I don't know about you, dear reader, but there are some things in fiction that set my bells off in a bad way. Like the "if this happened to my friend in real life I would be calling the cops" bells. Also known in my circles as the Logan Echols effect (see Veronica Mars for explanation), it's the way that you can totally be okay or even in love with something/someone in fiction but in real life? No way.

In SUGAR, Charlie set off my Logan Echols alarm like woah. Like WOAH, y'all. The book opens with Charlie's narration giving off serious stalker signals and then him concluding a business meeting with our heroine, Siobhan, by hitting on her. This made me raise skeptical brows at our boy, wondering if he was going to pull it together.

He did, by the way, pull it together. But not before some odd pacing decisions and chemistry that I didn't fully buy until about a hundred pages in. Charlie and Siobhan did the mind-blowing sex before the mind-blowing intimacy thing and it made those bells go off.

Once they settled into communication and started doing life together and learning each other, I totally dug this book. It's the second in a series, but didn't feel too "series-y," save for a few moments. There's some character development that Seressia Glass clearly did in the previous book that she used shorthand for here, but not to the point where I was confused. The opening conversation between Siobhan and her business partner, Nadia, for example, appeared abrupt to me but were probably better introduced in the first volume of this world.

And, y'all, hot minute for the sex: Kindle-melting, involves toys and some light BDSM, very creative and adventurous, and adult sexual activity happening all over the show in this story. She's a burlesque dancer, after all, so lady has some mooooooooves. On a related note and by way of warning, the way they talk to each other about sex and during sex is what my mother would refer to as "coarse language," so be aware of that. One other wee note while I'm thinking of it - this book deals pretty extensively with someone in recovery from prescription drug addiction and the fallout. If you're a touch sensitive to that web of topics, be warned its a heavy hitter in this plot.

Overall, if you enjoy books with erotic sex scenes, burgeoning emotional connections between damaged folks learning to trust, and meddling friends who only want the best for their loved ones, then definitely add SUGAR to your book pile.