It’s always a delight to read your books. Your characters are interesting, multifaceted, (reasonably) ordinary men and women; your plots are touching without being tawdry; your love stories convincing and sexy. More Than One Night isn’t my favorite of your books—I had trouble with the heroine—but was an enjoyable novel and one I’d recommend to any contemporary romance reader.

Charlie (Charlotte) Long, is at 32, out of the Australian army after fourteen years, and ready to begin the rest of her life. On her first night of “freedom,” she and her friend Gina open a bottle of champagne and Gina toasts Charlie, saying,

“To the rest of your life. To having a home that’s all yours. To meeting a guy who doesn’t know how to field strip a Steyr F88 rifle and who isn’t going to ship out when things start getting good. And to never, ever having to wear khaki again.”

Gina’s been out of the army for a couple of years, has a good job, a sweet little house—Charlie is staying in her spare room—and loves civilian life. Charlie too is happy to move on and yet she’s anxious.

“She’d die before she admitted it to anyone, but rather than being excited by all the choices and possibilities that lay ahead of her, she was feeling more than a little overwhelmed.”

She’s got a nice place to live, she’s building up a business as a web designer, she has a fabulous friend—we all need a Gina in our lives–, but she’s quietly terrified. She tells herself

Stop freaking out. You can do this. How hard can it be? You find an apartment. You buy some furniture. You start a life. It’s not rocket science. 

It only felt like it.

Charlie, despite having been a very successful communications engineer with the Royal Australia Corps of Sigs, doesn’t have a lot of confidence. Oh she knows there are things she does well—she’s organized, intelligent, and ethical—but she sees herself as ordinary, plain old Charlie. And when I say plain, I mean unattractive, unsexy, and, in general, uninteresting to men. She’s never been in love, most of her sexual encounters have been awkward, her mirror is not her friend. Gina’s told her she’s crazy, that Charlie is lovely. But Charlie can’t believe it—really, Charlie won’t believe it. She’s sure she’s, to use a phrase from my grandmother, not much to look at.

On Charlie’s first night back, Gina gets the chance to prove Charlie wrong. Charlie and Gina have made plans to go to one of Sydney’s hottest restaurants but Charlie, whose luggage is missing, has none of her own clothes to wear. Gina talks Charlie into borrowing an outfit of Gina’s—a mesh halter and a pair of skin-tight stretch satin black pants. Charlie squeezes into the outfit, puts on some sexy makeup, and, once at the bar, is astonished to see guy after guy checking her out. She’s so stunned, in fact, she stumbles down a stair and spills a glass of red wine all over the white-shirted chest of an absolutely gorgeous guy. When she tries to apologize, he–Rhys Walker–tells her if she lets him buy her a drink, he’ll call it even. She can barely believe this beautiful man is flirting with her—which he very clearly is—and, after finishing her meal with Gina, Charlie decides to go for it. Usually Charlie listens to the voice in her head that tells her she’s just good, old, plain Charlie.

The voice was probably right. It had saved her from making a lot of bad decisions in her life, that voice. But she didn’t want to listen tonight. She wanted more of the feeling she’d experienced when she’d caught Rhys tracking her every move with his dark, heated gaze. For that precious handful of seconds she had felt powerful and knowing and invincible and incredibly sexy.

It might be an illusion—maybe even a delusion—but she wanted more of it. Even if it meant she was setting herself up to fail spectacularly.

Charlie finds Rhys, who has spent the evening praying the gorgeous woman who dumped wine on him will reappear, and, after a few more drinks, conversation, and the obliging exit of Gina, Rhys takes Charlie to his apartment where the two have a night of incredible sex. For Charlie, it’s unlike anything she’s ever experienced.

He started to move, and within seconds she’d found his rhythm. Every clumsy sexual encounter she’d ever had, every second of self-consciousness over her body or her own needs, every doubt she’d ever experienced went out the window as she gave herself over to the moment.

Rhys too is astonished by how sizzling they are together. The two make love three times—using a condom each time—and fall asleep in one another’s arms. The sun comes up, Charlie arises, sees how gorgeous Rhys is as he sleeps, checks out her own—to her—unlovely visage in his bathroom mirror and bolts, leaving him a short note and a hundred bucks to pay for his shirt.

This action on her part—and the attitude behind it–made me crazy. And, unfortunately, it fuels the story that unfolds after that splendiferous night. Eight weeks later, Charlie’s found her own place, her work is going well, and civilian life is working out for her.  The only downside of her life is that she spends a little too much time wondering what would have happened if she hadn’t bailed on Rhys. At least that’s the only downside until she realizes—when Gina asks her why she doesn’t have a tampon Gina can borrow—she hasn’t had a period for almost three months. She buys a kit, pees on the stick, and is terrified to realize the condoms failed and she, careful, disciplined Charlie, is pregnant from a night of smokin’ sex with a total stranger. After giving an abortion some very real thought, Charlie decides to keep the baby. She tracks down Rhys, tells him he’s going to be a dad, and, the two begin a “we just spend time together because we are going to have a baby together” relationship.

Rhys, who is a likable perfect hero—I think these are rare– is wonderful after his initial shock at Charlie’s news. Rhys is like Gina—I can’t imagine the woman who wouldn’t want him in her life. He’s gorgeous, funny, sensitive, sexy, compassionate, and—this is how you know he’s almost too good to be true—a great listener. As he goes with Charlie to her doctors’ appointments, has lunch with her, takes walks with her, he’s struck again and again by how much he likes her and is attracted to her. Sure, she’s not the sex-goddess he met at the bar:

“Looking at her now, it was almost impossible to believe that it had been the same woman. Not that she wasn’t attractive and sexy in a far more subtle way in her current outfit, but there was definitely a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on as far as her appearance went.”

He, like Charlie, wonders what would have happened between the two if she hadn’t run out on him that morning. Rhys comes from a large, close, argumentative, loving family. All of his siblings are married and Rhys would like to be too. He’s excited about the baby, his family loves Charlie, and, when he’s with her, he feels a pull of desire he’s sure she shares. And so, he makes the occasional, very subtle overture and, every time, gets shut down. Why? Because Charlie’s so freaking hung on hers and his looks. He’s gorgeous, she’s not. Girls like her don’t belong with guys like him. By the last third of the book, Charlie was seriously ticking me off. As Gina asks, at the very least, “You don’t think being attracted to the father of your baby would be making the best of a bad situation?”

