Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen

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A sexy new standalone from USA Today bestseller Sarina Bowen.

You’d think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade would satisfy a guy. You’d be wrong.

For seven years Rebecca has brightened my office with her wit and her smile. She manages both my hockey team and my sanity. I don’t know when I started waking in the night, craving her. All I know is that one whiff of her perfume ruins my concentration. And her laugh makes me hard.

When Rebecca gets hurt, I step in to help. It’s what friends do. But what friends don’t do is rip off each others’ clothes for a single, wild night together.

Now she’s avoiding me. She says we’re too different, and it can never happen again. So why can’t we keep our hands off each other?

Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review



Nate and Becca - FINALLY!! A coupling a long time in the making is what makes Brooklynaire an especially exciting read and one that I've been waiting for all this time. We've always gotten a hint of what lay simmering underneath in the previous Brooklyn Bruisers books and Brooklynaire delivers the goods!

The wrench thrown at this highly anticipated union is that this is a blossoming romance between a boss and his employee. Even though they go way back to when Nate hired Becca and they've become good friends since, it's still a precarious line to cross. It's a crucial fact neither of them can afford to ignore though they both come at it differently. Not going to lie, when they first hook up it is hot. But it's the aftermath that leaves everyone unsettled.

Once again Sarina Bowen does what I love best about her: she brings the hard realities, allowing her characters to fumble their way through. For Becca, it's the horror of being a cliché that holds her back from going further with Nate. "Secretary gets it on with owner" is not the headline she wants broadcast and neither does she want to deal with the inevitable rumours and gossip. Nate is also aware that he has to be mindful of the current climate and how he woos Becca. It's nice that Bowen brought these two perspectives here where the woman has to worry about her reputation (personally and professionally) and the man has to be concerned with how his actions are viewed. There's also that cynicism that comes with being rich: does she like me for me or for my money? And speaking of the man, there's something different about how Bowen has crafted Nate. He's gentler, he reveres Becca and it's never more apparent that during their first love scene. There's no vulgarity, no overabundance of testosterone, just pure, simple adoration and pleasure. I was so charmed by it that I read it again before continuing on. Also, it was scorching hot. Did I mention that already?

Bowen is an auto-buy for me. She has never let me down and I've read a lot of her stuff. She continues to write amazing stories that are sometimes punctuated by current hot topics and she does so in a lowkey way. Brooklynaire's added charm is Nate and Becca's connection. Friends-to-lovers is always a fun trope and here their penchant for palindromes is hilarious showing how well they get each other. They're creative and saucy with them, too. The ending, while fantastical from a real-life perspective truly works for them in the Brooklyn Bruisers universe. If you're a Sarina Bowen fan like I am, you'll need to get on this immediately!

~ Bel

EXCERPT

I grab a towel off a waiting stack of them and toss it onto the edge. “You can sit and put your feet in.”

She’s wearing a short little knit dress that’s been making me crazy all evening, so it would be easy enough for her to strip off those stockings, sit on the towel, and drop both feet in.

And that’s what she does. She eases one stocking down over a smooth knee and tugs it off.

I don’t want to stand there staring like a middle-school boy. Okay, I do want to. But I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. So I go over to the sound system instead, and I set my phone on the speaker and cue up a really old playlist. One she’ll recognize.

When I turn around again, she’s seated on the towel, both legs hanging down into the churning water. “Ah. Wow.” She looks up at me, her eyes sparkling. “Nice place you got here.”

“Isn’t it?” I toe off my shoes and kick them to the side.

The first song comes on, and it’s a Macklemore tune that we used to play far too often in our first office. Rebecca laughs immediately. “You didn’t! I haven’t heard this playlist in forever. But I’ll bet I still know every transition. Lady Gaga is next.”

“She sure is.”

Rebecca kicks her feet, making a splash. “I have a little confession to make.”

“What’s that?” I loosen my tie and slide the knot out.

“Well…” She grins up at me. “I used to have a crush on you. Back in the early days.”

My hands freeze on the tie silk. “Get out of town. You did not.”

“No, I really did.” Her cheeks are pink. “That first year especially. But you were taken, and you were my boss. Those two things made it pretty easy to tamp down, when you’re a practical girl like me.”

I walk over and drop down beside her, my back to the water, though, because I’m still wearing trousers and socks. “So how does that work, exactly?”

“What?” She gives me a sidelong glance, but then looks away again and won’t meet my eyes.

“How do you stop wanting someone? I’m a practical person, but I don’t see how that makes it any easier. Nothing seems to mute the raging attraction I have for you.”

Her chin turns quickly toward me, and I seize the opportunity to kiss her. And it only takes one kiss—one slide of my lips over hers, and I’m on fire again.

We’re facing opposite directions, so it’s awkward as hell. But I don’t even care. I take greedy sip after greedy sip of her mouth, until she pulls back to stare at me. Her color is high and her eyes are bright and happy. “This is like Twister.”

“It’s better,” I correct. Lady Gaga comes on, just as Becca said she would. “Are we getting into this pool or what?”

Becca kicks a foot in the water. “I’m tempted. But I don’t have a bathing suit.”

“Oh, snap.”

She smiles and shakes her head. “Are you really getting in?”

“We don’t have to.” I’m never going to pressure her.

Her fingers trail across the surface of the bubbling water. “But this is an adventure, right?”

“Right.” I stand up and remove my socks. She’s watching me. And I can’t read her expression. “What?”

“Just wondering what else you’re going to take off.” She smiles.

“Come here.” The order rolls off my tongue.

But Rebecca doesn’t blink. She gets up and turns toward me, curiosity in her eyes.

“You tell me. What am I taking off?”

She puts two hands tentatively on my chest, and I make myself be patient. Everything I ever wanted is on the other side of this moment. I just need us to break through this awkwardness—the “will we or won’t we” tension.  

Her fingers find the top button of my shirt. “I’m not getting in the water unless you are.”

That’s a compromise I can live with. I find my lower shirt buttons and work upwards, until we meet in the middle. She pushes the two halves of my shirt apart and runs a hand down my bare chest.

My inner caveman stands up and cheers.