Review - Dirty

Title: Dirty
Author: Megan Hart
Publishing Date: 2007
Genre: Contemporary (Erotic)
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Burning

I decided to read Dirty because so many people have been talking about how good it is. Wendy, Super Librarian, reviewed it; which you can read "here".
I am not sure I would categorize this book as a romance. Yes, it does have the requisite HEA (Happy Ever After) but it does have a very dark and disturbed heroine, and reaching that HEA is a very painful trip with one unusual, haunting woman.

This story is told in first person by Elle, which means we only see her perspective of things. I don’t mind the first person narrative, I happen to enjoy it, but I know that a lot of people don’t. Elle meets Dan in a candy store and he immediately asks her to join him for a drink at a bar he knows. Elle accepts his invitation, which becomes the start of their relationship. What kind of relationship will they have? Elle has a lot of problems with intimacy because of her screwed up past. This leads to the book being not just the story of her falling in love with Dan, but also the story of her internal struggle to forgive herself, for something that has happened in her past.

The one drawback to this book is that we don’t learn a lot about Dan. Actually, we receive very little back story on him. Having learned a little more about Dan would have made the story better for me. But what I did know about Dan is that he is a wonderful man and really great for poor, messed-up Elle. Dan was patient with Elle, and really paid attention to all her little quirks. He was quite the hero and very likable. I would have liked to read a more in depth ending between Elle and Dan, but all in all, it was a really beautiful story.