Book Review – Come Away With Me (With Me In Seattle #1) by Kristen Proby

• Buy COME AWAY WITH ME on Kindle (Amazon)

4+ stars

Looking for a steamy, no angst, pure swoon-fest?? Look no further!

I still can’t believe this was a debut novel! The flow, the writing style, the feel of the story, the characters, everything just instantly hooked me from the first scene. Seriously, I read most of this book with this happy little smile on my face and my heart a-fluttering.

On a beautiful quiet morning, Natalie is out on the beach taking photos of the scenery when she is suddenly confronted by a gorgeous man enraged that she was taking his picture and demanding that she turn over her camera. Clearly surprised that she actually wasn’t, and even more shocked (and thrilled) that she doesn’t know who he is, and he apologizes profusely and asks her out to breakfast hoping to smooth over their rough start.

And so begins their relationship. Luke loves that Natalie doesn’t recognize him and that her feelings for him are based purely on what he’s shown her of himself, and Natalie can’t get enough of this amazing, charming man who stepped into her life. But Natalie is a up front, honest girl and when she eventually finds out what he’s hiding, the sparks fly.

“Are you having doubts?”
“Hell, no, I just want to make sure this is what you want, baby. If you say no, that’s fine, but please, God, don’t say no.”

Luke. Oh my god Luke freaking Williams! I have a new book boyfriend (shhh, don’t tell the others)! He was butterflies-in-my-belly, set-my-heart-a-flutter, clutch-my-chest-and-fan-myself swoony! He cooked, opened doors, gave foot rubs, bought flowers (by the truckload), planed surprises, spoiled his girl… and best of all, was completely devoted to and in love with Natalie. Over all, pretty much just pure fantasy man material.

“Is there anyone else?”
“Why is that any of your business?”
“Because you’re the first woman I’ve brought into my home and all I can think about is getting your beautiful body naked and fucking you senseless. I need to know if there is any competition. I don’t share, Natalie.”…
“Saying that you don’t want to share implies that I’m already yours, Luke.”
“Aren’t you?” he whispers.“

Their relationship was very romantic, very quick to develop (remember, this book is pure swoon-fest), and very functional. They each had their insecurities but I really liked how they compromised in each situation. Neither of them would just roll over and give in but would each listen to the other’s perspective and make a decision that respected their feelings.

This book has no external drama or bad guy. No cheating, major stupidity, long separations or anything will make you threaten bodily harm to your eReader. Its solely focused on the romance between Luke and Natalie!

And oh my Lord are there ever boat-loads of steamy sex scenes! Seriously, these guys can’t stop doing it! 😀 Everywhere! The wall, the bed, the bathroom, the shower, the limo, the airplane, the desk, the car, the beach… I’m sure I’m missing a few but this book basically goes from swoon to sex to swoon to sex to more swoon and more sex… mostly vanilla but all hottt!

The book is told in first person perspective from Natalie’s POV for the whole story up until the very sweet epilogue which is from Luke. The writing style was vaguely reminiscent of EL James’ in places. I kind of wavered on whether or not that was a good thing but overall, I guess the fact that I honestly smiled my way through most of the book meant that I really liked it. I love the style and it worked well for this story.

“I’ve fallen in love with a beautiful, sexy, sweet, jealous control freak.
Shit.“

So given all the boat-loads of swoon and steam, what made it 4 stars instead of 5? There were a few small things, nothing huge though, but there were a few moments that made me give the page the “squinty skeptical eye” and go hrmmmm (but nothing lingering, just kind of a moment that I got over quickly). I also found there was a bit too much focus on body image talk – at first it was fine, but it was mentioned several times over the course of the book and eventually got to be a little much for me. And while the heroine was definitely not what I’d call annoying, she did have a few (luckily, very short) moments that made me roll my eyes. And lastly, and this might sound weird, but some parts of the story just felt a little ‘too’ perfect at times. But still, I mean, for a pure swoon-fest, that’s kind of what you want, right? 😛

This book left me completely satisfied with Luke and Natalie’s story. There is a HEA (no cliffhanger!) and I’m very much looking forward to more from this author. And she just told me we have a LOT to look forward to: Book #2 “Fight With Me” which will follow Jules’ (the best friend’s) and Nate’s story and is scheduled for release on Jan 4, 2013. Then Will’s story, “Play With Me” comes out in March!!! oh, and we get an Isaac/Stacy novella this December too! Seriously, Kristen Proby sure knows how to keep her readers happy 😀

If you love steamy romance without excess drama, then definitely add this book to your TBRs 🙂

Thank you to the author Kristen Proby for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. 

• Buy COME AWAY WITH ME on Kindle (Amazon)
• Buy COME AWAY WITH ME on ePub (Smashwords)

CASTING:

Luke: Click here
Natalie: Click here

Here are the links to the available books in Kristen Proby’s With Me In Seattle series: