ACCESS ALL AREARS (The Access Series #1) by ALICE SEVERIN

enny:   Well, we said we needed a book to “wow” us didn’t we Gitte and boy did we stumble upon a beauty!

Gitte:   We really did Jenny. Just wow indeed!!

Jenny:  I have to say upfront though that the Prologue sort of confused me and I was wondering if I was going to get into this book but a few pages later and this book hooked us didn’t it?

Gitte:  Yeah I was a bit confused in the Prologue as well. I felt like I had missed something, I wasn’t sure what was going on, then suddenly the story grabbed me and it did not let go. Even after having finished, it still has my heart beating real fast and I still get the shivers and a tear in my eye when I think of it.

Jenny:   Yep, I had the same feelings at the end too GG.  I thought this book was so beautifully and intelligently written – at times it was like reading a journalism piece from Rolling Stone Magazine and I found prose descriptive but not annoying.  This author certainly has a way with words. The first thing I felt was an affinity with the music and how it introduced us to Lily and Tristan.  That’s what pulled me in immediately.  I loved how the author wove The Clash – (London Calling, White Riot….lord save me!) with Tristan’s band Devised, at the start of the book at the Brit Awards.  It made you feel like you were there and was pure genius!
How Lily felt about the music, how she felt watching these bands, it really spoke to me.  I could feel her connection to the music and she experienced everything I feel when I watch a live band so it wasn’t hard for me to connect to her and the story straight away.

Gitte:  The music is what got to me. I love when it’s music I have a connection to as well as in this case London and the people in the business! I heard it, I saw it; I experienced it. When a story is told as brilliantly and as vividly as this one with such apparent knowledge and intelligence I felt it and got the immediate connection with Lily and Tristan. I love live music…if I don’t go to at least 5 concerts a year as well as local gigs I feel lost, the feeling of it is like a drug. The way the Author described Lily’s reactions to the music, how much and what music means to her…I felt it, because this is me, this is how I feel!

Jenny:  We first pick up the story of Lily meeting Tristan for the first time.  All nerves and insecurities in coming face to face with her idol….not only in Tristan but Mick Jones from The Clash,  backstage after a concert to ask them a few questions for her music blog.   Have I mentioned how much I loved the meshing of reality and fiction here? haha

Gitte:  Hmm I think you did mention it.  The first meeting, yeah you just know something special happened there. We felt what it meant and did to Lily when she met Tristan for the first time. Yet Tristan’s words…I don’t know…I just felt at the time reading it that this random episode was going to mean something to him too.

Jenny:  Now Gitte, Lily isn’t our usual type of heroine is she?  We can’t say much because we wouldn’t want to give anything away but a few things she did surprise me about her and you know what?  I sort of found it quite refreshing.  What about you?

Gitte: I think we have gotten used to a certain type of heroine Jenny, hence the shock factor at some of Lily’s actions. However, I have to say what a fantastic and refreshing change Lily made. I have to say she intrigued me from the start!

Jenny:  Fast forward five years later, with Lily more established as a music journalist, more independent and about to meet Tristan, who is now a big deal in the music world, to conduct an interview.  Lily is quite intense, has put up huge barriers, she comes across as a bit of a loner, gets overwrought, has flaws, insecurities, and has had years of wandering and “not feeling”.  Seeing Tristan again ignites something in her that she can’t explain, even to herself.   Her reaction to him and his music is extreme.  He affects her in a way no one ever has.

Lily:   “I’ve just met the love of my life and lost him all in the space of an hour”

Gitte:   Aww Lily, you fell not just literally, you also fell in lust and love at the same time all those years ago.  Our Lily, who I still haven’t figured out, must have been through something in her past I am sure, resulting in her being so emotionally closed off.  She certainly is intense and seems like such a lost soul who has problems identifying her feelings for what they are or even letting herself feel them. She has convinced herself that love is not important; emotions are not important. They bring pain…and not the pain she will willingly admit to wanting. Perfection, anxiety, hurt and numbness….

“How do people deal with desire?”

