One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A; Harlequin Temptation
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Length: 218 Pages, 2584 Locations
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Samantha O'Ryan lives life on her own terms. She surfs when she wants, owns her own beachfront sandwich place, and lives a simple and easy-to-maintain lifestyle above it. She dates casually when she wants, goes where she wants, buys what she wants. The only thing she can't do is bake brownies. And she's tried. Repeatedly. She doesn't do relationships - her choice. Losing her parents at a young age scarred her and she's never felt comfortable with commitment. The only two people she's close to is the uncle who raised her as best he could and the best friend she's had all her life. She'd do anything for either of them.

That's the only reason she ends up agreeing to a blind date even though her best friend Lorissa has set her up for some real  doozies. There was begging. And pouting. And puppy dog eyes. She caved. When Jack Knight knocked on her door, though, it appeared her blind date luck had significantly improved.

Jack "Scandal" Knight retired from a highly successful basketball career after a crippling knee injury a year ago. Surgery gave him back the ability to walk, but years as the media's bad boy had him shunning the spotlight since then. Only a dedication to his sister and a desire to help her cause to aid underprivileged children caused him to need a date to a fundraiser. He didn't have high expectations for the blind date...or any, really. By the end of the night, though, he was smitten with the free spirited Sam. He knew he was in real trouble when her intention of keeping things casual bothered him in ways it never had before. Convincing the gun shy woman that he wanted to be in this for the long haul could prove more debilitating to his heart than a career in the NBA ever was to his body.

This light contemporary romance has all the earmarkings of a traditional Jill Shalvis novel: likable characters in realistic situations overcoming personal issues on their bumpy road to love. It lacked a little of the depth and complexity of some of her longer books, as one would expect, and I would have enjoyed a little more depth in both the characters and the plot, but Seduce Me does very well for itself as a Harlequin Temptation book.

I had a hard time warming up to Sam, though. I don't know if it was just that I had difficulty relating to the surfer girl who wears her bikini under everything from the ballroom to the bedroom and dumps any guy who she gets close enough to sleep with, or if I thought her character definition wasn't enough of an explanation for her personality, but something just didn't quite click with me in relation to her character. There were moments I liked her a lot, especially when she was helping out with the kids, but other times she left me cold. Jack, on the other hand, was the total pleasure package. He was an endearing charmer, especially when he was trying to learn to surf or calling Sam every day just to talk.

There isn't much in the way of groundbreaking fiction here, but it's a sweet, endearing romance that developed nicely over the course of the book. The characters were sufficiently developed and I appreciated the scenes where they were apart and dealing with secondary and ancillary characters, as it gave me a good glimpse of them outside of the parameters of the romance plotline. There were nice touches, like the daily phone calls and the dunking booth, that really made me smile, and I was pleasantly surprised that the affection between the characters was solidly based on genuine friendship and mutual admiration as opposed to simple lust. All in all a nice, pleasant, feel-good read without much in the way of surprises or serious conflict.

Genre: Light/Comedic Romance
Series: Harlequin Temptation
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 216 Pages, 2681 Locations
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Janine Murphy has some concerns about her fiance and their upcoming marriage, but nerves are perfectly understandable for brides-to-be. Janine's concerns, though, are slightly less conventional. She's nearly thirty and a successful Physicians Assistant, but a combination of shyness in high school, work and med school after, kept her inner social butterfly firmly cocooned. She's a virgin, and in two days she's going to marry the very rich, eligible, and successful plastic surgeon Steve Larsen. They've known each other for a year, been engaged for six months, and yet it's Steve who has been so firm against them having sex before they exchange vows. And a random comment Steve made about the difference between the women you sleep with and the women you marry has been bothering Janine.

Now Janine's nervous they may not be physically compatible and wants to find out before they wed.

Goaded by her sister after her bachelorette party and feeling the liberation provided by the several alcoholic beverages she'd enjoyed during it, she dons one of her party gifts, a sexy little corset and panties set, pulls a long coat on over the scandalous (and wow - really uncomfortable) outfit, and heads across town to her fiance's hotel room. Her intent is to surprise him, then seduce him, and she talks her way into his room, climbs into his bed after ditching the coat, and starts to put the moves on him.

Tiny problem, though. The him she puts the move on isn't the him she's engaged to. In fact it's the surly and very sick Derek Stillman, in town to stand in for his brother as Steve's best man and none too happy to be disturbed by an obviously unbalanced and slightly trashy woman waking him up as he's trying so desperately not to die from the cold from hell.

Before this humiliating and potentially catastrophic night can come to an end and either Janine or Derek can flee, the hotel is hit with a mysterious epidemic and the CDC quarantines the hotel guests. Janine and Derek are stuck with each other. Neither are at all happy about it. But while absence may make the heart grow fonder, familiarity doesn't always breed contempt. As Derek and Janine get to know each other, Janine starts to wonder if "best man" is more than just a wedding honor.

While the concept of the plot for About Last Night... is harmlessly cute and the narrative and dialogue are quick, light, and humorous, I had some problems with the characters in this one. Even taking the nature of the book into effect, I found Janine's consummate clumsiness and her propensity for correcting Derek's actions (you shouldn't rub your eyes, you shouldn't crack your knuckles, etc.) a bit off-putting instead of funny or quirky, and her reaction to the quarantine and the possible implications seemed a bit overblown.

Derek was a more realistic character, and he has some issues with his brother that added some depth to his personality. He wasn't exactly a charmer to Janine for most of the book, though, and while I could understand the physical attraction inherent in the situation, I didn't get a sense of deep personal connection between them. For this sort of light comedy romance to really work for me, I have to like the characters and they have to click, and I just couldn't warm up to either of them until very close to the end.

There were things I did enjoy about this book, though, and I didn't completely dislike the main characters. The hotel manager Manny was a true pleasure as one of the secondary characters, too. I wish he'd been more involved in the story. I also liked Janine's actions with Steve towards the end, and admired her actions in dealing with the responsibility for the lost ring (that will make sense when you read it).

Stephanie Bond writes light, fun stories and the few I've read I've enjoyed. This one just slightly missed the mark for me.