Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai
06/23/2015
Rana Malik is a new woman. After her little sister Devi found love with not just one man but two (Glutton for Pleasure, book one in the Pleasure series and currently free), she decided it was time to make some changes in her life. No more impulsive dates or casual affairs with "unsuitable" men, she is dating with a purpose. While she doesn't want to date any of her mother's handpicked candidates from Indian matrimonial sites, she is determinedly looking to date the right kind of man, the kind you marry. However she is supplementing her diet of boring dates and a year of celibacy with some voyeuristic perving on her new artist neighbor. Every night she settles in to her bed darkened room to watch him paint in his curtain-less studio. She know it is wrong, but she can't stop doing it.
Micah Hale feels shredded. It has been two years since an attack stole his appetite for life and quite possibly his art. He has moved an ocean away from his friends and parents to escape their watchful wary gazes. But there is one person's gaze he inexplicably doesn't mind. He spotted her watching him weeks ago and instead of outraging him it arouses him. Instead of buying curtains or confronting her, he decides to provoke her.
When Micah and Rana finally meet face to face, they are combustible, fueled by naked, raw desire. They know that they have crossed lines, they have inflamed each other's lusts, and they can't turn away from each other. I love the " we are all wrong for each other, so this is just a fling" stories, because they tend to be stories of discovery. Micah and Rana think they know what they want, what they need and what they can give but as they spend time with each other they discover they might have been all wrong.
Alisha Rai writes fun, emotional and scalding erotic romance that explore themes of identity, perception and acceptance. In Serving Pleasure, Rai takes a couple from a lustful collision to burning love. They build intimate emotional bonds with each other despite their determination not to. They have to confront and evaluate the way they think about themselves and how they have let how they think others see them define and control how they behave. She unpacks these complex relationships with humor, wit and sexiness. I love that two people who thought they brought the worst in each other are pushed to become their better selves.
I received a review copy of Serving Pleasure from Alisha Rai via NetGalley.