Rush by Gina Gordon
Publisher: Loveswept (5/12/2015)
Series: White Lace, book 1
Genre: New Adult
Source: Tasty Book Tours/NetGalley
Purchase links || amazon | bn | itunes | kobo | publisher || add to goodreads
Rating: ★★★★1/2
In this edgy, sizzling romance for fans of Monica Murphy and Abbi Glines, a bad boy shows a straitlaced law student how to slow down and savor the good things.
Everly Parker is about to graduate from law school, always busy, and can’t stop rushing through life. Her late grandmother left her a bucket list of meaningful, can’t-miss experiences, but she hasn’t completed a single one. Then searing-hot Max Levin bursts into her world. As a casting director for a porn production company, Max is loaded, cocky, and all wrong for Everly. Still, she’s tempted enough to cross the first item off her list: Go out with someone you’d never give the time of day.
Inheriting a porn empire isn’t every guy’s dream (well, actually, it probably is), but Max isn’t complaining. It’s just that until he meets Everly, he has no idea what he’s been missing. As the pressure mounts to take over the family business, Max can’t help wondering what would happen if he chose Everly instead. So far, his life has been a wild ride, but only Everly promises the greatest rush of all: love.
about Gina || When her dream of becoming a mafia princess didn’t pan out, Gina Gordon went after her second dream: becoming a writer. And she hasn’t looked back. A self-proclaimed happily-ever-after junkie and cupcake connoisseur, Gordon loves spinning contemporary tales of knee-bending first kisses, unconditional love, and super-hot sex. She lives in Milton, Ontario, with her husband and their lovable dog.
{ Gina Gordon’s Bucket List } .
In my new release Rush, Everly Parker has no clue how to go about completing a bucket list left to her by her late grandmother.
Everly has spent her entire life with her nose stuck in a book and this bucket list was her grandmother’s final attempt at trying to get her to experience life. Enter Max Levin who offers to help her check off the items.
I have my own bucket list. While my list isn’t as theoretical or as daunting as Everly’s, it’s a set of items that I’ve accumulated over my 34 years and one day hope to place a check mark beside each of them.
- See humpback whales (as of April 11, 2015, this item has been checked off!!!!).
- Drive down a dusty dirt road in a convertible a la Thelma and Louise.
- Visit Jim Morrison’s grave in France.
- Visit every province and territory in Canada.
- Learn to speak Italian.
- Go on a road trip – no plans, no destination.
- Get a tattoo.
- Go to an ashram and learn to meditate.
{ excerpt } .
A loud bang sounded to my right and I turned my attention to the aisle, where a sweet- looking girl blew a heavy breath out the side of her mouth. It caused her unkempt black hair to flutter around her face. She bent, reaching to pick up the stack of books that had fallen to the ground, giving a spectacular view of a tight, round bottom covered in black fabric.
Who knew yoga pants were so damn sexy? Hers were sloppily tucked into a pair of beige Uggs.
I scrambled from my seat and crouched beside her, picking up one of her books and holding it out. “You dropped something,” I said, my senses kicking up at the sweet scent surrounding me.
She snorted, a cute little laugh, and grabbed the book from my hand. “Sounds like something I would do.”
She finally looked up and her soft blue eyes locked on mine. Her lips were plump and naked. She didn’t need lipstick. They were the perfect shade of raspberry. Her pale skin was luminous and it took all of my willpower not to lean in and scent her, running my nose up her dainty neck. My cock twitched in my pants. An unexpected twitch. One I hadn’t felt upon first sight of a woman in a long damn time.
Getting rid of that book so soon might have been a bad idea. I needed it to cover the semi that had just popped up in my pants.
I did a quick survey of her body, which didn’t stand out, in yoga pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. She was the exact opposite of the women I saw on a daily basis. She was as plain as vanilla ice cream, but something grabbed me—grabbed my cock, was more like it.
“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Her face knitted with guilt as her eyes settled on something behind me.
“We’re on an interview,” Stella said from the table.
This woman knew the escorts. Did that mean she, too, was . . . A grinned curved up at the side of my mouth. Oh, yeah, I could definitely see her making a lot of money playing the uptight librarian fantasy.
“At my favorite café?”
“Public space, and all,” Jade said with a shrug.
Smart girl. Just the kind of girl White Lace wanted.
When the last book had been picked up, the woman straightened, and I followed suit. She flipped her hair and when her sea-blue eyes locked on mine, I suddenly felt like I’d just run the New York Marathon. Winded, achy, but high on something I just couldn’t put my finger on.
“Thank goodness.” She struggled to gather the books against her chest. “I thought I
interrupted your dates.”
I struggled to lift my arm to help her, but it was caught on something invisible. Sort of like my tongue, which didn’t want to cooperate.
She shuffled away and placed her books on a table three down from where we sat.
When she returned, she eyed me with . . . disinterest.
“I’m Max Levin.” This time my arm cooperated. “Are you an associate of these lovely
ladies?”
She brought her hand up to cover her chest. “You think . . . Oh, no.” She laughed, a sweet little giggle that forced a smile to my face. “I’m not a . . .” A blush fell across her cheeks.
Innocent. Unassuming. With a little lip gloss, maybe . . . I shook off the thought. This girl wasn’t porn material. But for the first time in years, I actually wanted to test the merchandise to find out.
{ review } .
In what world would an uptight law student with a fear of coloring
outside the lines end up with the porn guy? --Max
This was an intriguing read, not going to lie.
For a New Adult title, it was certainly different, but in a good way. We have two characters who are trying to figure out life, all while walking down the paths their parents paved for them.
Max is the heir to White Lace Productions, an adult films production company. His father is the owner and his late mother was a star -- and due to this, Max has had his share of side-eyed looks through the years. Then we also have a certain Miss Everly, the daughter of lawyers, who is finishing up law school herself. Her late grandmother, however, could see that Everly had other passions in life and before she passed, left Everly with a short bucket list of things to do before she graduated.
She has less than a semester to complete this list.
Her roommates, both escorts, meet with Max about a casting role at a local cafe that Everly studies at, and it's there that they first meet.
She is everything Max doesn't go for. She is girl-next-door, who could probably pull off the naughty librarian scene, but he really isn't getting those vibes from her. She's innocent, ambitious, and stuck her nose up at his profession. The thing is, though?
He hasn't reacted to a female the way he does Everly in a long time.
When he first approaches Everly, she figures he's just being nice. When he offers to help her with her bucket list, she pretty much just rolls her eyes and goes with it -- this good looking guy would never actually want to be with her, right? When sex gets put on the table (because of course it was going to get there, right?), Everly's biggest fear is that she's not adventurous enough; why would the heir of a porn company want silly, little, missionary style her?
I really enjoyed these two characters and watching them figure out how to actually go for what they wanted in life. It was interesting to see Max hold back when it came to a girl. I have to say, though, I had a hard time imagining the twenty-three year old Max and his friend, Ben, in the porn world (at least in the award winning porn world); I felt they were more true to their characters when hanging out with the group at a bonfire.
Everly and Max have issues -- neither puts 'relationship' on their agreement and therefore don't actually talk about things. They pretty much roll with the punches and when things get tough, they take their toys and go back home.
When it's simple and easy, you can tell that these two could have something great. They test one another's boundaries (in a good way) and start to learn to go after what they truly want out of life.
I want to see more of Max and Everly, that's for sure. As this series is title "White Lace", I can only imagine that Ben will have one of the next titles, and I have to say, I'm certainly curious about this videographer who isn't afraid to get a little hands on... (...who's also a damn good friend for Max and has decent family advice. Wonder how the man who doesn't believe in soulmates will take falling in love?).
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