Book Review - Exquisite by Ella Frank

I ran across a review of Exquisite by Ella Frank a couple of weeks ago.  Then, within a couple of days, it seemed that it was being talked about at nearly every bookish place I visit online.  So, I read the description on GoodReads, which is as follows:

Her heart was guarded…

Tormented by self-imposed guilt, Dr. Lena O’Donnell has spent the last nine years in survival mode. Struggling through days that seem to blend together and battling her way through each horrifying night, she’s determined that this is what she deserves…

Until he tore down the walls…

Mason Langley’s life is going exactly the way he planned it, until her. A confirmed bachelor and the successful owner of the hottest restaurant to hit Chicago, he never expects to be blindsided by an angry woman in a pair of scrubs. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to shake the doctor, and he finds himself liking the way she makes him feel.

Almost over night Lena finds her world turned upside down by Mason and the sexual desire they discover together. Slowly, she lowers her guard and invites him inside but when tragedy strikes she begins to believe that sometimes it’s better to be alone and safe than to love and lose.

I decided I would read this book - at some point.  It turned out that this and Entice (the second book in this series) were really good prices for my Nook so I got them and then went on to read a few other books.  Yesterday, after finishing a book set during World War 2, I decided I wanted to come back to the present and saw this on my Nook.  What the heck, I thought and started the book.  I stayed up until nearly 3:00 in the morning to finish the book!

I started Lena and Mason's story and they got under my skin.  Lena's self-imposed misery due to her guilt was heart breaking but I loved seeing Mason slowly but surely get through to her.  They don't like each other too much at first but they're funny in the way they go about dealing with one another.  And once they decide to actually try to get to know one another without all of the snarkiness the sparks fly even hooter and they eventually settle into a very sweet relationship.

Of course, then there is tragedy and a seemingly complete meltdown to things between them.  I went through a range of emotions with these characters; I laughed, cried, got mad and irritated, sighed in a good way more than once.  I finished the book with a very happy, albeit tired, smile on my face.

The secondary characters in this book are just as fascinating.  In fact, I'm going right into the second book, Entice.  The third book is due out this summer and I have a feeling it's going to feel like a long wait for it.