FEVER - Maya Banks
A Perfect 10
Breathless , Book 2 of 3
Berkley
ISBN: 978-0-425-26706-6
April 2013
Erotic Contemporary Romance

Manhattan, New York - Present Day

It isn't unusual for Jace Crestwell and Ash McIntyre to share a woman—in fact it's more unusual when they don't.  But from the moment Jace sees the beautiful woman at his sister's engagement party, Jace wants her all to himself.  Before he can blink, though, Ash has approached her and invited her to share the night with them.

Bethany Willis is a little taken aback when the handsome and obviously wealthy man named Ash asks if she'd be willing to have a threesome with him and his friend.  When that friend, introduced as Jace, starts to take Ash to task over his invitation in spite of the desire in his eyes, Bethany makes what she figures is probably a stupid decision, and agrees.  There's just something about Jace that makes Bethany throw caution to the wind and decide to indulge herself with these two men for one night. 

In the morning, Jace is surprised and upset to realize that Bethany has already left.  Ash figures it's because women don't usually leave them until Ash and Jace want them to, but Jace knows it's more than that.  For the first time in his life, Jace has found a woman he wants solely to himself, and for way more than one night.  When he finally tracks her down, Bethany is in the last place he ever expected her to be, which only cements his decision that she will be his.

A lifelong friendship is tested in FEVER when Jace realizes that Bethany is a woman he is unwilling to share.  Jace and Ash, along with Gabe Hamilton, met in college and became best friends.  When Jace's parents died, he was suddenly the guardian of his six year old sister, Mia, and the friendship between the men became a family.  That friendship was recently strained when Jace found out that Gabe and Mia had been seeing each other.  Things have worked out between Gabe and Mia, and Jace is—mostly—okay with their relationship (some things a man just doesn't need to know about his baby sister).  Bethany coming into his life throws it into chaos because he can't find her at first, and when he does, he's not sure how to handle things.  Jace is a dominant man in every aspect of his life, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to have that life include Bethany.

Her own life has been a tale of survival and unhappiness, so as much as Bethany wants to believe that Jace will make things better, she's a little afraid to hope.  Never in her life has anybody taken care of her the way Jace does, but she can't imagine that a powerful, wealthy businessman could want anything to do with someone like her.  She'll enjoy the Cinderella fantasy while it lasts, but really, how long can that be?

Maya Banks once again delivers what readers have come to expect from her: sizzling hot sex balanced out by a touching, emotional romance.  The Breathless trilogy is focused on the three men, Jace, Ash, and Gabe, who've shared a friendship and a business for twenty years.  While each of the books released so far (RUSH and FEVER) stand well on their own, these men, as well as Mia, are so much a part of each other's lives that you should really read them in order.  It doesn't hurt that the books are irresistible, and I can't wait for Ash's story, BURN, coming out this fall.  For me, the mark of a great book is not only that it's hard to put down, but that you want to start all over again when you've finished, which is exactly why I'm giving FEVER a Perfect 10.

Jennifer Bishop