Synopsis:
Jai Winter is trying to do the right thing, even though he knows it’s wrong. Forced to participate in kinky sex games, the renowned model spends his spare moments creating an impressive list of suicide options. Until a snowy day provides a bit of Summer…a pink-haired burst of sunshine with a ready smile. What begins as the hottest sex of his life turns into a ray of hope.
Summer Dey has baggage of her own—literally. Having spent eighteen months in South America trying to escape a shocking accident, Summer finds an illegal nightmare hidden in her suitcase. She doesn’t want to put Jai in danger, but his gorgeous face and killer bod prove hard to resist.
Boy meets girl, girl falls for boy, and everything would be perfect if it wasn’t for blackmail, drug dealers and tragic events in both their pasts. Staying together could be their salvation—or their ultimate undoing.
(Contains non-con and includes M/M.)
Review
So one of the first books Cathy and I read together after FSOG was Barbara Elsborg’s Strangers which I LOVED. If you have read Strangers, Jai is the twin brother of Richard, who played a pivotal role in Kate meeting rock star Charlie. (And we get to visit with Kate and Charlie again in Summer Girl!) I fell in love with the author’s writing in Strangers so I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of Summer Girl, Winter Boy. And what a delicious, steamy, addictive read it is!
Jai is a famous model who has been blackmailed for years by his agent and his wife. Jai endures humiliation and degradation, in a very misguided attempt to protect his family from scandal. He meets Summer, who is hiding her own dangerous secrets but who is literally a breath of fresh air in Jai’s tortured life. Summer is funny, smart and a little bit of an oddball.
Summer has no idea who Jai is and so she is unfazed by his celebrity status. I loved how they met and their dialogue is sharp and funny. And the sex scenes? To say they are steamy is an understatement! The story is totally gripping and the characters are vulnerable, real and insecure. I fell in love with Jai and I literally could not put this book down until he got his HEA. There was something about his character that really pulled at my emotions.
There is plenty of really funny dialogue to balance out the emotional roller coaster of this book. It is sexy, funny, sad and filled with unforgettable characters. This story is perfectly written and I highly recommend it!
(ARC kindly provided by the author.)