Tuesday 21 October 2014

Author Spotlight: Crossing the Line by Karla Doyle



Book Summary:
Lifelong best friends Derrick and Jeremy met Hanna at a bar ten years ago. Both wanted her—one married her. Now the other man has been invited to join in for one hot weekend. Everything would’ve been fine if they’d had their fun that weekend, then gone back to normal. But they didn’t. And when past demons resurface, things will never be the same—for any of them

Review:
Welcome to the very first book review for our inaugural Author Spotlight Week featuring Karla Doyle. 

Okay, full disclosure time: up until very recently, Crossing the Line was the only book in Karla Doyle’s book catalogue that I hadn’t read. I’m not proud of this but for a long time I very adamantly refused to read it and I was about 92.7% sure I’d hate it. This has nothing to do with Karla’s writing skill; I’m actually completely addicted to her books. Body of Work and Icing on the Cake are up there as some of my favourite romance books of all time. I just had a very personal reaction to the subject matter of the book and I didn’t want to read something knowing that I was going to be super biased against it. But here’s the thing, I picked up a copy while it was on sale and even with that bias…I really freaking loved this book. 

The blurb suggests that that fateful, hot, threesome weekend is the pinnacle of the book, that sex is the focus. And while the sex scenes in this book are beyond smoking hot and deliciously erotic, Crossing the Line is an immeasurably emotional book. It deals with some very real, highly emotional and difficult themes and it does that very, very well. Few other books handle threesome situations, such as the one featured here, in such a realistic and emotional way. The emotions in this book are so raw and so realistic that you can almost reach out and touch them. The characters suck you in from the very first page. They’re people who could be standing next to you at a shopping centre or hanging out with you watching movies. They’re loveable, endearing and vibrant characters but they’re also exceptionally real. They make huge, whopping mistakes that make your heart ache for them. There were moments, I won’t spoil it but you’ll know when you come across it, that literally took my breath away. 

Now, it’s a relatively short read, which normally is a bit of a struggle when dealing with such big concepts. But Karla Doyle has managed to fit in a tremendous amount of emotionally driven plot without it seeming rushed, fake or silly. There are copious amounts of seriously delicious, incredible sex scenes, combined with heart breaking mistakes and deep but realistic character development. The dialogue is perfect. It’s witty and engaging and always spot on for every single scene. The characters are rich and so very human. Derreck and Jeremy have been friends forever, and it could be so easy to make them sound like carbon copies of each other, but they’re both so completely different and such vibrant characters. Hanna’s pain and passion is so tangible, and you can easily see why both these incredible men love her. I was rooting for their happy ending and so blissfully happy when they got it. 

Crossing the Line was surprisingly incredible. There were parts of it that were difficult for me to read, on a personal level, but the characters and plot are so well formed that they suck you in, and you can’t help but be moved by their story. The sex scenes are smoking hot, leaning toward the erotic without being crass or tacky and they will definitely leave you feeling steamy. The plot flows beautifully and draws you in, the characters and plot points develop naturally, never feeling forced or silly and the characters and the issues they deal with are so real, it’s almost like living it along with them. Overall, this is an incredible read and I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in romance with a twist of eroticism. 

Purchasing Information:
Crossing the Line is available in both eBook and paperback form from a variety of retailers, so you’re bound to find one that tickles your fancy!  

The purchase information and excerpt can be found here: http://www.karladoyle.com/books/crossing-the-line/

Where to Find Out More:
Karla Doyle has an awesome back-catalogue of books, and a very exciting list of upcoming books, so if you’re curious about her work or want to get your hands on one of her books (which I totally recommend), there are a bunch of different ways to keep up to date on any news.

Karla’s Website:  www.karladoyle.com 
Email:  karla@karladoyle.com  

2 comments:

  1. Stacey! This is one of my favourite reviews ever! I'm so very happy that you loved Derrick, Hanna & Jeremy's story as much as I did.

    Thank you for taking a chance on Crossing the Line when you weren't sure about it, and thanks also for taking the time to write this wonderful review!

    ~Karla

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  2. Hi Karla,
    Thank you so much! It's so lovely to hear such wonderful compliments like that. I was really surprised by how much I loved this book (though I shouldn't have been, your books are always excellent!) and how moved I was by it. The emotions, and characters are so real and raw that they practically burst of the page. And it felt so organic and natural, like the characters were reacting in the way that any normal person would. They made mistakes and they had to deal with the consequences. None of it was silly or tacky, it flowed so naturally.

    Romance books can be very formulaic and basic and I love that you took a chance and wrote something surprising and so deeply emotional and real. I can't say how glad I am that I took a chance and read it. I loved it, it moved me and was really such an incredible, sexy, erotic and emotional read. And I can't wait to read more of your books!

    Stacey

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