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Insufferable Proximity #1

Insufferable Proximity

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Note: Alternate cover for ASIN B007FIIF34

Someone is hell-bent on sabotaging Julian King.

Julian is a hot-shot lawyer and a natural born womanizer with an unnatural addiction to the opposite sex. He also happens to be the boss's son, which makes him a natural target. With a Rolodex filled with scorned women, a brother who loathes him and the competitors he defeated on his way to the top; there were plenty of people that would love to see him burn. But his money was on the person he despised most, his enemy Heaven Deville.

Heaven is an aggressive, ambitious, destructively-driven lawyer who HATES Julian King. The two stubborn lawyers were currently locked in a brutal battle for the coveted partnership position at the firm; and Heaven would do ANYTHING to prevent her arch rival from winning.

When Heaven goes too far Julian gives her two options- either he turns her in OR she has to willingly sign herself over to him for the next 30 days.

WARNING- CONTAINS STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT! Check a sample at my website- zstefani.com

737 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 28, 2012

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Z. Stefani

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Profile Image for Tessamari ♥Many Waters...♥ ~ Sweet Spot Book Blog.
1,003 reviews163 followers
September 14, 2012
4.75 Stars

“I want you – every inch of you. I want you naked and on your knees before me, I want to stick my tongue in every orifice on your body, and I want to fuck you until you’re begging me to stop.” ~ Julian

Well, if that line doesn’t want to make you read this book, I don’t know what will. Holy smokes! Is it hot in here, or is it just me? Don’t you just love surfing Goodreads and accidentally find something you absolutely just loved? Yea, that happened to me with this book. It was just a blip on my radar, under my “on-the-fence-to-read” bookshelf, when I said, “what the hell, this looks good.” Picked it up, started reading and I couldn’t stop. In less than 24 hours, I was finished. According to Amazon, this is a 700+ page book. I flew through this and I just devoured it. Oh, yeah. I LOVED IT.

“He’s a cocky, egotistical, competitive, selfish, self-righteous egomaniac, and there’s nothing sexy about that.” ~ Heaven

Julian King is all Alpha male. With all that ego and arrogance, it’s no wonder he’s such a man-whore. It’s true. He openly admits to being a sex addict. There’s no way he’ll ever commit to one woman. Why would he? He’s the son of Ayden King, the head of a very prestigious law firm, plus, he’s sexy, rich, well endowed and his sexual escapes are the stuff of legends. He leaves a trail of broken hearts all over the city. He has many enemies. So it’s no surprise that someone is out to sabotage his career.

She was driving him insane, he couldn’t stand her, but he’d never wanted a woman in his life as badly as he wanted her right now.

Heaven Deville is a twenty-six year old career driven, virginal woman. She has no time for men; she never has. Raised in a brothel, she grew up leery of men, determined to have no man control her or her life. Even during college, she stayed away from the social scene and opted to focus on her career. She wants to be known for her wits and callousness in the courtroom and even dresses in ill-fitting clothes to drive home the point that she wants to be taken seriously. There’s no mistaking her for sleeping her way to the top. Because of this drive, she often comes out cold and unapproachable. She has no problem standing toe-to-toe with the arrogant Julian King.

He’d never been so giddy before, his head swarmed with visions of Ms. Deville on her knees, begging him to accept her apology and expressing her sorrow for being such a bitch all those years. Damn, he wanted to dominate her…

Julian and Heaven have never gotten along. For the past three years, they do nothing but fight. They’re the top two attorneys in their law firm and are constantly at each other’s throat. Heaven can’t stand Julian, so when the two are competing for a partnership position at the firm, she will do anything to win, including risk her beloved career as a lawyer. When Julian catches her in the act, he comes up with plan: Submit to him for thirty days or he’ll turn her in and ruin her career. So what choice does she have? None really, but she definitely won’t make it easy. Julian has got his work cut out to break the ice queen, Heaven.

Their fights in the office are epic. All that animosity between is just fuel to the fire. When Heaven signs the contract, she binds herself to Julian for one month. From one extreme to another, sparks fly between the two, the good and the bad. No one has ever gotten under Julian’s skin like Heaven. Even under his control, she continually finds way to disobey him. It’s safe to say, these two have combustible chemistry. It was HOT! I was definitely not disappointed with the many, MANY steamy scenes in this story. ;)

“Has he ever touched you?”
“No, I told you no one has.”
“Only me?” He asked and she nodded.
“Only you.”
“Say it.” He demanded.
“Only you’ve touched me, I swear.” She said, knowing it would help to sate him.
“I’m warning you, Heaven,” Julian bent his head down, his lips inches from hers, “it better stay that way.” He kissed her, and began moving his hips again; he pumped in and out of her body faster, forcing her back to the seat.


I just LOVED how possessive Julian became of Heaven. Since he is obviously her first, he feels this overwhelming need to protect and possess her. I don’t know what it is about possessive men, but I find it utterly sexy. So what happens when their contract is up, when he will no longer have any say in what Heaven does? Will Julian go back to his man-whore days? How would he feel when Heaven starts to see other men?

Of course the story is predictable, but I didn’t care. I just LOVED it. However, there are two reasons why I didn’t give it the full five stars: One: The way Heaven lost her v-card was a little heartbreaking. She waited all this time, and to lose it like that, well…that was definitely not the way to go, Julian. Two: It ended too abruptly. I would’ve loved an epilogue or something. Either way, I still loved everything else about it. Highly recommend for those looking for a long, steamy read with a sexy, possessive Alpha male Hero.
Profile Image for Fatima.
851 reviews350 followers
September 16, 2012
"Your hatred is my foreplay.” - Julian King

Julian King is one hot son of a gun !!!!! Holy Moly was it hot in here when I was reading this book !
Oh by the way , for reasons unknown I kept picturing this guy as the insanely manwhore uberly handsome hot and exciting Julian King :

Alex Pettyfer Pictures, Images and Photos

But more like with this hairdo :

alex pettyfer Pictures, Images and Photos

* Swoooooooooon * soo fuckin tempting !!

