by: Chelsea M. CameronPublication Date: Jan. 9, 2014
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by InkSlingerPR and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 342 pages
Order Links: Amazon
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
They're finally together. But the Universe seems intent on tearing them apart…
Rory Clarke might not be Lucah Blythe's boss anymore, but that doesn't mean they can sneak off to the boardroom for hot sex whenever they want. Keeping their hands off each other in the workplace is harder than they could have imagined, and that's not the only obstacle they have to deal with. Between Lucah's troublesome brother Ryder, and Rory's bff Sloane's inability to understand locked doors, they're drowning in drama.
But it's only about to get a lot worse when a blast from Lucah's past surfaces, and chaos at Clarke Enterprises threatens to take away everything Rory has worked so hard for. Can the couple weather the storm and surrender to each other, or will the challenges of staying together destroy their relationship for good?
Rory Clarke might not be Lucah Blythe's boss anymore, but that doesn't mean they can sneak off to the boardroom for hot sex whenever they want. Keeping their hands off each other in the workplace is harder than they could have imagined, and that's not the only obstacle they have to deal with. Between Lucah's troublesome brother Ryder, and Rory's bff Sloane's inability to understand locked doors, they're drowning in drama.
But it's only about to get a lot worse when a blast from Lucah's past surfaces, and chaos at Clarke Enterprises threatens to take away everything Rory has worked so hard for. Can the couple weather the storm and surrender to each other, or will the challenges of staying together destroy their relationship for good?
I really enjoyed this second book in the Surrender Saga! I've said it before and I'll say it again- I really like Chelsea's writing style. She does such a great job of making you feel like you're an active participant in her novels, rather than just a reader on the outside looking in. There were some times where I wanted to respond back to Rory because she would make a comment in her mind that would be so real and funny and I could completely connect with her.
I do feel that Lucah and Rory's relationship has progressed rather quickly. They are in that all-consuming, passionate love stage in their relationship and I like that in this novel we see them start to really transition into discovering more about one another. Lucah has a hard time opening up and talking about his past, as it is very difficult for him. However, I feel it is important for him to share that past with Rory no matter how painful. When Lucah does open up to Rory, she is empathetic and supportive and I really love that about her. She doesn't push him to open up, but when he does she is there for him in just the way he needs. I also liked the two started talking about their future together. They are already living with one another and logically we know what the next step would be. Rory isn't afraid of commitment, but marriage is a whole other ballgame. Seeing her realize what she wants out of her relationship with Lucah is a really big growing point for her and I'm glad we got to see that.
I loved Rory's best friend Sloane in the first book and I love her just as much here! She's a great friend to Rory and I like that Rory didn't abandon her for Lucah. Rory is very conscious of Sloane and not making her best friend feel like a third wheel. When Sloane needs her, she's there no questions asked and vice versa.
At the end of Sweet Surrendering, we met Lucah's wild brother Ryder and I was excited to see him show up again in this book. He is rough around the edges and has ALOT of issues to sort through and deal with, as well as a drug problem. The only person he really lets himself be tender with is Sloane and watching the two interact was probably my favorite part of the novel. Ryder doesn't want to be coddled by his brother and definitely lashes out against him more often than not, but you can tell deep down he appreciates his brother being there for him. I am really excited for their story in Dark Surrendering. It's going to be one of those dark, emotional, beautiful stories and I can't freaking wait.
We also got to meet Lucah's nieces, as well as his older brother Tate and his wife April. Family is really important to Lucah and I liked seeing him bring Rory around to meet the important people in his life after keeping her in the dark. Gracie and Fiona are adorable and Rory did a great job of interacting with them. Sloane on the other hand? I died with laughter when she met them the first time!
We do have a bit of added drama in this book. Rory's father's company is dealing with the backlash that came with an embezzling scandal that took place in the previous novel. In lieu of this, concern is raised as to what the best course of action concerning the company will be. They have already gotten rid of those involved and have now hired new interns and assistants. One of them being Lilia, Rory's new personal assistant. Lilia is shy and easily intimidated, but ends up being a good friend for Rory to vent to and confide in. Violet Cooper is another new player and based on her past interactions with a certain someone, I was naturally wary of her. She is confident, self-assured, and a no-nonsense kind of girl, and she is determined to excel at her job. Like Rory, women in the corporate world have to fight tooth and nail to be heard and work hard to be taken seriously.
