Grade – C+
Hotness Level – Blaze
Kink Level – None
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate
Claudia goes into labor while visiting her husband’s grave. Chase, who stopped to visit his mother’s grave, decides to drive her to the hospital. Realizing they won’t make it in time, Chase takes her to his house (conveniently close by-where any good hero’s house should be) to wait for the ambulance. Claudia ends up delivering baby Sarah in Chase’s bed.
Fast forward 9 months. Claudia is moving closer to her only friends and has a job interview. To her surprise, the interviewer is Chase, the owner of the company. No one should be surprised that he hires her.
Both Chase and Claudia are surprised at the strength of their attraction to each other. Both are battling with childhood issues that make them deny their attraction. Both follow a fairly predictable path to love.
I was surprised by the ending. Instead of Chase turning into a sudden jerk and believing Claudia has done something completely out of character until she can force him to see reason, the author chooses to let Chase trust in the love he has for Claudia. An ending that just didn’t seem to fit the formulaic story. It actually felt too anti-climactic.
Kate
Candy Store by Bella Andre
Grade – C+
Hotness Level – Blaze
Kink Level – None
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate
| I have been wanting to read a Bella Andre book for a while now, but the price tag on most of her full lengths are more than I like. So when this one came up as a freebie, I snatched it up — despite its nearly novella length of around 118 pages. Right off the bat, the title reminded me of a disturbingly suggestive Brady Bunch song called “Candy (Sugar Shoppe)”. Seriously, check out the lyrics sometime and see if you don’t agree. Who knew the Bradys were that dirty? But, I’m guessing that’s an issue that probably won’t bother most of you. Anyway **clearing throat** on to the review… Callie is at a wedding one night bemoaning the fate of her candy shop. Unless she can make a lot of money fast, she’ll have to close the doors on her dream. It’s a good thing a consultant is coming the next day to help her out. It’s also a good thing there’s a really hot guy at the bar, willing to take her back into the commercial refrigerator of the reception hall and help her forget about business for the night. Derek hates weddings and wouldn’t be at this one if he wasn’t the best man. Luckily he meets up with Callie, who proves to be just the distraction he’s looking for. But he’s a little confused when she runs away after it’s over. The next day Callie heads into her store to await the consultant. That consultant, of course, is Derek. After taking care of some naughty business, they get down to the business of saving her store. I sure hope they remembered to bleach the counters-and the refrigerator-and the tables… This was a fast read with characters who I immediately felt comfortable with. Although it was not a book I will reread, I look forward to reading more by this author. |
Another Woman’s Son by Anna Adams
Grade – C+
Hotness Level – ember
Kink Level – None
Genre-Contemporary, Harlequin
Reviewed by Kate
Okay, get your pens and papers ready. Take notes — there’ll be a quiz at the end (okay, not really, but you still might want to take notes).
Best friends Will and Ben married sisters Isabel and Faith. Will and Isabel. Ben and Faith. Got that? Keeping up? Good. One more person to add to the mix. Tony is Ben and Faith’s toddler son.
When Isabel presses Will to have a baby, he admits he already has a son with — wait for it — Faith. That’s right, little Tony is really Will’s son, not Ben’s. Isabel leaves Will. She decides not to tell Ben about Tony’s true parentage.
Three months later (where the story starts), Will and Faith have decided to run away with Tony. They are in an accident with Tony being the only survivor. Faith had left a note for Ben, so he now knows Tony is not his biological son.
Ben is terrified Isabel will tell her parents that Tony is really Will’s son and they will want to take custody away from Ben. He decides the best course of action is to keep Isabel close to him, so he invites Isabel to stay with him while she is cleaning out Will’s house — the one she hasn’t lived in for 3 months.
Isabel is a great big ball of internal conflict. She feels guilty for not telling Ben about Will and Faith’s affair. She knows the best home for Tony is with Ben, but worries Ben might refuse to let her family visit Tony. She doesn’t like lying to her parents, but doesn’t want to ruin her parents’ memories of Faith with the truth of Faith’s infidelity.
This story has a fast timeline. Four months from start to finish. Ben and Isabel’s feelings for each other started within a few days of the funerals. I can usually overlook a quick sprint to being in love, but this felt a little off. To top it all off, the epilogue was a bit too hunky-dory for me. It was an okay read, but I don’t think I’ll be rereading this one.
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