4.5 stars!!!!!What a wonderful surprise this turned out to be!!! I originally chose get this book because of the cover...I just loved it. Artistic and sexy and eye catching, oh my! Now that I've finished the book, the cover actually makes me tear up a little. Once you read the book (and you WILL read it, you MUST read it!) you'll understand the importance of the sunflower petals making me get all weepy.Though you can't judge a book by its cover, I'm so VERY glad that I did! When Lena meets the tall, gorgeous man who brings her a dozen red roses (sigh!), her first thought is, "Gees, what did his mom do? Stand him in manure every night as a child?" And I knew that I would like this woman. Lena is snarky and sassy to the max but hides a vulnerable woman underneath her doctor's lab coat. At first, her attitude rubs the super laid back Mason Langley the wrong way. But he soon sees that she's constantly putting on a facade, hiding secrets behind a hard veneer. The banter between Lena and Mase is hilarious. They get angry and say things they probably shouldn't. It's all in good fun, though. There's an underlying playfulness (most of the time) that keeps it from becoming too intense. But it just never stops, and they both know exactly what they're doing! They are involved in what we call...foreplay. They are perfectly matched in attitude. Though Mase is a happy go lucky kind of guy and Lena most definitely not, each can absolutely take as much as they dish out. And we all know where bickering can lead to...yep, sexy times!Holy hotness! I don't know when I've been so hot and bothered. The first hundred pages are just a steaming, lustfully delicious run on of sexual tension and build up. These two are so hot for each other, and they know it. I love that while they dance around each other and get into some heavy, HEAVY petting, they don't immediately jump into bed together. No, they let it simmer and burn until I wanted to scream!!! Anyone up for some stairwell nookie? No? Well how about a little against the wall bump and grind? I was practically begging them to just get it on, already! While each of them is so self contained in their own way, they absolutely let go in the bedroom. Lena lets Mase take the lead and BOY DOES HE!! Good gracious, if you think the sexual tension is hot, just wait until these two finally get to the goods!!"My reactions to you make me question myself because they aren't light and carefree, they're dark and dirty Lena. I want to do so many dirty things with you, to name them all wouldn't be possible. But if you want one thing in particular I'll give you this. All that amazing hair you have so neatly tucked away most of the time? I want to unravel that hair and wrap it around my cock and feel it all over me as you sit on top of me and I stroke myself with it."Dirty talk is awesome!!! And I'm fairly sure Mase has a throne somewhere (maybe just in my head) because this man is the KING of dirty talk! A HUGE difference, and one that I think makes this book stand out aside from my love for both lead characters, is how true to life it turns out to be. After the initial sexual attraction has made its run and they begin to really get to know each other, there was so much more than lust to their relationship. Mase is such a romantic. He really wants to help Lena come out of her shell and lose her uptight, closed in attitude. They actually talk about it. I could have really disliked Lena...because she's not really the type of person I can relate to. But she admits to herself that she's over the top. More than once, she thinks, "Why did I do that? Gah, why can't I stop saying ugly things and treating him like that?" And THAT, I can totally relate to . She regrets impulsive actions and is so self deprecating. It's great to watch Mase be the one to bring out the woman in her, to make her smile."Let me in, Magdalena O'Donnell. I want to know all of you."and "Stop fighting me, will you? I've been consumed by you since the moment you yelled at me in your waiting room. All I want is to be with you."There is no subterfuge, no hiding from each other and contrived emotions for the sake of adding drama. I swear, Lena and Mase are really alive, living in Chicago. They're real. And when their relationship has REAL problems, my heart just breaks for them both. I understand both sides and sympathize with them both. They are two wonderful people who have been drawn to each other and are absolutely perfect together. Tragedy tests them. All I could do was read on and hope that they can overcome one of life's great tests so early in their romance.There was one thing that I didn't absolutely love about the story, and it's all about my own personal preferences when it comes to who chases whom in romance. I tend to not like forward women. I like the vulnerability and a little shyness. I even like abrasive, like Lena, if it's hiding the true nature of a heroine. The tables sort of turned at the end but it was really toward the very end so it was more of a triumph for Lena to finally assert herself in a positive way, without her normal walls going up.I cannot believe that this is Ella Frank's debut novel. In the words of Poomba, "I gravel at your feet." What an amazing story to have in your head. To put them on paper, to bring them to life to this extent is true talent. You have an avid fan in this reader. And that teaser chapter from the next book? UNFAIR! I cry unfair! Please say you write really, really fast!!
 - Ella Frank)
