seriously romantic: off limits by clare connelly

harlequin's new imprint, dare, launched this year and off limits happens to be one of the new offerings. like the now-defunct blaze line it is steamier than standard harlequin romances, but the vibe is different. this might be due to the alternating first-person povs, which isn't the norm for most harlequin categories. i haven't read other books in this particular line, so i can't say if it's happening imprint-wide, but it felt worth noting that it does feel different from blaze, which was an imprint i was sad to see close up shop. because it was the imprint i read the most of.

anyway, so jack is a widower who has basically sworn off love. and gemma is his in-house counselor who is essentially his right-hand woman. and she's half in love with him. but she knows what a bad idea it is to get mixed up with him. so she keeps him at arm's length. and it's been years of this.

and then they're at a party and she accidentally makes him jealous and everything explodes all over the place. the crazy sexual tension. the feelings that both of them have kept locked up for years. the fact that this is the worst idea in the world. because jack doesn't want anything long-term and yet gemma isn't someone he can just sleep with and forget.

he's going to break her heart. because he's broken and damaged. but she's also broken and damaged a little bit. and their jagged edges fit in a way that neither of them thought possible. and for all the crazy hot sex there was also some really gutting emotional depth. and i love that. angst is totally my jam. and jack and gemma have it in spades along with wicked hot chemistry.

**off limits will publish on february 1, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/harlequin (dare) in exchange for my honest review.