5 Star Rev, Expt & Giveaway! The Frenchman by @LesleyYoungBks @TastyBookTours

The Frenchman

Crime Royalty Romance # 1  

By: Lesley Young

Released December 2, 2014

L.A.Y. Books

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Fleur Smithers rarely veers off the straight and (excruciatingly) narrow. So moving to the seaport town of Toulon to live with her newfound biological mother—an inspector with the French National Police—for one year is a pretty major detour.

Son of France’s crime royalty family and international rugby star, Louis Messette, is devoted to his sport, famille and nothing else. But the carefree American he meets one night changes everything. She sparks a desire in him like no other. Possession takes root. She will do as he commands.

Bit by bit Fleur slips into the Frenchman’s realm of wanton pleasure agreeing to his one condition: that she keep their affair secret. She serves up her heart without reservation in the hub of the glittering Côte d’Azur, and the along the soulful Seine in Paris, unaware of the danger she is in. For her new lover’s family business will pit her against her mother, the police woman sworn to bring down the Messettes. And by then, far more than Fleur’s heart will be on the line.

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This was my first read by Leslye Young and I have to say that I am hooked!!!! I absolutely love her writing style and storytelling style. This book had romance, suspense and action all in one and kept my attention through the whole book. I could not put it down once I started. I was disappointed once I was done because it was such a good story and I wanted more from these characters.

Louis is a well-known rugby player that never has to work for what he wants with women. His good looks and money seem to get him just what he wants. When he meets Fleur one night at a bistro, he goes after what he wants. Once Louis finds out that Fleur is a virgin, he removes himself from the situation and does not want to be the one to take such a valuable thing from her. Fleur is frustrated because she does not know what is going on or what she has done to make him mad. Fleur wonders if it could be due in part to the language barrier that they have between them. Fleur soon learns that Louis has no problem expressing himself in English.

Fleur is in France to learn more about her biological mom since she had been adopted by her mom in the US when she was really young. Fleur loves the idea that she can learn about her two cultures and has decided to spend a year with her mom in France to learn more about that culture and what her mom does. Fleur's biological mom is a detective and works long, hard hours to catch the criminals of the port in France. She has worked years on developing a list of the gangs and what she thinks is their hierarchy. She assumes that the Messette Family, Louis's family is part of the bad ones controlling the port and is determined to prove her point. She tells Fleur to stay away from Louis and that just makes Fleur more curious as to why and to learn more about Louis.

The connection between Fleur and Louis is unmistakable and once they get past their first encounter, sexually, their feelings for each other blossom. I love how Louis is an Alpha Male and takes it upon himself to look after Fleur even when she has no idea that he is doing it. Louis takes care of what he claims as his own. Louis is just yummy in all his French Alpha Maleness. I could not get enough of him. I was mad at him at some points in the story but I so did not want to be because of how dreamy he was. I love the emotional roller coaster that this book had me on.

This story ended in a HEA but I would so love to read more of Louis and Fleur's story and I hope there is another book in the making for them!!! Thank Leslye for such a great read and I look forward to many more great reads from you!!

*Review by Melanie Hutchinson

As we neared the yacht, I could see only lights from a few windows of the cabin area. Near the bow, men were lingering, smoking. I was shaky as I walked across the sloped plank, and it wasn’t from the cold wind coming off the sea.

Louis’s entourage joined me on the deck. I was struck by how much larger the entire boat seemed once you were on it. My escorts pointed in the direction of the lit cabin with encouraging nods. Just outside the doorway, looking down into the deep inset cabin, I spotted Louis sitting at an elaborate bar, sipping a highball.

He was poised, on the edge of a stool, in black dress pants, one long, thick leg stretched out, the other bent underneath the stool. The sleeves of his blue dress shirt were rolled up, which, I noted, might be a habit of his. He spun the whiskey around in his hand, watching the golden elixir reflect light. I wondered if he was trying to read his fortune in that glass, he stared so intently at it. I recalled the night we met, at the bistro, how he gave off animosity. But now I knew better: it was power.

He glanced up and watched me step down into the cabin. His silent magnitude left me breathless. He took in my dress quickly, eyes steady, and when he broke into a smile, my heart skipped a beat.

“You came,” he said in English, standing up, looking ginormous in the tiny room.

“Bien sûr,” I answered. Why would he think I wouldn’t?

He was already near. It was odd: his face was sketched with relief. He reached for my hand and pulled me to him, brushing his mouth close to mine with a mere greeting. He paused, hovering near, suddenly shifting his lower half up so close I could feel the heat coming off of him. He clamped his lips down on mine with two-ton force. I was crushed under all his intensity as he nudged my mouth open and tasted me. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I kissed him back, tasting the whiskey on his tongue, smelling his cologne and natural musk. We lingered a moment, before he pulled back and, clasping both my cheeks, planted two more soft kisses on my lips.

***

My chest hurt from a strange new kind of anxiety, high-pitched, full of woe. Dread closed in on me. I’d never felt so exposed standing before one human being before. And realization that he could desecrate me with a mere cold shoulder sank in.

And maybe that was his point. But why?

“Is that what you want? Do you want me to go?” I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady.

 I swear a universe of emotion flickered in his eyes, but it presented itself so quickly, and was hidden from view, I wondered if it existed at all.

I waited.

He shrugged. As if I was asking him what color tie he wanted to wear.

I gasped. The floor opened up beneath me, and, as I fell, I knew it then. He was the keeper—the keeper of our connection. And he’d decided to punish me, without explanation, to prove a point that he refused to explain.

I recalled thinking once that he was a rotten man. What had happened to that idea? It was suddenly clear and present again.

I rushed into my dress, zipping it up on the way to the door. I stumbled because tragedy lay before me.

Was I going to leave?

My heart was up in my throat, and tears ran down my cheeks.

Why was he so mean?

I didn’t understand!

I was steps from his door. Yes. I was running home. To my mother. Like the child he clearly thought I was. The lump in my throat ached, as with one last gasp of disbelief, I pulled on the handle, desperate for him to stop me and desperate to get away, but . . . the door wouldn’t budge.

I tugged again.

Oh.

His hand was above me, holding it closed. The tattoo glared down at me. He’d moved—fast. To stop me.

He didn’t want me to leave after all.

I didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified or angry.

I felt, only, numb.

When he stepped into me, my body moved of its own volition as close to the door as possible.

Seems he’d gotten what he was so desperate to have. I was scared of him.

He buried his face in my hair, and my chest burned. Tears of hurt streamed down my face. What had just happened? My heart was pumping so fast it was going to burst and spray black everywhere, and I didn’t even know why!

“Fleur,” he whispered.

No. I shook my head, but his body had drawn close and followed mine as I tried to shift away against the door.

“Fleur,” he whispered.

I paused. We stood there, barely touching, me trapped in a standstill of . . . hope. So much hope. Pure hope. It was a field of azure bluebonnets on a Texas highway promising to bud every spring without tending or mercy. I didn’t know what he wanted from me, not by the way he had said my name, or in general, anymore, and I didn’t care, not as long as he wanted me.

Slowly, gently, he pulled me into him, and I let him.

I let him.

And . . . time began again.

Lesley Young is an award-winning Canadian journalist by day, and compulsive novelist by night. Her debut novel, Sky’s End (Soulmate Publishing, 2013) hit #9 on Amazon’s sci-fi romance paid best-seller list in its first three months of release. Not too long after that, she started dreaming up quirky heroines who lose their hearts to extremely powerful, imperfect heroes, while on dangerous adventures abroad. She called it the Crime Royalty Romance series, and kicked it off with The Frenchman, which landed her an agent at Spencerhill Associates. Lesley’s never sure who or what will pop up in her imagination next. 

The Irishman? The Spaniard? The Englishman? She’s taking requests!

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