Yours to Bare by Jessica HawkinsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
5 Make me a woman Stars
Jesus. I am sitting here trying to form sentences because I have been waiting for Finn since I read Slip of the Tongue and Jessica Hawkins did not disappoint me. Not at all. Finn Cohen is artistic and caring and so freaking raw. He's looking for the one and has been since that debacle with Sadie. I'll admit, I pulled for him in the other book, but damn. I am so glad it didn't work out. Halston is beautiful. And I mean that to include her entire being. She is passionate and caring and strong and she wants to love. She wants that passion and lust and primal, raw emotions to consume her.
Give me your fuck. Split me down the middle with it.
Finn finds a journal at his favorite coffee shop. There it is, sitting in the floor at his feet at his favorite table. The table that fate opens up for him every time he's there. He opens it, looking for an owner. What he finds is the opening to a soul. It may even be the very mirror to his soul, his thoughts that he sees on those pages.
She lives in vivid fantasies of love, sex, pain, need.
But Halston has a boyfriend and Finn refuses to get burned again. Sadie was enough to break him completely. He won't go down this road. He won't. So when he seeks her out to return her journal, he isn't surprised when he's drawn to her. But he knows he has to resist. He can't get too close.
Too close, and I might forget how it feels to lose what was never mind to begin with.
Finn's art speaks for itself. Well, it did in Slip of the Tongue. Finn hasn't had a real creative streak since Sadie chose Nathan and he hasn't felt inspired to do anything more than the mundane. Halston doesn't hide her disinterest in his photography. She isn't inspired by anything she has seen, but she's curious if he could do more.
"Would you photograph me?"
These two are tortured souls. Tortured because of a past they couldn't control. Tortured because of a life not lived to its full potential. Settling. It's not something anyone wants to do, yet both Halston and Finn have done just that in the past.
"I don't want casual sex, I never have. I want you to come knowing I'm doing this to you. I'm giving you this and taking what I need from you. I'm watching you. That's why I couldn't do this before. I have to know you're not holding back a single fucking thing from me."
God. Finn. Yes. I know those aren't complete thoughts, but this book is so full of hot sex. Of course, I fully expected Finn to be amazing. It isn't like we haven't met him in the bedroom before, but this is different. This is him giving all of himself and getting all of someone in return. They are amazing together.
"You better get un-squeamish, Hals." He lowers his voice, trailing kisses down my neck. "So I can kiss you when I want. Touch you where I want. Fuck you how I want. You can always say no, but just assume I want all of it."
I don't even want to discuss the issues in this book, but I will. I will because depression and mood swings and mental illness is a real issue. I think Jessica Hawkins has done a wonderful job of showing this issue within this book. I think she has shown what it's like when someone feels as if they are better, but are only better because of the meds. It shows how meds affect a person and how not being on them can affect a person--and not just the person taking them. It's a book with real issues. I love this about Jessica Hawkins' books. Slip of the Tongue touched me on a personal level. Yours to Bare is also a book that hits close to home.
"I want to be yours. Isn't that enough for tonight?"
I love this book. Jessica Hawkins has a reader for life if she keeps putting out books that make me feel like I'm sitting there with her characters. I felt like I was at Lait Noir, the gallery, Finn's apartment, the park. I felt like i belonged there and like I knew these characters personally. Keep writing and I'll keep reading.
"You can be my student, my patient, my submissive, my toy. Even my teacher. If you want those things."
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