Are there six stars in a rating? Can I give a book six stars? Nichole Rose has earned six stars and my money with her short novel, Keep You.
I read this book twice yesterday, and that probably sounds more impressive than it is because this story is short, a mere 103 pages, but it is packed with awesome. The moment I hit page eight I pretty much knew that I was buying the book. The characters are vibrant and exciting, demanding you to read more.
In the story, Holly, a forensic accountant (how cool is that?), is hired to help Ian find what he suspects has been embezzlement in his company. The moment Ian lays eyes on her he is done for.
“Heaven is a woman and she’s standing in front of me…(pg. 17)”
She is the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes on and he knows that there is no way in hell he will be able to keep his hands to himself while working with her. Unfortunately, all that leaves his mouth is a solid, “No,” and a declaration that he can’t work with her because of the way she looks. By the time he realizes that he sounds like an asshat, she is on her way out.
There is no way that Holly is going to work with a man who can’t even stand to look at her. She’s had a crush on Ian since she first saw him in her boss’s office six months ago. Knowing that her mouth has a tendency to run away from her, she has been avoiding him, and the probability that she would make a fool of herself, ever since. When she discovers that Ian is her new client she knows she’s screwed. He is more handsome than she remembered and his ass…yum, too bad he’s a jerk. When he grabs her arm as she tries to storm out of the office she of course, doesn’t take that crap and knees him firmly in the balls. Take that, asshole!
It doesn’t have the expected effect, however. Oh, sure, it dropped him to his knees, but the words out of his mouth were not just a pained groan. They were a declaration: ‘”We’re getting married,” I wheeze… (pg.18)’ What? Married? She couldn’t have heard him correctly, could she?
I love, love, love, that Ian is knocked on his ass, quite literally, by his first look at Holly. She is a total badass who is curvy and confident, or at least she comes off that way. As the story progresses it becomes evident that Holly has some body image issues that she tries to ignore, and there are a few scenes where people make rude comments implying that she has no business being with someone as hot as Ian.
I have read comments for other books where people feel like the characters should show more body positivity, or seem to feel like people making rude comments is not realistic, but fat girls know that that’s not true. People can really suck, even people who are supposed to be grown up and above stuff like that, which is one of the reasons that I like this book. I love that Holly has to deal with comments and fights against her own self-doubt. That’s believable because it’s real, and the way that Ian is knocked on his ass with desire is every fat girl’s dream.
Above and beyond all of the curvy girl goodness, this book is hot, hot, hot! There are a lot of love scenes and caution friends because they are explicit. Ian has a hint of dom that just serves to make him even hotter, and the way he worships Holly’s curves…(fans face), holy cow!
Needless to say, I will be reading more of Nichole Rose.
Well done, Nichole Rose! Well done!
amberlynnmyers 