Review: No Reservaions by Lilly Cain

       Title: No Reservations

                  Bad Girls Know

       Author: Lilly Cain

       Release Date: October 29, 2012

       Publisher: Carina Press

       Category: Contemporary Erotic Romance

       Type: Kindle/Audio

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Blurb:

Travis Morgan is thrilled to encounter the one woman who's never failed to get his blood pumping. Seeing Alicia Davis again brings it all back: their fierce academic rivalry, and the fact that he never followed through on his erotic fantasies about her.

Alicia can't resist Travis's smoldering sensuality--or the opportunity to finally bed the man who starred in so many of her lustful daydreams in college. Unable to avoid the temptation to best Travis one more time, Alicia plans to submit to one night of pure pleasure and then leave Travis empty-handed and craving more.

When Travis wakes up and realizes Alicia's played him, the gloves are off, and the game heats up as they each try to emerge on top--by whatever means necessary...

Excerpt:

“Just a moment, sir. I’ll get the manager, Alicia Davis.” The immediate pause over the line indicated to Travis he needn’t reply—he’d just been put on hold. Normally he would have hung up at this point, but he hadn’t met with the guys in over four months. It wasn’t easy to keep in contact with old friends—they tended to drift away—so they all made it a point to meet a few times a year at play-offs, either basketball or hockey.

“Mr. Morgan. I’m sorry we’ve kept you waiting. I understand you’re having a bit of a problem getting a seat to Boston.” The voice on the phone was cool, crisp, but definitely sexy. And definitely familiar. Alicia Davis—I’d know that voice anywhere.

“Alicia Davis? From Michigan State? It’s Travis Morgan.” Would she remember him? He sure as hell remembered her, and her hot little body. They’d competed in their core year for best mark, best performance in the young entrepreneur’s group, and they’d even squared off against each other in the poker pool. The fact that they’d never gotten together was a small regret, one his friends had ribbed him about for at least a year after they’d graduated.

“Well, hello. It’s been a while.” For a moment her tone warmed to that mellow quality she’d always had in class. The one that had most of the boys heated to the point where they couldn’t stand after one of her presentations. “It’s good to hear from you. I’d read you were at Beckerson and Crane.”

“Senior account rep in advertising.”

“You’ve done well.” He imagined a tiny smile on her face.

“And you’re managing a small fleet of private planes.”

“Owning and managing, actually.” The smile must surely have turned into the same predatory grin that made him weak in the knees during Sales Management 101. “But back to the problem at hand. You need to get to Boston.” Her business façade was back, and he sat down at his desk in disappointment.

“Um, yeah. I need to get there by tomorrow at the latest. Your agent tells me there’s nothing available. If it’s a matter of cost, I’ll pay. A charter will do, if I can join someone’s flight. Anything.” He knew he sounded a bit desperate, and it rankled. God, I need this break. Work was getting to him.

She still has her maiden name. That last thought sent a flicker of heat straight to his groin. He had a strict policy against poaching, and marriage would mean she was off-limits, period. He’d learned that lesson the hard way.

“Well, all the commercial flights from here are booked.” He could hear the quick clicking of computer keys as she spoke. “There are several charters, but most have either been filled or indicate they don’t want any shared passages. I’m not sure what I can offer you.”

There was something in her tone that brought his senses to alert. There was something available, but she didn’t want to offer it to him. He smiled. Negotiations were his specialty. Game on. “Let’s talk about it.”

Dialogue Highlight:

Relax—everything went exactly as you planned, didn’t it?” Alicia’s best friend, Selene, spoke around pouted lips as she painted her mouth a violent shade of red in the gallery’s powder room.

“Yeah.” Alicia stared into the mirror. There should have been a big grin on her face. Hell, she should feel happy, confident. Smug, even. She’d gotten what she wanted: a night with Travis to settle all the old regrets from years ago. And she’d enjoyed it, enjoyed him, and gotten the tickets to the exhibit. She’d triumphed and even rubbed it in a little—he’d missed his flight and was stuck with the hotel bill. It should feel good, finally getting back at him for embarrassing her in college. She should be laughing. Instead, she felt like she’d swallowed something hard and cold.

“Well, buck up, chickie. We’re here, rubbing shoulders and making contacts. Travis never knew what hit him, and he’s probably still trying to decide if he’ll ever recover.” Selene glanced over at her and grinned.

“Right.” Alicia flicked her hair over her shoulder and bared her teeth at the mirror. The problem was she wasn’t sure she’d recover. The sex had been incredible. She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry as she thought yet again about Travis’s hard body and the way he’d taken control in bed. That hadn’t been part of the plan, but it had been her favorite part of the night.

She shivered. It was a damn good thing she’d woken first, taken the Wyeth tickets and run. Otherwise she might have stayed, and that was not something she was about to consider. Travis was in sales, for God’s sake. She’d already gotten rid of one cutthroat asshole. She didn’t need to get involved with another.

What she’d found attractive in Travis at State was the same thing that had drawn her to her ex-husband Richard: an aggressive competitiveness that at first seemed so sexy. It had been a disaster in a marriage. Sleeping and screwing with Travis’s plans was a sort of payback to all the guy players out there, every one of them just like her sleazy ex. She’d gone for it, and she’d won.

“C’mon. You look awesome, and I—” Selene blew a kiss at the mirror, “—am ravishing, of course. Let’s go.” She led the way out of the powder room and Alicia followed. The hallway quickly branched into the first gallery room, where people mingled and took in the beauty of a varied collection Andrew Wyeth’s best, and last, works.

