Bloom

The scintillating second erotic romance in bestseller Hardt’s BDSM-themed Black Rose trilogy (after Blush) begins on what was supposed to be the wedding day of magazine editor Frankie Thomas and her now ex-boyfriend. After her sister, Mandy, announces that she and her own boyfriend are engaged (“Not only is she stealing my wedding thunder, but she’s doing it with the proverbial perfect man”), Frankie picks a random bar to drink away her troubles in—and meets an enigmatic man in a mask who calls himself Phantom and offers to take Frankie to the Black Rose Underground, an exclusive BDSM club. College professor Hunter Stone adopts this Phantom disguise to separate his kinky sex life from his professional persona, but he soon wants Frankie to know every part of him. Their chemistry is hot, awakening new desires in Frankie—and inspiring her to pitch a story on BDSM to her editor at the Cosmo-like magazine where she works. This spooks Hunter, however, who worries his secrets will get out. Will their relationship survive? Hardt skillfully combines plot and heat, using the scorching sex scenes to move the story forward. Even when happy ever after seems a distant possibility, readers will never stop rooting for these characters to make it work. (Sept.)