Review: Veiled Desire by Alisha Rai

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Where did you get this book: Bought

Release Date: Out now

Blurb taken from author’s official website:

Leyla Karimi can’t keep her eyes off the hunky guy living in the house behind her. How could any woman resist ogling Dr. Mason Barrett, especially when he makes it so easy by parading around in his skin and skivvies?

If it was only their age difference, she would have made a move a long time ago. Except Mason is more than a neighbor. He’s her baby brother’s oldest friend. It’s not like they can have a casual fling and walk away in the morning.

Mason’s been doing a little lusting—okay a lot—for quite some time. When he catches Leyla peeking, it’s a sure sign she could finally be ready to heat up his nights with loving. One taste of her lips, though, and he doesn’t want a “little” of anything. He wants it all.

Unwilling to jeopardize a lifetime of friendship for a one-night stand, Leyla is reluctant to throw caution to the wind. When he’s kissing her senseless, though, it’s hard to remember all the reasons why she should hold back…

When I read the review of Veiled of Desire over at Pearl’s World of Romance, I instantly downloaded it from Amazon Kindle. Let me tell you, half of the time I hate my impulsive ebook spending. The other half, it makes me a happy bunny. In this instance, I’m a happy bunny indeed.

Veiled Desire is a very enjoyable novella, and despite it’s short length, manages to pack in a sensual, luscious romance between two likeable leads. Leyla Karimi has known Mason Barret since he was a 10, and she was a 14 year old. He was, and still is, best friends with her younger brother, Sasha, and Leyla and Mason are very good friends themselves.

Veiled Desire doesn’t have much of a conflict. It’s a straight forward romance with both Leyla and Mason ready to jump in and explore their attraction to one another. Mason knows that he wants Leyla for the long haul, and it’s not long before that Leyla realises it too. As I said, there’s not a lot of conflict, apart from Leyla’s brother, Sasha, who is very protective, and sees his sister as the Virgin Mary. Sasha does come across as very funny, and he acts like a typical younger brother who is dismayed that his sister could have a sexual relationship with someone – especially his best friend!

The sexual scenes between Mason and Leyla were sensuous, lush, and very warm. These scenes were wonderfully written, and the character’s personalities didn’t get lost amongst them. As it’s a novella, everything does tie up very quickly; Sasha finding out about their relationship, and his reaction straight afterwards. What I liked most was that Mason didn’t feel guilty about his and Leyla’s relationship, and Leyla sorted out her brother in no time at all by acting as the stern older sister.

If your looking for a short  romance, with a very hot and spicy bedside manner, I would definitely recommend this novella.

I give Veiled of Desire, 4.5 stars.