Laid Bare

Unexpected Desire...
It's been ten years since clean-cut, sexy-as-hell police officer Todd Keenan had a white-hot fling with Erin Brown, the provocative, wild rocker chick next door. Their power exchange in the bedroom got under his skin. But love wasn't in the cards just yet...
Now, life has thrown the pair back together. But picking up where they left off is tough, in light of a painful event from Erin's past. As Todd struggles to earn her trust, their relationship takes an unexpected and exciting turn when Todd's best friend, Ben, ends up in their bed--and all three are quite satisfied in this relationship without a name. As the passion they share transforms Erin, will it be enough to help her face the evil she thought she had left behind?

Laid Bare is the first book in Lauren Dane’s Brown Family series. It was also the first book I read from the author. I always love finding new-to-me authors to add to my life, and this book was something I was looking forward to reading. 

Female Protagonist: A successful rockstar with her family, Erin Brown ends up hooking up with her next-door neighbor, but he gets scared and leaves. Fast Forward and Erin have been married with a child. She’s been through a lot, so she’s dealing with PTSD. I felt for her character in this book and wanted her to have a HEA. 

Male Protagonist: Todd is a former police officer and now works at his security company with some of his friends back home. At the beginning of the book, he’s scared of what he wants in a relationship with Erin Brown, which made me question him. He changes, though, after he comes back home and makes me like him. He fits very well in the dominant role in the relationship.

Storyline: The series will follow along with the Brown Family siblings. This family has been through a lot. In this book, though, it follows along with Erin Brown. Erin Brown has gone through the unthinkable that no one should ever have to go through. I’m getting ahead of myself, though. At the beginning of the book, the main characters meet each other, which is very steamy. Todd gets scared off because of what Erin and himself want from each other sexually. Fast forward years later, they end up back in each others lives after divorces and tragedies. They end up coming back together, and it’s getting hot between the two characters. There are BDSM and other things. They are the perfect dom and sub. By the middle of the book, though, they involve another person in their relationship who happens to fit well. This book is very steamy, but it had a good mixture of drama in it too. Erin has to deal with what happened to her in the past, and she has the help of her brothers, Todd and even Ben. I won’t go into much more because I don’t want to give it away, but Lauren Dane did a great job with the storyline. There were some issues I ran into when reading the book, but as I’ll state below, I think it’s due to the reading slump I was in, and I couldn’t give the book my full attention. I also tried it in audiobook format, but that didn’t work out for me. I needed to read this book. 

Steaminess: Very Steamy. This book includes BDSM and Menage (M-F-M).

Standalone or Series: It’s part of a series, but I believe each could be read as a standalone. 

HEA: Yes.

Would I recommend this book? If you are a fan of Erotic Romance with BDSM and Menage elements, this book is for you. This book is also an emotional rollercoaster, so be prepared to have some tissues. Overall, this book gets 3.5 stars from me. I may go back to re-read it later since I was dealing with a reading slump at the time I was reading this book, and it took me longer than usual to read a book at that time. 

I couldn’t get into any book. 🙁 I will give it another try because Lauren Dane deserves my full attention. I did enjoy the steaminess of the book between Todd, Erin, and Ben. I wanted more Ben, though. He was my favorite in the book. 🙂 

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About Lauren Dane

Lauren Dane has been writing stories since she was able to use a pencil, and before that she used to tell them to people. Of course, she still talks nonstop, and through wonderful fate and good fortune, she’s now able to share what she writes with others. It’s a wonderful life!

The basics: Lauren is a mom, a partner, a best friend and a daughter. Living in the rainy but beautiful Pacific Northwest, she spends her late evenings writing like a fiend when she finally wrestles all of her kids to bed.

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FranJessca

Owner/Reviewer at A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog

I guess I should type a bio here. I'm FranJessca, or Fran for short. I'm the owner/reviewer behind A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog. I've been reading and reviewing books on my blog since leaving the Navy in 2011, and I will keep doing it as long as possible. My favorite genres will always be Romance & Fantasy, and I read every subgenre underneath those two genres. (Sorry, not a fan of nonfiction, so don't try to convince me to read it.)
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)

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