Customer Reviews

BILLIONAIRE BACHELORS: STONE - MAN OF THE MONTH (Silhouette Desire)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Attention alpha male fans! If you love a gorgeous, arrogant hero who gets his comeuppance but good from a fiesty, misunderstood heroine, this one's for you. Although there's nothing new in the plotline, Ms. Winston creates strong tension between her characters and keeps it up to the very end of the book. Sexy and fast-paced. Shades of Diana Palmer and Linda Howard.

Tabloids announce Ryan Shughnessy as an "eminently available hunk," resulting in single women with the appropriate breeding frequently introducing themselves. Jessie Reilly scoffs during their monthly lunch, musing who would have ever "thought the skinny kid next door would grow up to be an `eminently available hunk?'" Ryan does not intend to stay single long, however, when he learns of Jessie's plans regarding artificial insemination. Her biological clock is ticking and Mr. Right has neglected to put in an appearance.

Ryan has always wanted children, but gave up the possibility when his wife was unable to become pregnant. Now widowed, he finds the idea of Jessie turning to a sperm bank incomprehensible. So he persuades her that they have the same goals in life. If she wants a child, he'll provide the sperm. When she makes it through the first trimester, then they will get married. Seems simple enough, until emotional ramifications set in -- extreme morning sickness, as well as the usual challenges when two people are wild about one another, but neither being willing to become vulnerable enough to share their feelings.

BILLIONAIRE BACHELORS: RYAN begins with a bang, but ends with a gurgle. The premise of two friends marrying to have children via artificial insemination makes for a fascinating premise. However, I'm unconvinced with how this plot plays out. This couple agrees that they want a real marriage complete with sex. She needs a loan from a bank to expand and keep with the competition, admitting that if she didn't have to spend the money at the clinic, she could afford to expand her gallery. Now, if they know they are going to bed together, they agree they are going to get married when she gets pregnant, and they know that they both want children, why in the world go through the whole artificial insemination process? Nevertheless, Anne Marie Winston is a gifted author, with a crisp writing style and believable dialogue. Her characterizations are delightful, especially the gay houseman. As a result, I still recommend BILLIONAIRE BACHELORS: RYAN.

I didn't think I would like this book at first because I couldn't relate to Catherine at all. She seemed a little too upper class perfect at first. However, Gray was an absolute dream. In fact it was hard to believe that at the age of 32 nobody had snapped him up. Not very much history was given about Gray but since this is a Silhouette Romance and not War and Peace that's not that big an issue. I loved the interactions between Catherine and Gray and the slow build of the romance which culminated in some very steamy sex scenes! I also liked the fact there were no bad guys in this book. All in all this was a slow paced but likable book. I'm glad I read it.

Jessie and Ryan have been friends almost their entire lives. Ryan is a widower and rich and successful. Jessie is single and struggling to keep her business afloat. But she wants a baby. She decides to ask her friend Ryan to be the donor for the sperm. He balks at first, but agrees on one condition: that they marry. She is reluctant, but eventually agrees but only if she gets pregnant. She does, and at this point, the story becomes fast paced and races to the inevitable end...they find love and happiness.
It was a good story. Much better than the usual sperm donation and let's get married books out there. Anne Marie Winston knows how to keep a reader immersed in her books, and this did not fail.
The only complaint I have is that the characters themselves seemed incomplete to me. Although their families and lives when they were young are discussed, I did not really feel like I could understand their motives. If Ryan had loved Jessie for so long, why did he not say so earlier?
But this is a minor issue with me and did not diminish my enjoyment of the book. For a quick read, I recommend this.

ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN... ONE VERY TINY CABIN

Because of the terms of a will, Garrett Holden had to share his stepfather's tiny cabin in Maine with Ana Birch for one month. A hardened businessman, Garrett was lost moments after meeting the beautiful stranger, and he knew spending thirty days together would be pure torture on his libido

But as hard as he tried to resist Ana's charms, the die-hard bachelor was quickly captivated by her compassionate nature, her zest for life... and her tempting curves. Still, Ana's true identity remained a mystery - who exactly was the lovely Ana Burch, why was she named in the will... and how could he walk away from her once the thirty days were up?

3rd in the Billionaire Bachelors series

Jessie wants a baby and childhood friend Ryan decides he would be the best donor. However, he wants a family so they agree to get married after she is artificially inseminated. As their fetus grows inside her, Jessie realizes she is in love but knows love is not part of the agreement. Ryan is torn by the fact he has always loved Jessie, and although he thought he could settle for having a "part" of her, he realizes he needs to have ALL of her.

Anne Marie Winston created lovely characters that have a beautiful friendship. The story is woven nicely and as Ryan and Jessie's fetus develops, it's joyous to watch their friendship blossom into passionate love.

Garrett treats Ana badly from the start, because he incorrectly assumes Ana was his deceased step-father's lover. Ana is angry, and rightly so, at Garrett's poor treatment of her and his insulting judgment that she is some gold-digger after his step-father's will. It is enjoyable to watch Garrett dig a hole for himself as Ana keeps the secret that his step-father was also her long lost father. Joining Ana's amusement at Garrett's incorrect and outrageous assumptions was downright funny. Almost as fun as watching Garrett fall totally out of sorts as he realizes he is completely falling for her.

Anne Marie Winston created some likeable characters in this novel - especially Gray, what woman wouldn't want a man like him? The plot revolves around the fact that Gray had a heart transplant and received Catherine's deceased husband's heart. After getting to know Catherine, he is afraid to tell her about the heart transplant (for obvious reasons), which puts a thorn in their relationship. Winston also creates a very interesting twist regarding the transplant that helps us get to know Catherine through her first marriage. This was a good book & easy to breeze through.

The playboy takes a wife... Stone Lachlan never though marriage- especially one of convenience- would be this complex. After all, he and Faith Harrell had agreed to marry for the purely practical reasons, so there should be no question about the terms of their "relationship." But resisting a young woman as appealing as Faith was like trying to win a war without any weapons. And it seemed the harder they fought not to fall in love, the closer they came to losing the battle...

This book was very interesting but I think it could have been better. Anne Marie Winston is one of my favorite authors. But I don't think she did her best on this book. It was a littel to wordy in the begining but near the middle it got better.