Customer Reviews

Double the Pleasure

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

 

 

What happens when four top-notch authors come together in one fun anthology? Well, readers get DOUBLE THE PLEASURE!

Lori Foster starts this anthology off with a bang with "Deuces Wild"! Dex Winston reluctantly agrees to impersonate his twin brother, Hart, for a short period of time. After all, what could go wrong? But that was before Dex met Christy Nash. Will Christy forgive Dex when she realizes he's not who she thought he was?

Lori Foster writes yet another superb story as "Deuces Wild" is one heck of an emotional tale! Dex's anguish is palpable as his promise to his brother conflicts with his desire to be honest with Christy. Who can't help but love a man like Dex? Christy's reactions are priceless as she is just one of the nicest, most genuine characters. She more than deserves her happily-ever-after. However, I can't help but admit that I can't wait to see what kind of woman will capture Hart's heart! Lori Foster is at the top of her game with "Deuces Wild"!

In "The Luck of the Irish", Deirdre Martin departs from her sports romances to bring readers the first book in her Wild Hart Saga. Maggie O'Brien is determined that no man will ever break her heart again. Brendan Kelly has his sites set on Maggie. But Brendan has a secret....

Deirdre Martin creates a charming ambiance for "The Luck of the Irish". It's easy to feel like one knows the various characters as the secondary characters add a sense of warmth and friendliness to the overall tale. But it's the sparks flying between Maggie and Brendan that take center stage! Deirdre Martin has a new fan in this reviewer with "The Luck of the Irish".

Jacquie D'Alessandro takes on the corporate world in "Your Room or Mine?" Jack Walker is the new head of his department but he's stuck dealing with his worst nightmare... a consultant! Maddie Price is used to difficult assignments but will she survive a weekend bonding experience with Jack and his department? Does the attraction between Jack and Maddie stand a chance?

Oh, who can't help but love when two people clash as much as Jack and Maddie do? The resulting sparks are sizzling! Jacquie D'Alessandro does an excellent job at showing how easy it is to misread another person's true personality. The scenes where Maddie and Jack had to look past their own perceptions of one another are outstanding but it is the ending that makes this story really stand out.

Penny McCall concludes this anthology with "Double the Danger". Dr. Abigail West is shocked when the John Doe she's about to autopsy is her former lover, Drake. Even more shocking is when it turns out Drake isn't really dead. Abby soon finds herself on a madcap adventure in which danger lurks on every corner and her very heart is at stake.

Penny McCall finishes DOUBLE THE PLEASURE with a wildly humorous and fast paced tale. "Double the Danger" is a nonstop ride, chock full of action until the very last page. The side story of Virgil is entertaining as Penny McCall keeps readers guessing as to what zany thing will happen next. "Double the Danger" is an exciting finale and leaves this reader wanting to read more by this talented author.

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE is sheer fun. Each story is well-written and entertaining making this an anthology that is easily recommended!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Lori Foster is in top form with "Deuces Wild" using the identical twin switch-a-roo plot device. Writer Dexter Winston pretends to be his twin Hart while his brother is out secretly training for MMA. While apartment sitting he meets Hart's cute green eyed red-haired neighbor Christy. Sparks immediately fly. Only problem is that school secretary can't seem to figure out the sudden change in Hart. He seems so different but he looks the same!
*****Great story, believable plot, good character development and some steamy love scenes. One of Foster's better anthology shorts (and I've read them all). She also gives the reader some tantalizing peeks at Hart's story.

Deirdre Martin kicks off her new series Wild Heart Saga with the novella "The Luck Of The Irish".
From her website-
The heroine is "Maggie O'Brien, whose large, loving Irish American family owns the Wild Hart, a pub in the heart of New York City. The O'Briens are a family whose every member is blessed and cursed with classic Celtic traits: passion and loyalty, wit and drama; a family of romantics, rebels, and dreamers who clash with the same intensity with which they love. Small wonder, then, that when strapping Irishman Brendan Kelly walks through the door of the pub, Maggie's finally met her match. But Brendan may not be all that he seems..."
****If you like hot tempered, as well as hot-blooded, H/H in your stories you'll love this one. Maggie and Brendan go at each other with no holds barred. This feisty duo kicks the steam meter into overload and nearly combusts leaving this reader fanning herself.

