contemporary

So Tough to Tame by Victoria Dahl

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

So Tough to Tame (Jackson, #3)

 
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Mild Kink
Genre: Contemporary, cowboy
Series: Jackson #3
Published: 9/24/13
Reviewed by Anne
376 pages
 
Charlie and Walker were friends in high school when geeky Charlie tutored the very popular Walker.  They went their separate ways, but now they have apartments across the hall from each other and they are both recovering from awful on the job experiences that ended with being fired.  Neither has troubles starting a new job, and neither is admitting to anyone that anything bad happened.  It’s like a high school reunion.  I’m great!  I’m so happy!  I just moved on to a wonderful job!
 
The attraction that had simmered between them in high school flares up again and now they are adults free to act on that attraction.  Neither is looking for anything long term, so it all should be great, right?
 
This was a good story.  I thought the characters were unique and more flawed than I’m used to reading.  They were each hiding the truth of themselves from the other, which bordered on annoying.  However, this set up worked for me.  They were both so embarrassed about their pasts because they were responsible for the poor choices they’d made.  This made for more angst than I usually like to read, but, again, it really worked in this story.
 
Walker is a really refreshing hero in a genre that seems full of billionaire CEOs and over achievers.  His life is simple, in part because he doesn’t think he can achieve more, and in part because that’s how he likes it.  Walker does make some changes over the course of the book, but the changes are motivated by his own happiness, not out of a desire to impress someone else.
 
Charlie was interesting, too.  A security expert who wasn’t a strong physical force.  She specializes in out-thinking criminals and setting up monitoring systems.  The situation she finds herself in on her new job – feeling like she’s being watched every moment of the day – was really creepy!  (Although I should point out that I’m not a huge suspense fan, so even a little bit of it is creepy to me!)
 
I think one of my favorite parts of the book was that their personal growth was in parallel, and not caused by the other person being in their life.  Even when Charlie tries to interfere with Walker, he’s not going to move on things until he’s ready.  I enjoyed that as opposed to magic sex that heals all wounds!
I thought the ending was a little too hearts and sunshine with respect to their careers, but I REALLY appreciated that the wedding in the epilogue wasn’t theirs.  They still have issues to work through, in my opinion, but you leave the story sure that they will work things out.  This was an enjoyable and funny contemporary romance!

Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Always On My Mind (Lucky Harbor, #8)

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 9/24/13
Reviewed by Anne
254 pages
 
Leah feels like a failure after messing up at pastry school and on a reality cooking show.  She spending the agonizing time until the show’s finale in Lucky Harbor, her home town, running her Grandma’s bakery.  Her best friend Jack is there for her as always.  When the idea that Jack and Leah might be dating cheers up Jack’s mother – who is fighting cancer – Leah runs with the story saying she ad Jack are going out.  Jack plays along and, much to the amusement of everyone else, pretending to date leads to actual dating and falling in love.
 
Jill Shalvis is an amazingly dependable writer!  This is another great story.  There’s tons of humor, along with the Lucky Harbor cast we know and love.  I think this book would stand on it’s own just fine, though.

Leah is a pretty damaged heroine – well, her self esteem is damaged due to her father’s emotional abuse while she was growing up.  I would have felt better if she’d started seeing a therapist during the course of the story – she’s really got issues!  Jack had his own problems, but they never seemed as big as hers.

I loved the set up with the two of them fake dating to give Jack’s mom a little boost.  Everything about that was funny.  The ending was a little over the top, but it didn’t ruin anything, and it left me wanting to know a lot more about Ben and Aubrey!

Throw Back Thursday-Glory in Death by J.D. Robb

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Glory in Death (In Death, #2)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-In Death #2
Genre-Romantic Suspense
Reviewed by Kay
296 pages

Wow! So much went on in this book for me. Roarke and Eve’s relationship evolving, I got to meet Peabody, more Pheeney (spelling?), a new commissioner of police, a good whodunnit and a little Mavis thrown in for fun.

I really am enjoying this series and am still grateful for Anne, Doris, Anna and Holy’s suggestions to read this series. I really liked the mystery, wondering who the killer was. Was the elder Angelini or the younger one? Or possibly the future son- in- law? This world that Robb has created is very interesting and entertaining. It got me heart pumping with the suspense and is surprisingly at times, terrifying with it’s scene descriptions.

It ended with a marriage proposal and I’m very interested to see how Eve handles this. I have the third audio book on reserve at the library and hoping it comes in today so I can get it and start it!