A Review of Possession (Explicitly Yours Series, Book One) by Jessica Hawkins

This is the first time I’m reading anything by Jessica Hawkins and it won’t be the last. This novel takes you on a sexy, edgy, emotional, conflict of morals, and erotic journey. 

So, let’s meet Lola Winters, a waitress who works with her boyfriend/manager, Johnny at Hey Joe, a bar located on the Sunset Strip. Hey Joe used to be a vibrant hangout spot with bands playing, but now there’s an empty stage, a few regulars and not enough customers to keep the doors open for long. 

One night, Lola goes outside the bar to handle a rowdy group of drivers revving their car engines and disturbing the customers inside. With a swift kick, she puts a dent in one of the driver’s cars. After everyone leaves including Johnny who comes outside to act as muscle, Lola locks eyes with Beau Olivier, a wealthy businessman. His attractiveness (green almond-shaped, watchful eyes, his tall, straight back and swagger) pulls her in and the chemistry between them is undeniable. Beau flirts with her even though she tells him Johnny is her boyfriend. The flirting continues even after he goes inside to meet some colleagues to discuss business and well after his colleagues leave.   

With the bar on the verge of closing, both Johnny and Lola begin to wonder what’s next for them if Hey Joe is bought and under new management. They would love to buy the place because it has “rock and roll” history and name recognition, but they are broke. Beau then proposes to give them the money to buy the bar if he can have one night alone with Lola with explicit conditions. Johnny and Lola contemplate the prospect of financial freedom should they get this money. Ultimately, Johnny leaves the decision to Lola, who agrees. For their one night, Beau introduces Lola to a taste of luxury: expensive clothes, shoes, jewelry, and purses to choose from, services of a makeup artist, a black-tie gala to benefit the L.A. Philharmonic, a high-end hotel as well as a seedy side: going to a strip club where she dances for him. 

Overall, this was a quick, fun, and sexy read. The movie-tie in leaped off the pages evoking the 1993 movie “Indecent Proposal.” I enjoyed the parallelism between the book narrative and the movie: young couple strapped for cash and yielding to temptation by striking a deal with a wealthy man for a night with the woman. The storyline was sexy, unpredictable at times, the characters exuded vulnerability, and the dialogue was realistic. At the end of the day, it’s all about whether one is satisfied with who they are with and whether they want to take a chance to live a different life. Two thumbs up! 

Rating: 4 stars

Some of my favorite lines:

             “Yes, Lola?”

Alone with his voice.

“Why me?” she asked.

She put the purple dress back on its hanger while he took his time responding. “I suppose I should’ve been prepared for this question.”

“You could just be honest,” she suggested.

“All right. It started with the first moment I saw you. Everything else just…ceased to exist. Time. People. Music. You stood there like a prize waiting to be claimed. It stopped me in my tracks.”

Jesus. Had he claimed her yet? Or was that to come? Her face flushed as if she were back outside the bar, having just put a dent in a teenager’s car with her tennis shoe. “That’s who I am.”

“Who are you?”

“The girl you saw that night. I’m not expensive silk dresses and Friday-night events. I’m just the scrappy kid I always was, a girl who’s made some bad decisions, good ones too. Nothing special.”