Customer Reviews

Bad Boys with Red Roses

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

 

 

Like many of these novels that contain 3 short stories, the hero and heroine have met before and there's something that's keeping them apart. In this book, you'll find a red rose mentioned in each story (and you'll find that like many novels, the blurb on the back cover is not accurate). While I originally bought this book because I love Janelle Denison, Tina Donahue's story is the one that I really loved and wanted to read again and again.

Still Mr. & Mrs. - Janelle Denison - 4 stars

Rachel Hudson comes back to Las Vegas to see Luke Kincaid and take care of some things from the past. Luke Kincaid has never gotten over what happened between him and Rachel Hudson. Rachel hurt him badly and since that relationship ended, he's kept all of his relationships casual. Luke wins a wager that will have Rachel in his bed. He's hoping that having Rachel again will cure him of her memory.

I love Janelle Denison's books - she's an automatic buy for me. And while I liked this story, it seems like there could have been more - it's the shortest story in this collection - less than 80 pages and seemed to end way too quickly. It was enjoyable but left me wanting more.

Tempt Me, Tease Me, Thrill Me - Tina Donahue - 5 stars

Four months ago, detective Sean Logan and attorney (not judge) Cait Campbell had a one night stand - a memorable evening for both of them. Since then, neither one has forgotten the other. Sean believes that he's found the woman he wants to marry. Cait, on the other hand, is very wary of marriage - her parents seemed happily married and then went through an acrimonious divorce. While she adores Sean, she doesn't want to get involved and definitely doesn't want to get married. So to try and forget him, since their meeting, she filled her hours with work.

As part of a charity event, there's an auction which gives the winner a chance to take Cait to dinner. And who's the lucky winner of the auction? No other than Sean who wants a chance to convince Cait that what they have is special.

I loved this story. Sean Logan is HOT (and I would love to have him convince me of anything). And Cait's hang-ups about their relationship seemed believable. This is the first novel I've read by Tina Donahue and it made me go out and check to see what else she's written.

The Invitation - Sharon Cullars - 3 stars

Jerri (not Gerri) Harris receives an invitation and then a phone call from a mysterious Andrew Valmer asking her to attend a private gathering. She's tired from the stress of her job as an attorney, leery about the invitation, and decides to decline.

If you read the blurb on the back cover ("...a mysterious, deeply seductive male voice, inviting Gerri [sic] to a special evening at a beautiful old mansion - and the fulfillment of her most hidden desires") you'd think there was going to be some hanky panky going on with that invitation but that's not what's happening at all. Instead, Jerri meets Adrian, a man who warns her that the invitation is actually from someone who means to do her harm.

This story is unlike the other two as this is more of a mystery than a romance. I had a hard time with this story. The more I learned about Jerri, the less I liked her. And I couldn't buy the romance between the two characters. The author seemed to be more focused on the mystery so that the romance seemed secondary to it. Not one of my favorites.

Still Mr. and Mrs. by Janelle Denison

Rachel Hudson and Luke Kincaid fell in love while attending high school in Las Vegas. On a whim one night, they decided to get married in one of Vegas' many chapels. Even though the two loved each other very much, Rachel's controlling father didn't take kindly to the marriage. He arranged for an annulment and moved the family to New York City.

Eight years later, Rachel is back in Vegas to tell Luke that their annulment was never filed, and that they're still married. She's brought papers for him to sign, which he says he will do. After Rachel spends the weekend with him.

Still Mr. and Mrs. is an erotic tale of two lovers torn apart, and coming back together again. I loved both Rachel and Luke and the combustible way they fit together. This story is scorching hot, and a very entertaining read.

Tempt Me, Tease Me, Thrill Me by Tina Donahue

Cait Campbell is a lawyer who is about to be appointed as a judge. As part of a charity event, she is also about to be auctioned off for a date with the highest bidder. Det. Sean Logan spent one night with Cait after his brother's wedding to her cousin, then she slipped away.

Sean doesn't want Cait to slip away this time. He attends the auction and wins his date with Cait. But he makes her wait two weeks, building up the tension between the two of them. Will they have another one night stand, or will they decide that they love each other, and want to stay together?

Tempt Me, Tease Me, Thrill Me certainly lives up to its name. The tension between Cait and Sean is strong, but at times I became more than a little annoyed with the angst between them and Cait's failure to really see Sean.

But the ending of the story absolutely thrilled me and made me laugh out loud, causing my frustration to disappear. This is a fun tale that readers will want to follow to its satisfying conclusion.

The Invitation by Sharon Cullars

Defense attorney Jeralyn gets a strange package one day. An invitation to an "event," accompanied by a single red rose. When a man calls to see if she'll be attending, she tells him no. That invitation opens a world that Jeralyn has forgotten. That world includes a past where her parents were killed in a house fire, and Jeralyn was involved with two brothers, Adrian and Amil.

