I had loved the previous book, Wicked Lust, and it was a given I was going to read WICKED NEED, while waiting for Bridger’s, of course! We had met both Cat and Rand before, albeit mostly in sexual situations at The Silo, a sex club. WICKED NEED picks up precisely where Wicked Lust left off, however it can easily be read as a standalone.
Cat is now widowed and has been left penniless by her late husband – or is her husband the reason she is destitute? Rand, who knew her from The Silo, sees her sleeping in her car, and asks her to come home with him. Rand has a “White Knight” complex – he cannot help himself from rescuing damsels in distress – and he doesn’t apologise for the way he is. Rand is a particularly delicious character: a real gentleman, really sweet and considerate. Poor Cat has made too many bad choices in her sad life, but she slowly understands that she can make changes and, with Rand’s help, she begins to “woman up”. I love how Cat takes it one step at a time: nothing is rushed, and it was a pleasure to watch her become more assertive. Cat and Rand are both physically attracted to each other, but they also understand each other, and Rand is willing to give her all the space she needs, even if she doesn’t choose him. He honestly wants her to get her life back, and that was so nice for a change: to see a man who is sure of himself, confident, and not push the poor thing. Cat is not pathetic, far from it, but she is young and for the first time, she is allowed to do what she wants and hope for a better future as well.
Even given that the environment is the same, that is characters from The Silo and their mates, the tone WICKED NEED is a world away from Wicked Lust. WICKED NEED is written from Rand and Cat’s points of views, and it is gentler and not as sexually wild, but definitely not tame! It just reflects Cat and Rand’s personalities perfectly. I also marvel at Ms. Bennett exemplary use of language, as the more I read, the more I found how differently Rand and Cat express themselves, again as compared to Cain and Sloane. In a way, WICKED NEED reads a bit as a suspense, at least as far as I’m concerned, in following Cat’s personal growth and trying to find answers to unanswered questions. There were some exquisitely painful passages where Cat looks back on her life and the choices she made, and every woman should be so lucky as to find herself a Rand Bishop. The story unfolds as I wished it, and this definitely does not mean the author took the easy way out, but that she let her characters deal with their issues; it was simply perfect. And what a beautiful and emotional ending! Sawyer Bennett hasn’t failed to impress me yet: WICKED NEED is another superb book by this very talented author. Now on to the next book in this fantastic series!
~ MONIQUE~
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