FALLING IN DEEPER - Shayla Black
Wicked Lovers , Book 11
Berkley
ISBN: 978-0-425-27547-4
July 2016
Erotic Contemporary Romance

Louisiana - Present Day

Stone Sutter has only two weeks left to convince Lily Taylor to testify against a man from her past or Stone will find himself back in prison.  Unfortunately, after their initial, explosive meeting, Lily – known to her friends as either Misty or Sweet Pea – has avoided Stone like the plague.  Stone has been working with Jack Cole, who runs his own security business, and the Edgington brothers, who know what the FBI is expecting of Stone. They convince Mitchell Thorpe, owner of the Dallas BDSM club, Dominion, and Lily's boss, to let Stone become Lily's new Dom.

Lily has been on her own since she was sixteen, on the run from the man who killed her best friend and then her family.  Stone had been the first man ever to truly turn her on, but when she learned that he was just recently released from prison, her fears took over and she's ignored him and the way he makes her feel for the past three months.  Axel, the Dom who has been her protector for three years, fell in love and followed his fiancée to Europe, so Lily is on her own again.  She reluctantly agrees to work with Stone after learning the truth about his crimes, but then she realizes that her past has caught up to her.  She has to leave behind the friends she's made in Dallas in order to protect them, but Stone is determined to stay with her.

While he initially agreed to convince Lily to testify in order to help himself, by the time Stone gets her alone, his mission has taken a backseat to helping Lily heal in FALLING IN DEEPER.  He'd been released from prison to help Jack Cole with a case, but the chemistry between Stone and Lily convinces the FBI that he has the best chance to persuade Lily, and Stone is given the chance to commute his sentence if successful.  The months waiting for Lily to speak with him are productive in one way – Stone learns how to be the dominant lover Lily needs in her life, but until she agrees to speak with him, the case itself is at a standstill.  Lily grew up in a pretty rough neighborhood, and by her late teens her life had taken a turn for the worse.  A series of tragedies, instigated by a local drug dealer, forced Lily to flee, and it's taken a long time for her to feel stable.  She sees herself as too broken to be a “normal” woman, but Stone makes her want to try.

The eleventh book in the Wicked Lovers series is a stand-alone novel, focusing on Stone and Lily almost exclusively.  Having read the previous novels will clarify who the Edgington brothers, Jack Cole, Mitchell Thorpe, Axel, and all of the others are, but they are mostly background characters.  Like the earlier books, FALLING IN DEEPER is equal parts sizzling, sexy scenes, and taut suspense that will keep readers riveted.

Jennifer Bishop