A review by faustin2nd
Boiling Point by Tessa Bailey
5.0
Disclaimer: I love Tessa Bailey.
Moving on, is this my favorite book in the series? No. The first book (Bowen and Sera) had really scorching chemistry that even these two couldn't match and my oh my did these two burn up the pages. I didn't know how to feel about Austin in the two earlier books but in this book, Tessa made him adorable. I just loved him. She has also gotten better at writing British characters and Austin Shaw is her best British gent so far (better than [b:Driven by Fate|24750216|Driven by Fate (Serve, #5)|Tessa Bailey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424224601s/24750216.jpg|44278245]). I loved that there was a clear distinction between his character and the other macho-men in his group, I loved that he was alpha and protective but still sort of vain and insecure. He was just...human, and imperfect. And I love my heroes imperfect. Kinda reminded me of the Duke in [b:Dangerous in Diamonds|9211153|Dangerous in Diamonds (The Rarest Blooms, #4)|Madeline Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390193766s/9211153.jpg|14090868], but less...ducal?
Polly? Not my favorite heroine to read, and the whole book was mainly The Austin Show in my opinion, but she was perfect for him. She also had her moments. She was brilliant without coming off as too humble or too full of herself. She was dope. I didn't enjoy her storyline all that much, but when she and Austin came together...woooohhhh *fans self*
Now, I don't necessarily consider myself a fan of romances with submissive men. I didn't DNF [b:Branded Sanctuary|7694378|Branded Sanctuary (Nature of Desire, #7)|Joey W. Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355848522s/7694378.jpg|10370830] because I was really deep into Joey's series but I can safely say I didn't like the book. I like my heroes alpha and mostly dominant, but as a fan of the Vampire Queen series, I can also appreciate a submissive alpha who submits to an alpha heroine without losing the characters that made him alpha in the first place (take [b:Vampire Trinity|7874158|Vampire Trinity (Vampire Queen, #6)|Joey W. Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1276800349s/7874158.jpg|11057047], still one of my favorites BDSM/paranormal books to date). Tessa made Austin's masochism a part of his complex, loveable personality. And if there was a definition of "topping from the bottom", Austin would be it. He never really lost all of his control, I think, but just enough to match Polly's tastes. Theirs was a match made in heaven. *sighs dramatically* In summary: One may call Austin a "mouthy service sub", and that was fine by me. Because if there's something all Tessa heroes have in common is that they're all very mouthy :)
I'll definitely re-read it again, because the sex scenes are stuff of legend and the love story was really sweet. I liked the pacing. Even the thriller in this one was more interesting to read. And the dirty talk? *fans self until the fan breaks*
Moving on, is this my favorite book in the series? No. The first book (Bowen and Sera) had really scorching chemistry that even these two couldn't match and my oh my did these two burn up the pages. I didn't know how to feel about Austin in the two earlier books but in this book, Tessa made him adorable. I just loved him. She has also gotten better at writing British characters and Austin Shaw is her best British gent so far (better than [b:Driven by Fate|24750216|Driven by Fate (Serve, #5)|Tessa Bailey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424224601s/24750216.jpg|44278245]). I loved that there was a clear distinction between his character and the other macho-men in his group, I loved that he was alpha and protective but still sort of vain and insecure. He was just...human, and imperfect. And I love my heroes imperfect. Kinda reminded me of the Duke in [b:Dangerous in Diamonds|9211153|Dangerous in Diamonds (The Rarest Blooms, #4)|Madeline Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390193766s/9211153.jpg|14090868], but less...ducal?
Polly? Not my favorite heroine to read, and the whole book was mainly The Austin Show in my opinion, but she was perfect for him. She also had her moments. She was brilliant without coming off as too humble or too full of herself. She was dope. I didn't enjoy her storyline all that much, but when she and Austin came together...woooohhhh *fans self*
Now, I don't necessarily consider myself a fan of romances with submissive men. I didn't DNF [b:Branded Sanctuary|7694378|Branded Sanctuary (Nature of Desire, #7)|Joey W. Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355848522s/7694378.jpg|10370830] because I was really deep into Joey's series but I can safely say I didn't like the book. I like my heroes alpha and mostly dominant, but as a fan of the Vampire Queen series, I can also appreciate a submissive alpha who submits to an alpha heroine without losing the characters that made him alpha in the first place (take [b:Vampire Trinity|7874158|Vampire Trinity (Vampire Queen, #6)|Joey W. Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1276800349s/7874158.jpg|11057047], still one of my favorites BDSM/paranormal books to date). Tessa made Austin's masochism a part of his complex, loveable personality. And if there was a definition of "topping from the bottom", Austin would be it. He never really lost all of his control, I think, but just enough to match Polly's tastes. Theirs was a match made in heaven. *sighs dramatically* In summary: One may call Austin a "mouthy service sub", and that was fine by me. Because if there's something all Tessa heroes have in common is that they're all very mouthy :)
I'll definitely re-read it again, because the sex scenes are stuff of legend and the love story was really sweet. I liked the pacing. Even the thriller in this one was more interesting to read. And the dirty talk? *fans self until the fan breaks*