Faye is a successful romance novelist who craves the kind of love she writes about. She spends her days writing at her local bistro and her evenings home alone.  An evening out with her friend Phoebe changes not only her life but also her way of thinking. The eyes of the woman who gives her a lap dance looks familiar, but she doesn’t know any strippers. She has no idea those eyes belong to the gorgeous new barista at the bistro.

Talia works at the bistro during the day just to keep herself busy. Dancing at Vision provides more than enough money for her to live comfortably. She loves dancing and is one of the best pole dancers in Europe. She thinks Faye is beautiful but would never pursue anything with her. She was burned in the past when she opened up her heart only to have it crushed.

Talia and Faye complement each other perfectly, even though, on the surface they shouldn’t fit at all.  Faye’s initially shocked to discover Talia is the dancer from the club. She quickly realizes that Talia is so much more than her job and she wants to know her. We should all strive to be like Faye, to not judge someone for what they do but to see the person they are inside. Talia is a pole dancer, but she’s so much more than that and Faye’s see’s all of the things that make her special.

Talia wants nothing more than to bring the Faye’s smile back, but can she trust that Faye won’t hurt her the way everyone else has. Melissa Tereze is one of my favorite writers. The way she takes the time to develop her characters makes me feel like I know them completely, her books are always super sexy but are also deeply emotional. And I absolutely love how regardless of the age differences between the characters, they both behave like adults and communicate with each other.

Faye’s mother is an absolute gem of a character and made me laugh out loud several times. She’s completely without a filter and I love that in my characters. Phoebe, Faye’s best friend is the judgmental asshole in the story, who sees nothing wrong with paying Talia for a lap dance but doesn’t see her someone worthy of her friend’s affection. So many people sit in judgment of others and what we all need to do is to look at the person, not the preconceptions we have in our heads of who they are. This is yet another stellar book from a wonderful writer.

ARC given by the author for an honest review.