More Than Crave You

3.75 stars-provocative and emotional

3.75 stars--MORE THAN CRAVE YOU is the fourth instalment in Shayla Black’s contemporary, adult MORE THAN WORDS erotic, romance series. This is billionaire tech entrepreneur and widower Evan Cook, and PA Nia Wright’s story line. MORE THAN CRAVE YOU can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as there is a continuing theme throughout focusing on the dysfunctional family dynamic of the Reed /Cook siblings.

Told from first person point of view (Evan) with one final chapter from Nia, MORE THAN CRAVE YOU follows the friends to lovers, unrequited love, marriage of convenience between billionaire tech entrepreneur and widower Evan Cook, and PA Nia Wright. Four months earlier Evan Cook lost his wife and unborn child to a car accident and in the ensuing months has lost his way. Hoping to find a ‘wife’ to take care of his personal and private affairs Evan asks his long suffering PA Nia Wright to place an ad looking for a wife. Unaware of Nia’s attraction to and affection for Evan, our hero continues to focus on the needs of a man more than romance and love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Nia and Evan, and the potential fall-out as Evan is unable to open his heart to the possibility of love and a happily ever after, and the belief that Nia is not the woman she appears to be.

Nia Wright is a successful and resourceful woman who never knew her father but was raised by a strong and beautiful woman who never lost faith in love. Having fallen in love with Evan Cook, Nia hopes for her own happily ever after but our hero remains reluctant for anything more than wanting a woman for a housewife and sex. Evan grew up in the foster care system and married the girl he rescued when young. Upon her death Evan found himself lost when it came to his home life including the basics of laundry and cleaning, a questionable result of growing up in the foster care system. Hoping to find a woman willing to cook and clean, Evan doesn’t see past his immediate needs including the woman with whom he will fall in love.

Meanwhile, the Colossus Investment Corporation, a large corporation headed by Douglas and his son Stephen Lund are hoping to buy Stratus Solutions from our story line hero but their offer of a billion dollars comes with several stipulations including the recruitment and continuing employment of Nia Wright. Throughout the story there is much back and forth regarding the buy-out offer, including the real reason Douglas Lund is so desperate for control of Stratus Solutions.

The relationship between Nia and Evan is a friends to lovers, unrequited love, marriage of convenience affair between two people whose views of marriage and love follow different paths and differing beliefs. Unable to let go of the past Evan claims to never want to fall in love while Nia wants love, family and so much more. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate.

All of the previous story line couples play secondary and supporting roles including Evan’s half siblings Maxon, Griff and Harlow. We are introduced to Evan’s best friend and CFO Sebastian Shaw who drops a bombshell that will change Evan’s life; financial investor Douglas Lund and his son Stephen, as well as Nia’s friends Lorenzo, Guilia, and Kyle.

MORE THAN CRAVE YOU is a story of family, friendship, secrets and lies, letting go and falling in love. There are a few twists and turns that you won’t see coming including more fall-out and revelations about the man who sired the Cook/Reed siblings. The character driven premise is provocative and emotional; the romance is seductive and erotic; the characters are stubborn, spirited and realistic. MORE THAN CRAVE YOU is a hopeful and energetic story.