19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who'd have thought?, July 1, 2008
This review is from: Heated Rush (Harlequin Blaze) (Mass Market Paperback)
Who'd of thought a Harlequin Blaze could have held such a wonderful story? The heroine, Annie, attends a charity bachelor auction to buy a date for an impending family anniversary party. The man she had been seeing had turned out to be a lying, manipulative and married (unknown to Annie) man. After telling her mother all about the wonderful man she had been dating, she can't very well show up to her parent's anniversary party without him! Also, she's from a small town and her parents have always feared that when she left to move to the "big city" of Chicago that she would be hurt physically or emotionally. She had to prove them wrong. She bids on a bachelor whose bio lists him as an EMT for the city of Chicago. Unbeknownst to all involved, the bios were mixed up at the printers and the man she bids on is actually an international business man who has a past history of being a high priced male escort. Annie is so taken with the picture of the man (Sean) that she bids $5000 on him and wins. That's when the sparks start to fly. They immediately feel an attraction towards each other. She resists because of her recent disaster with the married Blake and Sean resists because he can see that Annie is truly a nice girl who he feels is undeserving of someone with his sordid past. Needless to say, neither can resist the attraction and a wonderful story ensues. The last several chapters were so poignant and touching. For those who believe a Harlequin can't fully capture an in-depth story and characters, this one will prove them wrong. There is a nice combination of heat and wonderful, compelling story to go along with it. Bravo to Ms. Kelly for a wonderful book. I was actually teary eyed during the last few chapters. If you want a wonderful love story, pick up this book! It's fabulous!!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good!, July 23, 2009
This review is from: Heated Rush (Harlequin Blaze) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book has the same basic setup used in
Slow Hands (Harlequin Blaze), the 1st book in the miniseries, but I didn't do so much eye rolling this time. The case of mistaken identity was more believable in this book because it wasn't dragged throughout the whole story, so there wasn't really a Big Misunderstanding and the Small Misunderstanding was easily cleared up on the H/h's 1st date. How good it is when people talk to each other! :)
Sean Murphy was a former gigolo - yes, he had been a male prostitute in the past, no sugarcoating the issue there - and current business consultant who had agreed to participate in a charity bachelor auction - as one of the bachelors to be auctioned, of course - as a favor to a friend. He wasn't too enthusiastic about the whole affair and, remembering his former "profession", he dreaded being "bought" by a woman who would expect more than a dinner date with him. He was through with that life and had no intention to take a trip down memory lane, now or ever again. So you can imagine his surprise - and pleasure - when he was "bought" by "good girl" Annie Davis.
Annie attended the charity event to "buy" a date to escort her to her parents' 35th anniversary party. There was no way she was showing up at her parents' alone, not after having told her mother all about the "wonderful" man she had been seeing for the last two months. So what if that "wonderful" man had turned out to be a lying and married man? She wasn't going to share that with her family. She was from a small town and her parents had always been against her moving to the "big and bad city" of Chicago. Knowing how easily she had been lied to by her cheating "boyfriend" would just start her family on their you-have-to-come-back-home-and-marry-a-nice-country-boy speech, and Annie wasn't in the mood for that. So she went to the charity auction and "bought" Sean thinking he was a paramedic, a more than suitable profession for a man she intended to introduce to her family as her "boyfriend". Well, due to a mix-up by the graphic designer responsible for making the brochures showcasing the bachelors being auctioned, Sean's bio had been switched with another bachelor, the real paramedic Jake Wallace - who was the hero in
Slow Hands (Harlequin Blaze), BTW - and, needless to say, neither Sean nor Annie came to regret the confusion in the end. ;)
Sean and Annie were attracted to each other from the start, and didn't play games around it. But neither was sure their relationship had any future. He didn't do relationships in general and, once he started falling in love with Annie, couldn't help but feel less than deserving considering his "dirty" past. As for Annie, she didn't know what to expect from him because he wasn't too willing to talk about his family and himself. But when he finally opened up and told her all about it... Oh, that was one good scene! Even though it was a bit rushed, the ending was the best part of this book. Not so much the epilogue, that was unnecessary IMHO, but the small scenes between the moment Sean told Annie about his past and the moment he finally accepted he was deserving of her love. *sighs*
I really like former-bad-boy-turned-good stories, and this one was no exception. Sean was wonderful and I liked the fact that Ms. Kelly didn't choose the easy way out and turned him into a "fake" gigolo - you know, sometimes authors "redeem" the hero by revealing at the last minute that his bad reputation had been only a product of pretense and gossip. Not the case here. Sean was what he was, and it was good to see Annie accepting the whole package. All in all, this was a very satisfying read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprised!, January 24, 2010
I didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did! I also read "Slow Hands" by Leslie Kelly and liked that too! These 2 books both begin at the same charity auction, so reading them both is like reading a sequel, although they don't need to be read together, nor do they need to be read in a particular order. I actually liked "Slow Hands" a little better, but I think it's because the male character was more my taste in men! Both were romantic, sexy, and had enjoyable characters. I don't normally read Harlequin (although I do like romance novels) but I got one of these free on Kindle, and then purchased the other because it really was that good!!! Buying the two together would make a great gift for someone, or a nice gift for yourself for a long, lazy weekend!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
