“Don’t need
anything more complicated. Beer, good friends and football. Can’t ask for
anything better than that.” After seeing all of his best buddies fall
in love and become domesticated in the last year, Wes should have known
these words would come back to haunt him – sooner rather than later! And
haunt him they do, in the form of a siren from his past – the unforgettable
Payton Ricci. Wes can’t get over the one night they’d shared so long ago,
which still makes him feel so inadequate in her presence that even his
normally reliable manly parts refuse to cooperate when she is in the
vicinity. They may say it happens to every man, but never before to Wes
Hoffman!
Payton remembers the night in question a little differently than Wes and she
sets out to replace the memory with a better one in no small way… Not one
to back down from a challenge, she pulls out all the stops with Wes.
Soon, what started out as a brief fling to revisit an adolescent passion
turns out to be much more than expected, something neither of them was quite
prepared for. But is it strong enough to hurdle the obstacles in their path
to find true love together?
Maya
Banks first caught my attention when all the romance message boards and chat
groups I belonged to started clamoring about her book, Colters’ Woman.
Having heard from numerous sources that this was a MUST read, I followed
suit willingly and soon found myself a newly initiated Maya Banks fan, with
no looking back! Her newest release, Undenied, continues the
trend she began with that first book, with a new story sure to make the
rounds of the romance readers’ circles as book not to be missed.
Wes is the most wonderfully clueless man, with misconceptions about women
and love that the females in his life are quick to dispel as they straighten
out his perceptions with not just a little mirth. Seeing this man who is
usually so self-assured and slightly cocky unsettled by the return of his
first love is wonderful fun – well, for us and Payton even if it isn’t so
much fun for Wes himself. LOL Usually in control, Wes shows admirable
adaptability as he follows Payton’s lead at the beginning of their affair.
Wes’s fears concerning his past with Payton were simultaneously humorous and
sweet, painting the big Alpha cop as a man who is ultra-sensitive and more
romantic than you would initially expect.
Payton herself is a woman to be reckoned with – direct, smart, sassy, and
confident, she perfectly balances the twosome. She easily takes and keeps
the upper hand with the uncertain Wes, without losing any of her femininity
or appeal. If any woman can tame this particular man, it is most certainly
a woman like Payton!
Banks’ has spun a wonderfully romantic tale of reunited lovers who find that
the path to true love sometimes needs a hedge-trimmer before it is clear
enough to see the end. The couple learns love requires work, compromise,
and sacrifice from both sides before they can find their happy ending
together.
Undenied is connected to her previous novels, Understood
and Overheard, but each story can be
easily read separately and out of order without fear of missing any detail
critical to understanding the story. Of course, they are enhanced a bit by
reading them in order of release, but they will be just as enjoyable read in
reverse.
This is a book not to be missed by lovers of romance, and especially by fans
of Maya Banks’ work. Readers of the connected stories will be gratified to
see the return of all the main characters from previous books, and a very
touching scene at the end with the entire group that had me tearing up even
the second time I read Undenied.
Reviewed by Jennifer