I always keep my Ipod on when I'm reading and by some strange twist of fate , If I can say that , this song started playing whilst I was reading this story and I thought its purrfect for this story , Julian and Heaven . So I decided I'm going to keep it as my cue music for this review ..

* Cue Skin - Rihanna *

Meet , Heaven Sevigne Deville . Heaven is a very controlled , enticingly cunning and a cold hearted woman when it comes to her work . She doesn't date , doesn't do casual relationships and keeps men at bay as though they are all poster boys for STD's . Her work , that is working for a top notch Law Firm and the fulfilling of her dreams in the only thing that matters to her .

Now meet Julian King , Son of Ayden King a 'on top of his game' Attorney . Julian is gifted like his father when it comes to handling the toughest clientele's , but is also a self confessed Sex addict . He spends most of time screwing around his secretaries , ' special friends ' and more . All that sort of changes when he meets Heaven . Heaven and Julian , cant stand each other . Prior to what leads to the events that sets the basis of this story , Heaven and Julian have spent 3 yrs hating each other and bickering over cases . Julian's hatred for Heaven led him to build a dungeon in his basement . A dungeon that houses some of the kinkiest objects which he intends to use .... on Heaven ...

anis what Pictures, Images and Photos

Now thats some serious Issue you got there bud !!!

Lady luck decides to grace Julian King and he finally gets a chance to fulfill his dream . Heaven's one act of stupidity leads her to Julian and his contract . Either she signs up his offer of being his for the next 30 days or be ready to lose her job and let her dreams flow down the gutters . Ofcourse , she picks the former and thats exactly this book turns into a scorchingly hot page turner . Add to this a mystery stalker and the perverted attempts to tarnish Julian's reputation and we have a story thats worth your time !! Oh and for over 700+ pages , this definitely did not feel like overly long at all !

The yaaaaay factor :

First of all , THE COVER !!!! OH.MY.GOD , soooo .... phew .. Ice packs .. right now !!! . I loved the setting that was used in this story . I have somewhat come to believe that lawyers and advocates and some of the sexiest shit out there , I mean they can talk , like really talk and it was nice to see these two really ' known for their game ' lawyers get their freak on ! I loved Julian and Heaven's characters . They are both flawed and similar in their own way , they were perfect for each other . I loved how Heaven wasn't a cry baby type and took whatever came out to haunt her with her ' big girl panties' on . I also loved the steam sex that book was sooo full of ! God dammit , that cookie scene stole my breath away ! Julian was yummy all the way . From his alpha male-ish hotness to his possessiveness that can melt your knees he was downright scrumptious !!! Batting eyelashes Pictures, Images and Photos

The ending , although seemed hurried , was a good one . I just wished the epilogue could've been a little longer . But it made me happy so what the heck !

If you love your books with a little drama , a little action , a little comedy , a little ' toe curling romance and whole lot of sex , then this book is a must read !!!
Profile Image for ToddAn.
383 reviews7 followers
May 31, 2012
I can't begin to express how bad this was. This was recommended to me because of the possessive/dominant hero. Julian was possessive in spades...but that was the only thing I enjoyed! The characters were one dimensional...Julian was only a sex addict, Heaven was only ambitious. There was nothing in between. I couldn't connect with the characters and just got fed up with the book. The addition of the unknown but omnipotent stalker was just thrown in out of the blue. When the stalker's identity was revealed, I was even more frustrated. I love reading about heros with the "you're mine" disposition, but not at the expense of a good plot and believable characters!
Profile Image for ♡kitten♡.
213 reviews356 followers
dnf
June 2, 2015
I couldn't count how many times the hero slept with other women after meeting the heroine. I wouldn't call it as cheating because they obviously weren't together, but I'm not really interested in reading that kind of story where the hero sleeps around A LOT. DNF.
Profile Image for I ♥ Bookie Nookie (bookienookiereviews.blogspot.com).
1,028 reviews2,907 followers
July 2, 2015
Raise your hand if you like angry, passionate sex with the enemy. Well, maybe not in real life, but in the land of Erotica, it makes for some really smokin’ hot scenes! INSUFFERABLE PROXIMITY has all that and more!

When it comes to playing the field, Julian King has the market cornered – he effortlessly reels in a lot of spectacular tail on a very regular basis. He’s a big-wig lawyer with an even bigger ego and is accustomed to getting what he wants, when he wants it.

Enter mortal enemy and equally talented attorney, Heaven Deville. They are both in the running for partnership, but Heaven would do just about anything to prevent Julian from winning. Blinded by the need to win, Heaven has a momentary lapse in judgment making a fatal mistake that could cause her to lose everything she has worked so hard to accomplish.

The very kind and generous Julian *snicker* offers her a choice: he can turn her in and she will lose everything or she can turn herself over to him to do with as he pleases for the next 30 days. Decisions, decisions… Well, doesn’t seem like much of a choice if you ask me, but shockingly, Heaven mentally debates the matter and the competitor within her accepts the challenge confident that she can somehow outwit the competition once again.

INSUFFERABLE PROXIMITY was spectacular, especially if you love the sparring between two characters who are so obviously meant for each other but fight the attraction to the very last second. Seeing these two characters transform and bend to the other was extremely entertaining and oh-so hot! You have got to pick this up if you love a dominant hero and a strong-willed and feisty heroine.

NOTE: Self-Published indicates no “professional editing” has occurred. With the exception of some grammatical and spelling errors, author, Z. Stefani has done a great job of giving the reader a lovely finished product. I know some of you take off stars for editing errors, so I thought this was worth mentioning - if the story is appealing to you, please don’t let this deter you from snatching it up – the story is amazing. I can almost guarantee you will not be disappointed.

✳✳ Copy provided by the author/publisher for an honest review.

