**The books featured on SEXY SUMMER SATURDAYS are for adults. If you are under 18 years of age, or do not like smexy books, please stop here. **
Allie prowls the club for a man who will use her hard and then ditch her. Hey, it's not rape if she wants it. Instead she finds Colin, who looks tough but treats her tenderly, despite her protests.
He tempts her, but kindness and a few mindblowing orgasms aren't enough to put her back together again. Allie has no hope for a real relationship. Two years ago her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way – she’d be stupid to trust a man again. Besides, she has her daughter to think of, the only good thing to have come from that dark night.
But when her rapist returns, threatening her sanity and custody of her daughter, Allie turns to Colin. Under his protection and patient touch, Allie begins to heal and learns to hope. Colin’s no saint, though, and his criminal past draws danger of its own. Allie must fight to protect her child and the man she loves, hoping her new found power will be enough to save them all.
Oh boy. I am TORN over this review. Honestly, I had issues with Giving It Up. Maybe it's my fault. I thought this was an erotic romance, but it read to me as a psychological crime drama with a little romance thrown in.
So...Allie is a rape survivor. And two years later, she seems to be almost punishing herself for that. Once a month she goes to a club and picks up a man, with whom she has sex. Rough sex. Now, I don't want to get all psychoanalytical here, that's not really what I'm about with these Sexy Saturday reads, but what I think is going on is this: Allie is, in a way, reenacting rape. On her own terms. And this makes my brain hurt. I get it (kind of), I really do. But knowing there is a valid psychological reason for her actions doesn't necessarily mean I want to read about it.
Like I said earlier, Giving It Up felt more like a crime drama than a romance to me. There's a whole "mob-ish" subplot. Colin, the guy Allie hooks up with, is shady. There's a lot of behind the scenes deals that he makes, some really nasty business he's involved in that didn't sit well with me. But Allie's fine with it, really, as long as Colin provides and protects her and her baby.
The smexy scenes were okay. I'm all for a steamy scene. But the psychoses behind the acts disturbed me. The things Allie was saying in her head kept me detached and kind of weirded out.
I'm not saying Giving It Up is not a good book. The writing was fairly good and the story had a decent pace. It's simply that it came with so much baggage that I couldn't get into it.
For an alternate point of view, check out this positive review from GoodReads.
Published June 18th 2012 by Loose Id
You can purchase Giving It Up at:
Amazon
Source: Received from author in exchange for an honest review.
It doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't sound like a book I would really love. Thanks for the awesome review!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm thinking no. Wondering if this is a real problem with rape survivors and that's how it ended up in this book.
ReplyDeleteValerie
As you know, I have this one for review too. I will read it, but I admit that I am turned off from the get go. Hoping I can approach it with an open mind. Nice review. :)
ReplyDeleteugh, what a bummer. The description turned me off before I even got to the review. Rapey books are not sexy. bleh.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I felt I had to separate my comments. lol. Are you ready? I mean truly ready for the crusties story? you may be traumatized for life.
ReplyDeleteSo you know a little of my backround. My mother and I don't have the closest relationship. It's there, but I have learned over the years she's not the person to go to for advice and count on in life.
I was about 12 helping my mom with laundry. Well, she pulls a bunch of her panties aside and brings over a butter knife. (before I continue I want to appologize for any gagging that might happen) She proceeds to scrape the crotch of her underward with this knife. it was like underwear dandruff. No shittin you. So I asked her, "what are you doing and why do your underwear get that way?" She says, "Oh that's crust dear. You'll understand some day"
Um, I have yet to understand, thank god. but she said it like it was a natural process in life. I dont know if she would wear her underware multiple times a week before washing them and that led to the crust build up? just don't know. when I got older, I would say about 16, she pulled me aside one day and told me the time has come that we are the same size and we can share underwear now. Um... fucking ewww. My grandmother used to buy me packs of panties I would hide in my room, or hide in my locker at school. she would come waltzing into my room in the morning and go through my drawers looking for undergarments. *shudders*. Once she got a hold of a pair of my panties, they never came back the same. Seriously, the crotch was stiff as a board.
Teen life was rough. lol Thank goodness for my gram keeping me supplied with fresh underwear. Plus, I was able to smuggle them back into their hiding places since I did most of the laundry, but occasionally she would get her hands on a pair. I couldn't save them all.
So that is the crusties. Following up that douche bag story, something tells me she shoulda used that damn bag more often.
Ummm...Oh wow. I knew it would be hardcore....just wow though. That's nasty on a whole new level.
DeleteI'm so sorry you had to go through that. Teen life sucks as it is and to add a crazy crutsy mom sure as hell doesn't help. Thank God for grammas. Don't know what we'd do without em. :-)
Andrea, as always, you give the best reviews. This one, I'll admit, threw me off in the blurb. So...I don't think I'll be reading it anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your triple 's' wasn't a good one. Read a Mathewson one and you'll feel MUCH better.