What bothered me even more though, than Charlie’s “we can’t be together because you are a golden god and I’m not” is that Charlie’s issues about her looks aren’t really about her looks. They’re really about her childhood and the lack of love she received from her inattentive, impossible to please, recently dead father. Charlie’s mother died giving birth to Charlie and, no matter what Charlie did—including joining the army—her father never gave Charlie his approval or his affection. Charlie, despite Gina’s friendship, despite Rhys’ care, doesn’t believe she deserves relational happiness. She’s sure she’ll always be alone and were she to let down her defenses and give her heart away, it would be returned to her unwanted and broken. This psychological problem has resonance—Charlie whinging that’s she’s not hot enough to hold onto a hunk like Rhys does not. And the former—Charlie feeling undeserving of love—doesn’t easily explain her issues about her looks. It didn’t work for me that Charlie’s fear of rejection played itself out in her insistence, despite input from people she cares for and respects, that she’s incapable of being physically attractive.

It’s a flaw in the book and one that irked me greatly. But, so much else about the book is wonderful, I forgave the flaw. I prized so much about More Than One Night. I adored that Charlie was in the military and speaks at length about her experiences there. It was a wondrous thing to read a book where the unmarried, working heroine gives abortion some serious thought. Charlie’s and Gina’s friendship is not only a great one, it feels vibrantly true. The love scenes are wonderfully sexy. Rhys’s family is also beautifully portrayed. He and his siblings have issues—Rhys is the successful capitalist in a family of do-good liberals—and they argue in ways that ring absolutely true. I loved the Walkers, loved their argumentative dinners, loved their nosy prying into Rhys’ life. They, like all the other characters in this book, are written as wonderfully real. They talk about their kids, their jobs, whose turn it is to take out the trash—you have such a knack for writing the everyday life.

I venerate the way you write. Your prose is fluid, descriptive, and insightful. When Rhys decides he believes Charlie when she tells him she’s sure it’s his baby, he thinks,

He believed her. He didn’t know why—he didn’t know her from a bar of soap—but he believed she was speaking the truth.

This phrase—“he didn’t know her from a bar of soap”—is perfect and, like so many of your sentences, gets the point across with clarity and innovative but simple imagery. Writing clean, crisp, engaging prose is not an easy thing to do and you, in book after book, do it splendidly. Thank you.

I think perhaps the best thing about More Than One Night is that Charlie does, on her own, take a leap of faith. She decides she’s more than plain, old Charlie. She makes a sad peace with the legacy from her father and decides to live her life on her terms, not his. By the book’s end, Charlie’s happiness is hers, hard-won and true. Seeing her trust herself was lovely. I finished the book, thinking, yet again, how much I enjoy your books.

This enjoyable–not perfect, but enjoyable–book gets a B/B+ from me.

Sincerely,

Dabney

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Related posts:

1. REVIEW: She’s Got It Bad by Sarah Mayberry
2. REVIEW: All They Need by Sarah Mayberry
3. REVIEW: Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry

I almost feel bad recommending another book of yours.  I feel like to continually recommend the same author time and again may read inauthentic to readers but your voice and the stories that you tell really resonate with me. I think you really know how to capture and express a modern women that feels very authentic and relatable to me despite the fact that these books almost always take place in Australia, many thousands of miles away.

All They Ever Need is the romance of a love shy heroine and a surprised by love hero.  The interesting thing (and perhaps one of the challenges of this book) is that they don’t start out that way.  When we first see Melanie Hunter and Flynn Randall it is at a high society party. Melanie is married and Flynn is trying to avoid people wanting money from his father. Flynn muses, as he watches Melanie attempt to help a couple retrieve something from a fountain:

She was easily the tallest woman at the party—at least six feet tall—with broad shoulders that would put a lot of men to shame. Her breasts were full and round, her hips curved. As much as Flynn was wary of Owen’s naked ambition, he’d always liked the other man’s wife. There was something about Mel Hunter that al ways made him want to smile. Maybe because she was often smiling herself.

This party marks the beginning of the end of Melanie’s marriage. The smiles she had worn so often had become diminished by years of verbal and even some sexual abuse toward the end. Melanie had had enough of Owen Hunter and she leaves him. She uses her divorce settlement to buy rental cottages on Mornington Peninsula, a vacation retreat and begins the process of rebuilding her life, from the inside out.

Eighteen months later (and from prologue to the first chapter), Melanie’s divorce is final and Flynn re-enters the picture.  Only this time Flynn is bringing a girlfriend with him to stay at Melanie’s cottages while he looks at run down, but famous property nearby.  Flynn used to be a landscape architect but when his father starting exhibiting signs of early Alzheimer’s, Flynn sold his business and took up the reins of the family company.  Flynn strongly misses his connection to the earth and the lure of the once famous Summerlea estate gardens.

Whether it was his father’s illness or his own myopathy, Flynn missed the signs of seriousness of his girlfriend and he ends up hurting her fairly badly when she proposes marriage to him and he turns her down.  (I’m going to circle back to this at the end).  Flynn continues to visit Summerlea estate and during his visits gets to know his neighbor Melanie much better. His attraction to her is slow but intense and while she returns the feelings of attraction, Melanie never wants to get married again.  It wasn’t like Owen was a bad man when she met him. She had no idea he had money (they met backpacking around Europe) and they fell in love young. But Owen had ambitions and when Melanie was introduced to his circle, she never quite fit in. She was too tall, smiled too much, laughed too loudly.  She didn’t know which people to suck up to and at what points.  Her identity became so eroded during her six year marriage that the institution itself is an anathema to her.

Flynn, on the other hand, begins to see in Melanie and in their connection- their mutual love for the land, their green thumbs, their pleasure in manual labor out in the hot sun – the things that would make a loving and lasting marriage like the one his parents enjoy.  He voices his understanding of Melanie’s fear of marriage, but never really internalizes it. Perhaps he believes that the only natural conclusion to their relationship would be a permanent union.

What I expected, but did not get, was a mental acknowledgment of Flynn’s position with Melanie vis a vis his girlfriend’s position with him.  Perhaps it is because his past girlfriend never entered his thoughts anymore, even though he was pained by their breakup.  Flynn was a nice guy and was genuinely remorseful that his lack of perspicacity led to someone he cared about being emotionally hurt by his actions.

The other thing that I wanted to see was Melanie with Flynn living his Melbourne lifestyle.  Melanie’s issues with Owen stemmed from her inability to fit in and I really would have liked to see Melanie navigating the Melbourne society with Flynn.  With Flynn’s position, she would have had to make an appearance now and again. Instead, she couldn’t even eat lunch in a popular Melbourne restaurant with Flynn.

