Reading Between the Wines Book Club

Attorney Cassie Blaire lived her life in the shadow of her late husband. Always bowing to his wants and needs over her own. But two years after his death, Cassie is finally going to start doing things her way. She has already initiated the switch from criminal law to family law at her office, all she needs is to close this big divorce case with a high profile New York law firm to help build her name. She even agreed to a blind date set up by her friend and office manager. But when her date never shows up, Cassie decides to take a chance with a handsome stranger.
Brad Steele (How can a character not be hot with a name like that?) is seeking to make partner at his law firm, all he needs is two hundred hours and this divorce case will see him through that. That's if he can get through it with his uptight co-counsel. But when she turns out to be the seductive woman he just spent an unforgettable night with Brad knows that one night will not be enough.
Brad is everything that Cassie needs but is too fearful hope for, Cassie is everything that Brad thought he never wanted. Can two people with different goals who live states away but share a sizzling chemistry set aside their fears and find enough common ground to build a relationship out of? Or will these few days be all they have together?

I don't usually have a problem falling in love with Tori St. Claire/Claire Ashgrove's books and really, Unravel Me, wasn't that much of an exception. I liked it. But I didn't love it. The story started out with a bang and I enjoyed parts of it, however I never felt immersed in the story-line. It was definitely sexy though, with light BDSM, and an enemies to lover trope that always delights.

Cassie was a strong, feisty character that while wanting to hold control in her day-to-day life had a secret urge to give up that control in the bedroom. She fluctuated back and forth for a while about whether giving up even that small about of control with Brad was the same as what she experienced in her marriage, which was one of the main struggles between characters. I found it a bit baffling that this strong, independent woman let an unknown man into her home and let him have free-range over her sexually, but I appreciated the twist that came about because of it. Brad has an equally strong presence and dominant personality, inventive and sexy. But his character came about as lacking experience in the D/s area that he professed to have. His lack was glaringly obvious in several scenes in the book that left me a bit shocked and frustrated with his character. With his own inner demons though thanks to his philandering father, Cassie and Brad's relationship is a struggle from the start full of insecurities and misconceptions. I felt that it moved at a quick pace which at times was unbelievable, but I did enjoy the outcome.

Unravel Me was well written, as with all of Tori's books, but it lacked a certain depth. The story had potential and was a quick read but did seem to drag in the middle. I think readers that enjoy a spicy romance but don't delve too far into the BDSM or erotic romance genre will enjoy this story. This was just one that I didn't connect with as much as I would have liked to. I look forward to more books from the author though as she is one on my must-read list of authors!