BOOK REVIEW⎜ Burn for You by JT Geissinger

Amazingly entertaining, packing heat, passion and banter! If you like your heroes on the growly side, your heroines fiery with a smart mouth, a push and pull potent with animosity and a healthy dose of steam, you don’t want to miss Burn For You! This is your next afternoon escape!

I discovered J.T. Geissinger recently over the past summer and fell in love with her sexy and suspenseful stories propelled combustible thanks to a perfect mix of strong alphas with a gentle streak and independent heroines with a strong bite.

With that promise in mind, I was already salivating about meeting a beastly Bourbon king meeting his downfall in the person of a sassy restaurant owner in Burn For You.
Enemies to Lovers. Marriage of Convenience. Tortured Hero. Beauty and The Beast retelling… Oh the last one got your attention? Well, you’ll love to read about all the parallels and references to the tale as old as time… and enjoy every minute of it! 

Jackson Boudreaux, impersonates oh so perfectly the growly and grouchy beast in this modern southern retelling. More beast than man, I loved how the author chose to characterize our tortured and complex hero with a bestial and almost feral behavior. He snarled a lot and he growled even more and I loved it!

Growl count in this book : 27

Yes, I’m well aware a few readers don’t like growling heroes, humans don’t growl I was told by a few… Well guess what? This very reader likes it a whole lot. I find it super hot to witness the hero reach such a level of frustration  he calls to his carnal and bestial side by growling and snarling. In this slow burn and hate to love you setting it was more than called for and a great parallel with the Beauty and The Beast references.

Rude, grumpy and surly—every nuance applies— he’s used to get what he wants —or more aptly, what he orders.Unfortunately for him, our heroine, Bianca, has a no nonsense strict policy and Bourbon King or not,  Jackson will just have to learn some manners!

Bianca Hardwick, the heroine would easily feature on my favorite heroine’s shelf—if I had one—, she’s smart, packs enough sass to spare an army of cheeky ladies and gives as good as she gets, with witty come-backs and exquisite audacity. Especially when she dares setting straight the man everyone even fears looking in the eyes.

Chef in her own restaurant specializing in southern cuisine—inherited from her mother—she’s dealing with family issues impending a need for immediate funds. Conveniently enough, our prickly beast needs someone to fulfill the role of his wife for a marriage of convenience. Considering both can’t stand each other—but can’t help to lust after one another—it’s off with this promise hate to love you trope that the book really starts.

Another thing worth mentioning, is the immersion in Deep South, Louisiana! I voraciously devoured every bits of Southern slang and idioms! Everything about the setting and secondary characters felt so genuine, I could almost see, hear, taste and smell everything. J.T. Geissinger did a fantastic job at setting the New Orleans’ scene and made me travel the time of a book. I also loved the inclusion of  Bianca’s typical recipes throughout the book, opening a few chapters. 

Now about the much expected slow burn… I just adored every minute of it!  The author did a fine job developing the tension between both heroes, none of them willing to yield on anything, yet, both unintentionally attracted to each other.

The push and pull was a delight to read about, making any small gesture or thought met with high expectations for the reader. I was ready for them to become an item after one chapter! I just knew their pending chemistry and lustful thoughts would lead to some explosive and playful scenes later on.

The building of their relationship was really nicely done, the author skillfully increased the anticipation, gradually dropping hints and clues about Jackson’s past making him a multi layered and complex character you had no choice but to get attached to. Generously sprinkled with a nice dose of humor and banter, Burn For You have everything to set you up for a good time! 

This author definitely has a knack for creating sizzling dynamic between her characters! Stretching the tension to the culminating point, she makes the reader antsy to jump off the cliff along with the characters and just give in to their desire. And I was right there with Bianca and Jackson! The passion between them was eruptive, JT Geissinger knows a thing or two about heating up a bedroom! So good! Gosh but I love a good slow burn! 

So why not a full 5 stars rating?
The last quart of the book unraveled rather… unexpectedly and so fast it left me a little disappointed. With so much care given to carve such a delectable tortured hero, I was regrettably disconcerted by the quickness the author chose to tie any loose ends and felt robbed of a part of his story. In this case a simple sentence was delivered to excuse and explain years of self-hatred, hurt and misconceptions. One would think over fifteen years of psychological issues, family drama and exile should have easily deserved a little more depth but I do however understand the necessity to keep this book under wraps to meet an —imposed?—length. I personally think this particular side of him was central to the story and should have been explored a bit further and not brushed under the carpet.

I also regret the quickness it took to deal with another issue on the heroine’s side, especially considering it was another initial setup for the main plot. It felt all contrived to me, to draw an issue out for 80% of the book and just dealing with it from what I personally perceived rather… offhandedly.

To conclude, J.T. Geissinger cleverly dishes-up every romance reader’s dream with a clever blend of well loved tropes, a tingling slow burn, a prickling hero with a soft heart and a heroine you can’t help but love and wish you had a tenth of her witiness, all tastefully seared with sexiness, wrapped in quality banter and served with with a well merited HFN!