FALLING UNDER (Ink and Chrome 2) by Lauren Dane-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 4, 2015

Duke Bradshaw, co-owner of the custom motorcycle shop Twisted Steel, is great with his hands and not afraid to get dirty . . . especially in his fantasies about his redheaded neighbor Carmella Rossi.

Carmella has been secretly lusting after her hot, tattooed neighbor for the last three years. His gravelly voice combined with the throaty purr of his custom bike never fails to send thrills down her spine. When Duke asks her to join him at the shop, she can’t say no. Soon their days together spill over into nights that bring her pleasure beyond anything she imagined. But Carmella grew up with bikers, and knows how bad a bad boy can be. Can she put herself at risk for someone who has heart-breaker written all over him?

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REVIEW: FALLING UNDER is the second installment in Lauren Dane’s adult, contemporary Ink and Chrome slightly erotic, romance series focusing on the men and woman of the Twisted Steel custom car and motorcycle shop. This is Twisted Steel co-owner and former US soldier Duke Bradshaw, and office manager Carmella Rossi’s storyline-a friends to lovers/ forbidden office romance trope that finds Duke falling in love with his neighbor and employee Carmella Rossi. FALLING UNDER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. We were first introduced to Duke in book one-OPENING UP.

Told from dual third person perspectives FALLING UNDER focuses on the building relationship-both personal and professional-between Carmella and Duke. Duke is in need of a new office manager at Twisted Steel-enter Carmella Rossi-Duke’s neighbor and the woman on whom he has had a crush for several years. Carmella is in need of a job and Duke’s offer comes at a time when Carmella needs it the most. Duke’s shop is about to undergo an overhaul, and Carmella is the woman to keep everything in line.

The storyline follows two paths: Carmella’s mother is an addict and our heroine believes it is her responsibility to keep her mother on the straight and narrow. Duke, on the other hand, is a man who wants a relationship with his new employee but keeping his feelings a secret is difficult at best when he uncovers what he believes to be a betrayal and heartbreaking reality. Duke’s relationship with his own family is strained but a family emergency will find Duke discovering that he knows little about the people he left behind years before.

FALLING UNDER is a slightly erotic romance storyline. Carmella is a woman who knows what she wants; a divorcee whose first husband is a douchebag and continues to make problems for our storyline heroine. Carmella doesn’t want to commit to a future but enjoys her time with Duke, in the present. Duke is a man who loves to flirt which gets him in trouble a time or two. He is a protective alpha male; and a man whose need for Carmella has him looking towards a more permanent solution. The $ex scenes are sexy and seductive.

Asa and PJ (Opening Up #1) play a secondary and supporting role throughout the storyline. Asa is Duke’s business partner, and along with their fellow US army veteran Mick, run a successful custom car and remodeling shop. Mick is a bit of an enigma whose heart has been stolen by not one but two former lovers. Mick’s story will be told next in COMING BACK (December 2015). We are also introduced to Carmella’s mother and father-a pair of strung out losers who consider Carmella a source of money and food; and Duke’s mother who worries that her son’s relationship with Carmella is forbidden and taboo. The world building continues to focus on the Twisted Steel body shop-the men, the women and the custom car jobs.

FALLING UNDER has a little bit of everything: love, romance, and sex; angst and questionable drama; family dysfunction and letting go. The premise was entertaining and engaging; the characters colorful and energetic; the happily ever after not unexpected but saying that Duke and Carmella’s relationship had too many tiny ups and downs that were constantly blown out of proportion resulting in a bit of a roller coaster of poor storyline cohesion. Misunderstandings and lack of communication make for some ugly bedfellows. In the end, I guess there has to be some sort of drama that affects the present and the future, but sometimes the little things are not always that traumatic.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Opening Up
Ink and Chrome #1
by Lauren Dane
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance

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Click HERE for Sandy’s review of OPENING UP

About the book: Release Date June 16, 2015

The men of the Twisted Steel custom motorcycle shop are great with their hands… and they’re not afraid to get dirty.

PJ is exactly the kind of woman Twisted Steel owner Asa Barrons doesn’t need. The last thing he wants to do is mix business with pleasure, and PJ has some of the best custom detailing he’s ever seen. But the chemistry between them won’t be denied, and soon he’s introducing her to a whole new world in the bedroom, pushing her far beyond anything she’s ever experienced. PJ finds she can’t get enough, but how far is too far before he consumes her completely?