Ravishing Romances: Giving It Up (by Amber Lin)

Giving It Up rating: 6 STARS

Release Date: June 18, 2012

Giving It Up is book one of the Giving It Up Series

How are the sex scenes?

Sizzling and real. Not everyone gets 12 orgasms and hears angels singing at the end. There is a lot of sex and sexual situations/references. There are no whips and chains, but there are BDSM undertones, sometimes force is used, and the heroine was raped (before the novel begins) and there are flashbacks.

How are the story lines?

Don't let the erotic genre fool you - this book is full of suspense and had me on the edge of my seat. Literally. The hero/heroine get most of the book time, naturally, but the hero's brother is a hugely influential character as is the heroine's best friend.

Would you read it again?
Absolutely and I will recommend this to my book club.

Summary

Giving It Up by Amber Lin is a contemporary erotica novel set in Chicago, Illinois.

Allison "Allie" Winters is twenty-two, a victim of rape, mother of one and has serious trust and control issues. Once a month she asks Shelly, her trustworthy high school buddy and only friend who happens to be a prostitute, to watch her daughter while Allie prowls the club scene looking for rough sex. Because men don't listen to no and when she demands it she's in control.

Colin Murphy is quiet, brooding, and a good, yet very dangerous guy. After being Allie's only gentle one night stand, he becomes fiercely protective - offering her security when her rapist returns. Being the youngest of the three Murphy siblings, Colin spends much time helping with family "problems", but soon Allie and her daughter get in the way and Colin has to make a choice...while Allie is still deciding whether she can trust him.
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Review

If you want to read a stunningly great novel with realistic other-side-of-the-track characters and intense sex scenes Giving It Up should be on your list. This story has is all: believability, realism, life problems no one wants to talk about, romance, love between friends, love between mother and child, struggles with self worth, suspense, mystery and best of all, empowerment.

Allie is a heroine everyone can love. She's an exceptional mother, choosing to move in with Colin because it's better than letting her daughter near a rapist. (I know many don't agree with a mother letting her child live with another man, but hear me when say it's better than letting her daughter near a rapist. It was Colin or that guy.) At all times Allie's daughter is her number one concern and the choices Allie makes for her - the decisions Allie refuses to even put on her - are nothing short of amazing.

Allie undergoes a tremendous life changing journey throughout Giving It Up. She doesn't travel anywhere or achieve something she's always sought. She learns she still has power, still has a choice and still has a say despite someone once taking it away. She realizes she's strong and can live her life. Her past be damned. And I think that's a message we should teach our children.

Colin is an understated hero. Yes, he's very controlling and scary as hell, but he's doing what's best for Allie and trying to make it easier for her and the world she lives in. Colin makes decisions many may not agree with, but keep in mind their situation, life and circumstance. His unpopular decision may be the best of his options. He tries to give Allie what she needs, even at the expense of himself, and that proves his loyalty to her. He's hard, but he cares and he won't toss her and her daughter in the street if things get dirty.

The supporting characters are so intense they deserve their own books. Amber Lin thinks so too, because Shelly is up next. As a prostitute, she's already your not-so-average heroine, but her heart of gold saves Allie and her daughter more than once and she deserves her happy ending.

There really are people who cannot seek help from the police or church or family, and sometimes hard and dirty choices have to be made. Giving It Up is a story of Allie and Colin making those choices.

I loved it.

Comment About It

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Learn more about Amber Lin and her upcoming titles on her webpage, Twitter and Goodreads.