Review for The Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men # 5) by Linda Kage

"Too late, little girl. Prepare to have your mind blown." - Oren "Ten" Tenning

A Perfect Ten
Author: Forbidden Men # 5
Author: Linda Kage
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: March 30th, 2015
Source: author for review

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Let your hair down, Caroline, they said. It'll be fun, they said.

I know I've closed myself off in a major way in the past year, ever since “the incident” where I messed up my life completely. It's past time I try to live again or just give up completely. But this is quite possibly the craziest thing I've ever done. In a last ditch effort to invigorate myself, I'm standing outside Oren Tenning's bedroom, I just peeled off the sexiest pair of underwear I own, and my hand is already raised to knock. My brother would disown me for doing anything with his best friend, and he'd probably kill Oren. But if I play my cards right, no one will ever know about this. Not even Ten.

Maybe after tonight, I’ll finally get over this stupid, irrational crush I hate having on the biggest jerk I’ve ever met. Or maybe I’ll just end up falling for him even harder. Maybe I’ll discover there’s so much more to my crude, carefree hunk than meets the eye.

Before jumping into my review for The Perfect Ten, let me preface this by saying that I genuinely enjoyed the book and it is a solid 4 star new adult romance. However, there were parts that I loved and a couple that I had problems with. Here are my thoughts about The Perfect Ten...

• Characters: I loved Caroline and Oren. They were magnificent and I was solidly in their corner from the moment I met them. Caroline is an incredibly strong young woman that has been through so much crap. She has been in love with Oren for as long as she's known him and has had the guts to try to take their relationship further. Caroline is tired of watching him hook up with random women and, damn it, she's going to step up her game. So, she comes up with a very hot plan... That is all I'm saying about that... Oren... What can I say about hims? He is sexy as all hell. Underneath his tough exterior, he's sensitive and caring. Oren takes the time to figure Caroline out and does his best to be there for her when she needs it the most. Fiercely protective of his friendship with Caroline's brother, Oren he refuses to act on his attraction to her. What I loved the most about Oren was his insecurity. He's been ridiculed before about a part of his body and he now goes to great lengths to hide it. Once Caroline gets under his defenses, she goes right to his insecurity and abolishes it. They were absolutely perfect for each other. 
• Romance/Sex: Holy Mother of Hotness! I loved the romance between Oren and Caroline. First of all, bonus points for the best friend's sibling romance. Love 'em! Secondly, sex scenes were scorching.. And there were a lot of them. Especially the beginning scenes between Oren and Caroline. If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean. Sizzle! The sticker scene... Wow!
• Pacing/Plot: Now we're getting to the points of The Perfect Ten that I had some issues with. Regarding the plot, I enjoyed it overall. Like I said before, I loved the characters and watching them come together. I loved the romance, not only the sexy times, but also the sweet moments between Oren and Caroline. However, I felt that the pacing of the book made it seem a little too long. The first half of The Perfect Ten was smooth. I liked how quick the author established the relationship between not only Caroline and Oren, but also with the secondary characters. I came into this series late (this was the first book in the series that I've read), so I appreciated that. On the other hand, I felt the pacing in the second half of the book was a little slow. By the time I was three-quarters into the book, I was ready for the resolution. Now it wasn't all bad. The pacing does allow the reader to fully understand the intensity of the relationship and I truly felt that they would have a happily ever after because the characters work out the majority of their problems as the book progresses. I was just ready for the HEA when I still had a quarter of the book to go.
• POV: Thank you for Oren's POV! Oh my gosh, knowing his thoughts made the book for me. Especially as he is trying to understand his feelings towards Caroline and working past his insecurities. 
• Background Characters: I came so close to really not liking Caroline's brother. I feel that this should be mentioned in case a reader does what I did and start the series with The Perfect Ten. Noel has already had his story and his happily ever after. However, there were points in the book were I really wanted to throttle him. I want to go back and start the series from the beginning before the next book(s) come out, but there was a point where I questioned that. But by the end of the book, he redeemed himself and all was well in their world.

I know there is a lot to digest in my review, but I have to say that I truly enjoyed The Perfect Ten. I just had some minor issues with it that ultimately didn't hinder my enjoyment. I do wish it was a little bit shorter, but only because I wanted Oren and Caroline to get their happy ending. And now that I've finished The Perfect Ten, I'm really looking forward to Hart's story.

Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and nine cuckoo clocks. Her life's been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part of her world, and she is so happy to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.

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