October 21st, 2009 — 5 Stars, Book Review, Contemporary, Entrepreneur, Executive, J-L, Mistaken Identity, United States of America
I picked up Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye on Monday. This was a mistake because as soon as I started reading I couldn’t put the book down. I didn’t want to and I literally tried to multitask while reading and that didn’t work out so well so I just went back to reading. I took breaks for food, sleep, and unavoidable errands. Reading Romeo, Romeo was like finding a new best friend.
Kaye’s writing style is so engaging you are hooked before you finish the first page. I guarantee you will be as engrossed as I was. Kaye writes romance like Janet Evanovich writes serial mystery comedies. I haven’t been so pleased with a contemporary romance as I was with Romeo, Romeo
in a good long while. I can see why this book won the Golden Heart Award for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance Manuscript in 2007 at RWA. A Golden Heart Award as you know is given out to unpublished authors and manuscripts.
The cast of characters Kaye created are as fabulous and as endearing as any of the Stephanie Plum characters. Rosalie, the heroine can cuss in four languages, but three don’t count in her mind and will give her bonus points with God. Rosalie’s a turn around CFO with a tough as nails assistant named Gina who can also add loyal and kindhearted to her resume. Rosalie is as Italian in her looks as Gina is Latino. The two women are best friends.
Dominick Romeo is the owner of a string of car dealerships. He was a bad boy Morelli type of character in his youth and got into a spot of trouble that turned his life around. He’s now the Italian version of Donald Trump in New York and has surrounded himself with shallow Barbie doll type girls until he got tired of them and of the game.
The meet cute: Dominick has had a terrible weekend. Everything that could go bad in his opinion has. He thinks he’s gotten a double dose of the saying ‘trouble always comes in threes.’ Throwing the towel in on figuring out the mess that was his Viper, Nick grabs the keys to the wrecker and hauls himself home. On the way home he spots number six by the road kicking and cussing at her car.
Rosalie is livid. Her stupid brother took her money and her car and never once put the money to good use. Now she’s stranded without a donut-sized spare let alone the full one she paid her brother to get. Seeing Nick pull over to help, she wonders if the bonus points she’d been earning over the last little while were about to be cashed in for the help she needed. Of course something is weird about Nick. Since when has a wrecker just happened by and pull over-- especially after she's called around and nobody was open or available? And since when has a lowly mechanic had an expensive haircut and dress shoes?
Dominick convinces her to get in the wrecker after proving he’s not some whacked-out psychopath and drives her home. He finds himself incredibly attracted to her and wonders how to get a date. There are only two things wrong with the situation in his mind. One she’s got a boyfriend and he doesn’t poach, even though he thinks the guy is an idiot. Two, Rosalie turned out to be the younger sister of the boy he got in trouble with in his youth which was sure to cause bad blood. What’s a guy to do? Wait for her to dump the first boyfriend that's what, and to speed her along to that end he tantalizes her with almost kisses.
Rating: 5 Stars for Hot, Steamy, and Hilarious!
I am definitely keeping an eye out for Kaye's next novel!
Buy: Romeo, Romeo
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Originally posted 2008-10-22 09:40:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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July 8th, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, Book Review, Comedy of Manners, Contemporary, Convict, G-I, Love Triangle, Teacher, United States of America
If you’re in the mood for a cute, light, sweet, and fun read, Too Good to be True is for you. It’s a very chaste contemporary. There’s no sex. In fact the hero and heroine don’t begin to even get together until two thirds the way through the book. The book is full of witty dialogue and funny scenes.
Grace is in a no-win situation. Her ex-fiancé, Andrew, dumped her twenty days before their wedding. He’s now dating her youngest sister, Natalie. Ever the martyr, Grace puts up a good front. She is not over Andrew and she’s not going to get in the way of her sister’s happiness. It’s not like you can help when the big klabammy strikes. Still, it doesn’t mean she wouldn’t like to kick Andrew in the groin. He doesn’t deserve a gem like Natalie.
In the meantime to get everyone off her back and stop staring at her with pitying looks, Grace invents the perfect boyfriend. She’s done it in the past, but never was a situation more called for than right now. Enter Wyatt Dunn, feral cat rescuing pediatric surgeon.
A new neighbor arrives next door and his name is Callahan O’Shea. Of course their first meeting goes a little awry when she smacks him on the head with her hockey stick—what? He looked like a burglar! Turns out Callahan, sexy though he may be, is an ex-con. Definitely, not acceptable boyfriend material!
Higgins writes in a similar manner as Janet Evanovich with her Stephanie Plum novels. There are obviously some key differences besides series versus one-shot. Instead of a shockingly funny grandma, we get an appalling awful one. Instead of a long suffering mother dealing with her crazy daughter, we get a long suffering father who deals with his wife and her embarrassing nude art, etc.
There’s some weird drama at the end of the novel, which I feel was just thrown in to extend the book a few pages. Callahan gets all funny about Grace’s harmless little pastime of creating imaginary boyfriends. It was an over the top reaction to say the least.
Additionally, I got a little irritated by the dog, but dog lovers should be okay with Angus McFangus.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Buy: Too Good To Be True
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April 2nd, 2009 — 2.5 Stars, 3 Stars, Contemporary, D-F, Guest Reviews, United States of America
By: Cara Lynn, guest reviewer
Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite writers. I really enjoy her Stephanie Plum series. So when I saw Wife for Hire, I figured I'd give one of her other books a whirl. It's quite lightweight and fairly short (especially since the print is larger, which is a bit annoying to me.)
I give it a 2.5-3.
It was a fun and fast read, not nearly so complex in characters or plot as the Plum novels. But it was a good diversion.
Hank Malone, from Vermont, and Maggie Toone, from New Jersey, are made for each other. Both were trouble in their childhoods, neither wants a life that is particularly predictable.
Malone has advertised for a pretend wife in order to look stable enough to qualify for a bank loan to run his apple orchard. Malone is also hoping to avoid the women who are chasing him. What he advertises for and what Toone is are two different things.
Toone is in process of writing the memoirs of an aunt, who just happened to be a madam.
Throw in assorted characters, such as Elsie, the housekeeper, who is particularly funny, a bit like the grandma in the Plum novels, but different; both sets of parents, who in their own ways are characters themselves; long time friends and small town busybodies, and you have a recipe for a lot of fun along with some twists and turns.
Of course, they fall in love, getting involved very quickly, maybe a bit too quickly for me. Throw in some assorted (funny) kidnappings, due to a misunderstanding, and things get complicated, but are eventually sorted out.
All's well that ends well. And it leaves you with a smile on your face.
Buy: Wife for Hire
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Originally posted 2008-12-04 03:27:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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