Review - One to Hold By: Tia Louise (Adult Title Review)

Title: One to Hold
Author: Tia Louise
Publisher: (October 9th, 2013)
From: the Author
Format: eARC
Add to: Goodreads
Order a copy online: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK

NOTE: This is an Adult novel. Due to mature content this title is recommended for ages 17+

Synopsis: WARNING: Mature themes, strong language and sexual content. Recommended for adult readers (18+) only!

Derek Alexander is an ex-Marine, ex-cop, and the top investigator in his field. Melissa Jones is a small-town girl trying to escape her troubled past.

When the two intersect in a bar in Arizona, their sexual chemistry is off the charts. But what is revealed during their "one week stand" only complicates matters.

Because she'll do everything in her power to get away from the past, but he'll do everything he can to hold her.

Standalone, M/F, HEA.

Review: 3 Stars - One to Hold By Tia Louise is a steamy romance novel with bite. Bite for this title is a couple of nicely done twists that had me shocked right along with the characters.

First off, I have to say a huge bravo to author Tia Louise. She got me hook, line and sinker for characters Melissa and Derek. They did in fact have some major chemistry but it’s the twists that I didn’t see coming that I have to commend her on. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of books with well done twists and that alone was a huge plus for this reader. I mean who doesn’t like a book that the twists come right out of left field?

The two characters Melissa and Derek meet and things kick off for the two in the blink of an eye. Since they meet in a bar I could see this happening in the real world just as quickly. Melissa is hiding things which will keep the reader guessing for the better part of the book. When you finally get to the meat of the story and we as a reader have a chance to hear her story was the point when I was finally completely involved with her story. I had wanted to know what made her tick and what the heck she was running from and Louise didn’t disappoint.

Then we have Derek. He’s also hiding something and when that comes out I was blown away because I didn’t see it coming at all. Not one bit and yeah… shocked.

I do have a few reasons why I’m giving this title 3 stars. The first being - I’m not the biggest fan of insta-love and it happens so fast for these characters. While it’s not the biggest reason it is one. Another reason being the story often felt rushed. I felt I was missing things, or I should say that a few things were maybe somewhat glossed over. I liked that the epilogue is written in Derek’s point of view which I think was what was maybe missing during the story. So much of it takes place on his side of things, which you’ll understand later in the book when his past comes to light, so I think it might have been better received by this reader had I been able to get into his head more. The last thing was at the end I felt the time line was a confusing. Maybe it’s something I just missed but I felt lost as to how much time had actually passed between the end and the epilogue. If it is in fact something that I missed while reading then I apologize.

 I liked that this was a quick read, it fit just what I was looking for at the time, but it fell a tad flat. Not to say that it’s not good, I did like it and I will be reading more of this author in the future. Also, I need to make a quick comment about the cover. I think it’s one of my favorites of ALL the self published titles from this year. It’s subtle yet fits the characters extremely well.

All in all I believe that readers will love this books, story and characters. I think readers who like a contemporary ADULT title will fall in love with Derek and will wish that they could be Melissa for a day. I recommend this one to fans of romance, adult titles with a lot of steamy/sexy times and as it states in the synopsis – a standalone title with a Happily Ever After. I’m looking forward to the next book to read more about other characters from Louise’ world because I’d like to hear what the secondary characters from this title have to say and what’s going on in their lives, past and present. Enjoy!