Lovin' los libros

A book blog dedicated to young adult and new adult novels

Review: Exposed by Fate by Tessa Bailey

By 8:12 AM , , , , , ,

Exposed by Fate (Serve #2)
    by: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: Oct. 27, 2014
Publisher: Entangled: Brazen
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Age Group: Adult
Source: Gifted
Page Count: 226 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4/5 stars

He’ll train her to lure another man. She’ll lure him instead.

When interior designer Eliza Ballas accompanies a friend to New York’s premier BDSM club, she’s taken aback by the sheer want that overruns her body—especially when a sexy Brit assumes Eliza is adept at dark, sensual arts. If she’s going to play, she’ll need an erotic education, and she knows just the man to teach her how to submit…

Oliver Preston isn’t one to turn down pleasure, but Eliza’s his sister’s best friend, and he’s torn between a sense of duty and his rock-hard need to find out if she tastes as delicious as he’s dreamed. Unable to handle thought of another man owning her body, he draws Eliza deep into his world of exquisite pain and pleasure.  He has three lessons to instruct her. Three lessons to drive them both to the brink of ecstasy. And three lessons before he must give her to another man...if he doesn’t lose himself first.

 
 
After reading Owned by Fate, the first book in Tessa Bailey's new Serve series, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one! I love the best friend falling for the sibling trope, so I was already rooting for Eliza and Oliver before the first book ended.
 
Oliver has quite the reputation as a notorious playboy, and for a long time he's been fine with that title. At the start of the book he isn't looking to change that. When he sees his younger sister's best friend at Serve with another man, his jealousy flares up, taking him by surprise. He's always been attracted to Eliza, but being his sister's best friend, he knows he could never go there. He'll be damned if he lets her go upstairs with another man and so he intervenes. His intervention leads them both to realize maybe she's not ready to enter that world just yet, so Eliza asks Oliver to teach her, opening up a whole other can of worms in the process. The woman he has been attracted to for years is offering herself to him for three lessons, no strings attached. It's the perfect arrangement for a guy like Oliver who isn't looking for anything long term.
 
I love the easiness and familiarity between the two. The fact that they infuse such humor into what could be an awkward situation really worked. Their sexual tension is sky high and bubbling over the surface, so adding in some playful banter was even more endearing. Bailey switches between Oliver and Eliza's POV, so I loved being in Oliver's head as he can't stop thinking of making her his. He is jealous over the fact that he is training Eliza to be with someone else and suddenly he finds himself wishing he never agreed to prime her for someone that wasn't him. Instead of owning it and telling her, naturally he keeps it to himself. Both of them are too afraid to admit the depth of their feelings for one another, thus leading to faked indifference and more jealousy. That was the most frustrating part of this one- watching them both hesitate to tell the other their true feelings and let miscommunication cause problems.
 
We really just skim the surface of Eliza's past- we don't know much, just that her mother always gave in to her father and never spoke up for herself. Eliza doesn't want to be that kind of woman. She doesn't want her choices taken from her, so that is why she became so angry with Oliver in this one. She mistakes his possessive sentiments as a way to control her and keep her from someone else, instead of understanding that Oliver is falling for her and doesn't want her to be with anyone but him. Oliver struggles himself with feeling he isn't good enough for her, having felt feelings of inadequacy before from his father when it comes to work, and now with his sister railing about his playboy status.  
 
Out of all the Serve guys I've met so far, I have to say Oliver is probably my favorite. He is sexy, gorgeous, and truly a good man, who is afraid of letting himself fall for a woman who could break him. He is one of my favorite kind of alpha males- strong, but tender at the same time. There were a couple of scenes toward the end in this one that just gutted my heart at how vulnerable and raw he is when he lays it out there for Eliza. I wanted to bonk him on the head for not just coming out and telling her how he felt! To be fair, it's a two-way street and Eliza wasn't exactly forthcoming either in her feelings. Nonetheless, everything worked out the way it was meant to and I was left wanting more from these two!

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3 comments

  1. *sigh* I am so behind on all of the Tessa books and that makes me SO SAD since everyone loves them. I promise though, 2015 is the year I finally start getting to them. Well, hopefully at least. So many books so little time Great review Jessica!

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