Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Two Perfect

Two Perfect
by Samantha Hunter
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
This is a very short story. I think it took me an hour or two to read.

Eva got dumped in an awful way by her last boyfriend and he passed around all kinds of nasty details about the breakup to people she works with. Soon after she bought a quilt and started having erotic dreams, all starring the same guy.

She realizes that it's not healthy how much she wants to live in her head with her fantasy man so she goes out with her friends and brings home a pseudo-coworker (I think they work in the same building and work collaborate on certain projects but not working for the same company). Their fling includes her feeling her fantasy man at the same time and her fantasy man helps her overcome her inhibitions that she inherited from her ex-boyfriend.

It was a sweet story, I would have enjoyed reading it as a full length novel in order to get to know everyone better. It definitely pushed some boundaries but it wasn't all that explicit. I'm going to have to look up more novels by Samantha Hunter in the future.

Brazen

Brazen
by Carly Phillips
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
I tend to like Carly Phillips for a nice escape book so when I saw this one at the library book sale I had to pick it up. It was originally published in 1999.

I found the premise a little disturbing: Samantha is going to marry a wealthy older man to pay off her father's debts but first she's going to have a fling. Reading the back cover, I got the impression that she was a virgin and wanted to lose her virginity to her choice of partner before marrying this other guy, but the book does imply that she's had other sexual experience.

Mac is actually the owner of a large resort but he's helping out a friend by running a bar for a few days. Mac doesn't tell Samantha who he is because lots of women from the resort see him and want to cheat on their husbands with him. I guess I understood where both characters were coming from but intellectually I had a really hard time knowing that Samantha was doing exactly what Mac was afraid of.

I liked the characters as people but it was still rather shady of both of them. It ended nicely, they got their Happily Ever After and there was even some nice anger about how each had used the other. It was a nice conclusion but I don't think it'll be one I read a second time.

Rescue My Heart

Rescue My Heart
by Jill Shalvis
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
I had to run out to Target on release day to get this book. Jill Shalvis is pretty much on my auto-buy list but I tend to buy her books at Target because her publisher is one of the few that does not discount books on Kindle. This is book three in the Animal Magnetism series.

This is the story of Adam and Holly. We get some snapshots of them throughout the first two books. Lots of details about Adam (because the other books are his brothers') but not too much detail on Holly besides the fact that Adam and Holly don't get along.

I enjoyed the characters in this book and it felt emotionally fulfilling, but it felt really short and I ended the book not feeling like I knew Holly very much. It felt like the only thing we see about her is her interaction with Adam. We hear what kind of work she does but we never see doing work or interacting with anyone in a work setting. It didn't feel like she had any friends or any interests besides Adam. Even the animals, which tended to be stars in the other books, were only on the sidelines of Holly's life. In the first two books, we see how much she dislikes that she has to care for two puppies and in this book the only time she has them near her is when it helps her get closer to Adam.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book and had some nice laugh out loud moments and some very touching moments too but I wish I got to see more of Holly and get to know her better.

Then He Kissed Me

Then He Kissed Me
by Christie Ridgway
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
This is book two in the Baci Sisters trilogy. I read book one first and then book three. There was just something about this book (reading the back cover) that didn't grab my interest initially. I knew I would read it sometime because I like Christie Ridgway books and I knew I'd have to complete the series but it took me a while to get around to it.

Stevie Baci is the middle child, a tomboy and doesn't feel like she fits in with her sisters. She's a closet romantic and doesn't let people in because she doesn't want to be hurt. I really felt for Stevie.

This was a pretty emotional story. It didn't really have any external conflict. I was expecting something external like a kidnapping or something to jolt everyone, but there wasn't anything like that. Everything fell neatly into place at the end - judgmental parents apologized, hero and heroine got over their fear, secondary characters worked out their issues too. For how emotional some of the issues were in this book, the ending felt rather tidy and quick but it was an enjoyable book and I'm glad I read it.