Sandy M’s review of Come to Me Freely by Beth Kery
Contemporary Erotic Romance eBook released by Ellora’s Cave 16 Jul 08

I think it’s Beth Kery’s contemporary books that speak to me more than any of her other I’ve read so far.  Not that her historicals and paranormals aren’t worth reading.  Far from it.  There’s just something to her contemps that pull every emotion to the forefront for me and that keeps me turning the pages to see what her characters are going to do next.  Come To Me Freely is definitely one of those, full of love and betrayal, full of romance and heartbreak.  And that is why I enjoy reading her books.

It’s been ten years since Tre and Leigh have seen each other.  Their last encounter, though it started out full of promise, ended badly.  They were attracted to one another from the moment the met, but one thing kept them apart.  Tre’s brother Jim.  A quadriplegic since the age of 16, Leigh stood by Jim throughout his trials and tribulations of being wheelchair bound until his death just a couple of years before Leigh has come home to attend Jim and Tre’s father’s funeral.

Now Leigh is back to where it all started, and she’s face to face with Tre once again. Right after his one-night stand takes her leave of him as Leigh stands at his front door, funeral casseroles in hand.  She thought their meeting would go easier after so many years, but Tre is now hard and cold toward her.  Thinking she can get through the next few days of emotional stress, however, doesn’t last long and Leigh know she wants Tre just as much as she did years ago before she married his brother.  But Tre is the one that left when something good was happening between them.  Can she forget that and the guilt she still harbors over her husband’s death?

Keeping himself under control had never been so difficult and Tre’s not sure he doesn’t want it to snap anyway.  Leigh always got to him and it’s no different now.  But getting to know her as a woman instead of a 16-year-old girl is food to his soul and agony to his body all at the same time.  When she falls ill and has to stay put for a while, Tre is the one who steps in to take care of her and suddenly he knows he wants a future with this woman.  But his guilt at the knowledge he was ready to betray his brother so many years ago still eats at him, what will she think of him once she knows his secrets.

The attraction between them can’t be denied and they decide to give a relationship a chance despite all their misgivings and despite the hurt that may end up crippling them both if they can’t get past all of the things that have come together and led them to this point in time.

So far, it’s the books of Ms. Kery’s that have such a tragic element to them that I’ve enjoyed the most.  She has an affinity for bringing all the emotion in and around that tragedy front and center and forcing her characters to work with it, yell at it, swear at it, wallow in it, do whatever it takes to succeed and triumph over it.  That’s the lynchpin for me in her writing.  I keep reading until I know how those characters are going to react to all that emotional upheaval.  That’s when you really get to know her characters.

Tre and Leigh have so much to overcome from their past and though it looks like in the beginning there’s no way they can do that.  It’s their reaction to their mutual attraction that drags them together and allows them learn of one another all over again, which leads to some wonderful love scenes between them, full of what could have been but ready to face whatever today brings.

Another huge success for Ms. Kery!

Grade: A-

Summary:

A passion that won’t be denied despite the circumstances.

Though Leigh cared deeply for Jim, it was his fiery older brother Tre who held the key to her heart. For the past ten years she’s lived with the daily pain of knowing that Tre’d turned his back on the passion that had flared hot and bright between them.

A second chance at a once in a life time love.

Tre knew from the moment that he first saw Leigh stroking his half-wild horse that her elegant, delicate appearance belied the depth and strength of her spirit. He’d dared to make Leigh his own, showing loyalty to nothing and no one beyond the laws of nature that clearly decreed that she was his. But when Leigh denied what should have been undeniable, he first knew the bitter taste of betrayal.

Now a family tragedy has forced Tre and Leigh together once again. Guilt, anger and betrayal rage between them, but so does a desire hot enough to incinerate all else in its wake

Read an excerpt.