WHEN I’M WITH YOU by Beth Kery

Part 1
Penguin Publishing, March 2013
Paperback from publisher
A SIN:  B00AEBEWA4
Erotic Romance/BDSM
***



Beth Kery’s WHEN I’M WITH YOU is an erotic story of dominance, determination and dining; yes dining.

Rich and powerful Lucien Lenault keeps his past in France a secret from his new life running a popular Chicago restaurant.  When he finds his chef attempting to seduce a woman after hours in his restaurant, he fires the chef.  The woman in question turns out to be someone from his past life, the very woman his parents had hoped he would marry to further secure his family’s wealth.  Elise comes to Chicago to apprentice with a famous chef as the final stage in becoming a chef herself.  With the chef she was to work with suddenly gone, Elise finds herself attempting to get Lucien to keep her on at least until he finds a new chef.  Though Elise knows that Lucien remembers her as a spoiled rich party girl, she has put that life behind her and is finally ready to learn some independence. 

Unbeknownst to this reader, Ms. Kery apparently released WHEN I’M WITH YOU a few chapters at a time to Kindle readers before releasing the book in its entirety.  I mention that here because it is a new and imaginative way to market and grab readers’ interest that this reader found intriguing.  The copy this reader had was a paperback version in its entirety from the publisher.

The main characters, Lucian and Elise, are both complex and fully developed.  It is obvious from the moment Lucian recognizes Elise that these two characters are going to drive each other to distraction.  Lucian is a dominant and feels strongly that Elise is badly in need of some boundaries in her life.  He still sees her as the rich, young and spoiled party girl.  Elise is strong in her own way.  She may have been everything Lucian remembers, but she is all grown up now and planning a life of her own.  She has worked very hard to become good at her craft and refuses to let Lucian’s preconceived ideas about her ruin her chance at becoming a chef.  Their attraction is apparent from the beginning.  Their story is their struggle to find a happily ever after for them together.

Lucian’s dominance issues really sort of detracted from the story somewhat for this reader.  It seemed like Elise was much more willing to adapt to fit into Lucian’s world, that he was hers.  But the wringer that she puts him through along the way is unexpectedly funny and entertaining and has readers cheering for this unlikely duo.  The story pace is brisk and the challenges to their love abundant.  At the end of the day, the light erotic romance, WHEN I’M WITH YOU, was a tasty and entertaining read.


Review by Tammy (TammyLRM@gmail.com)
*This is an objective review and not an endorsement*