Customer Reviews

Man Trouble (Warner Forever)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Man Trouble is the story of Professor Molly Shaw and her double life as writer Sandra St. Claire. She's the author of the New York Times bestseller Pirate Gold, but nobody knows that but her close friend and colleague Carter McKee. Now he has a favor to ask her: seduce resort millionaire and playboy extraordinaire Jake Berenger. Carter wants the scoop on the ever so handsome and seductive Jake, a man notorious for his privacy. So begins Molly's crazy quest to help her friend. Though she is very reluctant to go along with Carter's plan, she finally concedes because he has always been there for her when she has needed him. Molly also thinks she deserves to spend some time on a Caribbean island at Jake's resort, Gold Bay. She also hopes it will help her research for her next book. She never dreams about the amazing discovery she will make.

Jake finds the odd Sandra St. Claire charming, if a touch odd. But it is the intriguing Professor Molly Shaw who really interests him, especially when she tries to get a part of his resort classified as a historical site. Then he just finds her annoying... and oh so attractive. She seems to be the perfect candidate to help him clean up his playboy image, to make him seem more like a family man. Until he discovers her deception as Sandra St. Claire and her plan with Carter, and a messy situation just gets messier. Will Jake and Molly manage to come clean with each other so that their newly budding relationship can blossom fully into love?

Melanie Craft's story is a great read, very emotional, and full of lots of interesting historical details about pirate life. Jake and Molly were both very real characters, very three dimensional and full of love, warmth, creativity, and a zest for each other and the causes they are trying to help. Man Trouble has lots of great secondary characters too who the reader will either love or hate. Jake and Molly both have some troubles they have to work through but in the end it is their love and happiness that they find to be most important, creating a very satisfying ending to a very good book.
Sarah W--http://www.fallenangelreviews.com

What a sweet and playful book this is. I read this author's other book (TRUST ME) last fall and found it charming (I am an animal lover and TRUST ME featured a lot of animals, which was fun for me). MAN TROUBLE has a different tone, but is very entertaining. The heroine starts out mousy, tries to force glamor, and finds herself somewhere in between. And I always like when a man isn't so much as "tamed" by a good woman, but becomes comfortable enough with himself because of her that he finds himself all on his own. Much more believable that way. My only complaint with MAN TROUBLE was that it didn't last the whole weekend for me -- I read it straight through.

Ok, I am an oddball reviewer, a man who reads romance novels. Well, not all romance novels, mostly just the ones my wife leaves lying around the house...Jane Krenz, stuff like that. She handed me this one over the weekend, and said "read this...it'll make you laugh". Four hours later (yeah, I'm fast), and after lots of loud guffaws, I am pleased to say that this is a great read, and hard to put down. If you like loopy modern stories with a sort-of Shakespearean comedic-edge, try it out. If you want heaving bosoms and gallant men in tights, this may not be your thing...the author seems to be writing romance novels for the rest of us! Highly recommended.

Ok, I admit that I am becoming a SERIOUS fan of MC's writing...I loved this book! Craft's plotting and story lines have become more complex, but the writing stays just as fresh and fun as it was in her previous books. Of all the heroines I have "met" ( :) ), Molly is definitely my favourite, and Jake Berenger isn't chopped liver either! I guess what I like most about this book is the fun reparte' (can't figure out how to properly accent that word here on amazon.com...) between the characters...I like how the author uses lots of humor in her stories, and has a real sense for dialog, which keeps the reader turning the pages. Once you pick up this book, make sure you've picked a comfortable spot! You aren't going to want to "leave" until you are done!

I bought this book out of curiousity (as Melanie Craft is Larry Ellison's wife) and I was quite surprised and pleased by it. The characters were especially well-developed, and I would love to continue to follow them in a sequel. I will definitely look for more books by Ms. Craft.

I read too many romances and I'm picky; stupid plot twists, sloppy writing, and crummy characters will put the book in the trash and the author on the blacklist. This smart and funny book got read at one sitting, then read again to enjoy how well it all fitted together. The author takes a staple plot - mousy professor is made over into bombshell, then paraded in front of eligible billionaire - and stands it on its head by having her characters behave, well, like people. Does our tarted-up mouse catch the billionaire's eye? Sure - and he sees right through her. Is she willing to pose as his fiancee for three months? No, and she's not gentle about it. Do they get together in the end? Of course. And *she* rescues *him.* But you'll have to read the book to see how.

Melanie Craft's Man Trouble is such a fun read! I loved falling in love with Jake and Molly as they fell for one another. The
characters are well developed as well as the cast of great characters spinning their own agendas around them.
Positively enjoyable!

I found Melanie Craft by accident -- one of those "other readers who bought this book also bought ___" and I followed the links and then went to her website and read the excerpt and her author notes and was intrigued. I was a little skeptical, too, as I am with any new author, but got it anyway. I just finished it -- couldn't put it down! It was exactly the fun escape I was looking for! I loved watching Molly try to be Sandra and Sandra try to be seductive and Elaine just killed me. Bravo Ms. Craft. When is the next one?

Molly Shaw is a mousy history professor at a prestigious Wisconsin university who writes racy novels in her spare time under the pseudonym, Sandra St. Clair. She begrudgingly agrees to be "Sandra" for a couple weeks to attract the attention of a press-shy playboy billionaire Jack Berenger so that her friend Carter can write a biography of him and become famous himself.

Jack meets both Sandra and Molly. While Sandra, with her flowing blonde hair (wig), blue eyes (contacts), and curvy body (padding) are nice, he is more fascinated by Molly's lack of beauty regimen and complete rapture in telling pirate stories. He knows there's more under the packaging. Soon she's digging up the past to find that a female pirate once occupied the island the resort is on - and her plantation's right dab in the middle of Jack's proposed golf course. Klutzy Molly manages to fool Jack for a little while, but soon the jig is up. She's ready to leave his island until he propositions her to pose as his fiance to fend off bad publicity and a hostile takeover. She's a sedate alternative from the actresses he usually is linked with. Circumstances make her feel she has no choice but to take him up on his offer, provided he gives Carter an interview.

There is a lot of chemistry with Jack and Molly. And Carter's marriage-challenged matchmaker half sister is a hoot. But throughout the story, I found it hard to believe that someone as nice as Molly would put up with a friend as selfish as Carter. I would have slugged him after being tripped with a boat oar! The story is like a Susan Elizabeth Phillips novel without the requisite sizzle factor, which does not detract from the story (just makes us have to use our imagination more).

My husband asked me to "pipe down" because I was laughing so hard as I read this book. I had been recommended to me, and I'm glad I got the chance to read it. A lot of laughs, and a good story to boot.