Night Owl ~ M. Pierce

Night Owl by M. Pierce
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

6+++ beautifully emotional and haunting stars!!!

I dove into this book out of curiosity. It seemed like every one of my book blogging friends was reading and reviewing this book lately. And while i very rarely seem to agree with the masses about books that receive a lot of hype, I decided to give it a try in the hopes that it might snap me out of my reading slump.

All i can say is, wow.

For the first time in months, i was IMMEDIATELY hooked on a story. Within the first couple of sentences, i knew this book was going to be one of those reading experiences that leave a lasting impression on me. Yes. I knew that quickly.

At first I thought, while incredibly addictive and well written, this was just going to be a hot, sexy read about a rich guy with a dirty mouth and the spunky girl that falls for him. But Night Owl ended up being so much more than that.

The first half of the book is very much an erotic story. The chemistry between Matt and Hannah is just ridiculous. I hereby crown this author the King/Queen of writing dirty talk. I seriously felt like I needed to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes after reading certain scenes.

And then we get to the latter half of the book.

The author throws us one hell of an emotional curveball that left me reeling and unable to tear my eyes away from my e-reader if my life had depended on it. Normally I am not a fan of an overload of angst, but here...because I cared so deeply for these characters and what happened to them...i completely bought the influx of emotion and pain.

Buried just beneath the surface of this seriously sexy love story, lay some mighty dark themes. And the author handles it perfectly. Beautifully.

The problems that plague one of our main characters - problems which are revealed slowly and deliberately - are handled in an honest and unflinching way. And there is nothing sugar-coated about this character's struggle to come back from such a dark place. It's raw and emotionally exhausting to experience as a reader. Which is exactly how it should have been. That is brilliant storytelling, folks.

This wasn't an easy review to write. I don't want to give too much away, so it's hard to touch on certain aspects of the plot that moved me, angered me, made me blush, made me giggle, and me cry ugly tears.

Let me just say this.
If you go into this book expecting a sexy little story about likable characters with lots of steamy goodness, fine. You will get all of that in spades. But, you will also get so much more. By the end you will feel like you have been on a journey with these characters. And, I for one, feel so privileged to have gone on that journey. And I can not wait to see what else this author has in store.

In a sea of FSOG and Bared to You knock offs...Night Owl blows the lid off the erotic fiction status quo, and sets the new standard.