However, those two issues were not enough to bring the book out of recommendation territory.  I loved Melanie’s character (and Flynn too).  She stuck her shovel in the dirt and rebuilt her life.  She had a great blue color family and the scenes which involved her brothers and her mother (who never met a tight pair of pants she didn’t love) were totally enjoyable.  While Flynn is wealthy, much of the story is centered around Melanie’s blue color roots and her working class family.  Her father is a mechanic who owns a small auto repair shop.  They all band together to help Melanie refurbish her cottages.  Flynn has to prove to these guys he can fit in with them and I loved that turn about.

Melanie and Flynn’s romance felt very real. It didn’t happen immediately but they developed feelings for each other based on mutuality of interests and not just their strong physical attraction.  While other Harlequin Superromances leave the bedroom door only slightly ajar, that is not the case with the Mayberry books. The physical consummation of their relationship was important to the furtherance of the plot in part because while Melanie was okay with giving her body to Flynn, she struggled being emotionally vulnerable.  The subplot of Flynn’s father’s Alzheimers provided a good example of how hard a loving relationship can be but how important it is to trust and love the other partner enough to feel safe in one’s vulnerability.  B

Best regards,

Jane

Goodreads | Amazon | BN | nook | Sony | Kobo

Related posts:

1. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, The Sarah Mayberry Edition
2. REVIEW: Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry
3. REVIEW: One Good Reason by Sarah Mayberry

GLBT

• Master Class by  Rachel Haimowitz, Recommended by Sarah F
• Sublime by Rachel Haimowitz, Recommended by Sarah F
• The Closer You Get by  L.A. Witt, Recommended by Sarah F

YA

• Ashfall by Mike Mullin, recommended by DA_January

Historical

• The Famous Heroine by Mary Balogh, republished in a volume with Plumed Bonnet, recommended by Sunita and Janine
• BlackHawk by Joanna Bourne, recommended by Jane (guest reviewed here)

Paranormal

• Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook, recommended by Jane

Contemporary

• Brand New Me by Meg Benjamin, recommended by Jane
• All They Need by Sarah Mayberry, recommended by Jane

Related posts:

1. November Recommended Reads
2. Recommended Reads for May
3. January Recommended Reads

I confess.  This book made me teary at the end.   I think it was because I became so attached to Gabby Wade and felt like she really deserved a happy ending.

Gabby Wade fell in love with her boss, Ty Adamson.   They actually dated for three years but Ty could never commit to her.  And then he falls in love, get married and has a kid on the way.  Of course Gabby goes through a period of “why not me”.  It wasn’t so much that she loved Ty and mourned his loss, but she wondered what it was that allowed Ty to reach through the commitment barrier with someone else, but not her.  (I wondered that myself as I didn’t really love the heroine that Ty was paired with Ally in The Last Goodbye).

Gabby doesn’t quit her position at Ty’s furniture manufacturing plant. She loves her job, plus she has ownership in the firm itself.   She’s not really pleased about Ty bringing his brother, Jon, on on board without even giving her a heads up.  (As an aside, I felt like Ty treated Gabby poorly throughout the book.  He doesn’t consult with her about much of anything.  He doesn’t know how overworked she is and how much of HIS business she actually runs. He expects Gabby to be BFF with him still, even after he has married some other woman.  He’s myopic and insensitive at best and just selfish at worst. All I could think of during this book was thank god I’ve already read his book).

When Jon Adamson returns home to Australia to put his dead father’s affairs in order, he’s unsure of himself.  He’s always felt like an utter coward having left home as soon as he was able and leaving  Ty to deal with their father’s alcoholic rages.  Because of this, he is unsettled by Ty’s friendly overtures and snaps at Gabby at nearly every turn. Jon also begins to recognize he has a real drinking problem.  Not drinking, ashamed of himself, Jon seems to take it out on Gabby.  Yet, Jon is the only one in the story that really sees Gabby.  He sees the hurt that she tries to disguise seeing Ty and Ally together. He sees that she is overworked.  He sees that she’s entering a dark place.  Maybe he sees all these things because he’s in a dark place himself.

Jon isn’t very nice to Gabby in the beginning but I thought you did a good job of showing us that Jon wasn’t ready to be with anyone in the beginning of the book. He didn’t like himself much.  And this becomes a great source of conflict between Gabby and Jon (and the point that I really became emotionally engaged at a deeper level).  Gabby and Jon fall for each other but Jon holds himself back.  He can’t let go because he doesn’t believe he deserves it and because he doesn’t think Gabby could truly love him if she knew about this past.  He wants her to love him for who he is now. He wants that to be enough.  But it isn’t enough for Gabby because she’s already been with someone (Ty) who couldn’t make that deep commitment to her.  I loved Gabby for really sticking to her guns and saying that she deserved more.  And yes, I did buy into the fact that Jon grew into the man that Gabby deserved because he put her first.

I did feel like the transformation happened a bit too quickly; that the emotional problems Jon had to work through required more than just talking it out with Ty and Gabby.  Jon and Ty both could have used a little therapy.  (Ty because he’s just a myopic jerk at times).  B

Best regards,

Jane

Goodreads | Amazon | BN | nook | Sony | Kobo | Harlequin

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry
2. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, Sarah Mayberry Edition Part II
3. REVIEW: A Natural Father by Sarah Mayberry

Jennie and Jane

• Seven Nights to Forever by Evangeline Collins.

Janine and Shuzluva:

• Play of Passion by Nalini Singh

Shuzluva:

• Devil at Midnight by Emma Holly.

Sunita

• Dating the Millionaire Doctor (Harlequin Medical, October print, November ebook) by Marion Lennox
• Twelve Nights of Christmas (November HP Extra, M&B Modern line) by Sarah Morgan

Janine and Sunita

• A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh

Jayne:

• Mistletoe and the Lost Stiletto by Liz Fielding
• Christmas with Her Boss by Marion Lennox

Jill Sorenson

• The Lovers by Eden Bradley

Jane:

• The Best Laid Plans by Sarah Mayberry
• Untameable Rogue by Kelly Hunter
• Expecting the Boss’s Baby by Christine Rimmer
• Crown of Crystal Flame by CL Wilson (recommend to readers of the series)

Related posts:

1. November Recommended Reads
2. September Recommended Reads
3. Dear Author Recommended Reads for November

I have a confession to make. I started but never finished Hot Island Nights. For some reason, the characters never quite hooked me. When I saw Best Laid Plans on sale, I felt both a little fear and excitement when starting it. Fear because the last release of yours and I weren’t getting along but excitement because I was starting out a new Sarah Mayberry and so many of them had worked for me in the past. I’m delighted to say that Best Laid Plans was another wonderful entry in the Mayberry collection of stories.

