Arouse by Nina Lane

"One day I'm going to touch you in a thousand different ways and show you how to touch me," he said.

And he did.

Struggling with a tormented past, undergraduate Olivia Winter once led a practical but isolated life. Then she met Professor Dean West, a brilliant scholar of medieval history who melted Liv's inhibitions and taught her the meaning of both love and erotic pleasure.

But after three years of a blissful, lusty marriage, Liv and Dean now face a crisis that threatens everything they believe about each other as dark secrets and temptations rise to the surface.

Olivia is a woman with a messed up childhood. Professor Dean West also has had his own demons to slay. They may seem flawed but they are perfect for each other. Or are they?

"Sorry," I whispered. Confusion creased his forehead. "For what?" "For being...weird." 
His smile flashed. "I happen to like weird."

The first book about Liv and Dean starts five years after their relationship/marriage took place but we get lots of flashbacks into how they met and other important moments in their relationship and also Liv's childhood. I really enjoyed Professor Dean West and want a geek just like him of my own. I am going to start this review with what I don't like. Not sure why, but let's mix it up a bit shall we. I really didn't like Olivia. I understand she had a bad childhood and went through some trauma. And in fairness she did overcome her childhood and made it through college. Then what? Nothing. She relied on Dean to guide her through life and just kind of gave up her fight in my opinion. There was also another pivotal moment in this book that made me want to punch her in the face. Seriously, if she was in front of me, I would have, without hesitation. This book reminded me a lot of Fifty Shades of Gray and I hated those books. I hated them so much; I quit reading after the first one. This book had a lot of the same issues in it as those did. I found the sex scenes very repetitive and rote. The same words were used constantly and every time he applied pressure with his thumb to her clit, she orgasmed just like a little circus monkey performing a trick. I didn't find the scenes "arousing" (see what I did there?) in the slightest and found myself skimming if not completely skipping them after half the book. It might not have been that bad, except they had a LOT of sex in this book.

Okay onto what I liked about the book. I loved Professor Dean West. Was he perfect? Nope, probably not even close. But the way he was portrayed, you just couldn't help liking him more and more as the book went along. He has major screw ups, like every man does, but his ultimate goal in life is to protect Olivia.

"Liv," he said, his voice rough with tenderness, "you don't have to be afraid."
"Why not?"
"Because I'll slay monsters for you."

I also loved that when the book started out, their marriage was perfect. So perfect in fact, I was asking myself is this the end of the book? What could possibly go wrong with this amazing couple. Then, it goes horribly wrong. Realistically so, which I appreciate. Do they struggle through the pain? Of course! But they go about it like normal couples do. I found everything they did, their actions, their words, totally on par with what "real" people do. They weren't fairy tale characters in the least.

"Maybe this was meant to happen, this discovery of cracks where now a different, new light can shine through."

Overall, it was an enjoyable book. The writing was solid but I did not enjoy the sex scenes. There was drama, heartache, romance and all the other things that make a good book.