Review: "Embrace" by S. Layne (The Affair #2)

Note: This ARC was provided by Book Enthusiast Promotions via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Laurie Baker doesn't like being deceived. She's already experienced it once, courtesy of her husband James and his affair with his secretary and now Laurie's ex-friend. When she has to face the fact that the man she's having her own affair with, Liam Parker, has purposely kept things from her, she's at a loss. She finds herself torn between doing the right thing and giving in to her feelings for Liam. As much as they try to convince themselves that they can leave behind what happened those two nights in the hotel, the pull between them is difficult to resist and they're both caught in a situation they've never been in before.

But just when Laurie is ready to start the new chapter of her life, her husband makes his intentions known: he isn't going to give up on their marriage. Laurie has before her two very different men--James who has owned her heart since she was fourteen and Liam who has owned her body from the time they were in each other's arms in the hotel lobby. She needs to decide what it is she truly wants and needs and if she's really prepared to fully trust either of the two men with everything she's prepared to give them, including her heart. After all, can a real relationship work if the foundation it's built upon is faulty and cracked?

Embrace is the second book in The Affair series by Stacey Lynn, using her pen name S. Layne, and is directly connected to the first book, Entice. This picks up soon after the events in book one and Laurie Baker is as confused and as hurt as ever by Liam Parker's business dealings and how he went about them. His decision to not inform her of how his actions would affect her, someone he was intimate with, hinted at an insensitivity issue. Of course, James Baker, is still very much around, refusing to let go of Laurie and and doing whatever is necessary to prove to his wife how sincere he is about working on their issues.

As with the book one, this sequel had some surprises that I didn't see coming, and while I may not have agreed with some of Laurie's choices, I understood that she made them without really taking into consideration the consequences. After having her heart broken by James, she wanted to live in the moment and simply feel, and if it so happened to be courtesy of Liam, a man who was proving to be not quite so trustworthy himself, she was going to go with it. One thing after another was happening to her and she was dealing with it by seemingly choosing not to listen to the little voice of reason in her head.

While Liam did strike me as sometimes cold and calculated, I do think that his being with Laurie humanized him, something he didn't expect and, I suspect, didn't exactly welcome because it made him more vulnerable. Do I think he was in love with her? Possibly, but I also think he refused to allow himself to get to the point, though he obviously cared deeply for her. Laurie's feelings for him were on a different level, but I doubt that they were anywhere close to what she was still feeling for James. I couldn't help but compare the Laurie's two relationships and one simply felt more committed, real, and long-lasting.

This was felt like a more than suitable way to end Laurie's story, although I was up for almost any kind of ending the author would have given since the twists kept me guessing and still leaving me quite satisfied. I'm sure there are readers who are on Team James while others are on Team Liam, and I wouldn't be surprised if some are on Team Laurie, meaning she spending the next phase of her life as an individual and not as part of a couple. All three lead characters were further developed and became more evolved in this sequel and they made the story all the more memorable. Embrace deserves to get 4.5 stars out of five. ♥

Release Date: 12 May 2015

Date Read: 02 May 2015

Learn more about S. Layne (Stacey Lynn) here.

There are currently no pre-order links for Embrace. I'll post them once they're available.