Sandy M’s review of Wicked Burn by Beth Kery
Contemporary Erotic Romance released by Berkley Sensation 2 Dec 08

I’m so glad Beth Kery has arrived.  Wicked Burn is her debut with Berkley Sensation.  Kudos to Berkley for discovering what a talented author Ms. Kery is and giving her the opportunity to share that talent in the print arena.

One thing this author does well, besides just penning a good story, is the erotic side of romance.  In this book you get hot and bothered pretty darned early and you stay that way throughout the read.  Both Vic and Niall have issues – and I use that term loosely – in their past that have kept from them permanent and long-term relationships.

But when they first eye each other in their apartment building, they really take notice, and when the opportunity opens up for Vic to get to know Niall better, he seizes it quickly and no questions asked.  I really enjoyed that particular scene, especially when you realize Niall isn’t going to utter one word to slow him down.  I liked that their lust and emotions opened up this way between them, sweeping them along at a frenzied pace, therefore forcing them to do the get-to-know-one-another thing after their lust is slaked.

And we get to know them at the same pace as they do.  Vic is a playwright and is just weeks away from opening his latest show, is still wary of relationships after a bad ending with his former fiance.  Niall works for the Chicago Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art, is in the middle of divorcing her husband, their relationship not surviving the death of their son three years earlier.  Each of them are surprised as they learn these tidbits and more about the other as the book goes along.  They’re able to get past most of it as it all comes up.  It’s only when Vic finds out about Niall’s marriage that things are thrown off course.

Niall’s “issues” are a little more complicated than Vic’s and during this early period she’s just not ready to talk to him about it, and she has good reason given Vic’s reaction when he does learn all, but that was her mistake, however.  Because she takes too long, Vic sees the situation as living his past again.  But I like how Niall doesn’t give up after all is said and done.  She busts her way back into Vic’s life, even knowing he probably won’t be able to stand the sight of her.

It takes Vic a while, but when he finally can’t hold his feelings at bay any longer, they come together again in an explosion of emotion and sex that’s been between them since the beginning.  The only small disappointment I had was that I wish all the explanations had come from Niall.  I felt that a deeper emotion outside of the sex was lost when that didn’t happen.

But all in all, Ms. Kery has a hit of a debut on her hands.   The characters are engaging and interesting people who you hope can get past the bad stuff to start again.  I enjoyed the dichotomy of Vic’s and Niall’s family life, one embracing and the other judgemental.  Needless to say, the secondary characters are just as interesting in their lives as Vic and Niall are in theirs.  Congratulations, Ms. Kery!

Grade: B+

Summary:

He wanted all of her…

Vic Savian knows what he wants when he sees it. And what he wants is his sexy neighbor, Niall Chandler. So when he sees her in the hallway of their building being harassed by an aggressive suitor, Vic makes his move—and finds himself greatly rewarded…

And did she ever let him have it…

Sleeping with her gorgeous neighbor—when she didn’t even know his last name—was the craziest thing Niall’s ever done. Now, she can’t seem to get enough of Vic—or the uninhibited passion he stirs in her. Suddenly, with his help, she’s opening to sensual pleasures she’s never known before. But when Niall’s past comes back to haunt her, will she and Vic let themselves venture beyond the bedroom and explore the possibility of love that’s in their hearts?

Read an excerpt.