Allie Winters dates once a month. But her monthly 'date' nights are at a club where she picks up men. Not nice men either. She wants men that will give her a 'fix', rough and unsafe but on her terms. The men she targets are cold and mean, in it for the quick, anonymous, hard sex she wants.

Men had only one use in my life and that was what the club was for.

Colin Murphy is one such man. Or so Allie thinks going by his rough demeanour. But Colin is much more than she bargained for. Though Colin's hiding a shady past and possibly involved in something illegal, he's also kind, tender and protective. Their one night together is not what Allie is used to, or what she usually wants.

This is everything that a good contemporary (erotic) romance should be. Realistic, page-turning and with the requisite happy ending. Allie and Colin are not perfect people. Colin is not a perfect romance hero. Their love-making is not always the stuff of romance novels, perfect and multi-orgasmic. Yet their relationship is realistic.

Allie is in her own mind, damaged goods. A rape victim she sees herself as tainted, not suitable for a good man. Ms Lin has done a particularly fine job of the characterisations, not just of the leads but of the secondaries. They are not painted black and white, even the rapist. There are also some secondary characters who I hope get their own stories. The strengths in Giving It Up lie in the story, the plot, the characterisations perhaps more so than the actual romance.

There are some disturbing themes, yet these scenes never felt gratuitous or the issues exploitative. Nor did it cross that line where I felt uncomfortable. This is an erotic romance, and the sex scenes are steamy, however the eroticism comes into play more in the themes it addresses.

Though I do have some quibbles they're more personal dislikes than faults with the actual writing. I have an aversion to sex-with-a-stranger in romances. But it makes sense here, it's consistent with Allie's troubled personality. (view spoiler)[And I know this is fiction but a number of STDs are contagious via oral sex. Responsible, mature, informed people don't indulge in any unprotected sex with a partner whose medical and sexual history is unknown. Okay, public health lecture over. (hide spoiler)] I would have also liked just a little more depth to their romance, to see the changes in Allie especially.

Dark, edgy yet sensual and hopeful. Raw, intelligent and well-written, with a suspense element thrown in, and an unexpected twist. This is a well-crafted contemporary romance, dealing with some distressing issues and yet written with such affecting realism that Giving It Up was very hard to put down.

Steam: 4


ARC courtesy of Amber Lin