I really liked the first book in this series and was excited to read book 2, Forbidden Desires. Unfortunately, Forbidden Desires didn't work for me and I put the blame on Marcus and Bella.Bella is a librarian who volunteers(?) at a retirement facility. She plays poker with three raunchy older women. It was never clear if Bella volunteered at this place or if it was just a place where she happened to hang out. Anyway, during a safety drill, Bella meets Marcus, a hot firefighter. There's nothing sexier than a firefighter but add the fact that he's Italian and I am all over him it. *ahem*I expected loads of chemistry between Marcus and Bella and there is that. Bella is a larger sized woman so she's not wholly comfortable in her skin. She puts up a front of confidence but once she's behind closed doors, some of that bravado dissipates. Marcus has just gotten out of a bad relationship and he wants to focus solely on his job. He doesn't want a woman or a relationship to distract him. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Bella is a huge distraction that Marcus can not resist.Forbidden Desires had a lot of potential but the relationship did not click for me. Both Marcus and Bella were all over the place with their feelings. Marcus thinks he's a Sub but also wants to be a Dom. He's having a problem with being a Sub meaning he's not a real man. Bella wants to be Dominant in the bedroom. After a bad experience, she doesn't trust a man to be calling the shots. But she's not so confidant in being a Domme as well. She constantly second guesses herself. And both her and Marcus don't want to fully give in to each other.I felt that there were so many unanswered questions. I would have liked Marcus's relationship with his ex-fiancee to have been fully fleshed out in order to have a better understanding of Marcus and his fear of being a Sub. There were hints that he tried to initiate something with Teresa (ex-fiancee) but we never find out what.The relationship is frustrating. The constant back and forth. Marcus getting angry at Bella but then turns around and is blowing up her phone like nothing happened. They finally go to the B&B to fully explore the D/s nature of their relationship but by then, I'd already given up on them. The constant uncertainty drove me crazy and I didn't feel any romance between the two. By the end, I wondered why were they still together.Even though this installment didn't work for me, I'm willing to give this series another try.
