Hello, bookworms! I’m not trying to jinx it, but I’m on a bit of a roll this week! I’m so happy I’ve not only been able to get some reading done lately, but also, that I get to bring you guys more reviews to enjoy! People always ask me to recommend books, and instead of saying, “are you ready for this conversation”, I’m able to direct them to this wacky little space of interweb where they can find a whole bunch of reading material! I know it’s mostly aimed at romance readers, but I promise, I do read a variety of genres, and will post more of those reviews soon! What can I say? Romance sucked me right into their bubble and the books are so addicting, I can’t help but pick up one after another. Who’s to say that we can’t learn something from fictional relationships anyway? I find something valuable in all the material I read and I hope you guys do too! With that being said, I have another book boyfriend for you to meet and fall head over heels for. I’m talking about Indulge by Georgia Cates. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I was not disappointed!
I had an interesting journey with this one, so let me explain. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this book. It popped up as a sponsored story from Amazon in my Facebook feed, and the excerpt drew me right in, so I did the old one-click. After I added it to my “currently reading” on goodreads, I noticed some bad reviews. Normally, I try to ignore all reviews until I’m done or almost done with a book because I try not to see spoilers or let outside influences affect me and my experience with the story (side note: I’m so glad I write a review blog then.. haha). With Indulge, curiosity got the better of me and I not only looked through reviews, but I read spoilers as well. I was already about 30% in when I started panicking and thinking “ugh… this has such a bad end.. I don’t even want to read it because I know what’s coming!”. I’m glad I stuck with it though, because it seems the author made some massive changes between ARC and final publication and I wound up getting an ending I was all but beaming about once I closed the book.
Anna James Bennett is recently divorced.. and it ended badly. While she tries to occupy her heart and her mind with work, her best friend, Meredith has other plans, and books her a first class ticket to Jamaica with her and her husband, Greyson. The only catch, is that the resort they’re headed to is for swinging and polygamist relationships. Anna is about as vanilla as girls come, so instead of participating in her idea of debauchery, she spends solo time on the beach, wandering the resort, and dining alone on exotic food. When she shows up at a restaurant on property that has a 2 hour wait, her only option aside from leaving is to dine with a lone stranger and share a table. Luckily she takes that option, because she meets Beau Emerson. He’s well-off, handsome, a southern gentleman, and spending almost two weeks on the beaches of Jamaica alone as well. The two talk over dinner and cocktails and find out that they’ve both recently had their hearts broken, and that back home, they only live about 40 minutes apart from one another. A friendship begins and winds up turning into a life-changing journey.
When the two bump into each other the next day on the beach, they swim and get sun together, and decide to spend the rest of their trip in each other’s company. They swim with dolphins, go for dinner, dancing, drinks, shopping, wandering the nearby town, take drives together, and form a deep connection. It’s when they’re about to return home that things go south, and fast. A misunderstanding and “surprise” causes them to leave their blissful trip apart and on bad terms yet again. Beau tries to talk to Anna numerous times, but she refuses to see or speak to him, even a year later.
It’s when they find themselves 14 months down the road and in each other’s lives again that things get more complicated. They never forgot one another, but they each have not one, but two others in their lives. Neither of them can help the fact that they’re “the one that got away”. Beau and Anna have to decide if they have another chance, or if they found each other to talk things out and move on too late.
I was so afraid this story was going to have the ending I had been reading about in others’ experiences. I dreaded every time I turned the page because my heart was in my throat and I just wasn’t ready for the conclusion I had prepared myself for. I just had to keep my fingers crossed that it magically turned out differently.. and I lucked out completely. I don’t want to say much more without spoiling the path of the story for those of you who want to read it yourselves, so I’ll shut up now before I say too much!
This is the perfect beach or pool day read if you’re looking for a taboo, steamy, forbidden and dramatic romance! Just make sure to take some breaks to hop in the water and cool yourself down, because Beau Emerson will certainly get you sweaty. Happy reading!
My Final Rating: four out of five stars
