Review: Desire Me Now by Tiffany Clare

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Amelia Grant has nowhere to go, and no one to turn to -- until Nicholas Riley sweeps her off her feet, rescues her, and brings her into his world.

Nicholas is wealthy and powerful and his world is unlike anything Amelia has ever seen or experienced -- and she's slowly losing her head and her heart to this man who seems larger than life to her.

Desire Me Now is the first instalment in Tiffany Clare's series of novellas about Amelia and Nicholas. The template of this series reminds me of Fifty Shades of Grey. (I have not read E.L. James's book, but I get the impression that it explores the darker aspects of sex.) Tiffany Clare's Desire Me Now is erotic, and titillating -- and Nicholas is clearly the one calling the shots in the story, but he also respects Amelia's wishes and desires. He doesn't make a move until she consents -- but, after she says yes, she's swept into a very passionate affair.

"Amelia." Her name on his tongue was a seductive growl in her ears, and the sound had her mouth parting on a small sigh. "You're mine and no one else's."

"I only want you."

He kissed her hard, his mouth rougher, needier this time. The feel of his teeth grazing her lips and her tongue tore a moan from deep in her throat. This time, when he pulled away, she almost followed his mouth with hers, not willing to relinquish the kiss she'd been craving since they arrived home. This was precisely was she wanted.

"I will never let you leave," he said with a finality that might have frightened most women, but he didn't scare her.
- loc 2052

The first novella does a good job of introducing the characters and their circumstances. The author hints at Nicholas's deeper motivations with how he saves abused women -- that's a sympathetic element in Nicholas. But the author also hints at darker motivations for our main character -- there's something ... obsessive and absolute about his claim over Amelia. I felt a little sorry for Amelia who is overwhelmed by her new situation -- I don't think she's found her footing yet, and it's clear how it's Nicholas who is steering the relationship. I wonder if Amelia ever becomes an equal partner to Nicholas, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

..."Why do I feel this way around you?"

He rubbed his hands over hers, holding her close. "And how is that?"

"Confused. In need of something I do not understand and for which I cannot find words." She closed her eyes, not believing she was admitting this much to him. "Desperate for your touch, for your lips pressed against mine ... for your hands around me as they were in the carriage."
- loc 1998 - 2007

Tiffany Clare does a good job of juxtaposing the two men who are "actively" in Amelia's life: Nicholas and her brother, Jeremy, -- and how one treats her like a treasure (so far) and the other treats her like a pawn to be bartered and traded. (I will reserve further questions about Nicholas's treatment of Amelia when I've read the next two parts. I worry since the series seems to really take an erotic and dark turn.) I don't blame Amelia for being dazzled by Nicholas, considering how terrible her previous encounters with men have been, but I do wish there was more -- a deeper reason for her trust and surrender. I also wonder how their relationship will progress in the second and third instalments of the series. (I've read the summaries, and it gets more steamy. I think there's BDSM in the second novella.)

It's a theme that is very popular in contemporary erotic romance right now, but I haven't really read much in the historical romance genre, so I have to give Tiffany Clare credit for creating such an interesting historical romance series.

Desire Me Now is the first instalment in Tiffany Clare's Desire Me series. To find out more about the author and her books, click below:
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