**Reviewed on I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews

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Profile Image for HJ.
794 reviews46 followers
just-nope
February 24, 2014
11/29/2012 Update: The author posted on Amazon that she is not doing this. That she had added a chapter and removed the epilogue because there is going to be a book 2, and that's where the epilogue belongs.
**********************

Seriously? The author is pulling the book to break it down for the 'installment plan.' Bullshit. This is starting to cause yet another 'Readers vs. Authors,' battle. Personally, I now refuse to buy any book (exceptions would include Urban Fantasy, or series with books longer than 400 pages and definitely ending contained within each book) sold this way. What a FUCKING rip-off. Especially with a poorly written self-published book.

That is all.
Profile Image for Jane Stewart.
2,462 reviews952 followers
December 24, 2012
Some of the sex is arousing and a turn-on, but this book is not for me. Several times I was wishing it would be over.

The best part is probably the numerous sex scenes where Julian gropes her, displays her, sucks on her body parts and pleasures her with oral sex. She resists, but then she can’t resist. Most sex scenes were short with not much emotion. A small percentage of the scenes had Julian entering her. Heaven never did anything oral to Julian. The turn-on is probably the caveman who’s obsessed with seeing her pleasured. He does sexual things to her in public. He demands she wear no underwear in public. There is a small amount of bondage, spanking, and sex toys. Other than that, it’s vanilla sex.

Heaven and Julian are extremely attractive brilliant tough lawyers. Heaven wears dumpy clothes to hide and avoid her sexuality. She is a virgin. Julian has sex with multiple women per week, frequently during office hours. He desires sex constantly and has no desire to deprive himself. As he falls for Heaven, Julian is possessive and controlling. In real life he would be an abusive spouse with stds. But we’re not doing that here in our fiction. Instead the author is enhancing his sexuality caveman style.

The story was ok, but the bad guy suspense part was not well thought out. (I’m calling the bad guy BG, because I don’t want to say whether BG was male or female.) BG was able to do too many things that were hard to believe. BG broke into places regardless of security systems and cameras. BG was a better computer hacker than the super hacker hired by the private detective. BG entered a house with several people armed and wary. Then BG attacked and tied up each person without alerting others. BG did too many things too easily and too convenient for the plot. They were like events from an outline - no depth or showing BG’s actions or thoughts and no showing how BG could accomplish these feats of brilliance and luck.

According to one reviewer, the book was re-edited in August, 2012. Several reviews dated before August complained about a huge number of errors. I must have read the later version because I only noticed occasional errors - missing words or wrong words, things a spell-checker would miss.

It’s 737 pages, about twice the length of a typical book.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Kindle count story length: 12,034 (843 KB). Swearing language: strong, but rarely used. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: more than 27. Setting: current day New York City. Copyright: 2012. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.
Profile Image for RomanceBookVixen .
730 reviews110 followers
June 19, 2013
I really enjoyed this book again for the 3rd time around. I love the whole Drama-Suspense-Crime-Office Rival-HOT SEX-Dominant Alpha Male- Feisty Female Lawyer. I cannot wait to read the following book.

“I want you – every inch of you. I want you naked and on your knees before me, I want to stick my tongue in every orifice on your body, and I want to fuck you until you’re begging me to stop.” Julian

“He’s a cocky, egotistical, competitive, selfish, self-righteous egomaniac, and there’s nothing sexy about that.” Heaven
167 reviews10 followers
June 7, 2013
****THIS REVIEW MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS****

Soooo.. although I saw a couple of similarities from FSG or This man I really enjoyed it... What?!! nooo.... I LOVE IT.!!! Especially the fighting/banter/fighting/smart ass talk they kept until the end. This woman is a true heroine..

Where should I start... Well by describing Julian as a total womanizer/ass ho/pain in the Aaaa/Man hooooooo!!! but so fuc"#&//!"%&ng H-O-T!!!!!!!!

Julian King is a shiny top lawyer and happens to be the boss´s son, but he´s been away from the firm for almost a year while working in a case trial trying to prove his clients innocence. When he gets back his father makes a party in celebration of his younger child success in the case he just won, but also is celebrating that he hired a new attorney. When Julian meets Heaven he is impressed on how young and beautiful the woman is as well as the reputation she has (for winning all the cases she takes, because of how highly his father speaks of her). He can see her beauty behind the woman´s horrible attire and assumes she dresses like that to get respect for her talent instead of her looks and tries to seduce her right from the beginning but she cuts him off and leaves.

"Then he watched in total fascination
as she regained her composure".


"Prude". Angered by her words.
"Whore". She spat out before turning around and walk away.


Heaven Deville living in a brothel since birth and after having several shocking experiences along the years while living there, she grew up hating men and didn´t want to have anything to do with them. She went to college, studied to be a lawyer and went to work for an internship position at the best firm "The King law firm" on the east coast(Chan chan chan!!!!). When she finally meets Julian she is taken aback by his behavior in having such liberty to just take her hand and kiss it so intimately as she is well aware about all the gossip people spread of him in the office. They have a face to face altercation at the party where they were introduced by his father....and since then hell broke loose.




I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU HOW HE FINDS OUT...WHICH IS THE REASON SHE SIGNS FOR 30 DAYS TO BE WITH HIM AT HIS DISPOSAL.

"I want you- every inch of you. I want you naked and on your knees before me, I want to stick my tongue in every orifice on your body, and I want to fuck you until you're begging me to stop." WHAAAA?!!! NOW THAT´S A LINE......

This book was very scorching and steamy with lots of sex, some BDSM, possessiveness and too much love even when the main characters had it in front of them and weren´t aware it was there. I also felt uneasy by the way he treated her. I mean one thing is serving a sentence but he went beyond that and I really enjoyed the pace this book had but not the ending because everything went too fast and I really feel like it deserved a whole chapter.

