Jan 15 2007
REVIEW: Infatuation by Alison Kent
Dear Ms. Kent:
I bought this book during Fictionwise’s 20% off sale last December. I’ve bought other Blazes but this is the first Blaze I’ve actually read in a long, long time. I guess I’ve been missing out.
Milla Page is one of those people who have a job that most young people would dream of. She gets paid to go to the hottest nightclubs and restaurants in San Francisco to review the venues for suitability for the MatchMeUp.com clientele, an online dating service. Only, like most dream jobs, the reality is that going out and partying every weekend is very tiring and Milla is running out of guys who will be her “business only” date.
In the last minute, she decides to raid the office “Sisters of the Booty Call” fund. After a woman dates a guy but finds that he isn’t a good fit, she drops his business card in a vase shaped like a boot in the woman’s lounge with some descriptions of his “suitability” on the back. Milla reaches in and pulls out the name, Rennie Bergen of Bergen Motors. Rennie is an old indiscretion of Milla’s from college and someone she has never really gotten over.
Rennie Bergen has also never gotten over Milla. He went off after college to get her out of his mind and came back to San Francisco a year later and started up a custom body shop. He eventually became the host of “Hell on Wheels”, your version of Jesse James’ Monster Garage but he never looked up Milla. Rennie sounds like a guy and acts, for the most part, like a guy.
“Some clients use our services for finding companions with similar interests.”
He snorted. “Right. And that interest would be sex.”
“Not always,” she insisted. “Some like the proverbial long walks on the beach–"”
“Ending in sex–"”
“Some like quiet evenings spent listening to guitarists in coffee houses–"”
“Followed by sex–"”
“Some like a nice dinner, a movie, intelligent conversation–"”
“Topped off by wild and crazy monkey sex.”
Milla has the background and all the trappings of the poor little rich girl. Her family has basically disowned her for failing to marry the man of their choice. She lost her money because of her father. She has had no successful relationship since her college days. What works for me is that Milla never spends time feeling sorry for herself. She’s trying to make it on her own and when she finds Rennie’s card, she goes to see him. In part, she goes to make amends and in part, to satisfy her own insecurity. I really liked Milla. She did a bad thing in her college time, something I ordinarily hate, but she paid for it emotionally, financially, with her friends and family. It seemed like she had suffered for her sins.
The chemistry between Milla and Rennie is combustible. I felt that these two did belong to each other and that they were meant together. Everytime they were intimate, I fairly felt the e-pages singing my fingers. Some of the scenes were more erotic than the erotic romances I’ve read, maybe in part because the two of them both acknowledged their desire and gloried in it.
There were two problems I had with the book. First, I felt that the characters, at times, never dealt with what had happened to them in the past. It was glossed over, at least by one character. Second, there was a secondary romance in it that I felt was intrusive. I never connected with them and thought that was space better devoted to the main couple.
Overall, though, this was a good way to spend my Sunday morning. The ending was a bit corny but was fun and well, very romantic. B.
Best regards,
Jane
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Jan 15, 2007 @ 17:42:40
I suppose I would treat this the same as Luna or Bombshell (which have been discussed here before) – buy the book, not the line.
I’ve really enjoyed some Blazes, been annoyed by others. I actually bought quite of few of these when the first came out, then tapered off after a series of blah reads. Now, like most other lines, I look for favorite authors and experiment occasionally with new ones.
I’ll admit, though, I haven’t “met” an Alison Kent book that I didn’t like, at least based on content! (Those skinny trade-sized SG-5 books were ridiculously overpriced). ;)
Jan 15, 2007 @ 18:50:24
One of the reasons I love Alison’s heros is because they sound like guys. Nothing I hate more than an whiny intropecting female sounding hero. I agree with Miki here, I bought it because it was AK, not because of the line.
Jan 17, 2007 @ 00:20:13
Alison Kent can always be counted on for a great read!
Jan 17, 2007 @ 07:09:53
I buy Blaze by the author. I admit it… I don’t even generally look at the summary. So this one I already had but it sounds great.
Exlovers is one of those plots I like but is a really hard sell for me.