This is a sweet romance, and a good read for anyone who prefers a closed bedroom door, ie not sexually explicit. Unlike the author's more famous Rough Riders Series, about modern day cowboys, which is electric!

Lennox (like the crockery) is a 'wild child' who is starting over as an office worker. She meets Brady and the story looks like it is going to slip into one of those billionaire boss subgenres.

But really, the money doesn't intrude too much - the lifestyle spills over but isn't the gist of the story.

The book was published in January 2016 - I found it hard to tell if it was brand new (published in 2022) except there was one allusion to technology that jarred and revealed it wasn't current. It is superficial to make this point, but I think this is one of the first times I've noticed such a thing in my reading.

It shows how intensely I was listening! as this is hot storytelling without the sex. It reminded me of Happiness for Beginners.

Both narrators are great: Lidia Dornet, and Roger Wayne. I've heard Lidia Dornet before and she was a good pick for Lennox. Dornet also reads Kelly Rimmer and Lynda Archer.

But Roger Wayne, not known to me, has read a lot more - Heather Graham, Drew Hayes, lots of non-fiction, but there's no denying he has the right voice for romantic leads if his performance here is anything to go by.

I've learned that Lorelei James is guaranteed to be a good read since I took up Romance a few years ago, but I hadn't realised I'd consumed about a dozen of her audiobooks. ( )

If you have read any of Ms. James' books you probably were surprised by how "tame" this one was... that's what I liked about it.

While other stories are page turners for a very different (steamy) reason this one concentrated more on Brady and Lennox growing their relationship. Getting out of their comfort zones to realize there is more between them than just instant lust. (I know it takes the couple 3/4 of the book to hit the sheets but wasn't all that foreplay getting there just as good)

Brady has a family legacy to live up to and successful siblings to keep up with. We learn that what drives him to be this "cold-hearted" workaholic is something his grandfather said to him when he was 18. Get put down enough and you begin to believe it is the truth. No matter how hard you try you will never be good enough. Interesting to see it happening to a man, a young successful business man; you forget that emotional abuse affects men just as badly as a woman.

Lennox works in the "floaters" department, once upon an Un-PC world it was called the secretarial pool. She comes from trailer trash, rock groupie upbringing. Her rebellion against her roots... becoming a serious, hard working intelligent woman. But just how long can you go before your roots break through and wreck your world?

Nothing about these two, on the outside, would lead you to believe they belong together; until you get to see the emotional fragility in both of them. The wanting of being more and thinking it will never happen. The instinct and bravery to know....I can trust this person. The ease of laughter, smiles, and in his case....forgetting about important work that needs to be done. They bring out the hidden facets of one another's personalities and like what they find even more than what they expected.

Nice love story. Didn't drag or become overly mushy. Just a love story where we got to see our leads warts and all. If you are expecting a typical hot steamy rompfest from the very beginning (because let's face it, Ms. James is good at those) then you will be disappointed. ( )

4.5 stars.

What You Need, the first novel in the Need You series, is a delightfully sweet yet highly sensual romance that old and new fans of Lorelei James are sure to love.

Brady Lund is the CFO of the family owned business, Lund Industries. He is handsome, intelligent and charming, but he is a workaholic with no personal life outside of spending time with his family. While self-assured when it comes to his career, he lacks confidence when it comes to dating. It is not until his family convinces him to try to find balance between work and leisure that he finds the courage to ask Lennox Greene, the woman he has secretly been crushing on for months, for a date. With Lennox, Brady is relaxed and eager to experience new things, but his old insecurities threaten their burgeoning romance.

Lennox might have grown up on the wrong side of the tracks but she has worked hard to leave her painful and difficult past behind. She has completely turned her life around and she is well on her way to achieving her personal goals. No one at work knows much about her life before she started working at Lund Industries and Lennox goes to great lengths to keep it that way. With everyone else, she is demure and self-assured, but around Brady, she is nervous and prone to blurting out whatever thought pops into her head. Despite their mutual attraction, Lennox cannot help but wonder how she can fit into Brady's life on a permanent basis.

The relationship between Lennox and Brady is fun and flirty, but there is also an undercurrent of seriousness as well. They reveal parts of themselves to one another they carefully keep hidden from everyone else. With Lennox, Brady is more spontaneous and open to new experiences and Lennox reluctantly steps out of her comfort zone when he introduces her to the activities he enjoys doing.

In a change of pace from Ms. James' erotic novels, there is more emphasis on developing Lennox and Brady's relationship outside of the bedroom. Despite their red hot attraction to each other, they take their time getting to know each other before acting on their passion. There is plenty of sexual tension between them as they tease, touch and flirt their way into the bedroom. While the sex scenes are not overly explicit, they are still quite steamy.

With an engaging storyline, a believable romance and minimal angst or drama, What You Need by Lorelei James is a captivating love story. The characters are wonderfully developed and appealing with easy to relate to flaws and insecurities. The storyline is well-written, refreshingly unique and fast-paced. An overall fabulous beginning to the Need You series that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the next installment. ( )

Billionaire Brady is CFO of his family's company, a workaholic and sexy hot. Lennox Greene grew up in a dysfunctional home, had a rough beginning but has finally found a good job at Lund Industries. They've both have the hots for each other and fate kept throwing them together until they finally acted on it. Their relationship has fits and starts but was a great read, read it in one sitting.
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My first Lorelei James book (but a huge fan of her Lori Armstrong books) and this did not disappoint. I got an advanced copy from a contest on her Facebook page and I really enjoyed it. I understand that the Need You series is new and I will definitely be keeping up with it. I'm kind of hoping that the series will work it's way around the Lund family to all those brothers and cousins. All the characters seem very interesting and I'd like to see more from them while getting updates on Lennox and Brady. ( )