Monday, March 2, 2015

Review: The Innocence Series (#1-3) by Alessandra Torre

~Synopsis~
(Blindfolded Innocence) "I'm not sure what you have been told about me, but I'm not nearly as bad as they make me out to be." His deliciously deep voice carried a little bit of ego. I'm sure you are exactly as bad as they make you out to be....

Brad De Luca is used to getting whatever and whomever he wants. The premier divorce attorney in town, he's a playboy who's bedded half the city--including his own clients. And when the newest intern at his firm poses a challenge, his seductive prowess goes into overdrive. 


Pre-law student Julia Campbell is fresh off a failed engagement and happy with her new independence. Even if she weren't warned away from Brad at every turn, she'd know he was bad news. The last thing she needs is a man who could destroy her job prospects, not to mention her innocence. But before she knows it, the incorrigible charmer has her under his spell. His deviant tastes plunge her deep into a forbidden world of sexual exploration...but her heart may not survive the fall.
~My Review~
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I found these books when 'Blindfolded Innocence' was presented to me in a Facebook ad.  It wasn't free, but I was intrigued by the synopsis that I read on Amazon.  It was different than anything I had read, and decided to go for it.  I bought it, and then ignored it once it got loaded onto my Kindle.  It was probably a week before I decided, what the hey, let me read this....I did, and then I ended up downloading the subsequent books so I could keep reading.  I really enjoyed them!!

I read all four books (The Diary of Brad DeLuca is a novella) in a row:  Blindfolded Innocence, The Diary of Brad DeLuca, Masked Innocence, and End of the Innocence.  The books build on each other, but the first book, Blindfolded Innocence can be read as a standalone.  The Diary of Brad DeLuca is essentially pieces of the first book, but from Brad's point of view.  It's very short, and it's unnecessary when reading the whole series, but it's fun to get his ideas about what's going on.


I've never written a review for an entire series before, but because I read all of the books together, I wanted to review them all at once, too.  That being said, I'm going to review the series as if I'm reviewing just one book:

The books move at a great pace.  They don't focus too long on boring topics, and I felt that both Julia and Brad were well developed characters.  The books were mostly in Julia's point of view, but there were sections (in all of the books, except for Brad's novella) where the book was in 3rd person.  These little sections were sometimes about Brad, sometimes about other people entirely.  I actually really liked this...I love books that are in 3rd person, because I feel like you get a better sense of everyone's perspectives.  While most of the book is in Julia's POV, I liked how there were sections here and there that were in someone else's perspective.  You essentially learn little tidbits of information that will end up affecting Julia later on.


I really loved the relationship between Julia and Brad. Their relationship is different than anything I've ever read and I really enjoyed it.   Brad isn't your typical Alpha Male Billionaire.  Yes, he has some Alpha tendencies, and yes, he's a Billionaire.  He is, however, used to getting what he wants when he wants, and is quite surprised by how Julia resists him.  Julia is an undergraduate pre-law student.  She is an incurable flirt (she loves to lead guys on, and then leave them panting) because she feels like it gives her power.  She has just come out of an 18-month relationship and broken off her engagement when she starts her unpaid internship with a local law firm.  She's warned on multiple occasions to stay away from one of the other lawyers as the firm, Brad DeLuca, and she succeeds at first, but soon falls into his web of charms.  She explores a whole new world of erotica with him, but is constantly on alert, afraid that something will happen with the announcement of their relationship.

The other relationships within the book (Julia and her family and friends, her boss at the Law Firm, the other interns, and Brad and his colleagues, his family, and his housekeeper/cook) were all done well.  I liked how those relationships added to the story, but they didn't overrun things.  They all somehow added to the story - some more than others - but I liked how they fit together.

One of the things that I liked a lot about this book is that the sex was totally different than anything I'd read in the past.  It was definitely more erotic than what I had read, but with no BDSM aspect at all.  The 'swinger' aspect that is written into all of the books really brings each sexual encounter to a new level, and I really enjoyed reading how they brought another person into their encounter, and what it was like.  I honestly wasn't too sure if I would like it or not (I read a different book that contained a swinger aspect to it and I wasn't too crazy about it), but this was so well written that I really enjoyed it!

There was good conflict in each book.  I felt like it all moved well.  There was resolution in each case, however I will say that I felt like the resolution in the last book came way too quickly and way to close to the end of the book.  I was actually pretty surprised as I was reading because I was already through about 90% of the book and there was still no resolution - I thought that maybe there was another book, but everything got solved.  I came away with questions, but the characters didn't have full resolution to what happened, either, so I chalked that up to design rather than lack of information.   At the end of the book, there is a link to the Author's website where you can read an additional "after the epilogue" piece, and I read that as well - it was a fun little read that basically told about where the characters were 4 years after the end of the last book.

All in all, I really liked all four books of this series.  It was refreshing to read something that was so different than anything I had read in the past, and I'm glad that the Facebook recommendation came through - it gave me another author that I could add to my list!!

Innocence Series on Goodreads

Blindfolded Innocence on Kindle
Diary of Brad DeLuca on Kindle
Masked Innocence on Kindle
End of the Innocence on Kindle

Blindfolded Innocence on Nook
Diary of Brad DeLuca on Nook
Masked Innocence on Nook
End of the Innocence on Nook

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