Even though Mallory Sullivan had grown up in foster care, she was lucky enough to be with a good family. When she participated in a math competition in high school, Mallory was awarded a scholarship to an Ivy league university from the Osbourne Corporation, then subsequently landed an internship at the same company. Having moved to New York City with her best friend from university, Paige, the latter takes Mallory to celebrate her new job on the Friday before the big Monday morning. Mallory then meets a man who mesmerizes her, he only tells her a nickname: Oz. He is hellbent on having her phone number; at first, Mallory is a bit skittish, she has never dated, having been too preoccupied with getting the best grades possible, but she finally agrees. What she doesn't know is that Oz, is Miles Osbourne of the Osbourne Corporation and he has been watching her since her high school days...

I went into EVERYTHING FOR HER totally blind. Apart from the blurb, Alexa Riley was a new author to me, and the only thing I had heard is that her stories were over-the-top romances. Well, they weren't kidding about that! Right from the start, I knew this was going to be a difficult review for me to write: Mallory is the ultimate virgin heroine, and Oz the über alpha male, both types of characters I don't particularly like, and least of all the fact that in my eyes, he came off as a stalker; Oz had been following Mallory for years, had "helped" with her education, and now giving her a job. Right from the prologue, Oz scared me; I had the impression of a predator, and honestly, he gave me the willies. Not good.

So this is where things get really complicated: can I remain objective enough to review the story as it presents itself, or will the way I feel about the characters and the story prevail? I thought that the premise would have made a terrific thriller, where Eric -- Mallory's co-worker, and a stereotypical snobbish, trust fund baby -- would save the day and Mallory from the psycho, but I digress. As for Mallory, I thought her a pitiful little creature who falls for the determined alpha who will stop at nothing to get what he wants; she went along with it all. Had I been Mallory, I would have set a world record in long distance running. I also found one thing particularly odd: Mallory is extremely thorough, she did all sorts of research on Osbourne Corporation, and in this day and age, I have no idea how she never even researched or saw a picture of Oz, and he's not a hermit.

Maybe my sense of humor deserted me, but I felt nothing for the man with the sapphire eyes and the "honey and amber smell", even through Mallory's eyes; he really creeped me out. If I try to get all my issues out of my mind, Oz was extremely good to Mallory -- and in true alpha style, punched a few dudes who had the nerve to get too close to her -- and she seemed to go with the flow, but then again, she has never dated, so she has no points of comparison. On the other hand, I really liked Paige, and I would have preferred to read her own story, because she's a great character, although she does play an important role in the narrative. I was also a tad perplexed at the last epilogue, but I surmise this is the sort of quirkiness that Ms. Riley's fans expect and look forward to.

Told in alternate points of view, EVERYTHING FOR HER is very well written, a quick read, it flows smoothly, and the editing is impeccable; there were a couple of plot twists I never saw coming, and the sex scenes are seriously hot and very well done. As this type of story and characters seem to be very popular these days, I guess it's merely a matter of personal preference, so I presume, over-the-top isn't for me.