Exposed by Fate

by Tessa Bailey

Now  there is just something about a man who can fill out a Tux in all the right places that gets me a little hot under the collar but when Eliza uttered the words

“Oliver wore a tux like a motherfucker.”

I saw may resolve take flight and the temperature in the room hitch a few degrees, because holy cow, if there is one thing that this author can hit perfectly, it is the tone and speech pattern that will leave you panting- it takes a special knowhow to be able to pitch a potty mouth into a romantic situation but bloody hell Olivier and Eliza are rocking the whole talking dirty vibe!

I hadn’t read the first book in which we are originally introduced to these characters but I don’t think that I missed anything because it because not only is Exposed by Fate a standalone novel, it can damn well stand up for itself.

Eliza and Oliver have known each other for years, connected by the friendship that Eliza has with Oliver’s sister Caroline.

Eliza is tentatively dipping her toe into the BDSM scene and has her eyes set on a handsome Brit – Porter. But she hadn’t reckoned on Oliver being in the club and more to the point Oliver hadn’t bargained for how he would feel when he saw Eliza heading upstairs with Porter.

Not sure how to handle what were completely alien feelings for the situation unfolding before him between Eliza and Porter, Oliver was floored by the fact that jealousy had taken up residence in his chest, not a common emotion to the man it hit him completely by surprise.

Oliver doesn’t do feelings, never has and never will, he has no need for attachments and certainly has not one single minute of interest in relationships, but this is “bunny” Eliza and he has harboured an unrequited lust for her for too long to watch her give herself to Porter.

Realising that she is out of her depth in the scene and understanding that this is in fact what she wants at this point in her life, she reaches out to Oliver, the sex on legs man-whore, to show her what it takes to be a submissive.

Can Oliver live up to his end of the deal… well the teaching her will be the easy part.. Not falling for her is a whole different ball game.

So with three “lessons” agreed they break the boundaries that have held them apart for so long and when the one thing they hadn’t anticipated adds its magic to the mix, the emotions that they have hidden for so long begin to surface…… oh, shit!

Oliver was quite simply exquisite, he was everything I had hoped he would be and got better the further into the book I went but oh my did he own that whole dominant shit.  I mean the scene in the shower, well, words fail me!!!

It is obvious from fairly early on where the story is heading but what did surprise me was the fact that it was Oliver that not only fell first but fell hardest. He was honestly bereft when he felt that he stood to lose her after the third lesson despite his attempt to show her that he could be the man she would need. Eliza knew she was falling for Oliver but his history was a wall that kept him firmly in the unattainable camp, no matter how much her heart pined for him.

The connection between them was electrifying but their uncertainty and history could so easily have crippled them.

I think if anything the story emphasized the fact that you just have to learn the art of letting go of the past in order to have a future.

First class writing by the inimitable Tessa Bailey, with yet another finger blistering read to her credit.