One of the reasons I love reading romance novels is that I get to live vicariously through the female protagonist page after page. It also gives me an added bonus to daydream! 🙂
“Rush” is the first book in Maya Banks’s “Breathless” trilogy, which follows three 38-year-old handsome best friends and hotel billionaire business partners —Gabe Hamilton, Jace Crestwell and Ash McIntyre. The men dominate both in the bedroom. Each novel in the trilogy explores the relationship of one of the men as he discovers the woman he will love.
The story begins when Gabe sees 24-year-old Mia Crestwell walk into the ballroom for his hotel’s grand opening. He knew he was going to hell for what he had planned. After all, Mia is his best friend Jace’s little sister. Except she’s not so little anymore. And Gabe has waited a long time to act on his desires.
Gabe has been Mia’s crush since she was a teenager. The fourteen year age difference doesn’t bother her. Mia knows he’s way out of her league, but her attraction has only grown stronger with time. Now an adult, Mia feels there’s no reason not to act on her most secret desires.
As Gabe pulls her into his provocative world, she realizes there’s a lot she doesn’t know about him or how exacting his demands can be. Their relationship is intense and obsessive, but as they cross the line from secret sexual odyssey to something deeper, their affair runs the risk of being exposed—and vulnerable to a betrayal far more intimate than either expected.
Ever since the Fifty Shades phenomenon, there have been a lot of contemporary or erotic romance novels published. The romance genre is sizzling hot right now, but that’s another story for another time. Banks does a great job in providing details and fluidity to the plot. The chemistry between Gabe with Mia, Gabe with Jace and Ash, and Mia with Jace add substance to the story. In the beginning, Gabe is this dominant, stern alpha male who has no problem in getting what he wants, but on the flip side, we get to see a softer side of him that can melt your heart. I like gentle Gabe better than the domineering Gabe. I enjoyed the character development of Mia. She is a great heroine. She’s known Gabe all her life but is able to stand up for herself. She’s sweet and innocent yet spunky. She’s not afraid to tell Gabe what she wants and doesn’t want. Compared to “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Rush” is a better read, and Banks is a better writer than E.L. James.