ARC Review: Opening Up by Lauren Dane

I had never heard of Lauren Dane prior to receiving a review copy of this book. Let me just be the first to say 'where the hell have I been?' I really and truly loved this book and I'm now stuck in a fan girl moment over Lauren of Bieber proportions.

Let me give you the run down that isn't in the blurb (without spoilers). PJ is working for her family's company when she meets Asa. PJ is the daughter of wealth and privilege but unfortunately the privilege does not include being respected or viewed as anything more than a silly little girl. When PJ tries to expand the family business, she is basically told by her a-hole father to go back to playing with her dolls and don't bother him. Asa is the owner of a successful detailing business and the child of abuse and neglect from very early on in his life. Asa is loyal and protective of his inner circle but that has never included a woman. When he meets PJ he is instantly attracted to her but he thinks her 25 years is much too young for his 37 years. Asa unknowingly stumbles into PJ's weak spot by underestimating her.

The distance between Asa's assumptions about PJ and the point when he finally acknowledges that she is not what she seems is extremely entertaining and that's mostly because of PJ. PJ is an awesome character who I love. Because PJ has had to be her own defender, she is damn good at asserting herself. She is not the heroine who cowers or who fails to say what she means. PJ also doesn't let other people get away with BSing her. When Asa starts throwing out ridiculous reasons why they can't be together, PJ reads him like a short text message. Loved it! As for Asa, despite the fact that he's trying to make what he thinks is a good choice by staying away from PJ, when he's in, he is in! Asa is protective of PJ even when it comes to her family and I was here for all of that. PJ's whole family struggles to deal with her Father throughout the book and I loved that Asa told them that dealing with their Dad was their problem, he was there to protect PJ.

Everything about the relationship development between PJ and Asa came across as genuine and sincere. The pace of this book is great, the minor and major conflicts are compelling and all of the supporting characters add depth to the plot. Oh and as for the sex- YES! This was way above average sex that is duplicated in book after book. The author threw in a little creative and a whole lot of smoking hot and voila, we got some 5 star sex on our hands. I will 100% for sure be reading Duke's story next and I highly recommend that you read this one.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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