There are so many facets of this story that I enjoyed- I enjoyed meeting the new characters, as well as watching Rory and Lucah's relationship develop and transition into something more than just passion and sex. Oh, and of course let's not forget watching Sloane and Ryder's relationship start to develop. I can't wait to see where Cameron takes the characters and the story in book 3!
This scene was
originally in Chapter Twenty-Five, but was cut from the final draft for pacing
and continuity reasons. This scene has SPOILERS for both Sweet Surrendering and
Surrendering to Us. Read at your own risk!
Surrendering to Us deleted scene:
As the minutes passed, I realized I’d read too much into things.
“I need to use the little girls’ room,” Sloane said, getting up and pinching me again.
“Me too,” I said, and the other two ladies joined us and I swore I heard Ryder mutter something about women always having to use the bathroom in groups. What men didn’t seem to understand was that women often needed time to talk about the men they were with, without the men hearing. The only place you can do that? The bathroom. Women really weren’t as complicated as men made them out to be. Sloane shut the door of the bathroom and we clustered by the sinks. There wasn’t a whole lot of room in there, with women coming and going and retouching their makeup.
“Okay, am I the only one that thought that he was going to propose?” Sloane said, crossing her arms.
“Nope,” I said.
“I still can’t really feel my hands.”
Marisol rubbed my shoulder. “It did seem that way, didn’t it?” she said.
"If he wasn’t going to propose, he shouldn’t have picked that song,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Men are so dense.”
“I still can’t feel my hands,” I said, so Sloane took them and rubbed them. “Am I crazy? I mean, we’ve only been going out for a little while and we just moved in, but then when he was singing, and based on things he’s said . . . I guess I just thought . . . ”
“It’s okay, Rory.”
I looked at the three of them and tried to pull myself together. This had been a hell of a day. “What is wrong with me?” I said, taking my hands back from Sloane and leaning against the mirror. My eyes were wide, my skin pale. I pinched my cheeks like my mother had taught me and checked my eye makeup. I’d forgotten my purse in the hurry to get away from the table so we could think.
I inhaled and exhaled a few times and tried to calm my racing heart. It wasn’t just that I thought Lucah was going to propose. It was that the idea of getting married scared the shit out of me. Because I wanted it. I’d had this flash of him getting down on one knee, and presenting me with a shiny ring, and then imagined walking down a church aisle to meet Lucah. I wanted it. The whole thing. The white dress, the veil, the promises of forever. I wanted it.
“Rory?” Three sets of eyes stared over my shoulder and reflected in the mirror.
“I’m good,” I said. “I’m good. I just realized that if he asked me to marry him, I would have said yes. That’s kind of the first time I’ve thought about it.”
“Really?” Marisol said as I turned around. We had to give up our spot at the sink as a few other women shoved us out of the way and grumbled.
“Yeah, really. We’d sort of talked about it, but nothing serious. Nothing as serious as a proposal. I can’t believe I read so much into it.” I was an idiot.
“Hey, you’re not the only one,” Sloane said. “I totally thought that was what he was doing. Why wouldn’t he propose?”
There were a whole host of reasons, but they’d all flown out of my head when I’d imagined walking down that aisle. “We should . . . we should go back,” I said, checking my face again in the mirror. I looked a little less freaked out, and hopefully the dim lighting would help camouflage my still pale face.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sloane stopped me from pushing open the door of the restroom.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
We went back to the boys and I smiled when Lucah put his arm around me and started stroking my shoulder.
“And what did you ladies discuss in the bathroom?” he said in my ear.
“Campaign finance reform,” I answered. I was still a little not okay from whatever had happened to me when I’d thought he was proposing.
Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times/USA Today Best Selling
author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte
and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker,
vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing,
she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting (this one
time, she was tweeted by Neil Gaiman). She has a degree in journalism from the
University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the
people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just
as weird as she is.
Her New Adult Contemporary Romance titles include My Favorite Mistake,
which has been bought by Harlequin along with a sequel, Deeper We Fall and
Faster We Burn (April 20, 2013)
Her Young Adult books include Nocturnal, Nightmare and Neither, the
first three books in The Noctalis Chronicles. The fourth and final book,
Neverend will be out in 2013. Whisper, the first in The Whisper Trilogy is also
available, with the second book in the series, Silence and the final book,
Listen coming out in 2014.
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