Jenny:   Tristan…..what can I say about Triz?? We can’t stop talking about him can we? All Dark eyes, dark hair, beautiful, talented, deep, and over 6ft of brooding alpha, dominant, rock god who just oozes sexuality…..hmmm think it’s safe to say we bloody loved him! *wink,wink*  Tristan was such a puzzle. Just who was Tristan?  From the first time I met him I wanted to know him, know his secrets, know more about him, I wanted to know what made Tristan tick.  Oh yes, this guy had me wanting more!!!

“I let my glance drop down his body, oh my there was a lot of him.  What the hell was I going to do with all that?  He was made for sex, I’d never been this enticed by a man’s body before.”
“He was animal and beautiful, and I felt like I was looking at a work of art.  His beauty was so modern, but there was a whisper of something ancient in his proportions”  Wow Gitte, I love this author’s writing

Gitte: Yes…sigh…Tristan. I absolutely LOVE this guy!  Hahaha Jenny, that quote is highlighted after I read it more than twice, yeah not going to lie. This Author’s words are mesmerizing at times…a lot of the time! Tristan had me right from the start with his words when he and Lily met for the first time. I immediately thought wow…who is this guy! Yes, he is not only a gorgeous Rock Star…he is intense, each word he speaks has meaning; a meaning hidden within a meaning. I was completely drawn to him, I wanted to know everything I could possible know and I wanted more too; this man is one hot enigma with a painful past!

Jenny: The sexual chemistry between these two?  Seriously, it was tangible!  Tristan and Lily are such passionate, complex and complicated people and getting to know them and experience the intensity between them just had me spellbound.  Yes, these two had me hooked!  There was just something so deep and so intense about them, I had to know more!! And this author unwrapped them so slowly and wonderfully that it was killing me (in a good way!) and I was so immersed in their story I just wanted to race to the end to see how it all unfolded.

Lily:          “My body felt like someone had held it in their hands.  ……….. satisfied and thoroughly   fucked”
Tristan:    “And you make me come insanely hard”

Gitte: Yeah the Author sure knew just how much to give away reeling us in then having us grasp at scraps here and there to satisfy our need to both know and understand. I think it’s safe to say both Lily and Tristan are emotionally messed up. Though; I’d say Lily more so than Tristan. There is no simplicity here. The connection between Tristan and Lily is intense, it is intricate and heavy and you can literally see it and feel it as a reader. What the other means to them differs to begin with. I think they each see what they want to; what they think they need and want. Confusing as it may be to Lily as she is more emotionally closed off from the world except the music. Tristan embodies music which is where he has an advantage on her.

Jenny:   What about the sex scenes??? Geez, w e nearly burnt up the phones discussing these!  They were intense, hot, descriptive and ummm yeah…hot!!  This author can certainly write a sex scene.  Ummm did you delete those texts by the way?  You delete yours and I’ll delete mine.  Deal?

Gitte:   No problem Jenny, consider them deleted! 😉  Oh for all that is HOT…the sex scenes. Shivers, tingles, heavy breathing and a racing heart…yeah that would be me, I am not talking about Lily and Tristan here hahahaha.  Possession, Obsession and control….

“I knew you’d be like this he whispered” …..sigh……

Jenny:   I absolutely loved this book and felt bereft when I got to the last page – I wanted…..no, needed more.  I will say the only thing I didn’t like was Tristan’s nickname for Lily…..that was kind of a ewwww moment for me, but I moved on from it. Have to also point for readers who may not like BDSM that there is a touch of it in this book.
Thankfully the next book will be out around December….roll on Access Restricted I say because I NEED more Tristan and Lily……but definitely MORE Tristan Hunter!    Hello new book boyfriend – we’ll have to share him though Gitte because we can’t fall out over a fictional character 😉

Gitte: You know that moment you hit 85% on your kindle and you think noooo please keep going don’t stop; I am NOT ready to end this journey, I need more…I still don’t understand everything!!  Lily and Tristan have me spellbound…I cannot let them go…I have so many unanswered questions and even though this story does not have a cliff-hanger as such, it leaves you almost grieving that it has ended. I need more Tristan and intriguingly enough I definitely need more Lily! I cannot wait for Access Restricted to land on my kindle! Oh and Jenny…I think Tristan is more than man enough for the both of us!!