Jeralyn is not sure she wants to remember the past, but Amil is determined that she will, and that she will die because of it. And Adrian is bound and determined to save her.

Utterly original and completely engrossing, The Invitation delves into a woman's past and the way that it intrudes on her present. I was drawn in from page one, and couldn't let go. The characters are beautifully written, and the story crafted in a manner as to keep the reader entranced. Once again, Sharon Cullars has trilled me with a story of love, deception and redemption. I highly advise reading this tale.

Amelia
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

The three stories in 'Bad Boys With Red Roses' all have reference to, unsurprisingly, men giving roses as a gift. Apart from this common thread there is also another similarity between the stories, that of rekindling an attraction or romance in the past.

STILL MR & MRS by Janelle Denison.
In this story a couple who eloped and then were separated after their wedding night meet again. Although the marriage was apparently annulled a long time ago, security expert Luke Kincaid is surprised to find his former wife Rachel Hudson looking for him. When they were originally married he wasn't good enough for Rachel's family; now that he's made something of himself in Las Vegas, and now that Rachel's home situation is significantly different, do they have a chance of a future together?

TEMPT ME, TEASE ME, THRILL ME by Tina Donahue.
Chicago Cop Sean Logan bids at an auction for a dinner date with Judge Cait Campbell, with whom he has unfinished business. But Sean wants Cait to convince him they have a future together and Cait has to decide what's really important for her.

THE INVITATION by Sharon Cullars.
This story was different from the previous two as it didn't focus primarily on the relationship of the two main characters but instead had a plotline where someone is out to kill Jeralyn Harris she is protected by the brother of the man who's threatening her. Jerri had a relationship with Adrian Martins years before but then went off with his brother Drew; shortly afterwards there was a fire in which people died and Drew was sent to prison. He's now been released and is trying to get revenge on Jeralyn whilst his brother tries to protect her. Can Jeralyn remember the past and can she untangle the mess with Adrian and Drew.

These three stories are all reasonable reads in the usual Brava tradition. The third story was slightly less satisfying overall as it left many loose endings (why did Amil change his mind, for example, and what was the cause of his headaches) but it perhaps had a little more depth than the other two which were mainly stories of reunions with plenty of sex thrown in. None of the stories were particularly memorable but it was a reasonable enough read overall.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

Bad Boys with Red Roses is an anthology with stories by Janelle Denison (my fav story), Tina Donahue, and Sharon Cullars. The first one is typical of a Bad Boys story, the second one is so-so, and the third threw me for a loop. It is more of a romantic suspense story, and I'm not sure how it wound up in a Bad Boys book.

Janelle Denison's story, Still Mr. and Mrs., is about how Rachel Hudson goes looking for her husband, Luke Kincaid, in Las Vegas. Years ago, he and Rachel were married, and Rachel's father intervened, and something happened and Rachel moved off, but now she wants her husband back. This was my favorite story of the three. Very romantic and great chemistry between Luke and Rachel.

Tina Donahue's story, Tempt Me, Tease Me, and Thrill Me, was just okay. Sean Logan, a cop, wins a date with Cait Campbell at a charity auction. They had a one-night stand a while back, and Sean is now determined to make Cait his forever. He sets about trying to get her to open up to her feelings for him, and give them both a shot at happily ever after.

Sharon Cullar's The Invitation, was not bad, it was just out of place in this series. Jeralyn, the hero, has no memories of the night that her parents died, and she is not aware that someone wants her dead. That someone being her husband who was tried and convicted in the death of her parents. But she can't remember him, and she can't remember his brother, the man that she was in love with before she married his brother. Very interesting story with an interracial couple, but it seemed somewhat heavy for a series like Bad Boys that is kinda on the light side.

No other details needed when I looked up this book to bye Amazon gave a short summary of the book and different conditions, and prices,and places to bye from my choices to make.

I really liked the book. It was sexy,funny and a great escape from life.

Having been a big fan of the "bad boys" books in the past, I found myself slightly disappointed with this particular edition. Two of the three stories didn't live up to their predecessors in the other "Bad Boys" books.

"Still Mr. & Mrs" by. Janelle Denison. At a casino in Las Vegas, Luke wins the bet of a lifetime that leads to Rachel Hudson being in his bed. His plan is no more regrets of what could have been as he wants to make her his sure bet.

"Tempt Me, Tease Me, Thrill Me" by Tina Donahue. The greatest night of his life occurred when Chicago police officer Sean Logan made love with Judge Cait Campbell. He wants her honor to agree to a lifetime sentence, but may have to arrest her to get her to confess her guilty desires for him.

"The Invitation" by Sharon Cullars. The single long stem rose arrives with an unsigned invitation. Next comes the sexy phone call by a man who oozes seduction as he invites Gerri to meet him for a rendezvous that he vows will satiate both of their most coveted fantasies.

Harriet Klausner