All the Right Places

April 20, 2015
Sutton’s contemporary erotic romance debut combines sweet romance, steamy sex, and emotional drama, and even though all the elements are individually well executed, they don’t quite cohere. Quinn O’Brien, head of a prominent jeans company, reluctantly hires up-and-coming designer Amelia Winger to create a new line of accessories for their floundering women’s division. Ambitious and resourceful Amelia quietly makes a deal with Quinn’s sister, Teagan, to rework the entire women’s division behind Quinn’s back. Amelia intends to keep her relationship with Quinn entirely professional, but their intense attraction, and Quinn’s determination to get his way, make that impossible. Persistent Quinn occasionally becomes manipulative, and while the conflicts are strongly rooted in character traits, the extent to which Amelia shoulders the blame for them is disconcerting, particularly given her unhappy past. Inviting settings and many appealing secondary characters—not including Teagan, who unfortunately mostly remains a cipher—are all pleasant enough, but the central struggle soon becomes off-putting.