Work enemies are forced to bond during a resort retreat in D'Alessandro's "Your Room Of Mine?". Consultant Maddie's job is to make observations and recommend who's to be cut from Jack's (CFO) department -worker's Jack desperately needs and is determined to keep. Naturally they hate each other. But one weekend changes everything. Preconceived notions fly out the window (along with a whole bunch of clothes) but will they come back Monday morning?
*****My favorite story of the bunch. I love surprises! Especially when two characters seemly so at odds have nothing in common find out they have everything in common. Nice and steamy too!

"Double The Danger" by Penny McCall
From her website-
"Dr. Abigail West is a country doctor stuck with weekend autopsy duty, which is horrible enough, When she opens the body bag on her exam room table and discovers the only man she's ever loved inside, it's positively tragic. Until he comes to life and tries to strangle her. Drake is an FBI agent coming to the rescue of a federal witness. It's bad enough that the hit man got to him before either of them got to the witness, but the local yokels had the nerve to mistake Drake for dead and stuff him into a body bag. And when he wakes up, he finds his hands around the throat of the woman he would have married - if he hadn't walked out on her to become an undercover agent. The fact that she's the granddaughter of the witness - not to mention the reason his cover was blown - just caps off the whole fiasco. Drake and Abby have enough to handle, with a persistent hit man on their trail, an uncooperative 80-year old witness, and a small town full of eccentric characters tripping them up. Battling their attraction to one another is just double the danger."
****Very good action plot but could have used more sexual tension and the ending was less than stellar compared to the others. A solid read, just could have used more romantic omph!

Other anthologies I've enjoyed-
Heating Up The Holidays: All He Wants For Christmas...\My Grown-Up Christmas List\Up On The Housetop (Harlequin Blaze)
Bad Boys In Black Tie (Watson Brothers)
Bad Boys Of Summer (Twins' Bad Boys)
Perfect for the Beach
Star Quality
Tell It To The Marines

"Deuces Wild" by Lori Foster. Wanting to hide his training to join the Supreme Battle Challenge from his family while he trains, Hart Winston persuades his twin brother Dexter to pretend to be him. Dexter reluctantly moves into Hart's apartment. However, Dexter falls in love with Hart's neighbor middle school secretary Christy Nash who believes he is Hart.

"The Luck of the Irish" by Deirdre Martin. In Hell's Kitchen, divorcee Maggie O'Brien and Irish Green Card immigrant Brendan Kelly meet when he assist his Uncle Joe in renovating her family's Wild Hart Pub. They are attracted to one another, but she is reluctant to act after a bad marriage.

"Your Room or Mine?" by Jacquie D'Alessandro. Java Heaven CEO Gavin Laine informs his CFO Jack Warden that the accountants will attend a team building weekend at Lake Lanier's Casa di Lago hosted by consultant Madeline "Mad Dog" Price. Jack and Madeline detest their attraction to one another; each expects fireworks at the Georgia resort, but neither is prepared for what occurs between them nor the betrayal.

"Double the Danger: by Penny McCall. Dr. Abigail West moved to Pottersville, under 200 miles from Chicago, from DC to be near her only living relative, her grandfather, but remains an outsider to the "Pottersvillains". When she opens up a body bag to conduct an autopsy her college lover Drake, who vanished abruptly ten years ago without a trace, steps out alive. He explains he is FBI and they along with her grandfather are in danger. She assumes it is her heart from him

These are four fun well written contemporary romances that contain reasonably deep lead characters. Although the Penny McCall entry feels out of place with its police procedural suspense plot, fans will appreciate the strong quartet of tales with the bonus of Winston twins starring in Lori Foster's fine contribution.

Harriet Klausner

Like many collections by multiple authors, Double The Pleasure is quite uneven from story to story.

Foster's "Deuces Wild" was a fun romp with likable characters and hot sensuality, but it felt rushed - Foster often has trouble with pacing in her short stories. Also, the way Dex and Christy came together was unsatisfyingly easy, even with the major obstacle they faced.

Martin's "The Luck of the Irish" was an OK read but not terribly impressive.

D'Alessandro's "Your Room or Mine?" was great. Great characters, great situation, enough bumps in the road to keep it interesting but with a satisfying ending, and lots of very well done sensuality. Yum!

