Exquisite by Ella Frank
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Her heart was guarded…

Tormented by self-imposed guilt, Dr. Lena O’Donnell has spent the last nine years in survival mode. Struggling through days that seem to blend together and battling her way through each horrifying night, she’s determined that this is what she deserves…

Until he tore down the walls…

Mason Langley’s life is going exactly the way he planned it, until her. A confirmed bachelor and the successful owner of the hottest restaurant to hit Chicago, he never expects to be blindsided by an angry woman in a pair of scrubs. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to shake the doctor, and he finds himself liking the way she makes him feel.

Almost over night Lena finds her world turned upside down by Mason and the sexual desire they discover together. Slowly, she lowers her guard and invites him inside but when tragedy strikes she begins to believe that sometimes it’s better to be alone and safe than to love and lose…
(Goodreads)

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“I’m going to say this once, and then we’re going to go home and I’m going to take you to bed and show you how much nicer it is to feel and be with someone than to be numb and alone.” He paused, leaning over to lay his lips on hers. “It’s time to feel again. Let me save you from yourself. You were drowning when I found you, but I’m not letting you go without a fight.”

There are so many parts of this book that are Hot! Hot! Hot! About a 1/4 of the way in I was going on and on to my BFF about how great this book is and the fact that she needed to get it. Then *sighs* it went downhill for me (there were still some really hot scenes in it and I love Mason but it seemed to lose something for me) and drag.

Finally around 70% it picked up again and I was into it. This is one of those stories where I find myself not really liking the MC. She pretty much got on my nerves throughout most of the story. I think between that and the fact that I just couldn’t connect with the plot it was hard for me to really enjoy it. I didn’t find the attraction and emotional connection between Lena and Mason believable and personally if I were him I probably would have cut my losses in the very beginning.

All in all I really am not as impressed with this one as I thought I would be. It had excellent reviews and I feel a little bad that I seem to be one of only a few who didn’t enjoy it. There was something I was missing I am just not sure what.