Blog Tour: Desire Me Now by Tiffany Clare

Avon Impulse's release of Desire Me Now by Tiffany Clare intrigued me. This is the first book in a sexy historical romance series - stick around for my review, and a chance to win a digital copy of the book!

For the rest of the stops on the tour, check out Tasty Book Tours.

The Book

He charged out of the darkness to her rescue …

Amelia Grant has just escaped her lecherous employer with nothing but the clothes on her back. In the predawn hours of London, a horse and carriage come barreling down on her, and a stranger rushes to her aid, sweeping her off her feet …

There is something dark and dangerous about Nicholas Riley. With eyes gray like flint and hard as steel, he's unusual … beautiful. The intensity behind his gaze makes her feel like the only person in the world. And then he whispers …

"I want your complete surrender."

Desire Me Now is available now!

Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo

Goodreads | Goodreads Series

My Review

Let me get something off of my chest. I judge books by their covers. I do, I absolutely do. Covers suggest things about a book, they create expectations. Plus, they can be so darn beautiful to look at! 

So when I saw Desire Me Now, I had certain expectations about the book - namely that there'd be a thread of BDSM running through it, and that Amelia would turn out to be pretty darn fierce, what with wearing a black leather corset and all. 

I was a little letdown. Desire Me Now is definitely a sexy historical romance, but it's not erotica, and I think that's what I had built myself up to read. The book does have its share of spicy scenes, it just didn't quite have that erotica tone that I anticipated.

Now, the other thing about Desire Me Now is that it made me feel a bit uncomfortable as I was reading it. You see, Amelia's running from a bad situation, and she winds up with Nick, who leaps at the opportunity to protect her. There's definitely some insta-lust here, with a few mysterious references to a woman in the past. Nick's motivations are either very superficial (in the, I wanted you, so I helped you, way) or they're complicated and possibly a bit sketchy (in the, you remind me of a woman I once knew and that made me want you, way). Either way, I was not entirely on board. And I was especially not on board with the way he aggressively seduces Amelia. 

Really, I think I wanted much more time to pass. Yes, it's clear there's some smoking hot chemistry between these two, but I felt Amelia deserved a few weeks - maybe a month or two - to let her head clear after her world is turned upside down? Perhaps the idea that they're so drawn to each other that they cannot wait is part of the appeal, and I just missed that?

Nick's alpha male-'you're mine' routine fit the BDSM theme I expected, but it was a bit... much for me. If you like your heroes heavily in that vein, Nick's got plenty of attractive qualities otherwise so I suspect this book will be a great fit.

I did enjoy the other women in the book, from the other servants in Nick's home to the women in his social sphere that Amelia is forced to interacted with. I appreciated the range from friendly to catty, and that the female characters weren't entirely of one type or the other.

I *am* intrigued to see where the series goes next - while I was a bit on the fence about the romance, it's clear that there are lots of deep, dark secrets afoot and I'm tempted to come back for book two to find out what those are. Plus I'm hoping that Amelia will become more comfortable in her own sexuality and that will, in turn, make me more comfortable as a reader.

Bottom line:

Desire Me Now was a mixed-bag for me. I wasn't really into the romance, but I was intrigued by the characters' back stories and how their pasts impacted the development of their relationship. If you like love interests who like to claim and protect their women, you may enjoy this one more than I did.

3.5 stars
For fans of sexy historical romance, alpha males

About the Author

Deciding that life had far more to offer than a nine to five job, bickering children and housework of any kind (unless she’s on a deadline when everything is magically spotless), TIFFANY CLARE opened up her laptop to write stories she could get lost in. Tiffany writes sexy historical romances set in the Victorian era. She lives in Toronto with her husband, two kids and two dogs and you can find out more about her and her books at www.tiffanyclare.com


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