I have so much more quotes I would like to share but... YOU WILL HAVE TO KEEP READING MY FRIENDS as I can only tell you one thing.. that was one of the most hilarious stories I have ever read or heard of :S. I mean the situation she puts herself into hahaha clever girl not so clever while trying to backstab his Nemesis. Even under the storm she remained shameless and brazen while admitting her fault (good girl.!). I laughed so hard and got so mad while reading this book. I just couldn´t stop reading. I kind of have love/hate/lust/love feelings for Julian.

"My Princess". Awwwwww.!!!!1

I would definitely re-read this book in the future ;)

Profile Image for Julia.
36 reviews7 followers
January 22, 2013
This book had such promise, it had angst. The story line drew me in. AND that is where it ended. It flopped. Very disappointing, it lacked soul--yes, lots of sex, but Id give up all those repetitive sex scenes for one good sex scene between well developed characters with some dept and real chemistry between them --with these 2 --no relationship beyond the physical, she was a cold fish who never once touched him through out the entire book and he forced her through 99% of those scenes --yes she liked it but there could have been more mutual action---and some witty dialogue---the dialogue sucked. These are some things that may have improved it somewhat (and I use the term "improve" loosely):


***SPOILER ALERT****
She should have been more clever with fighting back --instead of acting like a rag doll trying to fullfill her "contract" ---now that would have made the sex a lot more interesting. She could have feigned wanting to make out with him, and bit him a few times, he could have slapped her harder in return--then kissed the red spots away.
For a change, she could have initiated, seduced him one of the nights, licking his nipples with the intention of biting down, but upon looking up and seeing the effect she was having on him (the expression on his face), she changed her mind, and "instead of drawing blood with teeth, she drew ecstasy with tongue--feeling the mighty power of a woman over man for the first time in her life"

At midnight, upon the contract ending, there should have been a climactic scene--one that represented transition from screwing to sensuality---again, this would have been a good time for her to initiate, turning out the lights, coming up behind him, wrapping her hands tentatively around his waist, stripping off just his shirt, and start kissing him slowly, gently on his back up to the back of his neck

After the contract ended ---in one of his "same-ole" attempts to get her back, instead of flipping her over on his desk as usual (cause that gets old too if it happens on every other page), he should have come right up to her in the office, gotten real close to her lips, raised her chin up with a feather-like stroke, and whispered into her mouth---"I won't ever touch you again--unless you tell me otherwise"

When she finally tried to walk out despite the contract--instead of just running down the stairs saying "oh, I'm sorry"
he should have sprung up right after her (as she ran), slammed the door shut, stepping right behind her as she was just about to storm out, bent his head into the back of her neck, slightly kissing it, and whispered very gently "sshhhh, I'm sorry"
(think "Officer and a Gentlemen"--if you saw it, remember that scene)

To me ---its the none sex scenes that makes the sex great!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Liz Lawson.
729 reviews29 followers
May 1, 2014
What good story. Mixture of FSOG with the controlling Lawyer Julian who has similarities to The Lord of the manor Jesse. Heaven is a lawyer but dresses in frumpy clothing to disguise her sexuality. Julian and Heaven are constantly at loggerheads they are in competition for the offer of a partnership in Julian's fathers business. in a moment of madness Heaven uses underhand tricks to sabotage Julian's partnership chances. Julian finds out and makes her sign a 30 days contract to be at his beck and call whenever and however he wants her ..........and so the games begin. There is angst, fear, hot steamy sex and mystery in their story with surprising revelations along the way. On to book two. Will Gavin succeed in his quest.......I hope not.
Profile Image for Daisy Sloan.
776 reviews116 followers
June 22, 2013



Jerk
Ashole
Douchenozzle
Rat Bastard

Every single one of those names fit Julian King. He is the ultimate Rat Bastard.

Julian King and Heaven Deville are both hotshot attorneys at the same law firm. They go head to head over everything and will do anything to win. When they’re both up for partner, things get even more intense.

Julian’s sexcapades are legendary. He’s a manwhore of the highest order. Anyplace, anytime, any woman, just not the same woman twice.

Heaven does everything she can to downplay her looks. She wants to be taken seriously and has a no-nonsense way about her.

So, what happens when Julian catches Heaven breaking into his office and stealing his proposal for partner? He blackmails her. For 30 days she has to do ANYTHING he says. That’s right folks….ANYTHING!

Heaven, at 26 years old is still a virgin. Yep. A virgin. When Julian finds out Heaven is still a virgin, he still insists on the ANYTHING rule. So, yep, he takes her virginity.

Every single time Heaven says no to something, he punishes her. He threatens to out her to the law firm for breaking and entering. No matter how badly Heaven doesn’t want to do something, she has to. Julian would ruin her otherwise. Everything Heaven has worked for will go down the tubes. What choice does she have? NONE! Throughout all of this, he’s mean to her one minute and sweet the next. Talk about whiplash!

Julian changes everything about Heaven. He changes the way she dresses. Makes her walk around his house naked, insists on sex in the office, in the car, outside, anywhere and everywhere. This just goes against everything Heaven is. (Yes, she has a valid reason for being like this, I’m just not telling what it is.)

After forcing her to strip naked outside and then walk into the house he says to her:

You should never lower your head; you have nothing to feel shame for. You are the most beautiful thing out here, even the trees would bend in admiration for you if they could.

*swoon*

Two minutes later, right back to rat bastard!

Even though Heaven was forced to participate in all of this, she still gave Julian grief. My favorite quote from Heaven:

I hope you trip over a tree branch and break your mouth.

Another swoon worthy moment from Julian:

I need you to see what I see; I want you to know your worth. You hide your beauty away like it’s a deformity.

Over time Julian and Heaven develop feelings for each other. He does have his moments. When Heaven’s life is endangered Julian does everything he can to keep her safe. The question is, will Julian and Heaven realize how much they mean to each other before it’s too late? Before Heaven is gone forever?

I absolutely loved this book. At one point I did get a little irritated because it seemed to be the same thing over and over.

