Review: Call On Me

CALL ON ME
Loving on the Edge #8
Roni Lauren
Adult Contemporary Romance
448 pages
Berkley Romance
Available July 7th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Oakley Easton wants two things: to be a good mom to her daughter and to ditch her less than ideal night job. Hooking up with bad boy drummer Pike Ryland? Not on the agenda. She needs a promotion. Not sex, tattoos and rock ’n’ roll.

Pike isn’t about to let Ms. Prim and Proper shut him down so easily, especially when he stumbles upon Oakley’s sexy night job. She’s only playing a role on those late night calls with strangers, but when he gets her on the line, all bets are off. He won’t stop until that sultry voice is calling his name for real.

But as they move from anonymous fantasies in the dark to the flesh-on-hot-flesh reality of the bedroom, the risk of falling in love becomes all too high. And the safe, quiet world that Oakley’s worked so hard to create is about to be exposed to the one person who could ruin it all.

MY THOUGHTS
Call On Me is a sexy-as-sin opposites attract romance, the drummer for a rock band sweeping the mom of an autistic daughter off her feet as readers are left panting and swooning in equal measure. We can't help but smile and shake our heads as both Pike and Oakley attempt to set one-time only rules for themselves, knowing their good intentions are going to be obliterated by a tidal wave of lust and love. Sometimes a romance between two people who think their relationship can be nothing more than a fling can be frustrating, the couple denying everything they're feeling as they stubbornly cling to how they think things are supposed to be. Luckily for us Oakley and Pike are much more honest with themselves, and while they put up a token struggle here and there, they opt to be open in their communication every step of the way.

Oakley is a mom by day and a phone sex operator by night, numbing herself to all things sexual as she works a second job to help support her daughter. She's as upfront as they come, telling Pike where she stands from the beginning and continuing to do so as their relationship shifts and changes, never allowing a miscommunication or misunderstanding to derail what quickly becomes a very important part of her life. Pike has the ego expected of a rockstar, but all his self-congratulatory statements are laced with humor, meant to elicit and eye roll and snappy comeback from Oakley rather than be taken seriously. Their banter is playful and so very well done, beautifully deepening their relationship on an emotional level as things progress on the physical one, causing the chapters to fly by until we find ourselves on the last page before we're ready to let these two go.

One quibble is with regard to a secondary storyline involving the father of Oakley's child, his reappearance toward the end feeling more like something added for the sake of a small bit of drama rather than a necessary event to further the romance, but that's a very minor complaint in an otherwise fantastic installment. Ms. Loren writes gorgeously genuine characters whose bedroom activities are hot enough that we feel the heat waft from the pages as we read, leaving us utterly satisfied while at the same time craving more.

Rating: 4/5

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.