April 26th, 2024
Home | Log in!

Fresh Pick
THE WARTIME BOOK CLUB
THE WARTIME BOOK CLUB

New Books This Week

Fresh Fiction Box

Video Book Club

Latest Articles


April's Affections and Intrigues: Love and Mystery Bloom

Slideshow image


Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the image slideshow:

slideshow image
Investigating a conspiracy really wasn't on Nikki's very long to-do list.


slideshow image
Escape to the Scottish Highlands in this enemies to lovers romance!


slideshow image
It�s not the heat�it�s the pixie dust.


slideshow image
They have a perfect partnership�
But an attempt on her life changes everything.


slideshow image
Jealousy, Love, and Murder: The Ancient Games Turn Deadly


slideshow image
Secret Identity, Small Town Romance
Available 4.15.24


Searching for Beautiful

Searching for Beautiful, June 2015
Searching for #3
by Jennifer Probst

Gallery Books
Featuring: Genevieve MacKenzie; Wolfe
500 pages
ISBN: 1476780099
EAN: 9781476780092
Kindle: B00LD1OLTG
Paperback / e-Book
Add to Wish List


Purchase



"Why search for perfect when all you need is beautiful!"

Fresh Fiction Review

Searching for Beautiful
Jennifer Probst

Reviewed by Monique Daoust
Posted May 25, 2015

Romance | Romance Contemporary

Gen had found the perfect man, and moments before her perfect wedding, she bolts out of the window in her perfect wedding dress because she is too afraid to go through with it. As it is her best friend Wolfe, who was almost late for the ceremony, is close by and goes to her rescue. Wolfe had never liked David, Gen's fiancé; he always felt something was off, but still he is a taken aback when Gen asks Wolfe to take her far away. Now.

And I thought Jennifer Probst had reached the apex of her talent with Searching for Perfect, the second instalment in the Searching for series, but boy, was I wrong: SEARCHING FOR BEAUTIFUL is simply astonishing! Heart-wrenching, emotional, with extraordinary insight into the human psyche and relationships, with SEARCHING FOR BEAUTIFUL, the author has crafted an exceptionally compelling read. Ms. Probst is particularly adept at fleshing out mesmerizing characters, and Gen and Wolfe are beyond compare, especially the latter.

Wolfe is charismatic and a bit mysterious; he is a prism of emotions; he is a survivor and as we come to learn more of his past, my heart broke and soared; I completely fell in love with him, and this is what an author should aim to achieve: not tell us that we should love the character but write him in such a way that we simply do. How can you not love a man who is afraid of spiders? The author's skills at depicting relationships have never been sharper: whether the touching family interaction between Gen and her father or the intertwining relationships of David, Gen and Wolfe, which provide as much drama as the best thriller as secrets from their pasts are revealed.

SEARCHING FOR BEAUTIFUL is a thick-ish book and Ms. Probst's smooth and elegant prose and spot-on dialogues make it a very quick read because the author invites the reader as a friend to be privy to the story of those characters. SEARCHING FOR BEAUTIFUL is spellbinding: I had chills, I had lumps in my throat, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. SEARCHING FOR BEAUTIFUL touched my heart and my soul as few books ever have before. Jennifer Probst writes life, love and sex, with all its ups and downs, in all its beauty and ugliness, better than reality does. There are some spectacularly touching and beautiful sentences I will never forget. Nothing prepared me for the magnificent SEARCHING FOR BEAUTIFUL; I dare anyone not to cry.

Learn more about Searching for Beautiful

SUMMARY

The highly anticipated third novel in the Searching For series from Jennifer Probst, “one of the most exciting breakout novelists” (USA TODAY), featuring a runaway bride and the man who wants to be more than just her best friend…

Genevieve MacKenzie has her life completely under control. About to wed the charming Chief doctor at the local hospital, she’s an up-and-coming surgeon with everything she could ever want. Until an escape through the church window on the day of her wedding sends her life into a tailspin… and flings her right into her best friend’s arms.

When Wolfe catches his best friend falling out a window on her wedding day, he doesn’t ask questions. He whisks her away, determined to watch over her and discover the truth behind her desperate escape. But when his feelings turn more than platonic, he realizes he may risk his most important relationship in order to protect his damaged heart, and the woman he loves.

Can Genevieve and Wolfe’s friendship turn into something deeper—or is it already too late for true love?

Excerpt

“Too bad. I was hoping for some awesome sex secret.

Like telling me you really are into dominatrix stuff.”

“Sex again, huh?”

“Must be the alcohol.” She finished up the fifth or sixth beer, and enjoyed the heat coursing through her veins. The fake happiness would soon turn to depression, but she didn’t care for now. It had been so long she let go of control and did something reckless.

“David said I sucked at sex.”

This time, he rolled over. Those stinging blue eyes pierced into hers and his jaw tightened. “David was an asshole and that’s why you left. You don’t suck at sex.”

The giggles overtook her. “How do you know? We never had sex. I probably do. I’m too in my head, always waiting to see if I’m good enough until faking orgasms became my art.”

Fury laced his words. “Let me repeat. He was an asshole, and lousy in bed if he had you faking orgasms. He messed with your head, babe. Don’t let him get in.”

