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Sexy Capers #2.5

Arresting Desire

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In this short story from New York Times bestselling author Shayla Black, a sexy professor is looking for a lesson in love — and a hard-bodied FBI Agent is on the case.

Agent Jon Bocelli never stopped wanting beautiful professor Lucia DiStefano. She's interested in taking her first lover, and he intends to be that man. But when her past puts her life in danger, Jon risks everything to save her and prove this fling is forever.

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 14, 2014

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About the author

Shayla Black

188 books9,505 followers
Shayla Black is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than ninety contemporary, erotic, paranormal, and historical romances. Her books have sold millions of copies and been published in a dozen languages.

As an only child, Shayla occupied herself by daydreaming, much to the chagrin of her teachers. In college, she found her love for reading and started pursuing a publishing career. Though she graduated with a degree in Marketing/Advertising and embarked on a stint in corporate America, her heart was with her stories and characters, so she left her pantyhose and power suits behind.

Shayla currently lives in North Texas with her wonderfully supportive husband, her daughter, and two spoiled tabbies. In her “free” time, she enjoys reality TV, gaming, and listening to an eclectic blend of music.

Follow me on Facebook: http://shayla.link/FBPage

Join me in my Book Beauties group for weekly LIVE chats: http://shayla.link/FBChat

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5 stars
88 (27%)
4 stars
93 (29%)
3 stars
93 (29%)
2 stars
36 (11%)
1 star
10 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Rachel-RN.
2,084 reviews25 followers
October 19, 2017
Lucia: super smart academic who just turned 25. She also happens to be a virgin. Oh and she's part of a mob family. Yep, those last 2 sentences.
Jon: a 35 year old FBI agent. He was undercover 2 years ago and met Lucia. He's been HOT for Lucia ever since. Oh, and he's got SO much sexual experience. Of course he does.
This could have been good, but instead just annoyed me. I lost tract of how many times I rolled my eyes. I guess I'm still in my bitchy mood. Whatever.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
1,036 reviews3 followers
July 14, 2020
Enjoyed it.

So I met Jon in Belong to Me (Wicked Lover’s Book 5) and have read the other two books in the Sexy Caper’s series a long time ago and never realized Lucia and Jon had their own short story. I’m so glad I found it. I enjoyed reading about them and getting their HEA. The little bit of trouble in the book was good and added a bit of mystery to the story. The book was well written but I wish the ending was just a bit longer. So glad I found this book though.
Profile Image for Romanticamente Fantasy.
6,456 reviews182 followers
January 7, 2019
Eccomi qui ragazze… Ho letto per voi “Sogno inconfessabile” della mitica Shayla Black.

Questa è una novella della serie Sexy Capers. Potete tranquillamente leggere solo questo, in quanto è un auto conclusivo, ma sicuramente se leggete prima gli altri potrete capire meglio la storia che circonda i nostri protagonisti.

Io amo la Black e ho deciso di recensire questa novella perché ne ho sentite di cotte e di crude su questo terzo capitolo della serie.

Sicuramente ognuna di noi, prima di acquistare un libro legge la trama per sapere se può interessarle o meno e, inoltre, si dovrebbe conoscere almeno il modo di scrivere dell’autrice e soprattutto il genere letterario.

Quindi, dopo aver letto gli insulti peggiori in giro per il web, vi dico in tutta onestà che anche questo libro non mi ha affatto delusa.

Sto andando contro corrente? Assolutamente no, ho aperto il libro con la consapevolezza di cosa avrei trovato!!!

Il modo di scrivere della Black è come sempre molto scorrevole: infatti ho mangiato le pagine e sono arrivata alla fine nel giro di poche ore.

In questa novella troviamo finalmente Lucia: una dei miei personaggi preferiti, che è rimasta nell’ombra, sin dai primi libri, ma che subito mi è entrata nel cuore.

Lucia non è la classica “modella” a cui ci hanno abituati i romanzi rosa/erotici di recente, infatti, quello per cui emerge è la sua intelligenza. È diversa, così si autodefinisce, con un QI superiore alla media, che l’ha portata ad essere solitaria, a volte emarginata, ed a ritrovarsi vergine a 25 anni.

Nei libri precedenti capiamo che Lucia si innamora perdutamente di Jon ed è stata respinta dal maschio per eccellenza: forte, virile, bello da fare male.

Finalmente dopo diversi anni, Jon ritorna dalla splendida donna per cui ha perso la testa e la storia ha così inizio.

L’unica pecca di questa novella, è la lunghezza: è troppo, troppo breve. A mio modestissimo parere, la Black avrebbe dovuto dedicare un intero libro ai due protagonisti. In alcune scene ho avuto l’impressione che abbia affrettato le cose in modo da concludere al più presto, anche nell’unica scena “pericolosa” della novella, la suspense si conclude nel giro di poche righe.

Se vi aspettate un romanzo su cui ragionare o pieno di significato, allora dovete restare alla larga da questa autrice.

Io l’adoro proprio perché mi fa sognare, mi fa evadere dalla realtà quotidiana con l’amore perfetto e quel pizzico di erotismo che non guasta mai, ma non siamo tutte uguali e i motivi per cui ognuna di noi legge determinati libri sono diversi.

Io leggo per sognare e questo rende la Black una delle mie scrittrici preferite.
Profile Image for Limecello.
1,997 reviews29 followers
December 13, 2018
Definitely my favorite book of the Sexy Capers series.
However, it felt like this novella was ... missing parts?
I mean I GET that this was a novella. (And it seems at times Shayla Black novellas are SHORT ...)

but like we really jump into things; in that some scenes are almost overdeveloped, and then BAM you're almost slapped in the face by them jumping to the next level.
And everyone being ok with Jon basically kidnapping Lucia?
Also hello the danger? Also also oh my gooooooood the heavy handed "foreshadowing."

