Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Brothers Ink, #2
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Eduardo Oliveira
Heroine: Blue Sullivan
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2015
Started On: April 13, 2015
Finished On: April 23, 2015

Blue Sullivan and Eduardo Oliveira (Eddie) have been colleagues and best of friends for more than 10 years. Blue has also been in love with Eddie for all those years, a love that she has kept to herself, her yearning for him something she had tamped down by turning to other places for comfort when necessary. However, nothing prepares Blue for the event that changes her life, a serious accident moments before which Blue is hit with remorse over the fact that she had never come out to Eddie with how she feels.

For Eddie, the moment the colorfully vivacious Blue, who is larger than life in every single aspect nearly loses her life serves as a serious bludgeon to his heart and emotions. The protective feelings that Blue arouses in him is one that Eddie has a hard time controlling, but as Blue’s friend, Eddie wants, no craves to be the one who helps her pick up the pieces.

Blue’s feelings towards Eddie intensifies to a point of no return which results in the hottest, most mind blowing nights of their lives. However Blue has kept her feelings under tight control for all those years for a reason. She doesn’t want to risk the friendship that she values above everything else with Eddie just for a tumble between the sheets. And given Eddie’s track record with relationships, if even one can call it that, Blue decides that she is right to deny them both a chance to see where this facet of their relationship could lead them.

It has been a while since I indulged in a friends-to-lovers romance and I welcomed this book with emotions akin to that of someone reuniting with a close friend who has been away for a long, long time. Sarah Mayberry does a mean friends-to-lovers romance from time to time, well lets be honest, she writes mean romances in whichever trope she singles out her books to be based on and I loved this little number, the second book in the Brothers Ink series.

Eddie, simply put, is the best thing about the story. His patience, endurance, kindness and the love he has in that big beautiful heart of his for Blue is what makes him that much more endearing. It takes a special kind of man or rather person to break down the emotional walls that a would be partner hides behind. Eddie has the added advantage of having being best friends with Blue for the past ten years. With that sort of arsenal in place, Eddie launches the type of mission that would win Blue over, but not without Blue giving him the fight of his lifetime.

Blue is a feisty character whom some of us can relate to, while others would sit back in awe and envy her over the kind of strength she has and the control that she exerts on herself. Life hadn’t been kind to her when she was a child and though a lot of good things had come her way since then, understandably, Blue has a hard time accepting all of it with good grace. Especially when it comes to the thought of losing her very best friend, the man she has loved from afar for so very long.

Blue’s hesitancy to place her trust in Eddie & his love is understandable given the track record Eddie holds for his love life. So opting to dislike Blue over the way she gives a bit of herself and then retreats is definitely not a choice when it comes to her. Blue’s indecision is what lends the story the proper amount of emotional angst that makes a romance worth delving into and while I was frustrated at times, I loved every single bit of it. Eddie’s character not only smoothed Blue’s ruffled feathers but did mine as well.

I would be remiss in my review if I don’t mention the bits of Maggie and Raf included in the story. Though I didn’t overly love their story as much as I did this one, I still enjoyed seeing them settle into the life that they’d found for themselves. Maggie’s story proved to be an interesting one in terms of what she went through. And if you haven’t already read her story, you should! Raf is just as sexy as Eddie! Them Oliveira genes!

I loved and loved the sensuality of the story. There were times when I went “woohoo, go for it girl’ and then there were moments that I nearly swallowed my own tongue from the panting variety of good, hot sex included in the story! What makes a Sarah Mayberry superb is the fact that she knows how to balance out the sex and the emotion and rarely shortchanges the reader on either aspect. And this one has got plenty of Eddie to tide us over!

The fact that both Blue & Eddie took their time to come together as a couple was the one aspect of the story that endeared it to me in a good way. A character like Blue’s is not easy to convince when she has a stubborn streak a mile wide. But in Eddie lies a determined streak perhaps that far outreaches Blue’s stubbornness and I felt like high-fiving with Mayberry over the the fact that she spent enough time on the story and each of their characters, giving it that realistic edge that made their connection & coming together that much more wholesome.

Recommended for fans of Sarah Mayberry, fans of contemporary romances & of course those that like myself love the friends to lovers trope! Can’t wait to read Lena’s story, interesting glimpses of which were included in this story.

Final Verdict: A story that touches deep into the heart of love, the risks it brings & the triumph that follows.

Favorite Quotes

“Haven’t you ever wondered?” she heard herself ask, her voice barely more than a whisper. “About us? How it would be?”
He was so close she could see his pupils dilate as her words hit him, the dark pupil swallowing the green of his irises. Then he spoke, and his words tipped her world upside down.
“Every fucking day of my life.”

“Tell me what you want,” he said.
Was it really that simple?
She knew it wasn’t, but she was so far gone, reason and common sense left far, far behind. All she could think about was the man looking at her as though he wanted to consume her and the need making her sex ache for fulfillment.
“You. I want you.” The words came from her soul, the most honest she’d ever uttered, and the moment they were out of her mouth the world got crazy.

How many years had he secretly wanted this?
Too many.
He ran a hand over her belly. She widened her stance eagerly as he slipped his hand between her thighs. His breath hissed out against her breast as his fingers slid over slick, plump flesh. She felt so good, so ready. He slid a finger inside her, and she clenched around him, welcoming the invasion.
“Fuck, Blue.” His words sounded like a prayer, fervent and worshipful, and that was exactly how he felt.

“Oh, God,” she breathed, and he felt her inner muscles ripple around his cock. “Oh, fuck, Eddie. Oh, God.”
“Yes. For me. Come for me, Blue.”
As if her body had been waiting for his words, she came apart, bucking against him, her thighs locked tightly around his hips, her head thrown back, her eyes closed.
His own climax hit him simultaneously, and he gave a low, almost pained groan as he thrust himself home. She opened her eyes and leaned forward, biting his shoulder as he came in one long, shuddering rush.

The sound was barely out of her mouth before Eddie moved beneath her, rolling her onto her back, his cock slipping free. She started to object just as he plunged inside her again, his hips working powerfully as he pumped into her. The slam of his body against hers, the satisfaction of having his cock so deep inside her and the primal, unrestrained desperation of his movements were exactly what she craved. He lowered his head and drew a nipple into his mouth, sucking on it hard enough to hurt. The stab of pain pushed her over the edge and she dug her fingers into his ass, holding him deep inside her as she came, hard.

“Get your clothes off,” he said, his voice gravel-rough with need.
She started to object…then she looked at his big, beautifully hard cock and decided that she could fight that battle another day. She whipped her top over her head, then stood so she could shed her pants. Eddie scooped her up, carrying her into the kitchen. He’d barely parked her ass on the table before he was inside her.
“I thought about doing this to you all day,” he said. “Every…fucking…second.”

… love took a part of your soul. Love meant that a phone ringing in the middle of the night could change your life. Love got its hooks into you and never let go. It made you bleed. It made you weak. It made you hurt.
Love was loss, pure and simple. It was risk. It meant casting yourself on the universe’s mercy and hoping against hope that you were going to be one of the lucky ones.

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