Julian: Do this
Heaven: No
Julian: I’ll rat you out to the firm
Heaven: Ok. I’ll do it

About the time I was getting irritated with the repetition, it changed. The story changed. Their relationship changed.

What really did it for me in the story was the last few chapters. The mystery, the dark shadow, the secrets, the kidnapping, all lead up to a fantastic ending.

Just remember….everytime you see the name Julian in this book, just replace it with Rat Bastard and you’ll be fine!





9 reviews
May 3, 2014
Dear Author:

I wanted to give this book 3 stars, I really did. We're not talking about a great piece of literature here, but the plot was interesting, as was the evolution of the two main characters, and the sex scenes were pretty hot. However, I simply could not get over the grammatical errors that are littered throughout this book. The words THEN and THAN are not synonyms, they are NOT IN ANY WAY interchangeable. I think a fairly accurate guess would be that the words then/than are used incorrectly at least 75% of the time. THAN is comparative, e.g. she is smarter than him; THEN is used to indicate time or a sequence of events, e.g. we went to the mall and then we went home. How one can confuse these two words so frequently is beyond me. There are many other similar issues with word use (their, there, they're; to, too; random use of the word 'of') but the then/than confusion just boggled my mind. Needless to say, as much as I wanted to enjoy this book I was constantly thrown off by grammatical errors, which I encountered on virtually every page; an unforgivable number of errors if you ask me. An editor would be a great addition to this author's team, but failing that, even a good proofreader would suffice.
Profile Image for Mallory.
1,699 reviews133 followers
July 27, 2013
3.25 stars

The low star rating would be for the first 60-70% of the book. I was totally engrossed in it the whole way. However, I felt like Julian was just a controlling prick most of the time. He forced Heaven to do quite a few things that she wasn't comfortable with, and therefore I was uncomfortable reading it. I don't care that it was part of their unconventional arrangement, it just wasn't right.

But I will say that Julian made a swift turn around from sex addicted man-whore to smitten, possessive boyfriend. I just can't help but feeling it was a little hollow. Its hard to forget the multitude of wrongs and just downright cruelty he bestowed upon Heaven.

With that said, I'm on to read the second book because I'm a sucker for drama and this was FULL of it.
Profile Image for Paganalexandria .
1,464 reviews
March 18, 2017
This book was fun. Granted there are caricatures versus characters (Heaven’s mother for example) I was able to just go with it. If you're looking for a fun Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-Alike pick this up.
Profile Image for Giovanni.
217 reviews36 followers
November 25, 2016
CAUTION: By reading the title, you would have realized by now that the author isn't that good in grammar. If you can't look pass repetitive mistakes over then or than, to or too and numerous other simple mistakes, this book is NOT for you. Since I'm not perfect in English either, who am I to judge. Although well, mistakes over simple use of "then than too to" are insufferable I guess. But I def made it until the end, yay!

In all honesty, I was in the mood for something chick and steamy with love/hate relationship. This book certainly has what I needed. In the end, I hate this book as much as I love it. I don't know where to start, the reason I hate it or the reason I love it.

Insufferable Proximity is all you need when you want a hot-blooded couple who can't stop hating each other as much as loving lusting each other. Damn I started off hating both and ended up rooting for them. I'm such a cheap.

Maybe I should start from the start then. The moment I hated Heaven and Julian to my gut.

Forced first meeting scene. The hero barely just said one completely harmless sentence and our oh so sensitive heroine got bat crazy hating him. Just like that their feud had begun. I mean, what?
I would have thought it's natural for her to hate men considering her past, but I saw that she's fine with the hero's father. So I gotta say she behaved like a childish bitch.

The hero literally just spent 3 days screwing another woman before he met the heroine and got turned on by smooching her hand. Ew.

For the first time I actually encountered a literally manwhore whoremonger (Heaven's word) hero. So he had just spent a loong night with a woman (who knows what they're doing, right) then the next morning he bumped into another woman who, surprise! happened to be his old fling but with new curves. 30 mins later, he fucked her in a bathroom stall. Weeeeelll. What an active sexual life.

Before this, playboy heroes that I read about usually still have a decency to fuck one woman at a time, even when it's a casual fling. This particular hero tho doesn't care about anything as long as he still has a penis and a vagina, who cares if it's just a few hours between different women. He even chose bathroom sex despite that he's late for work. Oh, he also had sex with various women at his family firm in the break room, in the elevator, in the parking lot and heaven knows where else. Talk about being responsible.

“You’re using my sex tape as an opportunity to promote marriage?” Julian raised his brow.
“This can never happen again.” Ayden shook his head, the look of disappointment on his face was making Julian uneasy.
“It won’t.”
“You’ve said that more than once.”
“Honestly, I didn’t mean for it to happen that last time, I was trying to get out of the office, but she was-” he stopped himself, realizing he could not explain to his father that the secretary turned out to be an animalistic-nymphomaniac, who refused to take no for an answer. He had tried with all of his might to resist, but in the end, he had succumbed. “It just wasn’t possible. It won’t happen again.”


Heh. Don't you just love our sex-addict-with-no-pride hero? Damn, shouldn't he be at a therapy somewhere? This gotta be psychological.

I haven't even reached chapter 5 but I already hated the hero. I wish I could stab his penis and balls numerous times. My, I think this book really got me all hot, unfortunately in a wrong way. Additionally, I still haven't gotten into the real war between the hero and heroine at this point. Unless he actually declared war by fucking heroine's secretaries. Yes, secretaries. (Update: apparently I was right. He fucked the secretaries just to get back at the heroine. Hm. Kay. Lol.)

Then FINALLY the real hot war started. And I came to term of LOVING them.

Now, I know I said that Heaven was a bitch. But boy, I'm happy she's a bitch. Julian had to have at least one person to keep him on the ground.

“Better to be a prude than a walking STD slogan.”

I so love my bitchy heroine. (And when all her lover's old flings gloat off in your face non-stop, she certainly need all the bitchiness she got.)

There's one scene I normally would hate but couldn't help to feel amuse in this. Heaven, after working late like usual, accidentally caught Julian fucking a woman on his desk in the office. Lo and behold, Julian caught her up in the act of staring too and boom,

Had he really just ejaculated due to intense hatred?

I almost choked out of laughter. I don't know why I feel this amusing. It just is.

Heaven was pretty stupid for a hot-shot lawyer by intruding her enemy's office hoping no one would know. Alas, that's what brought us an amazing steamy 30 days sex. I just love that they're both so passionate in just everything. They hated each other so deep their sex were that explosive I could almost taste Heaven's orgasms.

“And you’re still aware of the fact that I can’t stand you?”

“Of course I am,” he bent his head to kiss her neck, then the sensitive skin behind her ear, “that’s the icing on the cake and that’s what makes me want to fuck you all the harder. Your hatred is my foreplay.”


Damn.

This was the moment I forgot everything and enjoyed the hot kinky road. I love reading how they changed from enemies to actual lovers. I def love when Julian got jealous-possessive all over Heaven. First he wanted her to show off her curves, the next he got all hot trying to cover her body so no one else saw it. Ha! She got you, buddy.

Julian also proved to be a redeemable man after all, what I like is I really could see his transition to be a better man because of Heaven. There's no drastic change from a cold-hearted manwhore whoremonger to a considerate, passionate lover for one and only Heaven. I guess I can say that I kinda love that he was such a hateful hero at first. It makes his change all the more satisfying to read.

Another thing I like is Heaven's background. Her family is not perfect but damn hell if it's not the most supportive and loving family she could have. And I'm not just talking about her mother and aunt. And it's a bit amusing to see that her mother knows important people from her business. But I guess it's inevitable when you're running a high prestige brothel. They got connections for sure. Lol.

Although I gotta be honest, I think the author likes to put all things together in one book and it becomes too much after we got a stalker and of course with a hidden story as well. It came out of nowhere in the last half of the story and still managed to put some drama.

I enjoyed their hot passionate sex road to love but it felt bit dragged and forced in half the end. I was wondering why the author dragged it so much when she could have been wrapped it out nice and good after a while. But no, I was forced to go through a suspense story (I certainly didn't expect it in this book and I wasn't in the mood for it). I get it if the author wants to write a romantic-suspense story but I think she failed in balancing things out. It was promising as a romance, but the author got a bit greedy for my taste.

So, after rolling my eyes wanting to just get my happy ending and delicious epilogue in torturing hours while turning pages, I finally get my abrupt happy ending after an abduction scene. I almost cried. How could she do this to me.

I chose to forgive her tho as at least I got my sweet, melt-your-heart scene like this.

“We are getting married first thing in the morning, Princess.” Julian said as he bent down to plant a kiss on her lips.

And let's not forget the epilogue. DAMN I LOVE IT. I'm definitely a sucker for this kind of epilogue.

In conclusion, reading Heaven and Julian's story has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. I hate it, I love it, I was cursing it, I was grinning ear to ear. They're right when they say there's a really thin line between love and hate. What an amazing read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Raj.
1,514 reviews8 followers
May 7, 2014
5 stars!!!

Written in 3rd Person POV, and I like it that I get to know what goes on someone else's head aside from the 2 main characters.

He's a manwhore! damn! He really couldn't keep it in his pants! All he wanted was to get off, but then he changed, because of her, and I like that giving her pleasure, pleasures him..

I like the transition of the story, from mortal enemies to lovers. This is coming from a reader who HATES 3rd Person POV novels!! I couldn't help it, I know i'm not the only one who usually feels detached to the characters when it's written in 3rd person, but in this novel, Damn!!! I feel oh so connected! Love the writing style, the story, the characters, everything!!

The novel is pretty long, which I kind of like, coz it's not hurried, but it's not boring at all.

I think he's in love with her breast, and he shows it... a lot. But I never got tired of reading them!! Oh! She never blew him!! (Yayks!)
Profile Image for Janie.
313 reviews31 followers
August 25, 2015
Rating: 5 stars.

I LOVED Z. Stefani since first discovering her work on literotica.com in 2008, where who wrote under the name redwitch. I'm so glad to see she's succeeded in the e-publishing world! She has everything I want in a book.
• Cat-Dog heroine and hero relationship - check
• Virgin heroines who only sleep with the hero - check
• Extremely hot and possessive heroes - CHECK CHECK
• Steamy scenes - Check
• does the hero feel special and pride he's her only lover? CHECK!!!

Not sure if these apply to all her published books, but I sure hope so, especially because all her stories I've read (literotica and this) have followed the same formula over and over again, but it never gets old. Eeep I LOVE HER. It's authors like her that I want to fully support. Heck, I'd buy from every seller of her books just to support authors like her.
278 reviews2 followers
October 4, 2012
Really enjoyed reading this book.

I guessed who the bad guy was but the reason threw me for six.

I think my favourite character has to be the heroine's mum she was a card.

Also loved the main characters.
Profile Image for 🅙𝔲𝔩𝔷.
967 reviews61 followers
February 8, 2015
The storyline was good and this book could have been really great but it was written so clinically. It was all one dimensional. There was no passion, or chemistry. The hero was a bit of a man whore but he didn't cheat which is always a bonus. I just didn't believe the feelings between the two.
Profile Image for Booker132.
85 reviews27 followers
January 16, 2016
Funny, sexy and entertaining. But the story did drag on at times. I think the author has great potential. The characters were very vivid and strong.
Profile Image for SheReads.
422 reviews18 followers
July 22, 2021
2-2.5 stars.

This book was so long I'm surprised if anyone didn't lose interest at some point. Overall, it was okay and very dirty lmao. It kept me entertained for a bit, which I guess deserves something.
Profile Image for AlphaMale .
332 reviews11 followers
August 21, 2023
Young adult, mafia, slavery. Well written book, the story came together beautifully, .
But I think this book promised more than it delivered. Marketed as dark mafia, but I felt is was.more contemporary for me though. 3stars, 3,5 if I am stretching it.
Profile Image for Juls.
450 reviews72 followers
August 21, 2012
3.3 stars
Let me explain the way I’m rating this book. The 3 stars is for the originality and overall of the book and the .3 stars is for the 30 days of the contract between Heaven and Julian.

First off, if you look at my updates I was right about who done it. Its always the quiet ones you have to watch out for. That person wants to ruin Julian so much they secretly tape and photograph him in some compromising positions and send the evidence to Julian’s father and boss, Ayden.

Julian, the manwhore, has pretty much fucked every available woman in a 100 mile radius. He’s the love em and leave em type. But he has women falling at him feet to get his attention. I think these stupid women see him as a challenge and want to win his heart. NOT.GONNA.HAPPEN!
Julian isn’t particular, he’ll fuck just about any willing woman including co-workers. Some have had his “love” and some want it so bad they’ll do anything to get it.

Cue the secretaries.
Juliette-crazy bitch who tries to buy Julian’s love with cookies and sweets. Very catty and very immature.
Reece and Adele-fawns Julian from afar. Know they have no chance and leave it at just staring and admiring him.
Gloria-I thought she was out to get more when she ran into Heaven and Julian at a party but she actually turned out to be okay.

Julian works with his father’s firm as one of the top dog lawyers. He’s not the only one though. Heaven is just as aggressive and just as good as Julian. Their hate for each is brought out with every case that comes in and now the new position to become a partner. They both want it but only one will get it.

Ian, Julian’s brother, gives Heaven a heads up about Julian’s proposal and before you know it, Heave is doing something that she would never have done had she not been so determined to win. She steals Julian’s proposal and erases any trace of it from his computer. Little does she know that he had a security cam in his office and witness her act.

With this amo Julian now has the power. The power to bring Heaven down a peg or 2. He’s written up a contract/blackmailing to make Heaven bend to his every demand. In fear of losing her job she signs it. That’s when the fun starts and when the book got the extra star points.
Their hate for each other is unnatural but it has generated a spark that lay dormant by their hatred.

Honestly I’m not sure how I felt about the sex scenes in this book. Is it consensual if you sign off on it? Kinda like when you sign you marriage license, are you allowing your husband to have his way with you just cuz you bare his name? I don’t think so. It felt like non con rape. But she enjoyed it so is that considered rape? That whole portion of them having sex felt weird and it didn’t settle well with me.

Heaven, what can I say about her except I didn’t like her one bit. In fact I hated her. Not cuz she got the man in the end but she acted like a spineless twit that thinks she’s so strong but will crumble when a man flicks her nipples. And every time she stomped her foot, which was way too many times for a 26 year old woman, I thought of a 2 year old throwing a tantrum. Through the whole book she didn’t change and even after finishing the book I still don’t like her.
She couldn’t even stand by her beliefs after all she’d witnessed as a child. Being brought up in a brothel you’d think she wouldn’t want to pay for sex but ultimately she did. She wanted her job so bad she sold her body to Julian to keep her position as a well known lawyer.

This story was very predictable. Not that Z. Stefani didn’t try to lure you to think others were plotting to take revenge on Julian cuz trust me, there were plenty of people ready to take Julian down. there’s some twists and turns to keep you entertained.

Note: Z. Stefani is self published so for those who hate misspellings and grammatical errors, this may not be for you.
Profile Image for Cem73.
384 reviews19 followers
November 27, 2012
En fait plus 2.5 que 3 étoiles, mais le 2 étant un peu sévère, j'opte donc pour les 3 étoiles.
Je classerai plus cette histoire dans la catégorie Harlequin Azur (avec quelques passages dans la série Audace) que dans la catégorie érotique à proprement parlé .

Heaven et Julian sont 2 requins du barreau (dixit l'auteure , puisqu'on ne les voit jamais en action) travaillant pour la même firme et en perpétuelle concurrence. Ils se détestent mutuellement et font tout pour rabaisser l'autre. Lorsque l'occasion est donnée de désigner le futur associé de la firme (au plus méritant des avocats) , la guerre est ouvertement déclarée! Dans un moment de folie totale Heaven va commettre l'erreur fatale qui va la placer à la merci de Julian durant un mois . Celui-ci salive d'avance de toutes les humiliations auquel il va soumettre son ennemi juré! Cela est enrobé d'un semi-suspense sur qui veut la peau de nos héros.

Julian , la trentaine, play boy millionnaire et fils du boss est THE sexe-addict assumé et assumant (dixit l'auteure). Il aime pas le sexe....il l'adooooooore!!! ll ne s'en cache pas d'ailleurs. Derrière chaque porte, chaque coin , l'attend une (voir des ) nana prête à se soumettre au moindre de ses désirs (bon j'exagère un peu , mais on en est pas loin lol ). Il participe et organise des "parties fines" les plus courus de NY .
Heaven , carriériste assumée et assumant ne souhaite rien d'autre que d'être prise très au sérieux. Pour cela, elle n'hésite pas à se cacher derrière un physique ingrat (vêtements amples, coiffure sévère, grosse paire de lunettes...) et un caractère acerbe. Toujours vierge à 26 ans, le sexe pour le sexe c'est niet! Ayant grandi avec une mère qui tient le plus célèbre bordel de l'état, elle ne prend pas la chose à la légère. Elle se réserve pour son futur mari .

Avec ces éléments je m'attendais à une histoire qui allait me brûler les mains ... et bah non!
Oui il y a un sacré nombre de scène de sexe, mais souvent à peine développées (on a droit aux péliminaires et vlan ils nous claquent la porte au nez !) et quand elles le sont, c'est juste répétitif et limite banale (ce qui n'est pas flatteur pour le soit disant accro et expert en sexe lol ) . De plus j'ai trouvé certaines scènes ( notamment lors des parties fines) d'un ridicule affligeant tellement c'est cliché.

