He wanted all of her and did she ever let him have it...
Vic Savian knows what he wants when he sees it. And what he wants is his sexy neighbor, Niall Chandler. When he finds her in the hallway of their building being harassed by an aggressive suitor, Vic steps in and finds himself "greatly" rewarded.
Sleeping with her gorgeous neighbor when she didn't even know his last name was the craziest thing Niallas ever done. Now, she can't seem to get enough of Vic the uninhibited passion he stirs in her. Suddenly, with his help, she's opening to sensual pleasures she's never known before. But when Niallas past comes back to haunt her, will she and Vic let themselves venture beyond the bedroom and explore the possibility of the love that's in their hearts?

Vic is the kind of hero that makes my heart beat faster. He is driven, sexy, and talented. Niall is just a beautiful character. She is sweet, sensitive, caring, and easily the kind of woman that could break through Vic's hard exterior to find the loving man inside. With passionate love scenes, romance, and a touching story, WICKED BURN - it will certainly have a permanent place in my personal library.

Wicked Burn certainly delivers on the heat. There are a lot of hot and steamy sex scenes. The one thing it doesn't really deliver is much of a story or romance....but let's face it, I wasn't looking for a deep plot line. The sex between Vic and Niall (boy's name but she's a girl), is agressive and very sexy. Don't read this if you are looking for flowers and romance. Vic is a take charge man of few words and the sex between him and Niall sometimes feels like Vic is forcing himself on her (although his rough handling just turns her on more).

Wicked Burn has to be one of the most amazing books I've ever read. It had everything. I could not put it down but I did not want it to end. Great characters too.

Vic Savian is a ruggedly handsome, temperamental, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who lives weekdays in a luxury apartment complex located in downtown Chicago while directing his latest play. He has seen his female neighbour who lives across the hall on two occasions and felt an instantaneous sexual attraction to her, he wants her, badly. One night Vic hears raised voices in the hallway and despite never having heard her voice, he knows it is his neighbour and intercedes when she is being manhandled by an aggressive suitor.

Niall Chandler noticed her handsome neighbour during a silent elevator ride one day and when Vic invites her into his apartment for a drink after assisting her, she does something completely uncharacteristic and accepts. They have a drink, exchange a few words, she introduces herself and Vic gives her his first name. Then they exchange more than words.

I'm always looking for better adjectives to describe the attraction and eroticism writers pen between a heroine and hero in a good romance book. The best way I can describe the sexual tension and attraction between this couple is it literally BOILS, and the erotic encounters between Niall and Vic are nuclear grade hot.

However, this book isn't just hot sex, their love story tugged my heartstrings. Following a horrible tragedy resulting from violence three years previously, Niall is a member of humanity's walking wounded. Her life has literally disintegrated around her. She has her career at the Chicago Museum of Fine Art and she travels. However, she struggles with inner turmoil, her loss, guilt and the shackles of the unrealistic expectations of her old school Catholic parents. The story is about her journey to emotional wellness and renewed ability to share her pain and love with another human being. Niall is a tiny, delicate, sweet, vulnerable, woman. She keeps her past closed deep inside a little Pandora's box, fearful of what will happen if she opens the lid.

Vic has his own emotional baggage following a very destructive and volatile relationship with his former movie star fiancé 'Jenny'. He is a sexual dominant who speaks bluntly and refuses to change his ways to suit a woman. Raised in the country, his upstate farm is where his heart is. Vic tolerates the city to direct his plays but returns to the farm every weekend. The guy is just HOT...

Niall, though previously married is relatively sexually naive and Vic not only awakens her passion, he introduces her to new levels of sensuality. He is demanding, inventive and dominant during their sexual encounters. She is submissive and responsive. There is also a tender side to Vic and he develops a concern and compassion for Niall, which he doesn't always verbalize but as a reader, I could feel in his actions.

The dialogue in this book is at times crisp and tense, the story flows beautifully and Ms. Kery's prose is sensual, quite outstanding.

Here is short example of the dialogue and prose. Niall is feeling uncomfortable about the speed with which their relationship is moving along. She is trying to communicate this to Vic, who has no intention of slowing down:

"You think I'm coming on too strong," Vic supplied.

She tilted her head uncertainly. "Not just you. I am, too. I don't know what to make of it."

"You think we should back off, take it a little slower?" he prompted. Her eyes flashed warmly, as if she was relieved that he's found the right words for her.

"Don't you think that would be for the best?" she asked.

"No."

Her lower lip trembled. "No?" she repeated incredulously after several seconds.

Vic crumpled the flimsy paper cup and tossed it on top of the bag. She wasn't going to like this, but---"No. I want you too much to take you in stingy little servings. Maybe you'll think that's greedy of me, but I'm not the kind of guy who takes what he wants in half measures." He met her gaze. "That's not who I am, Niall."

Her mouth rounded in a silent, amazed "Oh." His muscles tensed as he resisted an overwhelming urge to scoot across the floor and send his tongue deep between the lush, round target of her lips."


Niall's history isn't revealed early in the story and I had difficulty putting the book down because I needed to know more about her as much as finding out how her and Vic's story would turn out. As with any romance story, we need conflict to make it interesting. Niall and Vic's story is no different, the path to their HEA is not an easy one but in the end, as a reader I found it very gratifying.

I have to say that I'm usually not all that comfortable with BDSM themed books. This story, is one of the exceptions.

Beth Kery's work is now an autobuy for me. "Wicked Burn" is the first book of 2009 to go on to my list of favorites. By the way, the title of this book? Perfect....

This is my first book with this author. If it wasn't for the explicit sex scenes, this book read like an HQN novel. The main characters were good; the plot line weak but then again, this book was more sex than story and made for a quick weekend read. If you like macho Alpha males who dominate their woman when it comes to sex, then this is for you. If not, don't read it.
As far as the story goes, it's the usual "I have a secret but I just can't tell you" ergo by not telling, "you lied to me so I don't want to have anything to do with you" story line. Sound familiar (just like an HQN novel)? In the end, it's an okay story with a bit of hot sex.