Alexandra Knight, the heroine, was relatable on the first page. Alex worked hard to become successful as a corporate lawyer but she had also wanted to have a family. Her live in boyfriend of seven years was anti-child, so anti-child that it led to their breakup. Eighteen months later, Alex runs in to her old boyfriend pushing a stroller with a four month old child. Jacob, the ex, sheepishly explains that it was an accident. But like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, Alex is fairly crushed by the appearance of Jacob so comfortable in his child care tasks when he was so adamantly against a child with her. What is worse is that Alex is thirty eight and her years of fertility are dwindling and she is alone:

And now Jacob was a father, and she was single and thirty-eight and still looking for the man she'd left Jacob to find. A man she loved who loved her and wanted to have the family that had always formed the cornerstone of her hopes and dreams.

After a sobering visit with her ob in which Alex learns that her chances of having a successful pregnancy in her early forties is ten percent and only about thirty five percent at her current age, Alex decides that she can’t wait and hope to meet a man, fall in love and have a baby the natural way. She learns, however, that she can find a sperm donor in no time. Alex knows she can be a single parent as she took care of her brain damaged mother for eight years and she has the means to support herself and a child.

Ethan Stone is Alex’s co worker and racquet ball partner on Wednesday nights. He’s swoon worthy but Alex put him firmly in the “no date” box in order to maintain a good work environment. It’s a good thing too because Ethan is a no commitment kind of guy whose had many a temporary girlfriend. What Alex and the rest of the world doesn’t know is that Ethan had wanted the family, the kids, the wife at one time; but his divorce left reeling and emotionally closed down. He was never going down the kids/wife route again but despite this, Ethan recognized his life was missing something.

Even though he'd never admit it to his brother, Ethan's social life was a lot less hectic than anyone imagined. Sleeping around had gotten old quickly after the divorce. Like drinking till you passed out and bragging about your exploits, being a man-slut was apparently something that a guy grew out of. Go figure.

When Ethan accidentally learns about Alex’s plan to get a sperm donor, he offers up a crazy plan. He’ll be the sperm donor and they can co parent. Two parents are better than one, he argues to Alex and given that they are friends and partners in the same law firm, they clearly are able to get along.

There are a couple things that I really enjoyed about this book besides Ethan and Alex and one was Ethan’s relationship with his brother. Ethan’s younger brother was happily married, had a kid and was always needling Ethan about his lonely bachelor existence. Most of the time, the two were challenging and needling each other in ways that only brothers can but when Ethan really needed the support of his brother, Derek was there with a strong shoulder. Ethan simply wasn’t up for the risk of love again. And it isn’t some simple moping. Ethan is really torn. He loves Alex but he cannot commit to her because he is afraid but it tears him up inside, at one point making him physically ill:

He pulled over to the side of the road with a screech of tires. He barely got out of the car before what little he'd eaten for dinner burned its way up the back of his throat.

He stood with his arms braced on his legs for a long moment. Then he spat into the gutter. Feeling about a million years old, he climbed back into his car.

The other thing was that I felt that this story really asked all the right questions. Ethan challenges Alex. Derek challenges Ethan. When Ethan lays out his co parenting plan to Derek, Derek fires back:

"You say there'd be no acrimony. You're kidding yourself if you think there aren't going to be moments when the two of you want to rip each other's heads off. It doesn't matter whether you're married or in a relationship or divorced or whatever, you're going to disagree about something. Raising kids is like that, and no neat little contract you guys draw up beforehand is going to make any difference to that."

"How do you and Kay work it out?"

"We fight. Then we have sex and make up. What are you and Alex going to do to get over the rough patches? Play a game of racquetball and exchange lawyer jokes?"

What I also liked was that we weren’t taken to the “let’s hop into bed and make the baby the natural way”. Instead, their growing sexual attraction for each other is almost an impediment to a bloodless co parenting plan. And it’s a bit suspenseful to find out if Ethan and Alex go through with the pregnancy. As the title suggests, the best laid plans always go awry. My favorite romances resonate with authenticity and Best Laid Plans is populated with characters that feel real. If I had any complaint about this book, it may have been the brevity of it. Sometimes I curse the page limitation of the category romance and this is one of those times. B+

Best regards,

Jane

Book Link | Kindle | Amazon | nook | BN | Borders
| Sony| eHarlequin

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Cruise Control by Sarah Mayberry
2. REVIEW: A Natural Father by Sarah Mayberry
3. REVIEW: She’s Got It Bad by Sarah Mayberry

I’ve enjoyed nearly all your books and I’m glad to say that your most recent release, Her Secret Fling, was just as satisfying as your backlist titles.

Poppy Birmingham is a former Olympic gold medalist who suffered an injury and quit the sport. Poppy is almost relieved to be out of competitive swimming, something that had dominated her entire life. She gets a job as a sports writer for Melbourne Herald.

Jake Stevens greets Poppy with disdain and hostility. He views her as nothing more than a stupid jock. Jack’s behavior vacillates from rudeness to mockery which makes Poppy even more unsure of her decision to become a sports columnist. The irony is that Poppy’s admiration for Jack’s work was what made her decide to come to work at the Herald instead of endorsing cereal or other marketing opportunities.

Poppy showed that she didn’t leave her drive to be the best in the pool. Instead, she resolves to show everyone, including herself, that she is worthy of the position.

Jake is part angry at Poppy for being given “the kind of job it took dedicated journalists years to achieve” and part angry at himself for being a failure. Jake is a celebrated writer but it looks like he might be a one hit wonder. He can’t seem to write another word on his second book. “[W]hat writer with any ambition to be a novelist wrote only one book and never completed another.”

Jake is a real asshole in the beginning of the book. He’s openly rude to Poppy. He says and thinks crude and unkind things toward her. Poppy refused to take Jake’s insults without giving him a few home truths as well. At nearly every juncture, when Poppy could have been beaten down, she shows how she had the inner drive to be an Olympic medalist.

I found Jake very unlikeable in the first part of the story to the point that when Jake and Poppy have sex it is more based on Poppy’s previous image of Jake (the one she constructed before she met him) than the current Jake. The two get stuck sharing a car because of an airline strike and the proximity leads them to having a series of one night stands that eventually leads to a secret affair about which neither of them want their office co workers to know.

