Book Review – Fixed On You (Fixed #1) by Laurelin Paige

“I’m drawn to you, Alayna… because you’re beautiful and sexy and smart and yes, a little crazy, maybe, but you’re not broken. And that makes me hopeful. For me.”

• Buy FIXED ON YOU (Kindle)
• But FIXED ON YOU (Paperback)

Yep! This one did it for me! I totally loved this book!!! It gave me that amazing belly fluttering, thrilling feeling of excitement that only my favorite books give me 🙂

If dominant and controlling yet tortured heroes make your heart race, then Fixed On You will rock your world!

Pretty much my most favorite story line type is flawed or damaged characters working together to try and build a functional relationship while fighting understandable issues but with no stupidity or frustrating behaviour and this book basically delivered that to me on a silver platter. I couldn’t have been happier – absolute book heaven!

Fans of the Crossfire series should definitely check this one out! Ever since I’d finished those books, I’d been in withdrawal wishing for another book of that type yet I couldn’t find one that quite hit the spot… but this one gave me that same ‘intense’ feeling and I just reveled in it!

That being said, it totally stood on it’s own as far as the story went. Yes, many of the base points were the same as a lot of the other billionaire stories out there but the details were unique and so it definitely felt like a fresh story.

The story follows Alayna who, as a result of the circumstances of her past, had developed an obsessive relationship disorder – meaning that she would very easily latch on to relationships and fall in love so much so that she’d strayed into stalker territory at times in her past. It was an issue she was battling and gone to therapy for but she still fought it every day. But she was building her life, had gotten an MBA and was working a great gig at a club bar when the club was suddenly purchased by billionaire Hudson Pierce.

Hudson was exactly the kind of guy she should stay away from – the kind that would trigger her. Gorgeous, alluring, confident, controlled, dominant. Problem was, he had his sights fixed on her and came to her with an intriguing proposition…

He wanted to hire her to act as his public girlfriend. He was in a situation that he wanted to get out of and having a girlfriend would sort out all of his problems so he needed to sell the fact that they were in love.

“This pretend relationship – to what extent would I be expected to perform?”

“Don’t pussy foot about it. You’re asking about sex.” His eyes darkened again. “I never pay for sex, Alayna. When I fuck you, it will be for free.”

Granted, Alayna was understandably wary of the proposition at first knowing full well that it would just feed into her compulsion making it even harder for her to not latch on emotionally and it didn’t help that Hudson’s interest with her was not solely professional…

“I apologize for overwhelming you. That wasn’t my intent. But I want you to know that whether or not you decide to help with my situation, I will continue to seduce you. I’m a man who gets what he wants. And I want you.”

And he was also harboring dark secrets from his past that made him almost incapable of love…

“First, let me clear up one thing… I will be saying and doing things – romantic things, perhaps – that are not genuine. I need you to remember that. Out of the public eye, I will seduce you. That will be genuine, but it can never be misconstrued as love.”
“Because you’re incapable of love.” …
“Yes.”

… but despite all of this, their attraction and feelings were real and even her issues and his secrets couldn’t keep them apart 🙂

I absolutely adored Hudson. He was the kind of guy that makes my heart race. He was alluring and yet contradictory. He remained distant and aloof while at the same time he seemed totally infatuated with her. But I’m just such a sucker for the controlled yet tortured heroes…. they make my heart melt every time and Hudson was no exception.

I honestly wasn’t sure how I’d feel about Alayna at first given what I knew about her obsession but I ended up liking that it made her flawed because while she was very aware of her limitations and while it made her wary of their relationship, I liked that she had something real she was struggling with.

I also have to say that I absolutely loved that while Alayna did have issues, she wasn’t broken and she certainly wasn’t a pushover by any means. The scenes with her facing off with Hudson’s mother were just awesome! Here’s just a little taste…

“Tell me, Alayna – were you first attracted to my son because of his money or his name?”
Pissed didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. I was seething, but in control. Without skipping a beat, I wrapped my arm around Hudson’s arm and answered. “Neither. I was attracted to him because he’s hot. Though, I stayed with him because he’s fucking awesome in bed.”

So she had issues, he had secrets, and their relationship was a sham but somehow it all just worked.

There were so many times when you’d wonder… how much of what was going on between them was for show and how much of it was real feelings developing? Where was the line? When did it begin to blur?

“If I wondered that the whole act was a display… his whisper in my ear said otherwise, “This, precious. This is for real.”

There’s just something about characters with deep problems actually trying to work through them in a functional way that just makes my heart happy. I loved that I never once rolled my eyes or wanted to throttle either Alayna or Hudson. Yes, they both messed up on occasion. No, neither of them were perfect. But… I loved that I could sense that they both did want to make things work and because of that, I loved reading about their ups and downs.

And as the story progressed, their connection deepened and it wasn’t just a physical connection, they were a match in intelligence too and because of their dark pasts, they both found things in each other that they could sympathize with.

“I turned to him and found his gaze absent of pity. Instead it held understanding. More and more I realized that I was special to him because of this unique recognition he saw in me.”

This book also kept me smiling and fanning myself. It wasn’t light-hearted but it was a lot of fun! There were some total shocking moments, some laugh-out-loud moments and boat loads of hotness but the heart of it was what drew me in. For a good chunk of the time I was reading, I had that delicious butterflies-in-my-belly feeling. It was hot, thrilling, and engaging. I really loved it 🙂

This is the kind of book that gets better as it goes along though. In the beginning, for the first 40% or so, I was sitting at a comfortable 4-star rating. I liked it but was waiting for that extra ‘spark’ and then just the pieces really started to come together until by the end, I was pretty much at 5-star love. So I’m going to round it off to a very happy 4.5 star rating.

Oh, and I seriously just want to hug the author for not leaving this book on a cliffhanger. I really mean it. Despite this being the first book in a trilogy, there is no cliffhanger!! Nothing. Not even a dark something from the past that creeps in or anything. I mean sure there is more of their story to tell but it was like the author totally trusted that you’d want to read the next book of your own accord and you know what?? I TOTALLY DO!!!!!

All in all, this book pushed all the right buttons for me. I loved the characters, cared for them, and wanted to see them work their issues out. Not to mention that this book has some serious hotness in it – I mean… that’s what you get with a dominant, controlling hero *grins* … so overall, it took a little while in the beginning for this book to fully capture my heart but once it did, it didn’t let go and kept it through ’til the very end.

This is definitely the start of a new favorite series for me. Fixed On You is the first book in a trilogy but again, no cliffhanger! You’re totally safe to go ahead and read this now!

*squee*

4.5 stars

• Buy FIXED ON YOU (Kindle)
• But FIXED ON YOU (Paperback)

 

** SERIES READING ORDER **
This is now a completed trilogy.

BOOK #1 — FIXED ON YOU
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

BOOK #2 — FOUND IN YOU
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

BOOK #3 — FOREVER WITH YOU
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

COMPANION NOVEL — HUDSON (his POV)
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback