Review: What You Need by Lorelei James

Title: What You Need by Lorelei James
Need You Series Book One
Publisher: Signet
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 359 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Mastered Series and the Blacktop Cowboys® Series, the first in a brand new contemporary romance series . . .

The Lund name is synonymous with wealth and power in Minneapolis–St. Paul. But the four Lund siblings will each discover true love takes a course of its own. . . .

As the CFO of Lund Industries, Brady Lund is the poster child for responsibility. But eighty-hour work weeks leave him little time for a life. His brothers stage an intervention and drag him to a seedy nightclub . . . where he sees her: the buttoned-up blonde from the office who’s starred in his fantasies for months.

Lennox Greene is a woman with a rebellious past, which she conceals beneath her conservative clothes. She knows flirting with her boss during working hours is a bad idea. So when Brady shows up at her favorite dive bar and catches her cutting loose, she throws caution aside and dares him to do the same.

After sparks fly, Brady finds that keeping his hands off Lennox during office hours is harder than expected. Though she makes him feel alive for the first time in years, a part of him wonders if she’s just using him to get ahead. And Lennox must figure out whether Brady wants her for the accomplished woman she is—or the bad girl she was.

Review:

What You Need, the first novel in the Need You series, is a delightfully sweet yet highly sensual romance that old and new fans of Lorelei James are sure to love.

Brady Lund is the CFO of the family owned business, Lund Industries. He is handsome, intelligent and charming, but he is a workaholic with no personal life outside of spending time with his family. While self-assured when it comes to his career, he lacks confidence when it comes to dating. It is not until his family convinces him to try to find balance between work and leisure that he finds the courage to ask Lennox Greene, the woman he has secretly been crushing on for months, for a date. With Lennox, Brady is relaxed and eager to experience new things, but his old insecurities threaten their burgeoning romance.

Lennox might have grown up on the wrong side of the tracks but she has worked hard to leave her painful and difficult past behind. She has completely turned her life around and she is well on her way to achieving her personal goals. No one at work knows much about her life before she started working at Lund Industries and Lennox goes to great lengths to keep it that way. With everyone else, she is demure and self-assured, but around Brady, she is nervous and prone to blurting out whatever thought pops into her head. Despite their mutual attraction, Lennox cannot help but wonder how she can fit into Brady’s life on a permanent basis.

The relationship between Lennox and Brady is fun and flirty, but there is also an undercurrent of seriousness as well. They reveal parts of themselves to one another they carefully keep hidden from everyone else. With Lennox, Brady is more spontaneous and open to new experiences and Lennox reluctantly steps out of her comfort zone when he introduces her to the activities he enjoys doing.

In a change of pace from Ms. James’ erotic novels, there is more emphasis on developing Lennox and Brady’s relationship outside of the bedroom. Despite their red hot attraction to each other, they take their time getting to know each other before acting on their passion. There is plenty of sexual tension between them as they tease, touch and flirt their way into the bedroom.  While the sex scenes are not overly explicit, they are still quite steamy.

With an engaging storyline, a believable romance and minimal angst or drama, What You Need by Lorelei James is a captivating love story. The characters are wonderfully developed and appealing with easy to relate to flaws and insecurities. The storyline is well-written, refreshingly unique and fast-paced. An overall fabulous beginning to the Need You series that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the next installment.