Ce que j'ai aimé :
_ malgré le fait que j'ai eu du mal à visualiser nos héros (à peine définis par l'auteur ) j'ai fini par les aimer. Leur interaction est juste hillarant et attendrissant .
_ Leur caractère bien trempé reste égal du début à la fin . Heaven n'hésite pas à tenir tête à Julian (malgré le contrat de soumission) et celui-ci est toujours au septième ciel à passer outre ses résistances. Point négatif quand même pour leur première fois (on est plus dans le cadre d'un Harlequin puisque Heaven est loin d'atteindre le septième ciel pour sa première expérience)
_ la transformation brutale et totale de notre dandy accro sexuel en caveman. J'ai littéralement fondu à certaines de ses répliques .

Quotes :
"You listen to me and you listen good , i don't want anyone touching any part of your body! Do you understand me? If you want to be touched, you come to me and only me!"

"_ i'm not yours!
_ Yes you are. I was the first man to ever be inside you, or touch you, and it's going to stay that way!
She saw the fury in his eyes, and realized this was not just some control tactic, he meant what he was saying."
Profile Image for Jenn Green.
515 reviews23 followers
June 9, 2013
I've reread this book several times now, so I figured it was due for a revamped review. This was the very first book I ever read from this author & I'm so very glad I did. I simply love her. Her men are aggressive, possessive, sexy as sin top dogs & her women are feisty, independent, balls to the wall closet freaks -it's an explosive combination.

"If you're that desperate for companionship, and you don't mind being shit on, you should just get a dog, Violet. At least you can eventually train it to shit on your floor instead of you."

In this book we meet Heaven Sevigne Deville who was born and raised in a brothel where her mother is the Madame. Cut-throat competitive, driven, focused on her career, she can hold her own against anyone, harbors a strong dislike for the make species, & is completely sexually repressed. Sadly, this kind of makes her somewhat of a frigid bitch in the beginning.

Julian King is your everyday, sex-obsessed manwhore. He loves women, all kinds of women, no girlfriends EVER, just sex & lots of it with no attempts to hide it. They are both attorneys at the same law firm & have hated each other since day one.

"Does that suit come with a chastity belt attached, or do you have to attach it manually?"
"Do you get a free STD exam after every ten visits, or is that only with you antibiotics?"
"Prude"
"Sex fiend"

In an all out war to make partner at the firm, these two pittbulls will stop at nothing to win. When it seems Julian is in the lead for the position, Heaven gets desperate enough to try to cheat by breaking into his office & destroying all Julian's work. Everything blows up in her face when he catches her red handed & offers her an ultimatum. Either she hands herself over to him for 30 days, or he hands her over to the authorities for breaking and entering ultimately destroying her career and everything she has worked so hard for.

"I want you-every inch of you. I want you naked and on your knees before me...."
"Never! I would never let you touch me, you smug, fucking sadist! I hate you and I always will!"
"I hate you just as much, that's half the reason I can't wait to fuck you. I'll have you bending to my will, and doing everything I demand, no matter how revolting."

And the contract begins.
Living under King's roof and completely at his mercy, Heaven is forced to confront all her deep rooted fears, disgust & avoidance of anything sexually related. To her complete confusion & annoyance, she doesn't hate it as much as she wants to or thought she would.
Julian just wanted to dominate and humiliate the she devil who has made his life hell for the last three years, he doesn't expect the strong attraction or lust that follows.

'The fact that just the sight of his enemy brought on an overwhelming feeling of lust, the likes of which he hadn't experienced since he was an eager teenager, had Julian stunned as well as erotically mystified.'

Watching these two over the course of their 'contract' was amazing. Lots of fighting, moments of sweetness, and frequent hott lovin, you actually see their feelings for each other shift & soften as the book progresses though neither knows what to do about it. Add in a secret villain hell bent on destroying Julian, hordes of jealous scorned women, and catty coworkers....let's just say, the drama was high voltage. I loved every damn minute of it.

"Your hatred is my foreplay"
Profile Image for MACXINE .
16 reviews
October 18, 2012
The book was sent to me as a gift. I gave it a chance despite of my 50-50 willingness to read it. The book was re-edited last August and so far there were only few misspelled words that I noticed, but still not acceptable if you are really serious about publishing your book. It was an erotic romance, with an original story line and interesting characters. There were some scenes and places that were very enthralling for those who are not familiar with different kinds of elaborated and over the top sex parties, yes you read it right sex parties, isn't interesting?. Julian is a male whore, a sex addict and an alpha male, very possessive indeed. It's hard for me to imagine him as an alpha male because his physical appearance was not well described, I cannot day dream about him. As for Heaven, she is an intelligent, well-driven and ambitious lawyer, who will do everything just to get what she wants. She is an interesting heroine who grew up in a brothel, who was hiding her beauty from her big eye glasses and oversized suits because she gets the respect she wanted and by revealing her true looks, she thinks that she will not be taken seriously by her colleagues/opponent. As for her physical appearance what I remember was she has a long wavy/curly hair, big breasts and curvaceous body and that was it. It was so hard for me to connect the characters, the relationship between them started very slow, took 3 years before everything happened, or should I say the real story began. The love story only started where it was almost the end, imagine for a book that has over 700 pages. It says that the book contained a strong sexual content, it was true but the sex scenes were not satisfying, mostly oral sex and showing of breasts and removing Heaven's panty, each climax was always very fast and it felt like every sex was a quickie. I thought the story was lack of depth and continuity because every scene was wrapped up so quickly and then will immediately move on to the next one. It could have been nice if all of them have lingered for a little while, that you can feel you were part of those moments and enjoyed every minute of them. The book did not have a satisfying ending, it just stopped right there. The epilogue was removed because there'll be a second book. Yes, I will buy the second book for me to finally finish the story but I am really hoping that the author will consider all of the readers' reviews and will make us feel well-pleased and satisfied. Overall it was just OK.
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