While Poppy was growing and moving forward, Jake was stagnating, held captive by his past. It was an interesting contrast. Poppy was gaining confidence, with each article, with having a somewhat healthy relationship with Jake, enjoying her co workers, appreciating the freedom of no longer being an athlete in training. Jake had lost his confidence because of a past relationship. He felt emotionally stunted, as if he had nothing to offer anyone, let alone Poppy. He couldn’t write his next novel. He couldn’t offer himself freely in a relationship.

“Mom, I’m fine. I swear. I go out, I do stuff. It’s not like I’m some bitter divorce holed up in my apartment living off canned food.”

His mother walked to the freezer and opened the door like a lawyer inviting the jury to examine exhibit A. Jake stared at the neat stack of frozen meals and pizzas filling the small space.

“Okay, maybe I could eat a little better,” he conceded.

His mother looked at him sadly. “I wish I could show you how much you’ve changed. The look in your eyes, the way you carry yourself–it’s as though you’re always braced, ready to defend yourself in case someone gets too close.”

I thought the resolution to Jake’s situation came a bit too suddenly. It could be said that the resolution started with Poppy and the beginning of the book, but I didn’t totally buy into that. Poppy’s character carries the book for me. I thought Jake was such a jerk and while he was hurting inside and suffering from his own insecurities, I thought that those were excuses that he never really acknowledged. His redemption, I guess, was incomplete for me. Poppy’s maturation from cub journalist to a really good sports reporting, employing her skills and experience, her natural empathy, and incorporating the advice that others, including Jake gave her, was a pleasure to read. B-

Best regards

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon (affiliate link), Kindle (nonaffiliate link), Harlequin (nonaffiliate link), or Harlequin ebook (nonaffiliate link).

This book was provided to the reviewer by either the author or publisher. The reviewer did not pay for this book but received it free.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: She’s Got It Bad by Sarah Mayberry
2. REVIEW: A Natural Father by Sarah Mayberry
3. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, The Sarah Mayberry Edition

I think this might be your most emotional romance yet.   I certainly felt a little misty eyed (damn you) at the end of the story.   Hannah Napier and Joe Lawson meet under inauspicious circumstances. Joe is exhausted and all he can hear is the loud sound of an engine next door. It’s keeping him from enjoying some solitude and it’s bound to wake his kids.   Hannah is working on her motorcycle.   Once it’s finished, Hannah is going on a long awaited road trip, escaping her ex fiancé  and her sister who have found love together.   She thinks Joe is good looking but a jerk and Joe, well, he doesn’t appreciate Hannah’s physical attraction either.

Joe lost his wife, Beth, in a car accident a couple of years ago and he is left to parent their two children.   He feels like he is losing control over his kids. He does not want to be  over his deceased wife Beth. He resents his body’s attraction to Hannah.

Worsening the situation is that the one place where Hannah felt safe, a bar/restaurant called The Watering Hole, has been purchased by Joe. It was Beth’s dream to own a restaurant and when she died and he found himself needing to be with his kids, he quit his job as troubleshooter on oil rigs and bought this restaurant.   I found the scenes about and in the restaurant to be unnecessary. It seemed contrived that Joe would buy the one place that Hannah enjoyed hanging out.   Given that they lived next door to each other, I wasn’t sure why this was even included. It didn’t add anything to the conflict and after a couple scenes, the bar was almost forgotten.

These are two reluctant lovers. Hannah hasn’t really recovered from the body blow to her heart and ego when her fiancé  jilted her for her sister. Joe is trying to reconcile his love for Beth and his feelings for Hannah.   Hannah is so much one of the guys that the holding of the door open for her is something that gives her pause. She feels completely out of here element. Their first date is a study in awkwardness.   Problematically, Hannah is getting near completion of her bike and  Joe can hardly bring himself to talk about the wife’s death without choking up.

They both acknowledge that they are too screwed up to be dating and from then on, the flirting, the talking, the companionship comes easier and harder. Easier because there is no pressure and harder because neither are ready to expose themselves to vulnerability by admitting that there might be a future for them.

It was really wonderful watching the two of them fall in love and it was heartbreaking to see them face difficult challenges. This was a very emotional book and I admit to feeling a tiny bit manipulated at the end.   I kept thinking that they had both already suffered and now you were laying this on top of it???

Ben and Ruby were very conflicted about their dad dating, as were Hannah’s mother and Joe’s mother. Everyone seemed to question Joe and Hannah together. I liked it when Joe responded to his mother’s request that Ben come stay with her:   ”No. We’re a family. He can’t opt out when it suits him. We have to work this through.”   There weren’t easy solutions for any of them although Ben’s resentment over Hannah’s inclusion in their lives resolved rather quickly toward the end.

I loved Hannah and the way that she grew back into believing in herself with the help of Joe and Ruby and even Ben.   And Joe as the struggling single father falling back in love was sweet.   B

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased at eHarlequin.com or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

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1. REVIEW: She’s Got It Bad by Sarah Mayberry
2. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, The Sarah Mayberry Edition
3. REVIEW: Cruise Control by Sarah Mayberry

Jane has given some of your books rave reviews and since Jane knows her contemporary authors well, I was looking forward to trying you. The tattoo artist heroine working her hero into a sweat then enjoying some hot sex sounded like just the book to try.

Liam’s had a hard life until he gets taken in by the Ford family. Which all changes the night Zoe Ford takes her courage in her hands and offers herself to Liam. Which almost breaks Liam. He owes the family too much to take her up on it and regretfully realizes he has to leave.

Twelve years later, Liam discovers that Zoe is now a tattoo artist who sings in a thrash band at night. Determined to help the young woman he knows he still cares for, Liam barges into her life, offering her a job at his wildly successful custom bike shop.

It doesn’t take their smoldering passions long heat up. But is there more for these two than one custom build-off bike, hot sex and a kitten?

First off, I love the tattoo artist and the bike builder. What a great use of contemporary occupations. Miami Ink and LA Ink along with Orange County Chopper have brought these to the forefront. At least Liam and his workers don’t bicker like the OCC father and son duo.

After watching these custom bikes built, I’m not surprised at the effort that goes into this specialty market. And I’m constantly amazed at the detail and workmanship that are lavished on these one of a kind creations. I would like to have seen a little bit more of the bike building in the book since it’s so important to who Liam has become in the 12 intervening years. But it’s a perfect way to bring Zoe’s art together with Liam’s business.

