Make Me, Take Me by Amanda Usen – a Review

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Description:
He’s every fantasy she’s ever had…

Betsy Mouton knows that easy doesn’t last forever. She’s working her butt off to launch the Last Call Café so her family can leave the New Orleans bar business—and its heartaches—behind forever. That is, until the hottest one-night-stand of her life shows up next door, twice as uncompromising and two million times hotter, offering to buy the bar and send the Moutons to Easy Street.

Hotelier Quinton James has never forgotten the unbelievably hot night he and Betsy shared. Never forgotten how beautifully she submitted to him, or how he found the only peace he’s ever known in her arms. Now that Betsy is the only thing standing in the way of his new hotel, she’s the one in control. But there’s more at stake than her café or laying their past to rest—Quin wants a future. With her. All he has to do is convince her…one sensual command at a time.


Review:

Make Me,Take Me is the third installment in Amanda Usen’s Hot Nights Series. I would have to say she correctly named this series because this is one hot read. I highly suggest you keep a glass of ice chips, or ice water within reach when you read this one.

I’ve never read anything by Amanda Usen before and I can safely say I will more then likely go back at some point when I have the time to read the other books in this series. Make Me, Take Me is a quick read, but it’s filled with intense emotions, hot sex, vulnerability, trust issues, learning to hope, and finally realizing it’s okay to take the chance and open oneself up to the possibility of love and have your fairy tale ending. How Ms. Usen managed to fit that all into this story is beyond me, but it worked and had me glued to my seat reading this one to the very end. Even though it’s a quick read, the story has a natural flow to it that allows the reader to sink into the story and really get to know and understand the hero and heroine in this one. Betsy and Quin are well written characters and have many layers to them that Amanda peels away as the story progresses. We get to see the why’s and how’s of who they are, what shaped the person they are today, and where they are headed if they just give themselves and their feelings for one another a chance.

At times I did get annoyed with Betsy over how she kept trying to keep Quin at arms length and keep it all about a sexual relationship. Even though things were changing between them and she could slowly see it, she kept rationalizing everything to death where Quin was concerned, but on the other hand, we can see why she’s doing it. That part of her character kept driving me nuts and I just wanted to shake her and tell her to wake up and take the chance with him.

Quin, what can I say, he’s a player, he’s rich, sexy, strong, and intelligent, but he has this vulnerability about him that he hides, until he meets Betsy and everything about his world changes. I absolutely loved his character. I loved watching him go from the rich, sexy playboy, to the charming, lovable and vulnerable man that he is when he’s with Betsy. His transformation is a slow and steady one and allows us to see how his past completely shaped him and his feelings towards love and letting people in until he meets Betsy. Both are perfect for each other and the last couple of chapters where they finally realize they’ve fallen for each other and allow themselves to be happy are beautiful and heart warming to read.  

As for the hotness factor, yes I did tell you to keep a glass of ice water on hand and I’m not lying. Every time these two get together and get it on, it’s always hotter then the last time. I think Ms. Usen must have gone through many a pencil writing this one cause they all must have gone up in flames thanks to Betsy and Quin and their sexual chemisty. It just burned up the pages.

Like I said earlier, Make Me, Take Me is a quick read, but has many underlying factors in it that immerse the reader into Betsy and Quin’s world. They have an obvious chemistry from the get go that carries them through the entire story and keeps the reader involved from beginning to end. I really enjoyed this one and I think anyone who likes a good emotional, intense read filled with a hot romance will enjoy it too.

Until next time, happy reading. See you all in the New Year!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher