Layers Trilogy #0.5
Lacey Silks
Contemporary Romance/Erotica (one M/F/F scene)
Published in 2013 [requested review]
H/h - Gabriel Silver/Samantha Connor
Setting: Present time.
Read in Nov/Dec, 2013
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
Lacey Silks’ Dazzled By Silver was an interesting erotic suspense with a love story between a sexy Private Investigator and one proverbial ‘damsel in distress’. I enjoyed the storyline a lot and Ms. Silks’ writing style. It was flowing and kept me hooked most of the times. However there was one detail that I didn’t like and it hampered my enjoyment a lot. I’ll try to elaborate as I go.
Samantha’s love life has been in shambles for too long. Very recently, she got rid of her boyfriend of 2 yrs., a jerk, with whom she had a relationship that at best can be called ‘awkward’. She thought she loved him, and so stuck with him. Anyhoo, to make matters short, even though it has ended, it left Samantha which a very low self-esteem. But she’s willing to pick up the pieces and move on which is why, right now, Samantha is not looking for any relationship with commitment. So when her BFF Kendra asks her to join her newly opened nightclub, which would surely provide enough ‘diversion’ for Samantha from her break-up blues, she jumps to the opportunity. The story actually starts when they’re in that crowded nightclub, together and Samantha zooms on the sexy, tanned bartender with the beautiful gray eyes.
But then, I found Kendra saying things in her ears and Samantha reacting to it sexually. Next they go private and pleasure each-other. It’s revealed that Samantha and Kendra have had itch for each-other and acted on it before. Umm. Ok.
Either way, Samantha is interested in that sexy bartender called Gabe and wants to have some unattached flings with him. Kendra encourages her. But in a nutshell, soon Samantha finds out that Gabe is not a simple bartender but shares half the ownership of the nightclub with Kendra. He’s very rich, has his own ‘business’ and is called Gabriel Silver.
One encounter with danger, and Samantha later also finds out that Gabe is a private investigator. He doesn’t give her the details for a while. Samantha gets to know that Kendra does drugs and has courted danger with some local mafia (or so I thought) that involves a huge amount of money for the nightclub. One guy called Martinez is keeping tabs on her, and now Samantha is also a target because she’s close to Kendra and has been seen with her and Gabe. What Gabe tells Samantha that he’s keeping an eye for Kendra on behalf of Tristan Cross, her ex. Now, Samantha is also added to his list, not only because she’s in danger but also because he has wanted to protect her since the first moment he saw her. When, however, Samantha tries to talk to Kendra about Tristan, she’s evades by groping Samantha but it’s plain that she still harbors feelings for that guy.
In between, Samantha and Gabe become intimate because, duh, they wanted to do each-other since that first day! For Samantha’s sake, Gabe keeps saying ‘just fling, no commitment’ but I felt that wasn’t what he really wanted with her. I liked that they just didn’t jump into bed together on the first day but took some times to know each-other. But when they finally start having sex, problem arises. Samantha discovers she’s becoming addicted to ‘her P.I’, as she starts calling Gabe affectionately (which I really liked BTW). And why won’t she? I found Gabe not only sexy and handsome with dark hair and silver eyes but also intelligent, caring and understanding. Bonus point, he has a wicked sense of humor too. A total package a girl could only wish for! It was also apparent that even though, he tried to stay neutral and enjoy whatever they have to offer to each-other, Gabe is not at all a player without substance. He seriously begins caring for Samantha and saves her a couple of times from danger because he had prior information.
Kendra and Samantha engage in their own sexual escapades quite a few times in the story. Even when Samantha and Gabe were sleeping together, she had couldn’t let her itch for Kendra go. Kendra only fueled that thing because she was always a willing participant. I actually knew to expect of the F/F interactions but I thought it’s something random and wouldn’t be mentioned once Samantha is with Gabe. But it didn’t. And I didn’t like it. Gabe knew about it, and becomes jealous of this relationship to some extent. Umm Samantha, when you have a hunk like Gabe on your beck and call, how can you obsess over Kendra’s various body parts? If this was a straight-out lesbian thing, I would see the point but here, I simply don’t. Sorry. I was bummed every time Kendra and Samantha were rubbing on each-other and more. F/F interactions never turn me on and I found myself skimming the pages with Kendra and Samantha and that’s quite a bit of the story, almost 2/3rds of it.
When the danger escalates as the threats from that gang begins to become way too obvious. Gabe proposes that he, Samantha and Kendra leave for a remote area in New Zealand on a hideout, until he figures out what to do next. This turns into a sexual escapade too. Between Samantha and Gabe, oh sure (which I expected)! Also, one time between all three of them because Gabe and Samantha made this vague promise to Kendra about a ménage-a-trois so that she stops making scenes for being locked inside the house under surveillance. *eyeroll* I didn’t think this part in the story was really necessary. I just shook my head when Gabe tells Samantha that she’s his and he won’t share her with Kendra anymore (poor babe!). So, this will be the last time she’ll take part in anything sexual with her; in this ménage. Umm. Ok. I also skipped this because it was M/F/F. I don’t read many stories with ménage but I prefer ménage with M/F/M.
Besides, I couldn’t help thinking that after this indulgence would Gabe and Samantha be able to manage a straight M/F relationship?
Samantha already knew that Gabe is rich and has come to learn more about him ever since; that he and Tristan works for the Cross Enterprises, which is a big company in every way. Work is Gabe’s life more or less. But his business with this gang is not something new. One day, a bit out of the blue, Samantha discovers that Gabe has a wife…. Or had a wife, to be precise. She’s mad that Gabe never told her something this important. But he assures her that he’s not married anymore. When he doesn’t elaborate much, Samantha gets to know from Kendra (who was also the one to break that news to her) that Gabe’s wife died some years ago. It was a premeditated murder by this same gang. Gabe still feels guilty over her death because he couldn’t get there in time to save her… Kendra also tells Samantha that Gabe’s was a love match. This depresses Samantha who has come to care for Gabe deeply. And she knows if she delves even deeper, she’ll know ‘the truth’; that she’s already fallen in love with her P.I.
At this point, Samantha does something idiotic. I was always pretty suspicious of Kendra’s motives, she being a druggie and all that. Then she pursues Samantha to do something on her behalf since she herself can’t go out (Gabe has put a tracking device on her). It made me annoyed that Samantha gave in so easily, even when she knew there was danger involved and that Gabe won’t be happy about it at all.
Yep, she gets herself into big danger and thanks to the bracelet aka tracking device that Gabe gave her, he was able to rescue her yet once again. On that scene, we also meet the sexy Tristan, who made some vague notions about Gabe sharing Samantha with him but backed off seeing the truth on Gabe’s face; that he’d never share her with Tristan, or anyone else for that matter. Everything he did since the beginning only proved that he also cares deeply for Samantha as well. I totally adored this guy, seriously. I don’t know how Samantha let Kendra manipulate her that way.
Totally loved how, instead of being angry with her, Gabe takes care of this with a beautiful gesture; all to tell her to put her trust in him. I’m glad that she saw what a gem she’d found in Gabe and they were able to sort everything out at the end. When Samantha’s life is put in danger (again), Gabe had no trouble recognizing the finality of his own feelings for her.
But be warned!! This story ends on a big cliffhanger.
When I started Dazzled By Silver, I didn’t know it was connected to the new Layers Trilogy in any way. So if you’ve finished with this, you’d want to start Layers Deep, which is Tristan’s story, right away. I’m off to read that now. 3.75 stars.
I was given this ARC thru netgalley in exchange of an honest review (as requested by the author). I’d like to thank her for it.
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