Book Review: Taming Cross (Love Inc. #2) by Ella James

About the Author:

Ella James is a USA Today bestselling author who writes teen and adult romance. She is happily married to a man who knows how to wield a red pen, and together they are raising a feisty two-year-old who will probably grow up believing everyone's parents go to war over the placement of a comma.

Ella's books have been listed on numerous Amazon bestseller lists, including the Movers & Shakers list and the Amazon Top 100; two were listed among Amazon's Top 100 Young Adult Ebooks of 2012.

Ella is represented by Rebecca Friedman of the Hill Nadell Literary Agency.

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My Thoughts

Taming Cross was a much deeper story than I thought it was going to be. I expected the focal point to be about the development of Cross and Merri's relationship, but instead it was more about Cross himself and the lengths he was willing to go to in order to right a wrong and rescue a woman he didn't even know personally. I ended up enjoying the story more than I expected and this twist gave the plot more intensity and engaged me as a reader.

Merri's part of the story was just as intriguing as Cross' search for redemption. She has skeletons of her own and was trying to make right things she regretted from the past. I loved how strong Merri's character was, even when she didn't believe it about herself. She overcame a lot (and granted, it could have been worse), to get to the place she was in when she met Cross. She was willing to sacrifice herself to protect others, just as Cross was willing to go to any lengths to help her out.

I also really liked the fact that this wasn't a story of instalove. There was, of course, immediate attraction between Merri and Cross, but their actual physical relationship was slowly developed and based on building trust. This is based partly on their circumstances, but it was nice to see that the author didn't have them in bed together right from the beginning. Their relationship evolves from two people being forced to build trust in each other in order to survive and make it to safety.

I haven't read the first book in the Love Inc Series, Selling Scarlett, so I didn't have the full background on the characters when I started Taming Cross. But, Ella James does a great job of incorporating the main facts from Selling Scarlett into Taming Cross, so that readers can understand the gist of what happened, without it being the dreaded info dump. I had no problem reading Taming Cross as a stand alone, however I am now very interested in reading Selling Scarlett, so that I can get the full story and find out more about the rest of the characters mentioned.


Taming Cross (Love Inc. #2)
New Adult Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Published: 19 August 2013 by Barkley's Books

For twenty-three years, Cross Carlson was a playboy. You know the type. Tall, dark, and wealthy. Blue-eyed. Charming. He seemed to have it all so easy. But Cross was harboring a terrible secret - one that helped ruin the life of an innocent girl and almost ended his own.

Finally out of the hospital, Cross is flailing, scarred in both body and mind and stifled by the weight of the secret he still keeps. The only way to absolution lies in a Mexican convent, and going there could cost him everything.

If there's anyone who knows what it's like to screw up big time, it's Meredith Kinsey. Just a few years ago, Merri was an ordinary girl with a job at her college newspaper and white picket fence kind of dreams. Now she's holed up in a Mexican convent, hiding from a drug lord who thinks he owns her.

What happens when the only way out of hell is with the son of the man who put you there? They say love conquers all, but does it really?

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Check out the rest of the Love Inc. Series on Goodreads HERE.

Taming Cross Review Copy Provided By Mark My Words Book Publicity in exchange for an honest review.