An awesome story and let me repeat that, an awesome novel, it echoes through the ages continuously and everyone puts their spin, a twist and what better a setting that California. You know how they say, never judge a book by its cover, well come on, it’s not Ruby Rowe’s fault, but when you utter Romeo, you immediately think Juliet or in this case Ava Lane/Leoni and throwing “The Bodyguard” into the mix with ease.

Romeo is a story you know backward and forward, leaving nearly no suspense not to say it’s boring but right off the bat I give four stars just because you know what’s coming. Maybe that’s not fair of me, perhaps I’ve been jaded from well, take your pick, Shakespeare, mafia romances, the drama of Hollywood but reading this I will say I am a lot more devoted than with any tabloid. If it wasn’t Ava, it was the ex-military, rich mafia guy, dominant in Griffin Scott/Golino, talk about looking the part of your average BDSM romance though this was more than average with the story.

I don’t mean to sound so critical as I already said four out of five stars, the story itself hooks you, there’s no way you want to put it down but when you see Romeo and Juliet you read, or you watch, and you know what’s going to happen. While reading Romeo there was never a doubt in my mind about the happy ending, seriously sometimes you just think, why don’t they go ahead and pick china patterns. If you do want a mystery, you could try and pick out the other characters and match them to William Shakespeare’s classic.

I suppose I was too caught up to bother, talk about descriptive the author wants you to fall head over heels in love with Ava and there is a big reason for that. Griffin for as hardened as he is served no as more a puppet throughout the story unless he was busy saving Ava’s behind and that’s so he could spank it later maybe.

The shocker perhaps is Ava’s age, which I’m pretty sure is forty years old and goes on comparing her to a younger actress or her baby sister and how a man like Griffin at thirty could never want her. Personally, I tend to go for younger women, but the way the author describes Ava can make any man go weak in the knees, though that’s more Ava’s department being honest.

I think the BDSM elements are the only thing that made me like Griffin at all; how in one aspect of his life he was at the beck and call of his clients/principals and in the other a sought after dominant. There was also “Dungeon Six” which I wished we could learn even more about and while Matt wasn’t a compelling character he was somewhat left out. Also, the idea of Romeo when it came to Griffin’s identity, but I’ll save that for you to discover, which is easy enough.

It was strange how Ava was a reverse of Griffin, she was always quite in control but became submissive putty for Griffin so naturally. She remains true to the genre of would be mafia princess wanting to run away with the handsome bodyguard, nothing original there but the sex scenes between her and Griffin were hot. Another character disappearing was her ex Oliver however he was merely a footnote in the story entirely, nothing more.

Now Mickey and Sydney, where do you start, no secrets there and as soon as Ava covered a bit of history between herself and Mickey well; Sydney, on the other hand, was the stereotypical young actress. There’s also the mafia fathers and the family histories blah blah, new mutiny and such emphasis on friendship amongst women and the Hollywood spotlight.

Nothing surprised me, but you can read the same story so many times and find something new each time but as well written and as fascinating as it was, I was not blown away by it. Four out of five and beware as there will be spoilers headed next if you can call them that with this author’s interpretation of the Shakespeare powerhouse story indeed.

Mickey DeLuca, shall we call him Paris as he was courting Ava, a friend of her father’s, the alpha male though even more of a jerk and I’m with Griffin on the fact I would have been annoyed with Ava too. I still have yet to understand what it is with women and the mafia motif or how they stumble upon one good guy making everyone else the bad guy; I suppose love triangles are for YA novels or dirtier erotica, as my reading group warned this was somewhat tame. Characters left out and an issue here or there left unresolved gives this book a more genuine feeling, but it is not without some closure.

Other than some of the descriptive language, Dungeon Six, and the sex, the story just shows how addictive the tabloids can be, but I won’t be picking up a gossip magazine anytime soon. With Ava just living her life I liked how she began to stick up for herself against Drake and her agent without a death threat hanging Sword of Damocles style over her head, not from either of them at least. Any book that leaves you yearning for more, of course, has my vote, though it ended when it did, it was heading into Fifty Shades territory, that’s just my two cents though.

If you’ve never read Romeo and Juliet and are new to erotica, this is a great place to start minus, the stalker if you’re not into the darker themes maybe. I could see myself being a fan of Ava’s and of course Ruby Rowe, but I have to ask, just When Was ROMEO A Stuntman?