I’d also like to have seen more of Zoe as the tattoo artist. Though I don’t have one myself, several of my friends do and one has told me a lot about what went into her selection of her tattoos and about the woman who owns the shop where she got them.

Zoe and Liam are both wounded people who feel inadequate despite what everyone around them tells them. What’s the saying, it takes 10 words of praise to make up for one critical one? Liam was bullied and beaten by his drunkard father and had to watch his mother be treated even worse. He’s afraid he’ll never be good enough or that he’ll become his father.

Zoe acted out after Liam rejected her youthful advances. She allowed herself to be used by a high school sleaze then suffered from lifelong changes wrought by the experience. Since then, she’s felt worthless. Her “Vixen” persona does allow her some sexual power over men thereby letting her regain a little of what she lost when she was 15.

I did like that when Liam shows up at the tattoo parlor, all set on “saving” poor Zoe in his guise as a Do-Gooder, she tosses his offers back in his face and tells him what he can do with them. I do get tired of the heroines who’ve been done wrong by the hero who melt at the first sight of him even if it’s years later. Bully for Zoe that she doesn’t fall into this.

The only way I could accept Liam’s highhanded interference in Zoe’s life was because 1) he really did want the best for her and 2) it was a way for him to deal with the martyr feelings he still has for leaving her without a word all those years ago. If not for this, I’d have gotten a little pissy about how he would run roughshod over her stated desires as to what happened in her life.

I was bummed that Zoe wasn’t that true rarity – a real bad girl. When she first throws Liam out on his ass then heads off to play at the thrash club, I was excited. Zoe drinks. Zoe has sass and attitude. Zoe teases her music fans and demands what she sexually wants from Liam. And then we learn that she only does this to mask the pain of her empty life, blah, blah, blah. I wanted her to be a tattoo artist and sexually provocative singer just because she wanted to be.

There are some great scenes in the story such as Liam’s losing his mind when Zoe offers herself to him the first time. Like any older teenage boy, his brain heads downwards. Ditto Tom’s reaction to the news that his best friend has the hots for his sister. Punches are what I would expect and what I got.

Zoe helps Liam fight off his fear and feelings that he’ll be just like his dad. She realizes that she can’t just keep telling Liam that she loves him and knows he would never hurt her or anyone else. It’ll take more than words to overcome a lifetime of his feeling inadequate and apprehensions. She gives him the best gift she can by finding his father and urging him to confront the man. I think Liam truly needed to do this in order for these two to have a HEA. But does Zoe ever confront her own feelings of emptiness?

I’m not a fan of martyrs or of characters who immediately throw in the towel when the HEA of a lifetime is at stake. Liam is both of these. Like Zoe, I wanted to shake him til his teeth rattled. I’ll cut him some slack since he did have a horrible childhood but unfortunately, this book didn’t live up to what I’d hoped it would be. I liked the cat, though. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Related posts:

1. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, The Sarah Mayberry Edition
2. REVIEW: Cruise Control by Sarah Mayberry
3. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, Sarah Mayberry Edition Part II

I have to start out this review by admitting my personal bias. I am not a huge fan of kids in romance books, or at least how they seem to be generally characterized. While I am a mother myself, I do not believe that children are necessary to be fulfilled either as a woman or as a married person. One of the reason I dislike baby epilogues is that by ending a romance with a baby more often than not seems to convey the idea that babies are the natural result of love (not to mention marriage) and that a fecund free coupling is really not reaching the pinnacle of happiness.

But why did I buy a book that was called “A Natural Father” and had a baby on the front of the cover?   Because I’ve enjoyed almost every Mayberry book I’ve read.   On the one hand, I appreciate that you tackled a difficult subject and the story was well done because despite my insides churning, I was compelled to read on. On the other, I don’t know whether the fair handed message you intended was actually delivered because I felt like, at times, the characters were saying that it was okay to a) not want to be a mother and b) that having children did not equal true love but I wasn’t entirely sure that the story was committed to that message.

Lucy Basso was a difficult heroine for me to like. She, like the storyline, presented what seemed like dueling personalities. Her boyfriend cheated on her and then dumped her. She found out she was pregnant and the boyfriend wanted nothing to do with her. The boyfriend had no visible means of support, she supported him and was offering no financial support for the child. Yet, she still clung to the hope that he would be involved in her life and the child’s life. She did come to the realization that the ex wasn’t going   to be there, ever; and maybe it was the right time for the book, but just not quick enough for me.   She was, however, not a moper. She got on with her life, accepted help when she needed it and put together an awesome business plan to further her fresh produce delivery service.

Dominic Bianco has always had a thing for Lucy, even when they were young.   He’s a recovering divorcee who is struggling to come to terms with where he fits in the family business since his father has trouble letting go.   Dominic sees an opportunity to partner with Lucy and possibly get closer to her.   Dominic has no problem with Lucy’s pregnancy and in fact, her fertile self makes her more beautiful in Dominic’s eyes.

Interestingly Lucy isn’t interested in Dominic in the beginning.   She never really saw him until her sister pointed out just how truly gorgeous he was.   Then Lucy was uncomfortable with her burgeoning desire and her cratering self image, not to mention her doubt about men in general.     Dominic seems like a near perfect hero until he pulls a classic–I know better than anyone else–move toward the end of the book.

The fascinating relationship was the secondary romance involving the sister who does not want to have kids and her husband who does. Unfortunately the sister hasn’t been honest with her husband and repeatedly fails to share with him that his vision of the future, doesn’t match hers. The sister has to grapple with coming clean to her husband and possibly ruining their marriage or hiding the truth from him or going along with trying to have a child even if she doesn’t want to.

I wasn’t thrilled with where the story ended because again, I felt that there wasn’t sufficient validation for the other side of the coin – that children aren’t necessary to have a fulfilling life or that a woman who does not want to have children is somehow abnormal or incomplete.   The writing, though, is very good and I was compelled to finish the book, almost against my will.   In the hands of another author, I think this could have easily been a wall banger.   C

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Harlequin Site and other etailers.

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1. REVIEW: Cruise Control by Sarah Mayberry
2. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, The Sarah Mayberry Edition
3. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, Sarah Mayberry Edition Part II

Anna Jackson discovered she had breast cancer at a young age. Her mother had died from it. For Anna, it was a wake up call. She left her law practice and determined to live a new life, one that took chances.

“You mean you’ve quit law?” Mary said. She sounded scandalized, as though Anna had just confessed to running a string of hookers.

….

