Honestly I was quite literally craving more

Kindle ebook

From the moment, I met Archer, Gage and Matthew I smiled. These boys are modern day Dukes, Rogues and Scoundrels. They are each flawed, strong, opinionated and so poised to fall for the right woman. Archer is gorgeous from his crooked smile to his touchable locks. The man is destine to lose and lose big.. His childhood has him running from anything that looks like commitment, and it was fascinating learning about him from his driven need to succeed to his unraveling. Ivy is successful and confident but has had boyfriend issues. She is by nature a fixer and tends to be drawn to men who have issues.

The romance in Crave addresses several tropes, forbidden romance, lovers to haters and friends to lovers. Murphy’s twist on this was scintillating from the heat to the banter, and I couldn’t get enough. The bet as the overall arc to this series is a fun trope, and I cannot help but be overjoyed and seeing so many of the elements I love in historical romances brought into a modern day story. From their careers to their issues I found Archer and Ivy to be genuine and interesting. The pace was well done with moments of heat and a few twists to complicate things. Of course, Archer makes mistakes but nothing was overdone or drawn out keeping the angst low. This allowed me to completely escape and enjoy the adventure.

Crave was a fun, wicked and romantic ride. I am looking forward to continuing the series with Torn and Savor.

originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

I eye-rolled, chuckled and skimmed my way through 35% of this novel(la?) before calling it quits. There's a reason I don't read romance.

I'm going to be generous with 3 stars because it's Monica Murphy and I know she can write. However, I sort of feel like Avon must have said "you can't go over 100 pages" and so she just wrote a 5 star book and then started CTRL X'ing the damn thing down to 100 pages. She removed the build up, the angst, the passionate denial that this billionaire has for his friend's little sister. The steamy office vibes were diluted down to "I've been here 11 days..." UGH! Seriously! This plot had the ingredients for some 5 star steamy action. But, we got a 2.5 star 100 page quick read that left me lacking.

Here's hoping Avon allows Gage's book to be at least 150 pages.

Rating: B ... Heat: Hot

I absolutely adored Monica Murphy’s first two books, One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend (Drew Callahan, I adore you!), so when I heard that Miz Murphy was giving bad boy billionaires a go, I thought, ‘Sign me up, please!’

And Archer Bancroft does not disappoint. A man that comes from money, Archer has made his own way by becoming a hotel and resort magnate in his own right. He has it all—money, success, and lots of lady loves. Archer absolutely refuses to settle down. But he has always had a thing for his best friend’s younger sister. Not that he’d do anything about it.

Ivy Emerson, who all the boys think of as 'just Ivy', is an interior designer with a bad case of Humpty Dumpty syndrome. She likes the broken guys, the ones that just beg to be fixed. Archer is so far past broken that she knows she can't fix him. Unfortunately, that’s never stopped her from noticing how handsome he is and how women flock to his side. A side she wouldn’t mind snuggling up against.

When Archer and his buddies put a million dollars on the line—to be given to the last single man standing—all bets are off. For a man so adamant that relationships aren’t for him, Archer spends his days making couples happy. His adults-only resorts are romantic escapes designed to bring couples together. When Archer decides to open a new resort, he has just the interior designer in mind… And he plans on keeping her close while she works for him. Very close.

Crave is a fast paced story with an equally fast developing romance that is full of heat and friction. Once these two give in, there is no stopping them. Archer and Ivy dive head first between the sheets and then let the emotions quietly work their way in. Feelings that sneak up on them both. I wish there had been more emphasis on Archer and Ivy’s back story—who they are as characters, what makes them tick alone and as a couple… but, seriously, the chemistry between them will still knock your socks off. And I love a hero who thinks he’s so tough and unreachable when really, deep down, he’s a closet snuggler with a serious soft side.

-- A Romantic Book Affairs Review.

Find us on Twitter and Facebook too!

I wouldn't call this a novella. It's longer than a novella but shorter than many books I read. I don't love novellas because the length does limit the ability to explore the characters and their storyline. I felt like that about this book. The characters and the storyline were interesting, it just felt like they had another 10-15 chapters in them. For the length of the book, it was an enjoyable read.

I just didn’t really enjoy reading this. It wasn’t very interesting and I found the romance quite bland. The sex scenes were quite steamy but outside of that the relationship didn’t have a lot of depth to it and I didn’t really warm to either character. It passed the time but ultimately it wasn’t for me.

Content Notes: Brother’s best friend / best friend’s sister, forbidden/secret relationship, millionaire/billionaire.

Other:

Spoiler

On-page sex, unprotected sex

Spoiler

Initial condom use then switch to no condoms, FMC is on birth control, brief discussion of STI status.

, infidelity / cheating (in past, FMC’s ex; MMC’s parents).

.

DNF :*(

There was just too much inner musings going on :(