, the brand-new book in Bella Andre’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling series about the Sullivan family, an unexpected friends-to-lovers romance might not only turn out to be so much hotter than anything bad boy pro baseball player Ryan Sullivan has ever known…but much, much sweeter, too.

When Vicki Bennett saved Ryan Sullivan’s life as a teenager, it was the beginning of a close friendship that never wavered despite her failed marriage to someone else and Ryan’s well-earned reputation as a ladies man. So when she suddenly needs a pretend boyfriend to protect herself and her career from a powerful man’s advances, he is the only person she can imagine asking.

Ryan will do anything to protect Vicki from harm, but when their “fake” kisses and caresses lead to an incredibly sensual night that neither of them can resist, will he have made the biggest mistake of all by irreparably jeopardizing their friendship? Or is it possible that what they’ve both been looking for has been right there the whole time…and the perfect combination of wicked and sweet, friendship and love, is finally within reach?

Now you all know that I’m a total sucker for a good friends-to-lovers story, and I have to say, Let Me Be The One was just….lovely. It really was.

This isn’t a book that will grab you by the nuts and totally screw with you, it’s not full of TSTL moments instigated by the heroine, or moments of assholiness from the hero, no no, not at all. This book was a gentle spring day, with occasional bursts of rain, but mostly filled with sunshine.

I know the above sounds kind of whimsical, and dare I say corny, but that’s how Let Me Be The One made me feel.

It was great to once again meet a heroine who not only had common sense, but also one who’s vulnerability and sensitivity didn’t turn her into a walking, talking moron.

Vicki Bennett was a sculptress, who’d met Ryan Sullivan back when she was in high school. They’d immediately connected, after Vicki saved Ryan’s life.

Connecting with her peers had always been an issue for Vicki, as her and her family never stayed anywhere long enough to make any real friends. But Ryan changed all that.

This excerpt in the prologue when Vicki was recalling their first meeting, made me feel all warm and fuzzy:

“Ryan made everything seem so easy though, as if the only thing that wouldn’t make sense was them not hanging out.

By the end of their trip to the art store and back, she knew all about his seven siblings, he knew she had two annoying little brothers, he’d told her what he liked about baseball, she’d told him what she loved about sculpting, and she’d been invited to dinner at the Sullivan house.

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. The best one she’d ever had.”

Because Vicki was an army brat, just over a year later, her and her family had to relocate again. Vicki was devastated to be leaving Ryan, but the two of them kept in touch for the next fifteen years, through emails and phone calls.

Vicki had been secretly in love with her best friend, but because she didn’t believe she was Ryan’s type, and didn’t want to irreparably damage their friendship by confessing her love, she kept her feelings to herself.

Years later, newly divorced from her artist Italian husband of ten years, Vicki comes home.

Ryan is of course ecstatic to see her again after all this time, because unbeknownst to Vicki, he’d also harboured his own secret crush on her when they’d been teenagers.

Ryan was a hero to die for, which is weird, because out of all of the Sullivan brothers, his book wasn’t one that I was particularly looking forward to reading, but I have to say, Ms Andre did an amazing job with his story.

What I loved about Ryan and Vicki’s relationship was how their friendship really rang true to me. Of course I, as the reader knew that they were secretly in love with each other, but that knowledge didn’t detract from the essence of their friendship. They genuinely enjoyed being together, and only wanted the best for each other. The sudden realisation that they could be more, only added to what I thought was already a cracking story.

There were no huge moments of conflict, they didn’t argue needlessly, they were honest with each other, and actually, the only issue they had, was that neither knew that the other felt the same way.

Let Me Be The One was a book that had you routing for both the hero and the heroine, I was desperate for them to realise that they were in love with each other, but fear of ruining a great friendship kept stopping them from making a move.

However, when ‘the move’ came, it was epic. Their love scenes were hot, made all the hotter, by the fact that as the reader, I’d had to endure countless near-miss kisses. I have to say though, the anticipation of their getting together, made the wait, worth while.

Like I said, this isn’t a book that’s chock full of conflict or action, fanfare or explosions, instead it’s a book about two great friends who made it an absolute pleasure for this reader to watch them fall deeper in love.

You can check out Bella Andre’s website here, and download Let Me Be The One from Amazon.com here.

If you guys want to start at the beginning, the first Sullivan Book, The Look of Love, can be found at Amazon.com here. If you want to check out the other books in the series, just click on the book covers above.