Review - Real - Katy Evans

Title: Real
Author: Katy Evans
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: May 28th, 2013
Series: Real, Raw & Ripped #1
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Synopsis

Remington Tate has a bad-boy rep in and out of the ring, a granite-hard body, and a raw, animal power that sends his female fans into a frenzy. But from the moment their eyes lock, the only woman he wants is Brooke Dumas. His desire is pure, all-consuming, and REAL.

Hired to keep his perfect body working like a machine, Brooke finally has the lucrative sports therapy job she’s been dreaming of. But as she tours the dangerous underground fighting circuit with Remy and his team, Brooke’s own body becomes alive with the most primal of hungers. If what happens between Brooke and Remy is ever as light as a flirtation, it quickly becomes an erotic obsession for them both, and promises so much more.

But their white-hot lust has a dark side—and when Remy’s deepest secret comes to light and Brooke’s familial duties demand action, will the pair be able to hang on, or will everything that once seemed so real suddenly fade away like an illusion?

My rating:

This book was a train wreck. One giant, full-blown, explosive catastrophe filled with twisted piles of sexual tension, fragments of intense lust, and the shattered remains of angsty, heated arguments. A train wreck, indeed. So now, if you’re wondering why I gave it four stars it’s because…I enjoyed the vast majority of it.

Not once was I ever bored with this book. Its fast pace and the electric way Katy Evans wrote it kept me with my Nook practically glued to my fingers. I stayed up the entire night reading it, the glow maybe hurting my eyes a little, but I’d be lying if I said I wished I could have those hours back. And, yeah, electric is probably a weird word to describe K.E.’s writing, but it’s the only thing that fits. I could try to explain it, but I feel like direct quotes would be the only thing to do it any significant amount of justice:

“He looks into my face again, his eyes seething with desire. I think I just nodded in agreement, but I’m too shaky to know for sure. A sweltering fever runs unleashed through me. My legs won’t stop trembling as every one of my cells screams in lust because I want him now. I want him now.”

And then there’s…

“Holding me protectively in his strong arms, he brushes my hair back as his lips buzz along the bare curve between my neck and collar, his fingers sliding up my neck as he once again, like a chant, nuzzles my ear and tells me, ‘Mine. Tonight.’”

So, yeah, sexual tension galore. I’d say about 95% of the entire book was sexual tension. And that’s great if you’re into that sort of thing, but at times it read like pure smut. I’m no prude, and I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never read an erotica book before, but at times I found myself cringing at some of the word choice.

“Even though he’s wearing sweatpants and an easy T-shirt, there’s no way you can miss the clench of the muscles of his upper body through the damp cotton fabric, and the way his sweatpants hang low on his narrow hips make my breasts feel so heavy and painful I swear to god I can’t imagine how it will feel when I’m lactating one day.”

Now, outside of the context of the novel, nothing's wrong with lactating boobs. It's natural. But in direct contrast with Remy's hotness, it's just so out of place.

Those quotes are just few of many of the lusty thoughts our narrator, Brooke Dumas, has for Remington “Remy” Tate, the hero. There’s about a billon more where they came from, too. While I did like the intensity, I wished it had been toned down a bit to allow more room for the romance. Halfway through the book, I was already aware of how much Brooke and Remy wanted to bang. I got it. Cool. But where was the swoony romance? The meaningful conversation, expressed outside of song lyrics? (Though I will admit that the lyric communication was my favorite part.) A connection that didn’t involve sex, for once? The love between them, I feel, wasn’t as clear as it could’ve been. (Until the end, at least.) I didn’t experience them falling in love like I would’ve wanted to. Mostly, I just felt Brooke’s sex muscles clenching every time she even thought of Remy.

Another thing that kind of got squashed in Brooke’s sex-starved narrative was the characterization. I got no sense of character until I was almost done with the book. Remy was supposed to be this super hot, cocky, amazing, powerful, troubled guy. And I wanted to see those things more than I wanted to hear about how much Brooke wanted to jump his bones. The same with Brooke. I actually liked her, once I got past her smutty inner thoughts. She was cool and sensible. It wasn’t until the issue with her sister that I began to see some depth.

Despite the things I said above, I fell for Brooke and Remy’s relationship. It may have taken some time, but it got there, so I’m glad I read until the end. I really liked that things weren’t so happy-happy-joy-joy between them all the time. The way that they Remy fought to keep Brooke at a distance first, and then fought to keep her close. The way that Brooke’s emotions teetered a few times because of how much she wanted him.

“He must have wanted a different reaction to his gesture. He must have wanted me to be all gushy and tell him, ‘Oh my stars, you’re so amazing!’ But I won’t. Because I hate what he does to me. I hate that I want him like this, hate that I feel so volatile I want to tear his eyes out and then go cry about it.”

I’m such a sucker for angsty love affairs, I couldn’t help but give this surprisingly thrilling train wreck of a romance four stars.

 ***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***