Claire Kent
Contemporary Romance/Erotica
Pub date: July 21, 2014 (ARC review)
H/h - Josh/Leslie
Setting: Present time.
Read in July, 2014.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
I’ve previously read Claire Kent’s Escorted series which I liked a lot. No Regrets,
being a novella, was my choice for a fast read. I sure had some
frustrating moments but the author has a way of writing that inevitably
ends up touching your heart. I can’t confirm that I didn’t shed a tear
or two, or had this silly grin on my face when the story ended, cause it
had me in knots of emotions.
When Leslie finds her dog, Polly,
to be terminally ill she breaks down quite naturally. Pushing 40 and
rather a reserved, loner sort, her only constant companion had always
been Polly. It’s not like Leslie didn’t have dates and so on, but
somehow, she never had a stable, long-term relationship. So when she met
the young and handsome veterinarian Josh, she wasn’t expecting
anything, let alone a no-strings-hot-sex relationship.
Josh, whom
she meets while taking Polly to her vet for the last time, turns out to
be Leslie’s healing balm; at least for the time being. He does knock
Leslie’s socks off on the very first moment they meet. He proves to be
very efficient, helping her thru when Polly is finally put to sleep.
Later
that day, a torn and restless Leslie finds herself in the park where
not only she jogs regularly but also had taken Polly many-a-times for
her walk. She definitely didn’t want to be alone in her apartment that
night. Then she sees the sexy veterinarian again, who was also jogging
at that time. Talks turn to a swift date... then, a one night stand. It
was so unexpected that Leslie didn’t think she is capable of something
like this. She has always done relationships, so I didn’t think she had
random guys over at all. But there’s something so enigmatic and
devastatingly sexy about Josh that in a spar of moment, she decides to
do ‘it’ in a public restroom. Another thing she never even imagined
doing with anyone!
When she contemplates on it later, the
practical girl in Leslie tells her that being with Josh might not be the
wise idea. But when she sees him again, the challenge in his eyes
tempts her. Josh has already proposed a no strings thing but he also
left the options open. Just sex, whenever they wanted, either his place
or hers; she can take it or leave it. Leslie though, at first, wants to
leave. Then, she finds herself turning around because she desperately
needed some kinda distraction in her life. This hot, good-looking (and
probably younger) guy wants her that much, and if their one encounter
proves anything, he’s good at what he does, so why not?
So it’s
settled. They’d see each-other, but it’s Leslie who has to pick up the
gauntlet, as in, call Josh first if she wanted to hook up. Leslie doesn’t like it but sex is way too good to
pass up. But, most importantly, she unwittingly begins to get attached
to Josh in a way that was forbidden in their initial deal. She loves
spending time with him, precious little as it is. There’s very little
cuddling after sex, though she wants to cuddle up to him all night. She
loves talking to him about everyday things. She just loves seeing him.
Josh also seems to be enjoying their time together. But the invisible
wall of ‘no-strings’ doesn’t let Leslie to get any closer. Josh has
already confessed that he’s quite a bit younger than her. At first, it
does shake her confidence a little. Leslie is nervous that Josh would
tire of her and move on but he divests her off that notion by his crazy
lovemaking every time they’re together. Some months pass and the spark
between them is as fresh as it was the first time they met.
But
Josh wouldn’t come clean about why he doesn’t want relationships. That’s
a total no-go area. Leslie, gradually, begins to understand that it’s
not only in his love life that he’s so reluctant to commit. Apparently,
he treats his family the same way. He doesn’t have much communication
with anyone, living alone in his place. Leslie is very curious, but she
also knows her queries will fall into deaf ears cause Josh would stiffen
up, which would be her cue to shut up. Josh has made her every
forbidden sexual desire come true. He is, Leslie would go as far as to
say, a willing partner in anything sexual. But she’s ‘just sex’ to
him. And this keeps eating at Leslie all through their encounters. She
keeps debating, should she stay or break it off? But ultimately, she
realizes that no matter what’s written in the future, she has come to
care for him much more deeply than she ever had for any guy.
Personally,
I’m not big on one-night stands or no-strings stuff, which reflects in
my choice of reading materials. I was prepared for it in this story, yet
Josh and Leslie’s chemistry was so explosive, I found it unbelievable
that these two won’t fall for each-other! For a long time, I found
myself asking this, getting frustrated in turn. I liked the simplistic
writing style, which went so well with the narratives. Loved majority of
the sex scenes as Josh is as good as they can get without any
unnecessary drama in bed. I absolutely LOVED Josh, so I could comprehend
Leslie’s dilemma pretty well cause I’d probably feel the same if I was
in her place.
After a while though, Josh begins to soften up a
little. One day, he finally tells Leslie snippets of a horrific incident
that he witnessed while working as a volunteer in Africa that changed
the course of his life. And his lifestyle. Leslie finally understands
that Josh is wounded enough inside to not want to get involved, to
not want that connection to happen with anyone or
anything. Hell, he doesn’t even want a pet, the talk of which once made
them fight, catching Leslie completely unawares.
When the news of
a personal tragedy in his family arrives, it unravels Josh at last. He
seems so lost that, Leslie, on a spur of the moment, asks to accompany
him, totally expecting him to decline her offer. But a visibly shocked
Josh just nods his head. And every time they were at his home, meeting
with relatives etc., it was very much apparent that Josh gathered his
strength from Leslie’s presence, sometimes quite unconscious of him
doing so.
After her time with Josh’s family, Leslie comes to a
decision. It felt imperative that she does. Leslie knew she is falling
for Josh, and quite bad. She cares, but she will not ask anything of
him. Certainly not when this would be the ultimate deal-breaker. She
knew what she was getting into but now, she can’t go on like this
anymore. She wants him completely or this must end here, even if it’d
break her heart to let him go. And that is what Leslie does after they
return from the trip.
I was glad for that ‘break up’ because I
really thought they needed this time off to think things through. Josh
needed to come to terms with his feelings for Leslie, which was very
much evident every time he made love to her. That guy was barely holding
it in! But he was stuck in his own nightmare, not letting anyone get
close. I’d be annoyed if he didn’t want a relationship just because he
didn’t care to have one or was scared of commitments. But I’ve never
read a H who needed to love someone as much as Josh did. He later
confesses just how much it took him to restrain himself so that he
didn’t ask something of Leslie that he was so reluctant to give in the
first place.
I loved, LOVED the ending, even though it was on a
HFN note. I didn’t care one whit! In my experience, most novella-length
stories can’t deliver it all, the way No Regrets did. But I also
believe that Leslie and Josh deserve their HEA. It’d be so lovely to
read a spinoff if the author decides to write one sometimes in the
future. 4.5 stars and recommended!
This
ARC was provided to me by the publisher via
netgalley which didn’t influence my review and rating
in any way. 
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