Book Review: Need You Tonight (Loving on the Edge #5) by Roni Loren

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Need You Tonight
Loving on the Edge #5
By:  Roni Loren
Published:  March 4, 2014
Publisher:  Berkley Romance
Source:  Publisher
Mature Content:  18 & Up

GR's Summary:

She’s making a wish list, and he wants to be on top.

From foster kid to trophy wife, Tessa McAllen is about to reinvent herself all over again—and defy every insult her cheating ex-husband ever used against her: Selfish? She’s championing a charity. Stupid? She’s getting her degree.

Boring in bed?

Kade Vandergriff can help her with that one. When they encounter each other at a singles event held at one of his restaurants, Tessa blurts out that kink is for girls who try too hard, and Kade instantly wants to show this sassy stranger how thrilling a night under his command can be…but when he learns her name, the game changes for both of them.

In high school, Tessa was the popular girl who stuttering, awkward Kade fell for. But she chose another. Now, as she eagerly learns lesson after lesson, he’s going to make sure she never forgets him again.

My Thoughts:

Need You Tonight, by Roni Loren, is the second story that I have read by her.  I also read a short story of hers in the Fifty First Times: A New Adult Anthology, and her story was one of my favorites.  What I have learned from reading these stories is that Ms. Loren is not afraid to take on taboo subject matter.  She explores sexuality in a variety of ways, whether is is writing about a homosexual couple, or in this case BDSM.  Before I read this story, I had no idea what it was about. I just thought that the storyline sounded really interesting, and I knew that it was an erotic novel.  This story was so much more that I expected.  It had an amazing story line, three-dimensional characters, and introduced me to a sexual lifestyle that I did not know much about.  It was about two characters breaking down all of their walls, completely trusting each other, and being themselves, knowing that the other person will not judge them.

Generally, Erotica focuses on the sex in a story, and many times the story development is lacking.  In Need You Tonight, while sex was prevalent, and emphasized in this story, we also get a strong plot, and well developed, complex characters.  This story is told from the dual perspectives of Tessa and Kade, and flashes back and forth between 1996 and the present.  Tessa is in a loveless sham of a marriage with her high school sweetheart, Doug.  She was a foster child most of her life, and married Doug for security, and because she thought that he loved her.  One day, when she gets home early, she see's Doug having hot, and passionate sex with the woman who she thought was her best friend, Marilyn.  She throws fruit at his head, and he has the nerve to tell her that she is acting immature, and that the reason he cheated was because she was boring in bed, and his intellectual inferior.  He then tells her to call the maid to clean up the mess she made, and hands her his credit card to go shopping as pay back for his cheating.  Tessa takes his credit card all right!  She uses it to get herself a divorce lawyer, and a plane ticket to her hometown in Texas to stay with her foster sister, Sam.  

Unfortunately, Tessa lacks work experience, and skills.  She goes from living the posh life style, to living in a bad neighborhood, and working for a temp agency.  She is worried about the charity she founded for foster children aging out of the system, because Doug has pulled his funding, and won't reinstate it, unless she takes him back.  Doug is a preacher on television, and after the divorce, he lost many of his followers.  He's also in danger of losing his television show.  He ran Tessa's name through the gossip columns claiming that she was a pill-popping, cheating, gold digger, but not before she let the columns know that he cheated on her.  He is determined and will do anything to get her back, so he can make it appear like she lied about him and was in the wrong.  In the meantime, Sam drags Tessa to a cooking class, where she meets the sexy, charming, and mesmerizing Kade.  The two share a sizzling connection, and an intense attraction.  That night they have the most passionate sexual experience that Tessa's ever had, and Kade offers to teach her more.  While Tessa doesn't want to form an attachment, she's happy to learn a few lessons, and have this experience, so that she can make a check mark on her checklist of the changes she wants to make in her life.  One of course being, not to be boring in bed.  Kade and Tessa don't realize that they knew each other in high school, and share an intimate history together.  

Kade use to stutter, have long stringy hair, wear all black, and was tall and lanky.  Now he is unrecognizable 13 years later.  He wears designer suits, is sophisticated, charming, doesn't stutter, has a great hair style, and muscular build.  Tessa died her hair, cut it, and has curves.  Eventually, Kade ends up figuring out who Tessa is and realizes that he still has feelings for her.  He realizes he wants to be with her, but what happens when Tessa agrees to only one night at a time, and will all bets be off when she realizes who Kade is?

Need You Tonight hooked me from the very first page.  Ms. Loren has a great writing style.  He prose flow effortlessly, and take you in to the story.  It is easy to visualize the characters, plot dynamics, and various settings with her seamless prose.  Like I said before, I didn't realize that her characters would be so complex and multilayered.  I felt like I really knew Tessa and Kade.  I came to care about the characters, and they could have easily been real people.  This story was amazing!  It was suspenseful, with a variety of plot twists, had a great romance, and background story, and some of the hottest love scenes that I have ever read.  My favorite aspect of the story was getting to read about Kade and Tessa in high school.  Ms. Loren did a great job of depicting their innocence, strong feelings for one another, and beautiful friendship.  I love the second chance at love story trope, and I was rooting for Kade and Tessa from the very beginning to the very end of the story.

There was a strong sexual component in this story.  Once I got half way through the story, It started to get deeply in to BDSM.  Blindfolds, ties, spanking, acting out sexual fantasies, and even a threesome.  I was a little uncomfortable with some of the sexual acts, and just want to let you readers know what to expect so you're not blindsided, if you are uncomfortable with those types of things.

My Rating:

I give, Need You Tonight, by Roni Loren, 4.5 Erotic, Risque, Kinky & Explicit Stars!  This story had a great story line, and sex scenes, but like I said, this story is not for everyone.  If you are in to the BDSM lifestyle, or are just curious to learn more about it, I suggest you read, Need You Tonight!  It was a great erotic romance, and I look forward to reading more stories by Ms. Loren!

My Favorite Quotes:

"Stop doubting yourself.  Inexperience does not mean boring.  Boring is a woman who isn't present with you in the moment.  Boring is a woman who lies there and doesn't participate or who isn't open to trying new things.  Boring is an attitude, not a lack of skill or experience.  If you've got the desire, the rest can be learned.  Taught."  (Pg. 47)

~Kade

"Baby." He grabbed her shoulders and leaned back to look at her.  "You coming back to me has the best thing that's happened in my life since Rosalie was born.  I feel like all this time I've been cycling through relationships, I was just waiting for what I really wanted.  Who I always needed.  You."  (Pg. 332)

~Kade

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About Roni Loren:

Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. 

Though she’ll forever be a New Orleans girl at heart, she now lives in Dallas with her husband and son. If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rockstars concerts.

She is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the The Loving on the Edge series and other sexy things.

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