“How rough can you take it?
LOURDES
He was brazen as hell from the moment I laid eyes on him. He was aggressive, and dominant, with Mack truck arms, and a bar brawler voice.
He was too good looking for his own good, with a hard jaw, and harder eyes.
I’d always led a fairly peaceful life, but even I could tell at a glance that this man was dangerous. For so many reasons.
Not the least of which being that rough, dirty, sheet-clawing sex fairly radiated off him.
I’d thought I’d known how to handle every kind of man, but this one left me baffled.
To say he wasn’t my type was putting it lightly.
But you couldn’t tell that to my libido.
Not even when I found out the truth.
My lover had lied to me from the very start.
Nothing about our meeting was a coincidence.

This book can be read as a standalone.

Within a moments of opening this book, the reader gets  this…

“How rough can you take it?” Lourdes 

And this…

“You’re trembling,” he rasped into my ear, making me tremble all the more.
“Fear or excitement?”
I licked my lips and gave him the truth. “Both.”

So you know almost instantly that this is going to be a hot read.

But in the end The Other Man is more than that; it is a hot book with a beautiful woven plot and a man who will touch your heart as the opening of his heart transforms his life.

This book does have an age gap between Lourdes and Heath. He is 25 while she is 41. This made for some wonderful scenes especially with Lourdes’ grown sons (more below about that).  But what I loved most about this was the use of it when other women would hit on Heath; his reactions were EPIC and had me falling in love with him while knowing Lourdes was so special to him.

Ms. Lilley does a wonderful job with Lourdes and the reader trusts Heath despite what is clearly a dark past and a current situation full of secrets.

“I’ve lived a violent life. But, Lourdes, listen very carefully, because this is a promise: I’d never hurt you. Okay?”

Lines like this speak to the torment in Heath’s soul and make the reader love him even more

“I don’t have a future, Lourdes. But if I did… If I did, it would be yours.”

I found myself quickly rooting for Lourdes and Heath.

As this erotic story builds, the story turns a bit dark and then is becomes a bit of a thriller as Lourdes’ world gets dark, I found my heart in my throat.  I am not always a fan of this genre but in this one, it worked for me as it flowed well and kept me gripping my kindle almost screaming for Heath.

Like I alluded to above, I adored the use of Lourdes’ grown sons in this book. I loved how they were crafted, each with their own personality.  It was adorable to watch their reactions to the younger Heath in their mother’s life and it was heart warming to see both truly want what was best for their mom.

I will not tell you how Heath and Lourdes find a way to happy, but I will say it was a wonderful ride and the epilogue of this book had me grinning from ear to ear.

This book is easily read as a standalone. I did not read Wild Side, where Lourdes is introduced and I had no issue reading and loving this story!