Book Review: The Lick Series
Only For A Night ⋅ Only For Your Touch ⋅ Only For You
Naima Simone
I have recently been drawn to Romance novels and more erotic fiction than I typically read. More specifically, those that fall somewhere around 200 pages (it’s been reading slump city over here). What I’ve read so far has been fast paced and enticing, so I figured I would start sharing some of the titles. I read this series by Naima Simone over the course of a weekend, and if you happen to have any recommendations that are similar, I would be happy to hear them.
Content Warning (across the series): Explicit sexual descriptions, death of a spouse, miscarriage, violence and mild references to gore
Synopsis:
Only For a Night
I fought hard to escape the Irish mob life. Now, as the co-owner of Boston’s hottest aphrodisiac club, I’ve traded crime for the ultimate sexual fantasy. When Harper Shaw, the good girl I could never have, walks through the doors, she’s all I can think about. I’ll be hers only for one night. One night to explore her every fantasy. One night to push her limits. One night to make us both doubt if it will be enough…
Only For Your Touch
The Boston press calls her the Mob Princess. I call her trouble. Discretion is my business, and the reporters dogging her every step are bad news. She’s looking to tarnish her “good girl” image by getting dirty with me. I gave up a career as a thief, but Corrine Salvaggi’s wide eyes and sinful mouth damn near beg me to steal her innocence. To corrupt her. It’s just sex. Our little secret. For now…
Only For You
It’s been five years since Gabriella James damn near destroyed me with her betrayal, sending me to hell in a cage. I’ve crawled free and continue to battle my demons through underground fighting and sex. But now Gabriella’s back, begging for forgiveness. All I want is what she’s denied me for all these years—her body. I don’t trust her, and I’ll never forgive her. But that won’t stop me from taking her. Over and Over…
Review:
Following three male friends and business partners, a linear timeline connects each installment of this series (each book featuring one of the three friends). Naima Simone throws us into the intimate events almost right away, and offers readers something a little different in each book. And while the technique of reintroducing the main friend group and their relationship to one another bordered on the monotonous side in books two and three, it’s easy to move past the reminder of who is who in the story and get to the steamy details.
Only For a Night (#1) is the strongest storyline out of all three. The setup and plot progression satisfy any reader’s need for a second chance romance featuring satisfying character development and emotional intimacy. Only For Your Touch (#2) caters to readers who like a bit of danger in their dramatic story, in addition to the “we can do it anywhere” type of hookup. And Only For You (#3) wraps up the series with a cheesy “happily ever after” ending, but it holds the most tense relationship out of all the books – in the most wonderfully exasperating way.
Overall, Naima Simone manages to not only set up the books for readers looking for a little more than just sex between characters, but balances their intimate scenes with the established plots; for such fast-paced stories they hardly feel awkwardly rushed. So for an afternoon or weekend of steamy reading, this series is not to be overlooked (for a quick dip into sexy waters, Only For a Night is completely satisfying on its own).