She waved a hand in the air and tried not to giggle again. Oh yeah, she was drunk. It wasn’t so funny before, but now it seemed kind of lame not to be able to rock the bedroom with your fiancé. “S’okay. I’m not the sexy type, you know? I’m vanilla. Boring. He even said my kissing was like missionary sex every night. But I know he didn’t mean to hurt my feelings. He was just saying it to make me better, so I got some books, but it still didn’t really work.”

His teeth clenched. She was fascinated by the naked rage flickering over his face, the way he held his body tight like he was about to explode like some badass superhero. “I’m going to kill him.”

She almost laughed, but then he looked a bit too serious. Gen frowned and reached out. She got lucky and hit vision number one, which was real and not the duplicate dancing in front of her. Her fingers stroked his stubbled jaw in an effort to soothe his temper. Damn, she used to be able to knock back five beers in a night. Maybe because she had nothing in her stomach and it had been a hell of a day. Why did he look so mad again? Oh yeah, because she sucked at kissing and he was gonna kill David. “Not his fault. He never wanted to hurt me, told me that all the time. I kinda made him do it by not listening.”

“You really believe this shit, Gen?”

“It’ll be okay. I’ll get a vibrator or something, or maybe take lessons. Kate’s mom is a sex therapist, you know. Maybe she can help.”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed tight. “I’m gonna rip him apart piece by piece. You are good at sex. You are good at kissing. Are you listening?” She nodded hard. Ooooh, cool. Three faces now. He was so nice to look at, she could stare at him all day. So much better than evil Kermits. “Uh-huh. You’re a good friend. My fault though. You don’t know how bad I am at it.”

“Fuck.” The vicious curse emitted from his sexy mouth. His warm breath hit her cheek. She hated when he got pissy. “You better remember this tomorrow.” “Huh?”

Suddenly, he loomed over her, pressing her back into the ground, his hips cradling hers. Oh wow. His body heat scorched through wet clothes and her bare legs automatically opened in a primeval urge to surrender. He planted both hands on either side of her head and lowered his mouth. What was he doing? His delicious scent rose to her nostrils, and her hands found their way to grip his hips, his damp skin sleek and muscled beneath her touch.

Another curse escaped. He seemed grumpy and torn as he stared at her, inches away from her mouth, and Gen blinked a few times because his head kind of floated around, and her body screamed for more contact, please, just a bit more, and then he muttered, “I’m gonna prove you’re good at this kissing thing, okay?” and his mouth took hers.

She whimpered, literally whimpered, at the amazing feel of those ultrasoft, smooth lips coasting over hers with an expert grace and blistering heat that made her toes curl. Oh, alcoholic visions were so yummy! Wolfe, her best friend and and confidant, was kissing her, and it was too good to be real, so it had to be some sort of psychedelic mirage from too much Sam Adams.

Her mind spun, tried to make sense of it, and gave up.

Her body roared forward and seized control.

Hips arched, nails digging into his lower back, she surrendered to the sensations rocketing in her core and spreading like fire through her veins. He kissed her for a while, until she was a soft, gooey mess beneath him, and then his tongue parted her lips and surged in.

She opened her mouth and met him halfway, crazed for the full taste and essence of him. His tongue pushed, stroked, and explored, taking her deep. She moaned and reached for more. God she wanted more, the taste of citrusy lemon and male hunger pulling her under. He grew hard between her thighs and she nipped at his bottom lip, sucking gently, and he muttered something foul, deflowering her mouth like she was a virgin asking to be ravished and taken and f**ked.

Time stood still. It was too short, it was endless, it was everything. Her head spun, her breasts grew achy and tight, and she was so wet he could’ve slipped between her thighs and slid home without a protest. She made a sound deep in her throat when he slowly pulled away, the wet slide of his tongue over hers bestowing one final taste.

She blinked. Blistering heat and fury and lust mingled in those blue eyes. She felt eaten alive, scoured raw, and Gen shook as the solid foundation underneath her shifted and broke open.

“Are you listening, Gen?”

She couldn’t speak, so she managed a nod.

“You’re an amazing kisser. I could’ve f**ked you right here and now and been the happiest guy in the world. A guy has to be dead not to want you. David is a piece of shit. Understood?”

She swallowed. Nodded again.

“Good.” He slid off her and she almost cried out at the loss of his heat and pressure. The sky opened and swallowed her up as utter exhaustion suddenly hit her. Turned on, spent, emotions ripped and bleeding, she grabbed for his hand not to lose physical contact, and he interwove his fingers with hers and lay back on the dock. Slowly, she relaxed, his presence a bone-deep comfort and something else, something she refused to examine.

Gen gave up and let the blackness take her. But first she said the words.

“I love you, Wolfe.”

She slid toward sleep. His response drifted in the sultry air among the chirp of crickets.

“I love you too, babe.”


What do you think about this review?

Comments

1 comment posted.

Re: Why search for perfect when all you need is beautiful!

I loved the first 2 books & have been waiting for this one! So glad it exceeded your expectations. I hope to be reading it this week, possibly with a reread of the first 2 books!
(Sharlene Wegner 12:25pm May 26, 2015)

Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!

 

 

 

© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net  all rights reserved Privacy Policy