Hallen Jansen has it all. At 28, he has a flashy car, a great apartment, and a job he’s good at and that he loves – as an escort – working at your beck and call.
His life is easy, with no emotions or attachments slowing him down – choosing to keep moving, always running from the past.
But when a new client awakens unfamiliar feelings, all bets are off. Can he convince a recently divorced woman twenty years older to trust men again – to trust him? Can Hallen trust himself not to screw things up?
Surrounded by people who choose to judge them, will they make their relationship a reality, or is it heartbreak for both?
Not all services are professional.
This book is one of Jane Harvey-Berrick’s sexiest,
hottest and emotionally sensual books with that rare quality of making you feel
everything that is being said and felt throughout this whole story
The detail that Jane has gone into regarding
the business that Hallen was in and why he became involved in that business was
mesmerizing and very thought provoking.
The first part of this book deals with who
Hallen is and how he became an escort then we move onto who he becomes and why
but firstly let’s start with the beginning.
Due to Hallen’s family heritage, he has the
looks of a Swedish God, stunning blue eyes and blonde hair, even the
description of him made my mouth water.
Not having the easiest life growing up, Hallen knew what goals he wanted;
he had a talent for art and the ladies, what a great combination if you ask me.
The early years were a struggle and Hallen did
what he had to do to get by but it was while he was working at a bar that he
was approached by Eliose to become an escort.
Yes he was skeptical about the whole ‘Escort’ business, I mean who wouldn’t
but he could make the rules as he went on as long as he worked for Eliose.
Hallen was Eliose’s first employee and proved
to be a very popular man, he knew what to do and he knew how to do it well
especially going by some of the lines he came out with “What I’m saying is that
standards were so low, it wasn’t difficult being the best these women had ever
had. I’m not being arrogant….I just paid
attention”.
To Hallen this was a means to live, to survive,
it wasn’t without the drawback, Hallen had no social life, and he couldn’t
exactly go around telling his friends what he was doing.
Not everything was about sex with being an
escort, there were some clients who just liked Hallen for him, for his company
but there were also times where situations were strange even for Hallen.
The writing here by Jane on all the different
scenarios that Hallen as an Escort came up with were amazing and brilliantly
written, they were so very descriptive and informative, it gave me an
education.
I found Hallen to be closed off, insecure at
times and vulnerable but he could also be funny and very charming as well. It
was refreshing to read. There were times
in this book where I just wanted to open my arms out to Hallen and give him a
huge cuddle and show him some love, that is what he desperately needed and
wanted LOVE but doing what he did, he knew he would never find it or would
he ?????
Throughout this book, you see Hallen the
escort, what he did, who with, what they wanted, what was asked for by his
clients but you also got to see the other private side of Hallen, the boy who
became a man very quickly, who grew up and did what he had to do to survive, to
make money, to live, but Hallen was lonely, he was also very insecure and that
comes across so well in the second part of this book.
Hallen compares himself to a paid whore and it
is his insecurities that start to mess with him, “I couldn’t imagine being an escort and dating,
because I wasn’t sure I could be myself if I wasn’t working because if I was
paid to go out with a woman, it was all about them, my needs and wants were
irrelevant”.
The
self doubt here is so evident in Hallen that I felt so sorry for him.
Hallen loved his art, he was a good painter and
saw things where no one else did, he got lost in his art, it was his escapism
his freedom and something he treasured and worked hard at.
Hallen knew though that his life needed a new
direction but there was always that bit of doubt that would niggle in his mind,
the self doubt that he couldn’t make it without the escort business, we see
this more in the second part of this amazing book ‘ That was my story – foreign and domestic – for
the next few years. Maybe it was fear
that kept me going, because if I wasn’t an escort, what would I be?, I had a
useless degree in a subject that wasn’t going to lead to any jobs that paid
nearly as much as what I was doing. I
HAD to make this work’
You see Hallen struggle with his decisions later on and you
feel for him, the struggle he goes through, the indecision in his life and I
could get it, I could see why after his upbringing, he didn’t know what he was
doing.
At a certain point in Hallens life he remembers his favorite
quote from Andy Warhol “ if you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the
surface of my paintings and films and me, there I am. There’s nothing behind it” this
shows how low, vulnerable and alone Hallen is and it is beautiful to read.
Eventually Hallen realizes he is worth
something, he is important and he deserves Love, “Why me, I ask myself, then a
tentative voice, spoke up inside of me; faint at first, but growing
louder Why not me??”
It is not always sunshine and roses in this book, there are
parts where I ugly cried, such poignant writing and scenes that personally I
could relate to, I felt the pain, heartache and doubt, the emotion here was
inspirational and brilliant.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best
books Jane Harvey-Berrick has written, it has everything in it, amazing
sizzling hot sexy scenes, fun, drama, pain and love, the most important part of
this book was LOVE.
I leave you with a quote that I loved and found to be so true
from our lover Hallen -----------“Love doesn’t come in neat little boxes – it’s
messy and disorganized and a pain in the ass…. Get used to it”
She
joined me at the window, a large glass of Cognac in each hand. I accepted one
and clinked it against hers.
“Santé!”
“Skål!”
She
smiled and took a sip, her eyes thirsty and impatient.
“What
are you thinking?” she asked, quietly.
“That
it’s a long way down.”
She
laughed, tension seeping around the edges of the sound. “I hope you’re not
thinking of jumping to get away from me.”
I turned
to look at her, deliberately running my eyes up and down her body. “No, I’m not
thinking that.”
Her lips
parted in a small gasp.
I took
the glass out of her hand and placed it on the table with mine.
Belinda. Her name was
Belinda.
“What do
you like, Belinda?”
“Um, I…”
“You can
tell me,” I said, as if we were sharing a secret. “Do you want me to touch you
slowly?” I drifted my fingers down her arm, stroking her skin. “Or do you want
me to take you hard?” I gripped her wrist in one hand and tipped her chin up
with the other, so she was forced to look at me.
I saw
her moisten her lips and swallow.
“Hard,”
she whispered.
Yeah,
that’s what I’d guessed. You learned to read people—women—in this job.
She
licked her lips again and tottered forward, her balance becoming uneven with an
alchemy of alcohol and lust.
“Do you
want me to take you at the window, baby? Press your beautiful breasts against
the cold glass while I fuck you. Anyone looking up would know what a bad, bad
girl you are. Anyone could see.”
She choked on a laugh and I
could tell she was considering it. My guess was she’d go for the bed. Older
women usually did.
I started writing contemporary romance two years ago. Before that, I didn’t think I could write a sex scene. Turns out I can!
My lucky number is 13 because I was born on the 13th and live near a haunted castle by the ocean. My number one past-time is watching hot surfers get changed into (and out of) their wetsuits.
My husband doesn’t read my books. My mother does.
Writing is my love, my hobby, my total addiction. All my characters are important to me and whisper their stories, even when I’ve finished writing their books. That’s why you’ll often find bonus chapters/out-takes from various books, because those voices just won’t be quiet.
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Love the review Sheena...this indeed one in a million, that's why I adore this book so much!
ReplyDeleteWow, Sheena! That was just wonderful to read your review! Thank you so much! Yay! Thank you for making an appointment with Hallen :)
ReplyDeletejxx
Brilliant review Sheena, it revived all those pretty intense emotions in me and reminded why I love AYB&C so much. As if I needed that!!!
ReplyDelete