I loved reading this book Naked...

Naked by Megan Hart

I love this cover!

Alex is a man struggling with his sexual identity and Olivia is a woman struggling with her identity. "Naked" is part of a series that involves characters from "temptation" which I did not read. This tackles several issues; race, sex, and religion. It is not a typical romance, so buckle your seatbelt.

Literally, I stopped reading this book at chapter two so I could go get a glass of wine to sip on while I read. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, than woke up early in the morning to continue reading.

I was obsessed, engaged, haunted by Olivia and Alex's 'romance.' I put that in colon's because this book in so un-formulaic, so totally against the norm, so happy, crazy, sexy, unique that I grit my teeth at having to label it a romance.

There is love, friendship, and a deep awakening that happens within the heroine that it is more than HEA. This book made me ponder the questions raised, stirring my usual mishmash of thoughts; clothes, food, and sex, into soup of deep adult ideas (not sexual, though Alex is friggin hot and the adult scene's are grade 'A').

I'm sure some of you are reading my enthusiasm with a grain of salt, please do. But so that you know much I enjoyed this book I want to give it the ultimate compliment: I loved this so much that after borrowing it from the library I bought it to add to my kindle library and re-read at my leisure. 

I have NEVER done that before. I've thought about it, but never actually spent the cash until now, because this book is what I'm going to call a lingerer. Days after I finished this I was still thinking about the characters and asking myself questions about this book and the characters that live within it.

So let's get the elephant out of the blog, Would I date Alex?

He's fine as hell and rich, but NO!. I am far to neurotic to be with a man who is attracted to men. There are not enough assurances and promises to quiet my ever churning brain.

Favorite quote:

"sometimes we dress ourselves in layers that only get peeled away in the end, to leave us as we should be."

Negatives

I wanted Olivia to be more direct instead of passive-aggressive. But, I kind of understood that in a relationship a person's past is just that. Past.

Alex, he's very mysterious and you never know if you're getting the whole or real story or not. 

The ending was HEA, but open-ended which can be frustrating for readers, but I felt like the characters lives reflected the not so perfect ending.

Ms. Hart's interpretation of Alex Kennedy Gale Harold

I'm just saying: I read some of the reviews on Amazon to have feedback regarding this book, there were many complaints, backlash, by AA readers regarding O's hair. There were several complaints that boiled down to a white author shouldn't have focused on an AA characters hair. I don't agree. O was meticulous, but not overly concerned. I'm AA with a 'striaghtener' in my hair by choice. O's hair was natural. I have watched a few youtubers doing their 'naturals' and it is time consuming and requires several products, just like O's did. To me, Ms. Hart making her hair a character was justified and appropriate. 

P.s. My hair is kind of big deal to me. Seriously its awesome.

***spoiler*** 

That Alex didn't tell Olivia about his relationship with Anne and Jaime before taking her to the picnic is so WRONG. But he did clear up that he did love Jaime as Olivia once loved Patrick, someone who she could never have. But now, he loved her. Some interpreted this as meaning she was his consolation love. I think of it as realizing your first love isn't necessarily your greatest love.

Revelation. Alex tells Olivia that he doesn't share. But later it's revealed that he was once with Anne and Jaime. So he tried before and it didn't work out.

Revelation. Olivia makes a mental note of Alex picking out her outfit to wear to Jaime's memorial day picnic. He tells her that he wants to show her off. Olivia is annoyed/suspicious by this, but she in fact 'showed off' Alex when she took him to her photography class as her model.

Revelation. Olivia's relationship with the camera, her defense mechanism and the fact Alex accepts it without preamble. He enjoys her voyeuristic qualities, make no secret of how aroused he is by her artistic talent, before convincing her to stop watching life and step behind the camera and live with him.

Please read this book! Click here to view it on Amazon and please leave me feedback I would love to hear from you! And follow me if you enjoy reading what I review!