First time reading Ms. Frost's work.

I like the pacing of the book. Characters are well written. If you aren't a fan of older men/younger women then the 14 yr age gap might not work for you. To me, age is nothing but a number and an attitude.

I liked how she handle Jake's issues with Piper's age, innocence and just being an old soul in a young woman's body.

Was not expecting Piper's stalker to be who it was. After hearing his story of why he went bonkers when he met her....well that brings a whole different debate on to the table.

I am going to read the next in the series before I decide if I really really like them or they are just quick easy read kind of books. ( )

I enjoyed this book.
The Hero is alpha, possessive, bossy and so sweet.
There is no cheating, some ex drama and a HEA.
The ex drama and potential love interest from others does not involve any cheating or intimate scenes with other women or men than the H or h.
Hints are also dropped for the next book and there are lots of secondary characters for future story lines.
It is really well written, a full packed story.
It reminded me a bit of Kristen Ashley. ( )

4 stars

This book, for some reason, was hard for me to stay focused. I'm not sure what because the writing was good but I just couldn't keep my attention on it. It finally started getting me interested when it started explaining everything that had been happening since the beginning.

While this book wasn't my favorite it was still worthy of a review. That is the beauty of books, what doesn't work for one person might work for the next. ( )

Overall, I loved this book. So why did Hyde and Seek work for me?

The first sentence, “Babe, that your van?” and the following pages had to be the funniest opening to a book I've read in a long time. The thoughts running through Piper’s head were hilarious and made her immensely likable right off the bat. There were some really funny lines throughout, including one in which Piper was thinking that her general vibe screamed introvert, “Actually, I don’t think you can scream introvert, but it definitely mumbled it.” Yeah, that was great. The line that made my side ache from laughing and forced me to read it to my hubby at one in the morning came from a stylist about to do Piper's hair, "Mr. Hyde had a request, but he said it’s up to you. I, on the other hand, am saying that the choice is not up to you, and we’re just doing what he said. ‘Cause, Sweetheart, your man might be fine with a capital ‘F$&k Yeah’, but he is also scary as a broken condom on prom night.”

The story flowed very well. Frost did a good job introducing us to the Hyde world. The guys were likable, so that’s good going forward. It looks like this is the first in a potential series of books, which means Frost not only needed to tell Piper and Jake's story, but give us a few glimpses at other characters we'll (hopefully) be seeing more of in future books. She succeeded in doing this without making the main story seem choppy. Intrigue was brewing, but the writer didn't jump right into it. I love reading the "courting" portion of a romance and since this one was both funny and hot I was glad Frost gave time for that courtship before the extra story conflict was thrown at me. I was ready for the story to escalate when it did and was pleasantly surprised by how it all played out. I read a ton of books and I am almost never surprised to find out the identity of the antagonist when I am reading a book or watching a movie. I read this book really not altogether sure how things would play out. It was so much fun to read an ending I did NOT see coming. So kudos.

I'm also a sucker for the "Big Age Difference" trope. Not sure why, I just know it works for me. This story, though, played out a bit differently than other books I've read with a large age gap between the main characters, but not in a bad way. Yes, there are about 14 years difference in age between Piper and Jake, but because of Piper's maturity readers are not going to be reading a book about the older man needing to take care of a much younger woman. If this is what you look for in this trope then you will be disappointed. But if you enjoy seeing a somewhat grumpy, jaded, thirty-something guy get reminded how fun and colorful life can be, and get that reminder from a delightful, yet mature, 20 year old woman, this story is one for you.

So what didn't work for me? Well, it's not really something that didn't work, it was just something that meant I had to dip into the whole "suspension of disbelief" thing. I read for entertainment and I like whatever the heck I want to like, not what someone tells me I should like. And because of this I am very good at suspending disbelief when I am enjoying a good story, and Layla Frost's story is just that: good! But that's not to say I didn't have to work a bit to believe a 20 year old would have it together like Piper. A mortgage? A successful business? Having enough experience in her short life to make elaborate wedding cakes? I guess none of that is unheard of, just definitely not the norm. I enjoyed the hell out of the story, though, so I went with the "suspension of disbelief" thing because doing so meant I could get back to reading more about Piper doing shit to make Jake let loose those sexy as sin growls. Yum!

The other thing that ordinarily doesn't work for me, but did here, is first person POV. I usually avoid books written in the first person, mainly because so few writers are good at letting readers get to know characters other than just the one narrating the story. If we only know what Piper knows, how do we get to understand Jake without reading some of the story from Jake’s point of view? That’s a tricky problem a writer faces when he or she decides to stick with first person narration. Being able to fully flesh out all characters with only the observations made by one character is a challenge few writers master. I'm trying to be better about giving first person POV books a chance, but I still rarely bother reading a book if I find the sample to be first person POV. Lucky for me, Frost had a kick-ass opening that drew me in enough to keep reading, because she wrote one fun book I would have otherwise passed on. And Frost rewarded me at the end with a bit of Jake's POV.

I was going to give Hide and Seek four stars mainly because I rarely give out five stars. But considering all the crappy books I've read recently, I decided this was not a good reason to not hand out a five star rating and reconsidered my qualifications for a five star book. So here are some reasons this book is better than four stars:
1. Good editing. I can not tell you how annoying it is to read a book with a ton of typos, poor grammar, and misspelled or misused words. This is a huge problem with self-edited books and will totally kill an otherwise good story for me.
2. "Hey, I did not see that coming!" I'm not surprised too often so it was refreshing to come to the climax and realize I was not even close to figuring out "who done it."
3. The re-read test. I was lucky to read an earlier version of Hyde and Seek several months ago but when it came time to read the finished product I was a bit worried it wouldn't keep my attention the second time around. No problems! Each page was just as much fun the second time around so readers will get their money's worth each time they read it.
3. Well developed characters. I got a good feel for all the characters, not just the main ones.
4. Nailed the first person narration. Can't tell you enough how much I hate first person narration but Frost won me over. The first line intrigued me enough for me to keep reading once I realized it was going to be first person. It helped that Piper was a likable character so she was not an annoying narrator.
5. Hot factor. Phew, Jake is one yummy alpha male. And I won't spoil it for you, but I could only hope to be called into his office.
6.. I got a HEA with no cliffhangers.
7. No cliffhanger, but it did leave me wanting more. More stories of those hot guys of Hyde! Get your fingers typing, Layla, because I want more.

I could knock off a star because I did have to work a bit at believing a 20 year old could be as together as Piper was, but in the end that really was not enough to knock off a star. Taking in all my reasons listed above, plus the fact that overall I just plain liked the story, I have to give Hyde and Seek five four and a half stars. A fun, sexy read.
ETA: I messed up when I originally posted this review and typed five stars but meant four and a half. Not a big deal, but I wanted to clarify for anyone who read the original review. Also, since Amazon doesn't like potty mouths and I wanted to post this there, I had to clean up a few things. That's why you saw a watered down ‘F$&k Yeah’ up there and not my usual sailor-speak.

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
( )

fantastic book! drew me in and I couldn't put it down, sad I have to wait for the next one and hopefully I can find something else good to ride me over till this one is released ( )