Surrender
Devil’s Den # 1
Devil’s Den # 1
By: Violetta Rand
Releasing January 27th, 2015
Loveswept
Welcome
to the Devil’s Den, a Texas strip club where the air is heavy with desire—and
sometimes dreams come true.
Ever
since her mother kicked her out, twenty-year-old Robyn Gonzalez has been
working the poles at the Devil’s Den, saving up to finish college and travel
the world. With only her wits and her gorgeous body to rely on, Robyn has
learned to be independent—fiercely independent. She’s never been tempted to let
a man distract her from her dreams . . . until she meets the dead-sexy Garrick
Dempsey.
The
club’s new head of security, Garrick had walked away from a career as a
mechanical engineer to return to his roots in Corpus Christi. He hadn’t planned
on getting to know someone like Robyn, with her sinfully sweet combination of
vulnerability and strength, at the Devil’s Den. She acts tough, but only
because she’s been hurt. Soon Garrick knows he will do anything to win Robyn’s
trust. And if that means surrendering to the red-hot chemistry between them,
all the better.
There
are so many things to love about this story. It has its issues, but overall I
really enjoyed it.
Garrick
is a dreamy hero. I don’t think there are many guys who would fight so hard to
beat down a woman’s walls. He fights so hard for her that you can’t help but
fall in love with him. Garrick has got the sexy geek thing down pat. A graduate
of MIT, a loving brother, and a sexy as hell body. It doesn’t hurt that he’s
got money too… That’s quite a package! He determined to get through to Robyn,
to find his way to her heart, and to protect her. The fact that he is willing
to be with her when she gets completely naked and so close to other men is
admirable.
Robyn
certainly has cause to be somewhat shut down. Her family has caused her copious
amounts of pain and to teach her that others will not accept her. To be honest,
I think she chooses to turn to stripping to play into the expectations of her
family, sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. She tries to play it off as no big
deal, but there are many times in the book where it’s clear that on some level
she doesn’t believe the lies she tells herself. That bothered me a little, it
kept her from being truly genuine to me. Robyn is definitely strong and
independent. Her determination to finish school and to be a part of her sister’s
life is commendable, however she takes her independence a little too far with
Garrick. She refused to accept that he wants to protect her and because of
that, she ends up in terrible situations that could have been avoided. Then she
needed saving, rather than protected in the first place.
The
story is essentially great. It’s interesting, it kept my attention and I wanted
to know what would happen in the end. I had some trouble accepting Robyn’s
stubborn attitudes and refusal to yield to the love that’s right in front of
her. However, the most frustrating aspect of the book for me, was the amount of
“almost raped” scenes. It got monotonous.
Overall,
I definitely give it 4 stars. The characters are complex and realistic, the
story is interesting and fairly compelling, and it has what I look for most
romance novels, a great HEA!
Raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Violetta Rand spent her
childhood reading, writing, and playing soccer. After meeting her husband in
New England, they moved to Alaska where she studied environmental science and
policy as an undergraduate before attending graduate school. Violetta then
spent nearly a decade working as an environmental scientist, specializing in
soil and water contamination and environmental assessments.
Violetta still lives in Anchorage, Alaska and spends her
days writing evocative New Adult romance and historical romance. When she’s not
reading, writing, or editing, she enjoys time with her husband, pets, and
friends. In her free time, she loves to hike, fish, and ride motorcycles and
4-wheelers.
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