McCall's "Double the Danger" was just ridiculous, and touched by the Kiss of Death for romances - unlikable main characters. It reminded me strongly of the one Jennifer Crusie story I ever bothered to read, a short entitled "Hot Toy" (from Santa, Baby which includes contributions from Lori Foster and Carly Philips). Like "Hot Toy", "Double the Danger" is just OFF in a way that makes me think the author is actually an alien observing humans from afar.

I won't bore you with the summary since everyone else does that already, so you know.

Deuces Wild - this was better than Hart's story, the one in Double the Heat. The characters were so real and good together. I loved the plot and the romance and the sensuous feeling through the whole story. It was easy to get into this one. 5 stars

The Luck of the Irish - this one was not as good as Deuces Wild, but still very interesting. 4 stars

Your Room Or Mine? - now we start a downfall here. It's like, they're in the order of interest. This one was not as good as The Luck of the Irish. It went too fast to be believable, and Maddie was kind of...dumb. She said she's not the kind of person to have a one-night stand. Yet she went along with it so easily, it just wasn't...real to me. 3 stars

Double the Danger - this one was really not that good. It was actually boring. The first few pages seem like it's going to be an interesting story with passion between the two. But, no. The morning after they first have sex, they're so unfeeling about it. It's like they're mad it happened. It was so weird, and Abby said something really stupid that I just wanted to shake her and say, "Do you not know anything about love?" 2 stars

While some of the stories were more engaging than others, overall the anthology was a pleasant read. The central theme of mistaken identities was well done. Lori Foster's novella was by far the best with her strong character development and heartfelt family values. - Lisa Freeman

Don't be fooled by the title "Double Pleasure". If you were expecting hot threesomes or sizzling swingers, you'll be disappointed. The connection between the main character's siblings for all stories is weak. The sex is luke warm. For the cost of the cover price, I expected a lot more than I got.

I only purchased this book because of Lori Foster. I thought her story Deucess Wild was OK. The Luck of the Irish by D. Martin was just as good. Didn't even read past the first chapter of Your room or mine by D'Alessandro. I liked Dobule the danger by Pm McCall the best of all. Not so happy to spend the money for this book.

I wanted to read this book because I am a fan of 3 of the 4 authors. The fourth, Penny McCall, I have never read, but I'm all for trying out new authors. I take anthologies for what they are--short books that are only "samples" of the author's work. They usually are a little lacking, but a good one will still tell enough of the story to give it closure and give enough about the characters that you either like them or you don't.

DEUCES WILD (SBC Fighters/Winston series)- by Lori Foster
For Lori Foster fans, this story mixes the Winstons and SBC Fighters. Joe from Say No to Joe? (Visitation, Book 1), makes a "guest appearance."
I have not read any of either series (I do plan to, but haven't gotten there yet) Hart asks his identical twin, Dex, to "cover" for him and pretend to be him while he trains to be an MMA fighter. Dex reluctantly agrees and then is captivated by the woman across the hall.
The story was decent enough, but I didn't like the set-up as to why Dex had to pretend to be Hart--it just didn't seem necessary. The romance was fun and cute. I also really liked the characters. Hart's story is obviously set up throughout the story, which was a little annoying, but it did make me interested in reading more about him.

THE LUCK OF THE IRISH (Wild Hart Saga #1)- by Deirdre Martin
The Luck of the Irish is the first in the Wild Hart Saga series. Of course Martin also mentions the Blades once in the story.
I liked Brenden, but Maggie was a little off-putting. Her attitude annoyed me and came across as whiny. I did like the interaction within the O'Brien family and found some of it humorous.
Cute story with a few annoyances...I have found that true in the last couple of Martin's books, though.
With a Twist (Berkley Sensation) is the next in this series.

YOUR ROOM OR MINE- by Jacquie D'Alessandro
I have only read D'Alessandro's category romances and liked them all, so this was very similar to one of them.
Jack and Maddie are "enemies" at work, but find out there is more to each other than what they think when they are forced on a "bonding" trip for work.
I think I liked this one the most. Maybe because it stands on its own the best and I felt like the story was complete. I liked both Jack and Maddie and would have liked more, but it wasn't necessary.