“I guess I decided that there was more to life than work,” Anna said.

Mary opened her mouth to argue, but maybe she saw something in Anna’s face because she shut it again without saying a word. The look she shot Anna was equal parts confusion and concern.

Anna knew what she was thinking-’Mary simply couldn’t understand how anyone could turn her back on a prestigious, lucrative career to become a glorified taxi driver. For a split second Anna considered telling her. But it was her business, her very private business. Anyway, it wouldn’t take the other woman long to find out why Anna had quit her job and turned her life around. The Sydney law community was big, but not that big. Mary would go back to the oak-lined offices of her firm and ask the right people the right questions, and within an hour she’d know.

“Breast cancer,” someone would tell Mary in a hushed tone. “Went off the rails, threw it all in.”

She changed her hairstyle, her job, and her clothes but she hadn’t really done anything. One day, she picks up a ride and in the rearview mirror, sees him staring at her legs in the reflection and for the first time in a long time, Anna feels the stirrings of desire. Marc Lewis, a computer solutions magnate, is attracted, but somewhat against his will. He’s come off a messy divorce and maintains that his libido has not control over him. Their brief encounter in the car is completed and both go on their way, dismissing their attraction as nothing of importance. But circumstances bring them together.

Anna tells her brother that she wants to have more fun. That she has a list of things that she wants to do that will fulfill her new motto of laughing more and worrying less but she’s somewhat stalled and so she seeks out her brother for advice.

“I’ve only slept with three men,” she blurted, getting the foul deed over and done with. “And I’ve never had sex outside of a bedroom.”

It was Danny’s turn to stare. “Anna, you’re thirty-two years old. That’s barely one man per decade of your life. And it’s not like you’ve been married or anything. What have you been doing?” he asked.

She could feel embarrassed heat climbing into her face. “Okay, I’m a freak. I was a late bloomer. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was almost out of law school. And I always used to think that there was plenty of time to catch up. Work seemed more important. And saving for the future. And lots of other stupid, nonfun stuff. That’s why I need your help now,” she said.

“Is this about to get really weird?” Danny joked.

Danny suggests that Anna loosen up and seize opportunity where she finds it.

Anna said defensively. “And he’s an arrogant pig, too. I could never have sex with a man I didn’t like.”

“Arrogant pigs are great in bed. Trust me.”

“Danny, all he’s after is sex.”

“Which is so offensive when all you want to do is play tic-tac-toe with him,” Danny said wryly. “Just think about it for a second, Anna. Let yourself go there. You’re an adult, he’s an adult. You both want the same thing. What’s stopping you?”

Marc and Anna inevitably end up having an explosive affair that goes from one night to stand to one night stand. At some points of the “sex only” relationship, it superficially seems that they don’t even like each other much when what is happening is that the two are finding that they can barely be without the other – which is really what they don’t like. I loved the title of this book because both Anna and Marc struggle for control over their own lives, then the others life, ultimately realizing that control is pretty illusory.

Anna’s embrace of life stems out of her real fear of losing it but she’s not able to balance actually living versus her need to control the outcome. This becomes the source of major and seemingly irreconcilable conflict between herself and Marc.

There is a sweet secondary storyline involving Anna’s brother, Danny, a manwhore whose homosexuality has been a secret for a long time. How he decides to come out and his father’s reaction to it is quite lovely. B+

Best regards

Jane

This book is out of print but used copies can be purchased from online vendors and the ecopy can be purchased in the Best of the Makeovers Bundle.

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2. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, Sarah Mayberry Edition Part II
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I went on to purchase the additional books available at Fictionwise. There is a trilogy of books devoted to individuals who work on Ocean’s Boulevard, a soap opera shot in LA. The series is: Take on Me, All Over You, and finally Hot for Him. Reading them in order does provide nice continuity but it’s not absolutely essential (I read Hot for Him first). Mayberry’s men have that “male sound” in that they often think about their smaller head (I think I remember one of the heroes commenting about how the little guy is in charge of the social activities). Her women are bold and once they figure out what they want, they aren’t adverse to dragging the men with them. Mayberry also has a slight wit that makes me grin from time to time reading the dialogue. Interestingly, with all this discussion about tropes, two of the stories feature a sort of enemies turned lovers which I usually don’t like but did in these cases.

The one complaint that I have about the Mayberry books is that the emotional conflict, while brought up in new and different ways, is generally the same. One character does not want to get into a committed relationship and the other one does and that eventually leads to their break up. The reasons for why the people don’t want to be in committed relationships are always different but it’s the same emotional overlay. Finally, Mayberry is Australian and her books and her characters have a distinctly foreign sound to them which I don’t particularly mind.

Take on Me features Sadie Post and Dylan Anderson, old high school classmates who knowingly and unknowingly inflict horrible high school damage on each other which they both use to propel them forward. To some extent Sadie has come to represent all those who despised, mocked and looked down on Dylan Anderson because of his undiagnosed learning disability. Dylan destroyed Sadie when he humiliated her on prom night, further cementing her already dim view of herself. They both overachieved and Sadie is now a lithe, attractive soap opera producer and Dylan is a screenwriter. He’s ready to break out but jumps at the idea of working on Ocean’s Boulevard for a short time, particularly since he can then get revenge (although it’s not very well thought out). It’s clear, though, that the two of them have some inescapable chemistry and after a few weeks of sparring, they fall into bed but only after sorting out their HS differences (which I appreciated). The conflict comes down to one party being reluctant to commit to a long term relationship. B-

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

All Over You is the story of bombshell and scriptwriter Grace who is considered the ugly duckling in the family. She’s a little rounder, a little less perfectly put together than her three sisters. Four years ago, she suffered a terrible betrayal at the hands of her fiancee and one of her sisters. The two had been having an affair for six months before Grace found out. This event, combined with years of being the not-as-pretty-one in the family, led to Grace climbing onto the celibacy wagon where she stayed for four years. Recently, she has been fantasizing about Mac Harrison, a former star of Ocean’s that left for six years and then returned. Mac has his own issues due to the fact that he tried to break out of the soap star typecast but was unable to. He feels a bit beat down and really wants a chance at directing some of the shows in hopes that being a soap star isn’t his only career choice. At first, Grace shuns Mac when they meet and Mac is offended. Finally, he confronts her and they both admit their attraction to each other. Grace’s past insecurities keeps her from fully opening up with Mac. This one had a really moving ending but I was caught off guard by a couple of scenes that where I wondered if that could really happen, i.e., Grace goes scuba diving without any training and Mac gives Grace a back rub that leads to sex despite a terrible migraine. A few too many WTF moments for me. B-

