**Review - Rouse Me by Crystal Kaswell - 3.5 stars**

Rouse me by Crystal Kaswell

3.5 Cheating Stars

Blurb - Alyssa Summers is not the kind of girl who cheats. Sure, she isn't in love with her fiancé, Ryan Knight, but she has no use for silly ideas like love or passion. She needs someone who can keep her from destroying herself. She needs Ryan. She's sure of it.

Then she meets Luke Lawrence.

He's handsome. And he's bold—he thinks nothing of flirting with her in front of Ryan. And he's smart, and articulate, and interested in what she has to say.

But she should be able to stop thinking about him.

So what if his big, brown eyes light up when he smiles? So what if his laugh completely disarms her? So what if his touch-- even his fingertips grazing her back-- makes her body hum?

She shouldn't feel so tempted. She shouldn't feel so desperate to know him. Luke is Ryan's business partner, for God's sake. She should be able to resist him.

But she can't. She wants Luke more than she's ever wanted anything.

Rouse Me is book #1 in the Rouse Me Series and the first book I have read by this author. I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review so here goes...

This book started off really well I took an instant dislike to Ryan he seems like an uptight, controlling asshole and to be honest he played up to my first impressions the whole way through the book. I hated the way he spoke down to Alyssa and was so incredibly condescending to her.

He treated her like a possession and my god if I could reach into a book and bitch slap him I would have every time he called her ‘Beautiful’ like it was her only redeeming quality. I seriously just HATE him soooo much!!!

Now I’m not suggesting that Alyssa is the innocent party here because she really isn’t!!! She is an absolute mess, to be honest I’m not sure how much of her nightmare personality is her various mental health issues and how much is the brainwashing bullcrap Ryan has fed her.

If you have issues with cheating then this is NOT the book for you!!!

To be honest I’m not normally a fan of books with a cheating theme but for some reason in this book it feels slightly more acceptable.

Now Luke, Luke, Luke I LOVE you, I much prefer the Luke from the start of the book where his cheeky chappy personality would win over even the most reluctant reader. He is literally adorable and I can completely understand why Alyssa is so drawn to him.

Holy hell on a cracker Alyssa and Luke are on fire the sexual chemistry that sizzles between them is outrageously sexy and alluring.

I really struggled with Alyssa she is miserable with Ryan but she honestly feels like she could not cope without him. What I found difficult is that I had no idea whether Ryan had helped her and her fears were genuine or if he had manipulated her recovery to make her more dependent on him and allow him to exert control over her???

I hated that Alyssa turned Luke into a moping idiot she ruined him and I kind of can’t forgive her character for that.

I’m glad that it all ended as it should but on Alyssa’s part it all felt a bit too little too late.

There is a second book in the series and I’m intrigued to know if that continues Alyssa and Luke’s story?

I both loved and hated this book, I was enthralled and frustrated so I’m going to give this book 3.5 stars.