Imprisoned by the Greek's Ring by Caitlin Crews

 

Whoa. Was this the best thing I've ever read? No. But the story it told in under two hundred pages was *chef's kiss* brilliant. Finally, a contemporary enemies-to-lovers that actually sells the enmity and isn't just two petty under-caffeinated bitches whining about something trivial. Lexi gave testimony eleven years ago that sent the hero, Atlas, to jail. Now, freshly exonerated, he has come back to her and her family to seek his revenge. Which revolves, in a roundabout way, marriage. To her.

The sexual tension was great. The build-up was A+. The sex scenes were surprisingly kinky (I mean, for a Harlequin). I first got hooked on this author through her historical viking romance that had a master/slave relationship with semi-consensual sadomasochism and it was spicy. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that many of her other Harlequin offerings are rather loosely laced and feature about one or two more chili peppers than you can usually expect from this line.

What really made this book, though, was the back and forth between the h and the H. They both felt so betrayed and had tragic backstories that made them loath to trust one another. I thought that Lexi's worshipful childhood crush on the hero really shaped their relationship (in a good way), and I liked how even though the hero desperately wanted revenge, it didn't make him too cruel (I hate it when heroes are too mean to their ladies). 

The only thing I would have changed is that the ending felt a little too anticlimactic. I was expecting a bigger showdown between the h/H and the villain. If he could have saved her, I felt like that would have really cemented himself as being the hero that Lexi always saw him as, as well as, you know, providing a redemption arc for his cruelty. But that didn't happen, and I was sad. Because this is a Harlequin and they do tend to be more bite-sized snacky than full course meal. Man, if this had been a full-length novel and just a little darker, it would have been a solid five-star. But this came really close.

4.5 out of 5 stars