Sexy Beast

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
This turned out to be quite a good novella despite its length. The writing was very good. The pace was perfect. The plot actually had some depth to it which surprised me given it only took me an hour to read. Last, it was all wrapped up in a sweet bonus story which was really just a one year later epilogue.


~HERO~
JAMES...I liked James. His character was maybe a little underdeveloped due to the length of the novella and the fact it is all told in Darcy's POV. But he had the whole brooding and hurt hero thing down pat. He was also sweet and sexy. He was a good hero.


~HEROINE~
DARCY...I really liked Darcy as well. Her character was better developed in my opinion. She was sweet. She was feisty. She was doing what she had to do to help her brother. She was a likable heroine.


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
This book is very low on secondary characters. Basically, the only one worth mention is Denny, Darcy's brother. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a book of his own.


~HEAT LEVEL~
High. There is quite a lot of sex in this one and the frequency of the scenes was quite high. This couple also had good on page chemistry.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
Lowish. There is really only one scene that I would consider angsty. It's the dramatic climax that takes place near the end. It actually added a bit extra to this novella that pushed my rating from a 3.5 to a 4. There was no OW or OM drama. The hero has a dead ex, but I wasn't bothered by this at all. Darcy never felt like second best. Neither were virgins. The hero hadn't slept with anyone since his wife died (a year earlier). I don't think the heroine had slept with anyone is a long while either.


~IN THE END~
I liked this one a lot. It was super short but had some good depth to it. Would it have been even better had it been a longer more fleshed out book? Yes. But I tend to feel that way about pretty much every novella I read. This was my first Ella J book, but it definitely won't be my last. Great writing. Likable characters. Hot sex. What more can you ask for? Therefore yours truly is going to give with one two thumbs up.