Lana ❇✾DG Romance❇✾'s Reviews > Staking His Claim

3.25 STARS

One look at her had rattled the chains he'd wrapped around his needs, tempting his inner demons to the surface. Demons that belonged in the past, but refused to stay there.


I can tell you one thing for sure about this book, IT WAS HOT. And I mean hot! Like filthy dirty talk hot. But really, can you expect any less from Tessa Bailey? I think not.

Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I love it as much as the other books in this series? Sadly, no. How do I feel about giving less than my typical 4.5 stars for the amazing Tessa Bailey? Well...

Now it's probably fair to say I will more than likely be in the minority with my opinion and I think that many will love this one. Why didn't I? I'll try to sum it up for you.

Matt Donovan is the last single man left in his close circle of friends and he's looking to keep it that way. His desires run on the darker side and the demons from his past continue to haunt his present. There is no way that a man like him will be good for any woman longer than one night, especially when that woman happens to be his best friend sister's roommate.

Lucy Mason is Brent Mason's little sister (the hero from Asking for Trouble). Having just graduated college she's looking to begin to experience life at it's fullest in the week she has left before she accepts her new job. And when she spots the sinfully sexy Matt, she just knows that a night with him has to be at the top of her list. There's just one problem; Matt thinks Brent's sister is nothing but a nuisance. Which is ridiculous considering he's never even met her. So what's a girl to do? Pretend to be her roommate, of course.

So obviously the attraction proves too much for either one of them to ignore soon enough and the clothes start flying and the dirty talk ensues. But can two people that couldn't be more different really have a future even when their sexual chemistry burns scorching hot?

While I enjoyed the super steamy scenes, I failed to get as enraptured in the story as I did the previous books. It never really drew me in. Considering that this is a pretty quick read, being a novella length, it took me a lot longer than my usual to finish. I kept putting it down and picking it up, which is just not my norm when it comes to Tessa's books.

Matt's tastes are supposed to be dark and wicked, but mainly he just had a penchant for

Now here's the problem for me, I've read books with the darker heroes, and Matt never really accomplished that vibe for me. So he liked a little control and liked to hand out a few spankings. This does not dark make in my book. Yet the entire book he spends brooding about being afraid to unleash his "dark" side on Lucy. Matt, you can rest easy, you were more on the lightly grayish side. But I would be happy to teach your sexy ass what dark truly is

I also thought that the dialogue felt forced. I don't even know how to best explain it. I've loved all the heroes in this series. The dirty talk obviously being my favorite part, and it always had a natural flow to it. It fit the characters. With Matt, that natural flow was missing. When he spoke, it came off as unnatural, it almost sounded to me like during some of the scenes the author was writing outside of her comfort zone. I don't even know if that make sense, but there it is.

But don't get me wrong, when it came to steam Tessa still delivered...and then some. Matt was sexy as hell and when he put that filthy mouth to work. GOOD LORD. He was just the right mix of dirty talking and rough around the edges

I also felt that the I love yous were exchanged much too quick. (view spoiler)[A week (hide spoiler)]. I understand that that was the span that the book was written in, but it just wasn't believable to me. After everything that Matt has been through, it didn't fit. It was too rushed in my opinion.
There was a super sweet epilogue which I absolutely loved that was the perfect icing to top the book off with.

To sum up, I've been a huge fan of this series since book 1, Tessa Bailey continues to be an auto-buy author for me, and I will gladly and greedily snatch up any of her future releases. But this book was sadly not my favorite in the series.




**ARC courtesy of publisher in exchange for an honest review**

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