Alicia wandered toward the watercolor collection along the back wall. Despite weeks of coveting the contacts the exhibit, and events like it, might bring her private charter business, the idea of making polite conversation left her repressing a sigh. Selene walked with her for a moment but then peeled off to chat with a small group of men hovering near an appetizer station. She had a wicked look in her eye. Alicia shook her head and grinned as she silently wished the single men in the group luck.

Against the brick red of the backdrop wall, the first watercolor landscape’s pale colors caught Alicia’s attention but didn’t hold her interest for long. She walked on to study the next and then the next until she found the first portrait on display. Wyeth, the “Painter of the People,” had always been one of her favorite artists and the reason the exhibit had snagged her interest. Planning a way to turn her love of art into a way to bolster her business was a bonus. She would have come to the exhibit anyway if the place hadn’t been sold out. How had Travis managed to get her a set of tickets? She shook her head. Why are you thinking of him again?

Alicia studied the clean lines of the painting before her. The face of the woman stared back at her. Barely smiling, she still had a lush sensuality that seemed to express contentment, satisfaction, and perhaps sexual completion. “Like I haven’t thought about sex enough,” she muttered to herself.

“And here I’d begun to believe you didn’t think about it enough.”

Alicia froze at the deep tones of the voice coming from behind her. Oh, no. It couldn’t be. She glanced over her shoulder and then back at the painting, grimacing at the realization that Travis had followed her to the exhibit. Of course he’d known she’d be here—he’d given her the damn tickets.

“Travis. Come to see the exhibit for yourself?”

“Not exactly.” He laid a hand on her shoulder, gently, possessively.

Her heart pounded in at his touch.

“I came to see you. The way I see it is, you still owe me a flight. You skipped out on me last night and now here I am, stuck in Chicago and no trip to Boston on the roster.”

She glanced up at him, checked to see if there was any anger in his eyes. His voice sounded like deep velvet plush, and beyond being wickedly sexy, it held the slightest hint of danger. Her nipples peaked inside her silk dress. “Hardly my fault you slept through the flight.”

“No? I think it might be. Keeping you under control wore me out.” He glanced at the painting. “And it gave you the same look she has, right there.”

Review:

This was my first book by Lilly Cain. I chose to read it for a few reasons. The first reason is that it is published by Carina Press and I have had pretty good luck with their authors. Another reason was that it is a novella and so could be quickly read. I like novellas because you get a taste for the author’s style without having to invest in a full-length novel without knowing if you would read this author in the future. Chances are that if the novella is good, a full-length novel would be as well. I also have featured Ms. Cain on the blog before and have not yet had a chance to read her, so I jumped on this opportunity.

A bit of background … Travis has to get to Boston fast and procrastinated until it was too late to get a flight to his destination. Enter Alicia. She is a former college classmate and now owns her own modest private jet company. The two connect over the phone as Travis tries to get a flight and Alicia tries to accommodate his needs. Both have a history of competitive tendencies and the years apart have done nothing to tame these proclivities. Almost immediately the competition is back on. And Travis finds himself looking forward to his meeting with Alicia … someone he would have liked to get to know better; a second chance a possibility now.

Alicia is somewhat of the same mind set. However, she is a bit jaded. She has been divorced for about a year from a guy that was a jerk and her memory of Travis, although luscious, is not all that much better. She remembers him as delectable and very much someone that would be fun to hook up with, but his games and deceptions to win while in class still sting. What’s a girl to do with someone who she desires and also is a thorn in her side? Set out to seduce him and leave, of course! Sha! That would be my obvious plan of attack. LOL

The inevitable happens and Travis ends up jilted in the hotel room. Except both end up feeling more than anticipated; not to mention satisfied beyond anything each ever thought possible. Alicia may think that she has won this round and that the game has finally come to a close, but Travis has only just begun. And he is playing for much more than Alicia ever thought possible. Unfortunately the two have a lot of misunderstood issues with one another and unless they can put it all on the table and clear the air, much more is just not going to happen. Sometimes stubbornness is not the best quality to have.

I enjoyed my time spent with Travis and Alicia. The characters were likeable and the story was fast moving. You can definitely read this fast to kill a couple of hours and come away feeling satisfied. But as much as I enjoyed the read, I felt like there was something within the story that fell flat. I am not sure what it is exactly, but it could be that the characters acted slightly childishly. Travis, as successful as e is in business and negotiating makes a lot of “high school” assumptions and just disappears with his tail between his legs without getting to the bottom of his thoughts. Alicia behaves similarly when she orchestrates her plan to seduce Travis. For a woman who has learned her lesson in love following a divorce and a new, successful outlook on life, she seems to be stuck. I liked tat her character was strong, but paired with the fact that she is gun-ho to get busy in her new life, she reacts initially to Travis in a way that I would describe as the “old” Alicia.

Childish behavior aside, the story is still worth the read and a good way to experience Ms. Cain’s style if you have not before. If you have, then this story should be an automatic read. I am a little confused about the series title BAD GIRLS KNOW because I didn’t view Alicia as a bad girl. But the sex between Travis and Alicia is steamy and the attraction is hot. I enjoyed that each scene between the two was a bit different form the rest. And for only a handful of pages, there was plenty of sex. Overall, this book is a good read that you will likely find enjoyable.

 (eBook copy provided by author/tour company in exchange for an honest review.)