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Hot for Him tells the story of rival producers, Claudia Dostis of Ocean’s Boulevard and Leandro Mandalor of Heartland. (I think it’s Heartland). Claudia is burning with rage at Leandro given that he discovered her secret wedding plans for the show and then had the gall to duplicate it. OB and Heartland are constantly in competition for fans, ratings, and awards. Claudia’s determined to have success at any cost and that means no meaningful relationships. She has her bed buddies (I loved that). In fact, she finds herself in a celebratory mood and texts her “friends” only to find out that they’ve hooked up in long term relationships while she was working and not watching. That leaves her unsatisified with a side of prime Greek beefcake pressed up against her. Leandro has decided that he’s ready for a relationship and begins an all out pursuit of Claudia, accusing her of being a coward. Leandro and Claudia fall into love with each other but Claudia does not want to have children and Leandro does. Claudia’s reason for not pursuing motherhood is understandable and some might disagree with the ultimate resolution (there is no baby epilogue though) but it fit for Claudia and Leandro. B

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Related posts:

1. Harlequin Lightning Reviews, The Sarah Mayberry Edition
2. Not So Lightning Harlequin Reviews: The Lori Borrill Edition
3. Harlequin Lightning Reviews: May Edition

The thing I like most about Mayberry’s characters is their self honesty and the sense that these individuals could be real people. They aren’t fantasy creatures but instead, like Borrill’s characters, there’s a sense of normalcy about them (even if they are artists, chefs, or business people). Their interactions rarely are over the top and it’s like Mayberry is simply serving as the narrator of a real life couple which is really one of the best fairy tales of all. I recommend starting with Anything For You, which was my favorite.

Amorous Liasons

Maddy Green is a dancer who has been told that she hasn’t been able to recover to the tear to her ACL and that she must “hang up her slippers.” Max Laurent left dancing to care for his father. His father has just passed away and Max is ready to start his life anew (not going to say what, it’s a bit of a surprise). Maddy, who feels totally adrift, runs to Max with whom she had a wonderful friendship before he left at the pinnacle of his career. I never really understand why Maddy would go to Max despite her fond memories. The two hadn’t really ever kept in touch. But Max had held a torch for Maddy and when she came to his home in Paris, he wasn’t about to turn her away. This is really a lovely story and one that I didn’t think that I was going to enjoy as much as I did. The story started out a bit slow but Maddy and Max were different and the differences ended up being intriguing. The plot is fairly simplistic and focused more on showing Maddy falling in love with Max, Max dealing with his long buried feelings, and the two not communicating very well about their desires to each other. They both play the overly sensitive artist at times and I thought the ending was a bit sappy but there’s a bit of poetry in the story that mirrors the spirit of the characters. B

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Island Heat

This is for the Top Chef fans out there. Tory Fournier is the daughter of a famous chef who has brutally pushed her all her life to be the very best. Her father had a signature restaurant in New York and rather than hand it off to Tory, he closed it. While Tory says she understands, it is easy to see how her efforts to please her father have left her at once driven and vulnerable.

Ben Cooper trained at the Culinary Institute with Tory but he was scholarship and she was food royalty. He presumed that she was rich and snooty and aimed to take her down a peg. Tory returned the favor by setting up a humiliating experience that Ben never forgot. Of course, living well is the best revenge for Ben and he has gone on to run an award winning restaurant in Antigua.

Tory has just penned a very popular cookbook on Caribbean food and is ready to open her first restaurant that focuses on Caribbean flavors. She agrees to go on a cruise to the Caribbean and be the celebrity chef on the cruise. It’s her first visit to the Islands.

The story does address why Tory should be considered a serious Caribbean chef without ever having visited there, I never really bought it in part because Tory came from a well off family and it just doesn’t make sense to me that she wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to visit before. The other thing that bothered me was that this must have been part of a Harlequin mini series because there was an underlying suspense thread that was unresolved and felt very disconnected to the book. The ending of the book was one of my favorite because it didn’t lead to an instant marriage but two individuals addressing what seemed to be an impossible type of long distance relationship. B-

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Anything For You

This was my favorite of the three Mayberry books (and as can see above, I liked the previous two). Sam Kirk and Delaney Michaels have been best friends forever. They turned their friendship into a successful business partnership by way of publishing an extreme Sports magazine. The problem is that Delaney has been in love with Sam for as long as they have been friends. Because she’s been in love with him but he thinks that they are just buds, her whole life has felt like it has been on hold. Delaney wants a family and it’s not going to happen while she is in love with Sam. She decides that she is going to cut the ties to Sam entirely. She is going to sell her apartment (which is in the same complex as Sam’s). She wants to be bought out of the business. She’s going to move out and move on. This crushes Sam and not because he secretly harbors feelings for Delaney other than friendship but she has been such a part of his life, he can’t imagine his life without Delaney.

Watching Sam flail about for an explanation for why Delaney is leaving him was really amusing.

He shrugged sheepishly. “Okay,” he conceded. “You know I’ll be jealous as hell when you get married and have kids,” he admitted.

She looked startled. “Jealous?”

“You know-”cause things won’t be the same anymore,” he explained awkwardly.

Delaney’s eyes dropped to the carpet and she hunched a shoulder. “No, they won’t.”

“But I don’t see what any of that has to do with leaving the business,” Sam said. He might be about to lose most of Delaney, but he would cling to what little he had left. If she stayed in the business, she would always be a part of his life, no matter what.

“It’s too all-consuming, Sam,” she said. “We live for this place. How am I ever supposed to meet someone when all I do is eat, sleep, breathe Mirk Publications?”

“Then we’ll get a sales assistant. You can do half days. Whatever it takes,” he countered.

“No. It wouldn’t work. I’m a control freak, you know I am. And it’s thinking about the business when I’m not here that’s part of it, as well. I’d still be doing that if I owned half of it. I need a complete break,” she said.

There was a determination in her tone, a firmness that he recognized. Delaney had made her decision. Without talking it over with him. Without consulting him in any way. She’d simply gone away, and come back determined to do her own thing.

He started to get angry. “And where does that leave me?” he asked. He hated the fact that he sounded like a sulky kid, but that was how he felt, so he might as well own up to it.

The two of them try to have sex to “save the friendship” and one needs only guess as to how that ends up. What really made this story for me was the slow realization that Sam actually did love Delaney. He just didn’t know how to define it in his life. A-

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

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