Title: Claiming Serenity (Seeking Serenity, #3)
Author: Eden Butler
Genre: NA | Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 22, 2014
Synopsis
She left glitter in his AC vents. He put green dye in her conditioner.
She buttered his bathroom floor, and he kidnapped her precious puppy.
Layla Mullens hates Donovan Donley. His crude language, his wide shoulders, his crystal blue eyes…she hates that she can’t stop herself…from kissing him or landing in his bed.
And Donovan Donley wants nothing more than to knock Layla off her princess pedestal. He hates her stuck up attitude and her soft, tempting lips. He especially hates that her father is his coach.
But he’s fine with their arrangement—act horrible to each other during the day, attack each other naked at night. It works.
But one night changes everything. When Layla doesn’t show, and Donovan’s cold bed stays empty, the lies he tells himself to keep Layla out of his mind aren’t enough to keep him from missing her. And needing her. Something he promised himself would never happen.
The white flags in their prank war have been lowered but their high stakes battle has just begun.
4 Star Review by Jen Skewes
Claiming Serenity is the third installment in the Seeking
Serenity series which I love. When we
last saw Layla she was dating Warren, the rent a cop as he is sometimes
referred to as. Her reasons for being with him aren’t exactly the right reasons
and honestly he is just not her type.
Warren isn’t exactly the guy that she sees herself with. The funny thing is that the guy that she
actually falls for is the same guy that she has hated for a good portion of her
life. Donovan Donley is the last person
on earth that she ever thought she would fall for.
Donovan and Layla have known each other for most of their
lives. Their fathers were best
friends. Regardless of how close their
families were they could not stand each other.
They constantly played pranks on each other and constantly pushed each
other’s buttons. Those pranks and the
hatred that they seem to have towards each other still continues to this day in
college. It may seem immature and it
probably is but they just cannot help it.
You know when you are younger and people always say that little boys are
mean because deep down they really like you.
Well that may be true for young adults too. Except these two just haven’t figured that
out yet.
After one night of drinking Layla wakes up in a very
unfamiliar bed and when she realizes what she may have done she is completely
disgusted. How could she end up in bed
with her enemy? Layla is quick to get
out and never see him again, but Donovan cannot deny the physical connection
between the two of them and he reminds Layla of that every chance he gets. At some point they end up becoming enemies with
benefits. Yes that is correct, two
enemies who enjoy sex with each other.
Now one would have to think that if you can at least stand to be in bed
with someone and have hot and passionate sex then maybe you don’t really hate
them as much as you think you do. I mean
even their friends see something going on there. But Donovan and Layla seem to be clueless to
their true feelings. Or are they? Do they really have feelings for each other
but because of insecurities and the fear of rejection they keep those
feelings to themeselves?
Layla may have hated Donovan but I loved him. He really is a good guy. He makes no promises to Layla and doesn’t do
emotions but he is honest with her from the beginning. And his reasons for not doing the whole
emotional thing, WOW did not see that one coming. Layla and Donovan are falling for each other
but both are too scared to admit it.
Layla was at times a bitch and was very hard headed when it came to her
and Donovan and her feelings for him.
Donovan knew what he wanted but was just too afraid to go after it.
I loved Layla and Donovan’s story. It had drama that wasn’t over the top. There were moments that made me feel so sad
for the two of them, especially Donovan because I knew and understood what he
wanted even if he had trouble admitting it.
There were moments where I
wanted to bang their heads together and tell them to talk to each other, to get
themselves on the same page. They let
their fears take over. I laughed with
them, I cried with them and I fell in love with these two characters. I loved that we still get to see the other
supporting characters from this series.
I will always love Declan and loved that he had a big role in this
one. I cannot wait for Sayo’s story and
wondering who she will end up with, could it be Quinn or will he get his own
story? Hmmm, I wonder. But either way I cannot wait for more.
“You’re disgusting,” she told him, but her voice carried no venom.
“And you’re a complete and utter bitch.”
She wanted to hit him. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted Donovan to do something, anything but glare at her the way he was. And then, before she could think which she wanted more, Layla got her wish.
His mouth was controlling, consuming, teeth against her bottom lip, opening her up to the invasion of his tongue. It was warm, thick and she felt it all over her body, with every thrust of his mouth on hers, with how tight his fingers pulled and squeezed her ass. Donovan wasn’t gentle, wasn’t sweet. This wasn’t a kiss that was meant to be tender. This was a full bodied, take control kiss and Layla had no idea why she wasn’t resisting, why she liked it so much. But she didn’t resist, and she did like it, so much. Too damn much.
She moved her hand, curling her fingers into his t-shirt, let a low, soft moan work up her throat and she didn’t think about how much she hated him, how surely, kissing Donovan should repulse her, that the idea of Donovan doing anything remotely sexual had always repulsed her—hadn’t it? —but his tongue battled against hers, obliterating her thought. Caught in the fray, Donovan pushed his hands into Layla’s ass and that deliciously hard erection pressed against her. Layla was lost.
For a moment.
Her thoughts were warring, scattered telling her how stupid she was being, reminding her that she had a backbone, that she hated, hated Donovan and no matter how incredible his mouth and hands felt, she could pull away from him. Any minute now.
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Eden Butler is an editor and writer of New Adult Romance and SciFi and Fantasy novels and the nine-times great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum. Her debut novel, a New Adult, Contemporary (no cliffie) Romance, “Chasing Serenity” launched in October 2013 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller.
When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.
She is currently living under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana. Please send help.
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Love the premise! Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteHaven't read anything by Eden Butler yet but I looked up the previous books in the series and I'm really intrigued, looking forward to reading them :) Thank you for the awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. Sounds really great.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds good. I think I will start with book on, which also sounds pretty good. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giveaway!! :)
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