Wes Hoffman’s life is exactly how he pictured it.  Supper with friends, cold beer, and football on the weekends - Wes can’t imagine ever leaving the town in which he grew up and where he is now an officer of the law.  With one stop at his favorite watering hole, Wes’ life as he knows it changes in the blink of an eye when his eyes meet that of the one woman destined to bring him to his knees; Payton Ricci.  A now grown up and extremely sexy Payton Ricci to whom he lost his virginity in an awkward deflowering while still in high school. 

Payton Ricci is in her old home town attending the wedding of a friend.  When she spies Wes Hoffman, the boy - now a man - to whom she gave her virginity, she can’t help but notice how utterly virile and sexy he is.  Happy to see him and hoping to relive old times, Payton is disheartened to see that he doesn’t seem to feel the same way. Dismayed at his reaction to her, she refuses to give up and sets out to give him the seduction of a lifetime.

Wes is petrified of the feelings Payton invokes in him and, in pure male stupidity, makes decisions that shake the foundation of their new relationship.  When he comes to his senses, will Payton still be there or will she have finally given up on him as he continues to expect?

Have you ever come across a book that you didn’t want to end and when it did you could have cried because it was over? Undenied is that type of book.  Emotional, sensual, and just plain magnificent, Undenied made me yearn for my own sheriff.  While Wes was sex personified, I liked how realistic his character was.  Scared to death of repeating past mistakes, Wes, in turn, made more mistakes with Payton. Those mistakes made him real.  While I could have shaken him until he couldn’t see straight, I could see where his emotions from the past interfered with his present.  Payton Ricci’s characterization was astounding. Gutsy, beautiful, and very much aware of her own sensuality, I like how she took a chance with Wes and made the first move.  She was the epitome of self assured one minute and then vulnerable the next.  I adored her and her last name!

Maya Banks has indisputably written a winner in my book and it is a given that I Joyfully Recommend it as well.  Treated to another look at the characters of her past books, I like how Undenied brought me full circle into their lives and loves.  Ms. Banks continues to amaze me with her realistic writing style and her ability to make me submerge myself within her stories until I forget where I am.  Simply and undeniably one of the best books I have read this year, Undenied will be read over and over.  The only thing better would be if Ms. Banks releases two books at a time, every time.  As an author, she is just that talented.