And 😒 the sex scene. Like it was hot, but the whole losing virginity scene like - women aren't ... damn plastic bottles with those safety seals that you pop. Just ... REALLY?!?! ... I even looked to see when this book was published. 2016. Do better, authors. 😒😒😒😒😒

What didn't help was the collaring and the I love you and proposal. YOU HAD SEX ONCE. YOU SPENT ONE DAY TOGETHER. Sure they ... somewhat? hung out? two years ago but they didn't even date; like maybe they had some conversations? (Also clearly I remembered incorrectly but for whatever reason I thought in book 2 I thought Mark said Jon was short :X oops) - ANYWAY. That felt shoe horned in.

Otherwise though it was a nice little novella. Just - I wish some issues had been handled a bit differently/it was cleaned up as I felt the flow was a bit clunky/jumpy.

C-
Profile Image for Blanca.
590 reviews
March 7, 2017
I think I may have read this book but the ending was totally different. So it was interesting and I do find the character of Jon Bocelli interesting. His interest in Lucia DeStefano was what makes the reading worthy. Lucia is a woman who has sped along the educational track due to her amazing intellect so she has been slowed down in the emotional and social areas, that is to say she is a twenty-five year old virgin. Jon took care of that in a very sexy scene. A must read for Shayla Black fans.
Profile Image for Christine Jalili.
1,640 reviews20 followers
December 28, 2020
Loved this novella.

I think I read this out of order, so I’m going to read the other books in this series. Jon is trying to figure out who framed his brother. He’s never forgotten Lucia and now he’s back. He won’t back away this time. She’s been given a clue, can they figure out who killed her Dad? I loved this book and that they do get a happy ever after. I highly recommend this book.
Profile Image for Robyn.
309 reviews7 followers
May 17, 2017
This book seemed like it was leading into a bigger picture.... I would love to see more of this relationship. As short stories go, it was a bit choppy with large chunks that seemed to have been edited out .. even an extra 20 pages would have made this a smoother story. All in all, well enjoyed.
Profile Image for TinaMarie.
3,418 reviews32 followers
March 16, 2018
He's an FBI agent who knew her while he was undercover. She's a brainiac 25 year old virgin who doesn't think she's desirable enough. He's into control and when he finally makes his move for her things get steamy. While there are definitely BDSDM elements it's not hardcore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
668 reviews2 followers
August 18, 2017
As always Shayla Black write a great story. Although the story was complete it was very short. So only 4 stars. I always prefer books 400+ pages.
3 reviews
May 13, 2019
Narrater needs to be able to do an acceptable male voice.
Profile Image for Laura.
352 reviews16 followers
February 22, 2017
Il libro mi è piaciuto ma non abbastanza perché era fin troppo semplice e scontato. Per i miei gusti era alquanto banale e lo ritengo un buon erotico
Profile Image for Vidhi Mehta.
378 reviews1 follower
August 2, 2022
I normally love Shayla Black's stories and feel connected with them, but for some odd reason I felt no connection with Jon and Lucia. Still Shayla Black's is my favorite author and so I still blindly read her stories. This was quick and short story. Even though I didn't absolutely love this story but that won't stop my love for Shayla Black and her stories.
Profile Image for Nicole.
319 reviews11 followers
February 7, 2017
Jon always wanted the beautiful Lucia, but she was off limits. He was working undercover with the FBI to take down her father.

Lucia has never thought of herself as beautiful. She has led a sheltered life and now that she’s 25 she has made plans to celebrate her birthday at a resort with her best friend.

But when Jon walks back into her life everything changes. Can she be the woman he needs, can he be the man she wants? And when her life is in danger, Jon will do anything he can to save her.

My one small issue is that despite all of this short book happening in a short time span there was no mention of her changing clothes from when he ‘kidnapped’ her in Las Vegas. Other than that little thing it was a steamy read. And it had an undercover cop. What more could you ask for?
Profile Image for Diane.
9 reviews
January 28, 2017
Not really BDSM

Been looking forward to this novella as I met the H/h in a previous book called Strip Search. Enjoyable until the end. Likable Charachters. No real BDSM scenes and the H collars the h in the last scene in the book with a collar he bought from Tiffany. Not really believable. Other than that, Pretty good
145 reviews
September 7, 2015
Storia scontatissima, odio il fatto che dopo nemmeno una settimana che si conoscano si dicano ti amo e decidano di sposarsi, si perchè anche se si conoscevano anni prima due anni possono cambiarti radicalmente.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 1, 2016
Gotta love a cop, right? This was a short hot story. Jon spent time undercover and had to stay hands off with Lucia. She is done tired of being a virgin and is going to fixed that problem. A little bit of drama, a little bit of sex, and little bit of bad guys coming after you make a great story.
Profile Image for Beret Brenckman.
891 reviews4 followers
Read
August 9, 2016
Hated that it was mob family (hers)/ and FBI agent (his) and didn't like the extra characters
Profile Image for Lidia.
2,333 reviews23 followers
November 26, 2016
I couldn't decide if laughing , rolling my eyes or take offense as a modern woman, while I read this story. It is a no no story in so many way.
3 reviews1 follower
May 9, 2017
Too much emphasis on why she deserved him, not enough on why he deserved her.
Profile Image for Stacey.
751 reviews23 followers
February 18, 2018
This was ok. There were some hot scenes and the plot was interesting.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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