DOUBLE THE DANGER- by Penny McCall
My first read by Penny McCall. This one could have most easily been expanded into a longer book. It would have been a lot better had it been longer--it just felt like something was lacking because it wasn't explained enough.
Dr. Abby West is living in a small town that she doesn't like because she wants to be close to her grandfather--he only living relative that she didn't know until a year earlier. The town doesn't appreciate her and she is forced to work on dead bodies because they won't let her treat the live ones. When she opens the body bag of her current patient she is shocked to find it is her old college flame, Drake, and he is still alive. Turns out she is in danger and he is the only one who can protect her.
What was difficult about it being short was the inability to build enough suspense/tension in between scenes. I just didn't feel the excitement enough throughout the story. I think that had it been longer, that could have been remedied.
I am planning on trying out a full-length Penny McCall book.

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE
LORI FOSTER, DEIRDRE MARTIN, JACQUIE D'ALESSANDRO, PENNY MCCALL
Contemporary Romance
Berkley Sensation
Sensuality rating: Spicy

Rating: 4 Enchantments

DEUCES WILD- by Lori Foster
Dexter Winston is an amazing writer, but he is not an actor. When his brother Hart wants him to step into his life and act like him so he can go and train to be a fighter, Dex is a little cautious. That is until he sees Hart's next door neighbor Christy. Christy has always had a crush on Hart but he is so much more her type these days. When he finally starts to pay attention to her she thinks her dream has come true. She falls in love with him but when she learns the truth which Hart is she truly in love with?

This was by far my favorite story in the book. I have never read a Winston novel but after this short story I will now. I can't wait to read the real Hart's story! Dex was such a kind and honest guy I am kind of shocked that he was actually willing to change places with his brother and come on to the girl next door. I love the way that Mrs. Foster writes and she has now earned her place in my favorite writers list. I can't wait to pick up more of her stories.

THE LUCK OF THE IRISH- by Deirdre Martin
Maggie O'Brian is a waitress at her family's pub. Brendan is a carpenter who works for his Uncle Joe, and is remodeling the Wild Hart. He is more than willing to take his time at work if it means he can be around the feisty Maggie. But he may have bitten off more than he can chew because Maggie is in no way going to let herself get hurt again... and Brendan has a big secret that could devastate her.

This was the hardest story for me to get into. I thought that story moved to fast and I was having a hard time figure out who was who. There were just too many characters for a novella. I think that Uncle Joe was my favorite and I found myself not wanting Brendan to let him down. I am glad the story ended the way it did but it just was not one of my favorites.

YOUR ROOM OR MINE- by Jacquie D'Alessandro
Jack Walter is going to have to spend the whole weekend at a retreat for all his co-workers, with the woman he can't stand. Maddie Price did not plan being stuck a whole day early with the most frustrating man ever, when she suggested this weekend for team building. But she has some important choices to make and that means finding a hot guy to have a one night stand with.

This was a great story. Of course it was quite predictable that the two of them would end up hooking up but I was shocked at how openly Jack was willing to come on to Maddie, a women he obviously could not stand. Maddie, for being an uptight consultant, sure opened up and went on the troll for a guy easily enough. I thought the part where their luggage got switched was hilarious. I could imagine opening someone else's suitcase and finding their naughty items. This was a great story and I can't wait to read more from this author.

DOUBLE THE DANGER- by Penny McCall

Dr. Abby West was just performing the routine autopsy when her John Doe turned out to be her ex. Her un-dead ex at that. When he jumps off the table Abby thinks she has lost her darn mind, but it turns out that she is very must sane and very much in danger. Drake did not expect to wake up and see his ex-girlfriend. But she is his mission, or rather her grandfather is. Drake is an FBI agent sent to protect Abby's grandfather who was in the witness protection program. Abby must cooperate with Drake or else she and her grandfather will end up dead.

This was a fun story but it moved at an unbelievable pace. If I found my ex dead, and then found him to be not dead I know I would have to take a while to calm down. The story progressed quite fast and was filled with nonstop action. Abby's grandfather was my favorite character. All these years he had been in hiding. The ending however I did not like too much. The man who hired the hit just forgave him after all these years??? It could have been better.

Lori Foster is the author of many published books. She also writes under the pen name L.L Foster. To find out more about Lori and her fantastic books please visit her website at http://www.lorifoster.com/

Deirdre Martin is the author of the Wild Hart Saga. To find out more about her books please visit her website at http://www.deirdremartin.com/

Jacquie D'Alessandro is the author of many historical romances. To find out more about this author and her books please visit her website at http://www.jacquied.com/

Penny McCall lives is the author of several romantic suspense books. To find out more about her please visit her website at http://www.pennymccall.com/index1.html

Jennifer
Enchanting Reviews
April 2009