{"id":9545,"date":"2016-06-25T04:29:49","date_gmt":"2016-06-25T08:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=9545"},"modified":"2017-01-29T06:41:15","modified_gmt":"2017-01-29T11:41:15","slug":"review-the-other-man-by-r-k-lilley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=9545","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Other Man by R.K. Lilley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0 <\/a>|\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/b><\/h4>\n
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Review<\/b><\/h4>\n

3.5 darkly mysterious, sexy stars<\/b><\/p>\n

This book is a spin off from The Wild Side<\/i> trilogy, where Lourdes and Heath were introduced as side characters. Heath\u2019s role was important but secretive, and Lourdes was a friend \u2013 and potential love interest \u2013 of Dair. The events of this story take place during The Wild Side<\/i> timeline, and I really liked both Lourdes and Heath in the those books, so was so excited to finally get around to reading their story. There are also loose links to the In Flight<\/i> and Tristan & Danika<\/i> books (R.K. Lilley fans will be in cameo heaven!), but despite these ties, this book can easily be read as a standalone.<\/p>\n

Lourdes is a smart, sophisticated, successful woman in her early 40s with two grown sons who is looking for love, and from the moment she sees Heath she is captivated. Dark and dangerous, \u201cRough, dirty, sheet-clawing sex fairly radiated off him\u201d<\/i>, and it is most definitely lust at first sight with both of them experiencing an immediate and intense attraction, and at their first opportunity they get straight down to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow rough can you take it, Lourdes?\u201d he asked, bringing his mouth very close to mine.
\nI was trying not to pant. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I replied honestly. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you show me what you got?\u201d
\nHe smiled, and this time, it very nearly reached his eyes. \u201cYou asked for it.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Yes, we must question Lourdes\u2019 decision making and blatant disregard for her own safety in allowing this sort of behaviour because it\u2019s dangerous and downright stupid. But it\u2019s fiction, Heath is hot and the sexy time is steaming so I was happy to just accept it and move along).<\/p>\n

Heath is like nobody that Lourdes has ever encountered before \u2013 dangerous, secretive, dominant, possessive, intense and anti-social, but with a tenderness that is surprising and all the more sweeter given his harshness. Night after night he comes to her house, rocking her world but sharing nothing of himself only to mysteriously disappear again with no word of where he\u2019s going or when he\u2019ll be back. But he doesn\u2019t hold back from taking what he wants, and he makes it clear to Lourdes that she is it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand how it looks. It looks bad. And, hell, if I could tell you the full truth, it would probably look even worse than whatever you\u2019re thinking. But I want you to know something, and it is the truth. I\u2019d never hurt you. If it was within my power, I\u2019d do anything to prevent you being hurt\u2026 You\u2019re fucking mine, you understand?\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I really enjoyed the dynamic between these two. Heath is only 25 so there\u2019s a huge age difference, but it doesn\u2019t make the slightest bit of difference for him, and I love how he just fits himself into her life like he belonged there. He has lived a dangerous life and he has big secrets which impact on why he is so secretive and closed off but Lourdes is completely overwhelmed by everything that he makes her feel so she accepts him the way he is. But she wants more, and as she opens up to him and he comes to realise what she wants from him, he gives her what he can, and I loved seeing his more vulnerable, lighter side.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that was a date,\u201d he stated.
\nWe were driving back to my house.
\n\u201cYes, it was,\u201d I agreed, tone wry.
\n\u201cWas it a good one?\u201d
\nI bit my lip to keep from laughing. \u201cYou tell me,\u201d I urged him.
\n\u201cDepends. Do I get to fuck you soon?\u201d He sounded surly.
\nI tensed. Just when I thought things were going so well that I was giddy with it, he had to open his big mouth.
\n\u201cIt seems likely,\u201d I told him slowly. \u201cThough the more you talk, the less likely it is.\u201d
\n\u201cNoted. Shutting my mouth until you\u2019re ready to fuck.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is an unconventional romance to be sure, and with the whole story written from Lourdes\u2019 POV we only see one side of the story which adds a mysterious intensity to it all as we wonder what Heath is up to. And as their relationship starts to shift and they begin to reveal more of themselves to each other, the mystery of Heath\u2019s life and his secretive nature only grows, and Lourdes finds herself trapped in a situation she could never have anticipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a future, Lourdes. But if I did\u2026if I did, it would be yours. I\u2019d give it to you in a heartbeat. I wish I could give you everything you deserve.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Having read The Wild Side<\/i> books, I knew Heath\u2019s big secret, and had an idea of what was coming, so I experienced it differently from somebody who reads it not knowing what\u2019s going on (not sure if it would be annoying or exciting, but I\u2019ll go with exciting). I could understand Heath\u2019s actions and the way their relationship was the way it was, but I still liked the fact that there were enough twists and surprises that I wasn\u2019t expecting to keep it an exciting read.<\/p>\n

I really like the way the story played out. It\u2019s intense and unusual for sure, but I could feel the chemistry between Heath and Lourdes, and I enjoyed the dark edginess, mystery and moments of suspense that fit in well with the super-sexy and increasingly emotional love story. And it all builds to a great ending and a gorgeous epilogue which finishes everything off really nicely.<\/p>\n

I really enjoyed it \u2013 3.5 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For information about R.K. Lilley’s other books (including In Flight<\/em>, Tristan & Danika<\/em> and The Wild Side)<\/em> series, please check out our R.K. Lilley Author Spotlight<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback Review 3.5 darkly mysterious, sexy stars This book is a spin off from The Wild Side trilogy, where Lourdes and Heath were introduced as side characters. Heath\u2019s role was important […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":3.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,29],"tags":[170,48],"class_list":["post-9545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-r-k-lilley","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/The-Other-Man.jpg?fit=150%2C229&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-2tX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}