7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Graham is a super talent to watch, October 1, 2004
This review is from: Eye Candy (Harlequin Blaze) (Mass Market Paperback)
Generally, I enjoy most books. Even books that are flawed have something that redeems them in my eyes. Not too many lands in the trashcan. However, every once in a while, there comes along a book that is so contrived, with the characters so unwilling to be honest with each other that they twist themselves into ridiculous "pretzels" to hide from dealing with their feelings, that it causes me to grit my teeth. I have a level of capacity for standing this mental torture, remembering I PAID for this - when my jaw aches, it hits the trashcan. Eye Candy hit that level by the first chapter and maintained the near teeth-gnashing level through the whole book - BUT WAIT!!! Instead of hitting the trashcan, I stayed glued to the book to the very end. WHY? Because of some first-class terrific writing from a very talented writer - Dorie Graham.
Harlequin's Blaze series has some really hot, really talented writers in their ranks, Julie Elizabeth Leto and Tori Carrington being up there at the top. Graham has two other books, which I am off to order, #30 The Last Virgin and #58 Tempting Adam. Graham keeps up this style of writing and she will be listed in the top Blaze ranks, too.
Off the bat, #130 Eye Candy gives you a shaky premise. Crystal Peterson has eyes for Ron, a freelance photographer. She doesn't claim to want a real romance with him, just to get to know him, but she is "hell bent for leather" to attract his attention. And will do anything to gain it - including using her best friend Sam. That really did not make me warm to Crystal too well. Sam Schaffer has loved Crystal since they were fifteen - when he told her he loved her and she laughed in his face. Loves her just as she is. As I said, Crystal does not capture my heart! Since then, Sam has hidden his heart and played best friend. Better best friend than no Crystal at all.
Sam runs a magazine, similar to a high-class playboy, but wants to bring the magazine into the real singles world by adding a woman's point of view column. He keeps begging Crystal to write it, knowing she would be so good. She turns him down, coward - she'd rather write homemaker articles for Redbook than take the chance she could do something better.
Cami and Crystal play football with the boy on the weekend; they dress in jeans, cutoffs and T-shirts. Cami's boyfriend gives her a gift certificate to be made over in to a "sex bomb". Cami is thrilled. It sets Crystal to thinking maybe why Rob ignores her is he thinks she's "one of the boys". She goes shopping for Victoria Secrets underwear, but cannot figure out how to put on a bustier. So she runs to Sam for help. She says, since he deals with all these "bunny" type girls, he can help her be sexy for Ron. Sam, poor dear, is not happy with the idea, but finally hits on this as a way to get her to write for his magazine. Yeppers, even when he is being used, he is thinking of her! He will play a cross between Henry Higgins and Hugh Heffner, and transform beautifully wholesome Crystal into "Bunny Crystal" - if she will do the articles for his magazine.
Poor Sam finds himself in sexual quicksand, so desperate for Crystal, he lets her push it into sexual tutoring. Not enough she has to look sexy for Ron, she has to act sexy, too. GROAN. I really liked Sam's character, you feel for him, being in love with Crystal who is so blind (blonde) she cannot see it. Worse, you feel sorry for him being used in this manner. You really want to reach through the pages and grab Crystal and shake her until her teeth rattle. She goes on to have sex with Sam for over a week, yet still uses him to attract the date-from-Hell Ron? ARGH!
It's at that point I stopped gritting teeth and had to look at MY response. WHY was so I furious with Crystal? Because the writer is that bloody GOOD. She made me CARE - despite the flaws of the characters. If Sam and Crystal just dealt honestly with each other, had bothered to connect mentally as they did physically, instead of going through emotional contortions that would put CIRQUE DU SOLEIL to shame; despite Cami, her friend going power-happy with her new make over and kissing a man she has no interest in just because she is suddenly "sexy"; despite the reader seriously wanting to kick Crystal in the caboose - Graham is such a strong writer, with such a powerful voice that you're glued to the story unable to put it down.
Don't think too many authors could have taken this premise, and pulled such a tour de force. Her dialog is snappy. She is able to tap into the sexual fantasies of her characters, even though they cannot tap into logic at times. Her writing sizzles and dazzles. Graham is an author to keep an eye on.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended, June 17, 2004
This review is from: Eye Candy (Harlequin Blaze) (Mass Market Paperback)
Crystal Peterson appeals to longtime friend and confidante Sam Schaffer to help her transform from one of the boys to a siren. Crystal might get the winning touchdown, but the sports beauties at the sideline garner all of Ron's attention after the game. Sam conceals it, but it pains him to watch the scarcely concealed longing in Crystal's eyes whenever Ron is around. So when Crystal decides to transform her appearance and try to become one of Ron's calendar models, Sam agrees in exchange for her writing a column for him.
Sam eventually agrees to help, going with Crystal for cosmetics and hairstyling. But when she drags him through boutiques and lingerie stores, passion replaces common sense. Crystal believes that if she can turn on Sam then she should have no trouble turning Ron in. Little does she suspect the passion he conceals, or the emotional rollercoaster they are about to embark upon.
Author Dorie Graham brings a fresh eye to the often used plot of best friends who cross the boundaries into love with EYE CANDY. Crystal's oblivion to the effect she has on Sam and her determination early in the novel to win someone else's attention creates powerful sexual tension. Sam's inability to resist her allure and willing to risk two decades of friendship makes for powerful relationship drama that comes highly recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
entertaining friends and lovers romance, April 13, 2004
This review is from: Eye Candy (Harlequin Blaze) (Mass Market Paperback)
In Atlanta, Crystal Peterson and Sam Schaffer have been friends since first grade. Sam knows he cherishes Crystal as the only woman for him though he dates a bevy of beauties because he fears the loss of their friendship as she has shown no indication that she loves him like that plus the tomboy prefers Ron Kincaid.
After scoring the winning touchdown in their Piedmont Park football game, Crystal is disappointed that the other team's star Ron congratulates her like one of the guys. She asks Sam to help her with an extreme makeover from wide receiver to sex siren. As he reluctantly performs his magic, Crystal realizes that she loves good neighbor Sam and wonders how he feels, but plans to find out if he feels the same way too not realizing the joy and hurt that is coming her way.
Though the theme has been often used, EYE CANDY is an entertaining friends and lovers romance that stars two fine lead characters. Their relationship undergoes an extreme makeover that could either become permanent or end everything they have shared for over two decades. The story line cleverly uses Atlanta as a solid backdrop to a blazing tale that love embedded with a strong friendship is the best type of relationship of all.
Harriet Klausner
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